WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Game Design Students Learn from the Pros at Annual Conference

Game Design Students Learn from the Pros at Annual Conference

Today's video games look, and play, better than ever. And the people who make them will tell you it can be rewarding.

"What's the reward besides the gobs of cash?" joked Michael Capps, president of Epic Games. "It's way more fun when the game is successful financially and it's reviewed well, but it's always fun working on games."

Capps was in Savannah Friday, along with a cadre of other industry pros, to help inspire students at the Savannah College of Art and Design at the school's annual Game Developers Exchange, or GDX. He gave the keynote address, during shared secrets of getting into the business with a large crowd at Trustees Theater.

But a common theme at today's event: being in the business is not all fun and games, and you need some serious skills to compete.

Another speaker, Darius Kazemi with Orbus Gameworks, told us, "There are a lot of folks who just kind of go back and forth, who can do art and programming. There are technical artists now, who just do these amazing things with technology and art at the same time."

Students who paid attention to Capps' speech will put in the time it takes to develop their artistic and technical skills. Not just in school, which Capps says is usually a year or two behind the real world, but also on their own. He pointed out community websites where game development pros congregate and advised students to take advantage of online networking and real-world opportunities like GDX.

Sound like a lot of work? Wait till the networking pays off and they get jobs. The games industry is notorious for its long hours, tight deadlines and money that's not all that great until you get a hit. Yet all lots of young people turned out today trying to break in. Out question to them: why?

"You hear this a lot: it's very rewarding," said SCAD student Ibrahima Jallow. "My parents of course wanted me to become a doctor or lawyer...it's a lot better pay, but is it going to be what I'm going to enjoy? You know, this is for the rest of your life, this is your career, this is what you're going to be doing."

"The hours are long, but we're a bunch of passionate guys," said Capps. "It's just like writing a novel or working on a movie. We care about a product that people are going to enjoy."

And they're hoping some in the group today share that passion.

Reported by: Charles Gray, cgray@wtoc.com