In this blog I will reflect on what I wish to get out of an upcoming project. To do this I will be answering several questions and reflecting on them to see what I can become better at.
What do you most want to work on developing as an aspiring professional?
I believe that what I need to focus on most is my time management skills. In the past I've had no scheduled time for work and instead I would do it at various times whenever i felt like it. This had several disadvantages. Most obviously it would lead to me mismanaging my time and not having enough left to complete the project. It also lead to me having a great deal of stress as whenever I wasn't working i would only think about how I should be working. Finally it lead to a lower quality of work as I was less focused. I need a set work time in order to fully focus on something as sch this erratic work schedule made me lose focus more and made my work less quality.
What are your greatest strengths as a game developer at this point? Is there a strength you have that you want to continue building?
I believe my greatest strengths as a developer are my professionalism, my experience with programing and my knowledge of systems and narrative design. I have made it my goal to be as professional as I can be by honoring my engagements and treating everyone with respect. I hope to continue putting emphasis on my professionalism by continuing to do this. I also have knowledge on systems and narrative design from previous work. During this project I hope to do formal research into these areas in order to better myself.
Is there something you want to learn or become better at? What are the skills that you most want to develop over the course of the semester?
The skill I most want to develop is my time management. Looking back at my previous projects most of them had failed due to a failure of time management. This semester I will set a firm scheduled and hold myself accountable in Oder to make sure I am consistently working.
How will you make the most of this time?
During this time I will have a lighter workload than usual. As such I hope to use this time in order to perfect my professional skills and work on my portfolio. I will do formal research into the industry and what employers like to see in entry level employees. I will use this research in order to decide what areas I should focus on developing. During this research I will also look at the portfolios that entry level employees had when hired. I will use this in order to alter my own portfolio in order to make companies more likely to hire me.
How will you approach this semester’s development differently from past experiences?
First I will make a firm consistent schedule for work and I will stick to it (with the exception of crunch where I will work more. As previously mentioned this is something that I have been lacking and has had a drastic effect on my work. Next I will go to my professor more often in order to get feedback and advise. In the past I have been content just to revive feedback from my team with the thought that if anything was going too poorly the professor would interject. However I see not that in order to make the most of my time I will need to meet with him frequently to get feedback on my work and my effectiveness as part of a team.
What do you wish you knew more about to enable you to be more successful?
I wish I had more knowledge of the industry and the responsibilities of each discipline. Currently I have been a "jack of all trades" designer on most of my projects, taking on multiple roles but not specializing in any. Last year I explored several different design discipline and found that I most enjoy systems and narrative design. I've been working to expand my knowledge in these areas but that has mainly been though trial and error with my own projects. During this time I hope to do a deep dive into these topics in both the sense of how to master them but also what the responsibilities of these designers are in industry.
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