291: Secrets of the Guild

[Robert Rath]

Secrets of the Guild

The Guildhall at SMU, the country's foremost graduate program for videogame design, is sort of like Hogwarts for game designers - but with more energy drinks and pictures of Batman.

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[Angerwing]

This sounds like the god-damn Promised Land. I'm not even interested in being an artist or developer and I want to go there.

Though a place like this is something the medium needs if we want it to progress to a truly undeniable art form.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

I, like a good 40% of the people here i assume, WANT to make video games. I have ideas in my head that i want to express and i believe that Video games are the perfect artistic medium to portray them. Hence, i would not be pleased if i never got a shot at working in the industry because i may never hold a degree from this one particular school.

I don't mean to demean SMU, but i think the ultimate goal of video games, as with any artform, should be to allow as many people, ordinary people, possible to directly contribute to the industry. It's happened with Books (anyone can, theoretically, pick up a pen and start writing a book), and film (who doesn't have a video camera and an Youtube account?). So why not Games?

I mean sure, you have the odd Markus Persson and the Braid guy who hit the jackpot, but if the gaming culture has to expand: it has to expand through it's community..... not from it.

 

[CactiComplex]

It really does sound like some sort of heaven, and this from another one who isn't interested in being an artist (though gods know I was once) or a developer. A few more of these dotted around the world would go down nicely, I think.

 

[LogicNProportion]

How do I sign up?

 

[Prophetic Heresy]

I, like a good 40% of the people here i assume, WANT to make video games. I have ideas in my head that i want to express and i believe that Video games are the perfect artistic medium to portray them. Hence, i would not be pleased if i never got a shot at working in the industry because i may never hold a degree from this one particular school.

I don't mean to demean SMU, but i think the ultimate goal of video games, as with any artform, should be to allow as many people, ordinary people, possible to directly contribute to the industry. It's happened with Books (anyone can, theoretically, pick up a pen and start writing a book), and film (who doesn't have a video camera and an Youtube account?). So why not Games?

I mean sure, you have the odd Markus Persson and the Braid guy who hit the jackpot, but if the gaming culture has to expand: it has to expand through it's community..... not from it.

I understand where you're coming from, and by your enthusiasm I can tell you understand just how complex games are and therefore will understand that games are much more difficult to create than any of those other mediums. There are many tools that aid people with no programming knowledge to dabble in game design but none of them are even close to the ease with which someone can pick up a pen, camera or even an instrument (which is definitely the most complex).

Until those barriers are brought down, we're not going to see that kind of spontaneous talent that comes other mediums and if we want well-made games, we're going to have to rely on programs like Guildhall and Digipen to create talented designers.

P.S.: I love your avatar.

____

To the article I'd like to say that this place sounds fantastic, but unfortunately I wrote off this place pretty quickly because I'm an athiest and a snob. Which would make me hesitant to go to a place called Southern Methodist University and Texas, respectively. I am, however, accepted to Digipen and I think I'll look forward to working with designers that have graduated from Guildhall.

 

[Paul Jaquays]

@ Grizzler: The gate to the game industry is difficult to get over if you don't have the skills and best practices to both gain entrance and succeed in it. Ten years ago, the "Community" entrance path was a lot more viable. Tools and processes were more accessible to potential designers and artists. The Guildhall exists to give graduates the skills to vault that gate ... and to overcome Sturgeon's Law, which basically says "90% of everything is crap."

@ Prophetic Heresy: Unfortunately, you let your prejudices keep you from an exceptional educational experience. The Guildhall program is not on the main campus, has no faith-based education components or teachings, and has embraced students of all belief backgrounds ... including snobs (you might want to ditch that attitude before you try to get a job though).

Paul Jaquays
Founding Guildmaster
Lead Level Designer for CCP NA

 

[DarK SouL]

... I wrote off this place pretty quickly because I'm an athiest and a snob. Which would make me hesitant to go to a place called Southern Methodist University and Texas...

Don't let the name fool you, religion is not part of the Guildhall's curriculum, and no one is "frowned upon" for being atheist. I know I'm not.

 

[Prophetic Heresy]

@ Prophetic Heresy: Unfortunately, you let your prejudices keep you from an exceptional educational experience. The Guildhall program is not on the main campus, has no faith-based education components or teachings, and has embraced students of all belief backgrounds ... including snobs (you might want to ditch that attitude before you try to get a job though).

Paul Jaquays
Founding Guildmaster
Lead Level Designer for CCP NA

Don't let the name fool you, religion is not part of the Guildhall's curriculum, and no one is "frowned upon" for being atheist. I know I'm not.

Don't worry about that, it was meant to self deprecative humor not disrespect to the Guildhall or the Lone Star state (well...maybe the state).

 

[Michael O'Hair]

From the article:

As a result, The Guildhall was designed to simulate the pace and work style of the games industry. During heavy development periods, students sometimes spend up to twenty hours a day coding, designing, fixing, debugging. Walk into the project development rooms and you'll find mini-fridges full of energy drinks. "It's important," he insists. "People always talk about the cruelty of military training, or of giving doctors 24 hour shifts during their residencies, but it's not out of cruelty. That's done because one day you will be called upon to work under extreme conditions and you need to be prepared."

Simulated crunch? 20-hour lab time? Energy drinks instead of more healthy chow? Horrible. Sounds like a school that reinforces the worst practices in the electronic entertainment development industry: crunch schedules, long shifts, and bad diet. I understand the need to prepare students for the harsh gauntlet that they've wanted to devote their lives to, but there is a distinction between extreme training and preparedness, and going too far. On the subject of training: training is often more harsh than day-to-day activities, but sometimes there are situations that are 10x more taxing than training, and I understand the need for preparedness. Practices and habits learned in training remain after training, including bad practices.

I like how the article goes from one quality-of-life issue (extreme working conditions) to another (look how pretty the offices are!) in a paragraph, and continues to describe the facilities for two.

The survey for the professors sounds interesting: "Why do you teach here?" Some other relevant questions would be:
"Have you authored or substantially participated in the development of any entertainment software during your lifetime?"
"In what ways have you utilized the medium of games to communicate a message worth seeing or hearing?"
"Why aren't you making games right now?"
I'm sure people have heard the axiom: "Those who cannot do, teach."

I'll end on a wild and unverified assumption: the most admirable game developers were self-taught and were not churned out through a digital entertainment school. I challenge anyone to refute my claim, although my hypothesis is somewhat irresponsible without verification. There's a good chance that I am right, but in a way I want to be wrong.

"It's done when it's done."

 

[0986875533423]

I don't mean to demean SMU, but i think the ultimate goal of video games, as with any artform, should be to allow as many people, ordinary people, possible to directly contribute to the industry. It's happened with Books (anyone can, theoretically, pick up a pen and start writing a book), and film (who doesn't have a video camera and an Youtube account?). So why not Games?

I mean sure, you have the odd Markus Persson and the Braid guy who hit the jackpot, but if the gaming culture has to expand: it has to expand through it's community..... not from it.

You can. Check out Yoyogames Game Maker. http://www.yoyogames.com/make

Admittedly the games it can make are pretty tame, compared to big budget masterworks with big dev teams, but the interface is easy enough, and someone with little literacy training's first novel isn't going to be that great in terms of language or prose, is it? Same thing here.

 

[Paul Jaquays]

@Michael O'Hair ... you bring up a number of good points.

Simulated Crunch - This is not an "Ivory Tower" program. When you simulate a real working environment, you also simulate real working conditions. Meaning demanding schedules in which you have to both learn what you are doing and then do it. The program prepares students to plan, to scope, to re-scope, and to think on their feet when the plan meets the process. It has a limited amount of time to do this. That's why it's also a graduate level program ... no time-sharing of education with non-game development classes. It is boot camp for game developers.

The curricula and the team projects were designed by working game development professionals in order to instruct and improve the craft and the industry.

Regarding the instruction staff - one of requirements to teach at Guildhall is hands on experience making games. They often come from the companies in the Dallas area and are backed up by part time adjunct instructors who continue work at those companies. Plus, many local developers are involved with the school. Just as the Guildhall curriculum is structured to teach the process of making games, the faculty are expected to have been there and done that. Faculty are here because they believe in passing their own craft skills and knowlege along to the students. In the process, they also develop and hone their owns skills (want to improve your skills at something ... teach it). The majority of the faculty eventually return to game industry as stronger developers.

There are certainly a number of admirable, self-taught game developers out there ... men and women who started in the industry at a time when gameplay, code, graphics, and audio could all be done by one person. They were force of nature hobbyists. I'm sure we could both name some of the same people. But that was then and this is now. There's certainly room for folks following that kind of path today ... and I know a few folks who have come in that way recently. But the reality is, most folks trying that today are going to get lost in the shuffle. Good game schools provide the opportunity to learn how not to get lost AND provide the networking connections that are crucial to getting in.

"It's done when it's done" is a great mantra for the future unemployed.

 

[Nutcase]

Simulated Crunch - This is not an "Ivory Tower" program. When you simulate a real working environment, you also simulate real working conditions.

You mean "simulate a really crappy working environment". There is no excuse for crunching. Evidence shows it is detrimental on multiple levels, including productivity. If there's anything crunch-related students should learn, it is how to not fuck up their scheduling and/or slack off to such a degree that they have to work around the clock before the deadline - maybe if the old-timers knew this stuff better, the whole crunch culture would have never developed in the industry. Crunching should be punished in schoolwork gradings due to how it would harm the long-term productivity of a real studio. *That* is realism for you.

 

[vxicepickxv]

Simulated Crunch - This is not an "Ivory Tower" program. When you simulate a real working environment, you also simulate real working conditions.

You mean "simulate a really crappy working environment". There is no excuse for crunching. Evidence shows it is detrimental on multiple levels, including productivity. If there's anything crunch-related students should learn, it is how to not fuck up their scheduling and/or slack off to such a degree that they have to work around the clock before the deadline - maybe if the old-timers knew this stuff better, the whole crunch culture would have never developed in the industry. Crunching should be punished in schoolwork gradings due to how it would harm the long-term productivity of a real studio. *That* is realism for you.

I don't think I've had an actual 20 hour working day, ever. I've been in the Navy for 12 years, and the closest I can claim is 90 days of 19 hour working days. I'm pretty sure that anyone who survives this course is doing it for nothing but love, because they're not doing it for any other reason.

 

[Sjakie]

good piece.

but it needs pictures

 

[Chemical Alia]

]I don't think I've had an actual 20 hour working day, ever. I've been in the Navy for 12 years, and the closest I can claim is 90 days of 19 hour working days. I'm pretty sure that anyone who survives this course is doing it for nothing but love, because they're not doing it for any other reason.

As a graduate of the Guildhall, I can say this is the case with every one of the hardest working former classmates I've worked with. Crunch is an unfortunate reality in this industry, but I've found that a lot of those students who put in those 20-hour workdays and gave up hobbies like personal life and games to build their portfolios/master's projects would spend what was left of their spare time getting together and working on personal side projects simply because they love this kind of work. I'd hate to see someone invest that kind of money in a program, only to become burnt out shortly after finding their first industry job because it ultimately wasn't the career they wanted. One of the best benefits of The Guildhall, I've found, is the friends you make who become great colleagues and contacts around the industry later on.

That said, I've been through both army training and the Defense Language Institute cram school, and The Guildhall stands as the craziest program to explode my brain. Was pretty fun, though. 0:

 

[Paul Jaquays]

@Nutcase - Out curiousity. Do you now or did you ever work in the digital game industry? Do you still work in it? Did you work for more than one employer or on more than one project?Has your life actually been damaged by "crunch?" Do you have stories you can share? You don't need to out yourself or reveal employer specific details.

I choose to work in the game industry. It's what I know and love and has been my career long enough for me to be one of those clueless old-timers. Every digital game development company that I have ever worked for has required some kind of crunch time, ranging from scheduled pushes at the end of a milestone deadline, to months-long unmanaged "death marches" brought on by poor decision making. I don't love EXTENDED crunch periods, but managed crunch time not only can bring in projects under deadline (or ensure that features are completed, rather than dropped), but can also be a morale builder, if handled properly.

The Guildhall sets an agressive schedule for the students. Regardless of what discipline a student chooses, there is a phenomenal amount of material to be learned and put into practice. What students take away from the school is proportional to the time and effort they put in. There is little room for the slacker mentality that some feel permeates the game industry. Not at the school and definitely not in the industry ... at least not for those who make of a career of it.

 

[tictactoe]

The student work available to be seen on the site is damn impressive in a lot of instances. I'm mostly curious though about the ethics courses mentioned and what really gets covered in them.

 

[razputin]

Nice article but lacking content, perhaps likening it to Hogwarts is not the best place to start, gives a perhaps incorrect impression of an idyll.