Topic: Do you have any personal ambitions in the gaming world?

Back in the 80's, when games were so much simpler - just sprites and simple 2D graphics, I could have possibly got into game development - I used to make up my own text adventure games on the old Vic 20 too but nowadays, gaming is so much more. I don't have 'stories' I want to tell, don't write scripts either. I have ideas about the game and structure that I think maybe quite fun to play and maybe even some ideas on the character or settings that I would quite like to explore but whether those ideas could be realised and be made into a working game with all aspects - including a story and scripting - that others would also play to make it a viable project I don't know.

In some ways, Game development for me is much like learning to play guitar. If all you want to play is very basic (early Punk or Status Quo for example) then its within most peoples ability but if you want to be able to create your own instrumental album or be a lead guitarist with a massive rock band (like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, David Gilmore etc), the amount of work and dedication needed is astonishing - especially if you were to try and start at my age and with physical limitations. It can also be off putting if you listen to these artists when the most you can do is play a few basic chords and you look at their 'tab' and see how complex everything really is.

Its no wonder that the big AAA games are made by groups of people - specialising in certain aspects - like animation or environment building. To get to the point where you can express your ideas of a 'game' to a team of developers, to a script writer and able to get the game you wanted made takes many. many years and you may have to start in some area or able to craft a game in your bedroom that may lead to these opportunities. I wonder how many of those that create 'games' out of the tools given in other games (like Far Cry 5 Arcade, Dooms SnapMap or even the now defunct Project Spark) end up making games for a living? I know we have seen some that have 'modded' a game (like H1Z1 and PUBG) have made it. I do think its funny that PUBG are getting a lot of credit for 'Battle Royale' but there were 'Hunger games' in Minecraft years before that...

Some time ago I did start designing an event based strategy game using real mathematical models to simulate the spread of infections and/or the changes in the dynamics of a population. I was between using zombies (a bit boring, but, relatively speaking, easy to model and safe), or something akin to the elder gods from H.P. Lovecraft's literature overrunning the earth with their spawn.

The general idea would have been to shore up your last bastion of humanity against the hostile outside world while dealing with random events and supply issues. Rescuing scientists would be one of the main ways of researching new technology to help, while rescuing others would help with maintenance and recon missions. One day I may continue making it, but it is a lot of work for one person and would likely be for zero reward.

On the other side of gaming I have been looking into opening a board game cafe if I can ever scrape the funds together to do it...

At one time I looked into courses for game design but when I saw how many of the classes were math related my dream sadly ended there. I would love to have some sort of job for a developer but my art skills are basic too so..not sure what I would be able to do. I live in Texas and Austin has a lot of gaming studios I think so the opportunities would be there if I had a degree for it. Or I'll go be a janitor for a major studio somewhere. Listen in on top secret conversations while I slowly mop the floor.

Adding to my last post. When my wife and I first started dating, we had gone to her dad's house for his birthday. This was the first time I had really been around her dad and step mom. She was just out of high school and I was old enough that I was seeing all my old friends posting on Facebook about graduating college. So I already had low self esteem on that kind of stuff because I never went to college. I never really knew what I wanted to be or do with my life. Still don't honestly. They asked what I wanted to do for a career. I said make video games. They laughed it off and said that's stupid then said no really what do you want to do? I was like..make..video games.. They were just like oh..ok. I felt so weird and kind of down the rest of the night. Like the one thing I felt like I would want to do was apparently "stupid" just because I didn't want a medical job like them.

As far as winning the lottery dreams go, I would love to fund a new indie game, although part of the dream would be for me to have some creative input on the project.

My best mate dreams of opening a retro arcade place which are exceedingly rare in the UK. probably bit more achievable than my idea. That could be fun too.

My gaming hobby, mentioned in my previous post has been fulfilled (not wishing to self promote) and has been really fun. Of course, it has been to the detriment of my gaming time but hey, no pain no gain.

Well, I was a gamer from always. First I thought of being in this field when I was a kid and used to play Tekken. But on a serious note, I wish I could develop a game like Player Unknown Battleground in future. I think nearly all serious gamers at some point in their life would think to developed a game like their favorite one. I do small kind of programming but a real game like PUBG is a real big task to accomplish.

_{Sorry hiding personal links in posts is considered spam -Tasuki-}

I have tons of ambitions in my real life. So I use gaming simply for escapism, chilling out. That is also probably why I couldn't care less about PVP-heavy games. I don't see the point in what I can reach in such a game. Story-heavy games or exploration-heavy games on the other hand invite for a lot of creative thinking depending on the game. Or just to relax. And I say that having played eSports professionally once upon a time.