Stuff I learned from working on my first DigiPen Game Team
Last semester me at 3 other incredibly handsome and intelligent DigiPen students worked together to design and code a game called Chroma from scratch. The process was both harrowing and rewarding, and is something I’m sure many DigiPen veterans are familiar with.
I was responsible for writing our custom physics engine, memory and object management, creating the art assets, and designing some of the puzzle elements and special effects.
Here’s a short list of things I’ve learned from working with Team MakiRoll.
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Tight collaboration done well takes a ton of energy, but it’s worth it. Presenting your idea or strategy for solving a problem to your peers to get feedback is valuable, especially when you’re not confident about your approach.
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Even if you choose a simple aesthetic to mitigate art production cost, it’s hard to be both an artist and a programmer for a project with a deadline.
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Designers are also developers - they must be invested in the project at least as much as the coders if they’re going to make a meaningful contribution.
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It’s awesome to work with smart people who push back with an open mind. If you’re with people like that (and I believe I was with Maki Roll), be like that too. If you’re not, push for consensus (gently) in order to bring out disagreements and reveal problems as early as possible.
