Fireside Chats, Episode 67: Jumping Into Game Dev
Added 2018-12-12 17:00:02 +0000 UTCIt's been a good, long while since we've talked about video games here on Fireside Chats, hasn't it? Well, let's stop the streak. Today's guest is Will Goldstone, a Product Manager at Unity. What is Unity? It's an incredibly important, versatile, and popular game engine that many a video game is created on. So let's pick Mr. Goldstone's brain about game development, the tools of the trade, and what it takes to make a living doing this hard (and dare I say important) work. For the many millions of us that love playing video games, it's people like Will -- and perhaps even you -- that help bring these products to our consoles, PCs, handhelds, and mobile devices. Perhaps our chat will inspire you, Potential Game Developer, to take the next step.
Comments
Thanks Michal! and yes, Tim is great. I speak to him semi-regularly, he recently shared some ridiculous looking updates from the game, expect more public stuff soon I think.
2019-08-16 13:52:37 +0000 UTCAgreed Tom - there's kind of a resurgence of modding the past couple of years it feels like, and yeah Arma is a great tool to explore the realities of how a game fits together.
2019-08-16 13:51:35 +0000 UTCThanks James! You're totally right. We hear a lot from both sides of course - devs and gamers about 'why can't they just' - and the reality is.. this shit is complex! engineering anything as I'm sure you know from construction can be anything from a house of cards to fort knox (if I may strangle two analogies at once) so it's always nice to be candid and real with people as it helps set expectations I find.
2019-08-16 13:50:31 +0000 UTCCheers Russell, give me a shout if you ever need help with anything Unity related and good luck with the game. Had a blast doing this cast so i'm glad it felt tailor made for you!
2019-08-16 13:48:36 +0000 UTCHey Mitch, we actually have a lot of things that sort of turn Unity into an RPG maker by proxy of packs - some free and some paid - on our asset store. BUT! You like free things right? my old team just shipped this thing you might enjoy - https://learn.unity.com/project/creator-kit-rpg
2019-08-16 13:47:32 +0000 UTCGlad you liked it Niall, let me know if you ever need any advice! Super late reply I know, just thought i'd check back here!
2019-08-16 13:46:15 +0000 UTCAwesome to hear! Thank you for listening.
Colin Moriarty
2019-01-08 23:43:09 +0000 UTCCan’t believe I missed this one, made the perfect accompaniment to cleaning the house for Christmas! Great episode and really interesting!
Ryan Taylor
2018-12-23 22:40:58 +0000 UTCThank you! Glad you found it useful. I'm quite happy with this episode, myself.
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-21 00:55:45 +0000 UTCThis honestly might be the best episode to date. Great discussion and question being raised. Was good to hear about unity from someone who works there whilst I am in the first steps of creating my own game with unity with 0 knowledge.
Daniel short
2018-12-19 22:09:18 +0000 UTCYou could always DM me, but honestly, suggestions aren't as useful as outright offers from people to chat about whatever. =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-17 01:28:22 +0000 UTCWhere can i make suggestions for people to interview for Fireside Chats?
Rictor86
2018-12-15 19:55:56 +0000 UTCYeah dude, really looking forward to that game. (And thank you!)
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-14 21:20:29 +0000 UTCI will when it comes to PS4!
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-14 21:20:18 +0000 UTCThank you for listening! It seems like a pretty accessible tool, and I hope that this episode encourages folks to give it a go for themselves!
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-14 21:20:11 +0000 UTCI'm glad that you found this episode useful in that regard! It's a good point: It's never as easy as you'd think.
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-14 21:00:50 +0000 UTCI love, love, LOVE interviews with people from the trenches. Also, shoutout to the shoutout to Tim Soret and The Last Light, I really like that guy and I can't wait for the game. And since you're in holiday mode, I hope you have a great time with your family!
Michal Dudic
2018-12-13 23:47:43 +0000 UTCThe Messenger is my runner up behind Red Dead 2 for GOTY. Colin, my dude, you GOTTA get around to this one.. it’s right up your alley in every way imaginable
Craig Carter
2018-12-13 14:51:21 +0000 UTCFantastic interview. Aspiring game designers should absolutely look into Unity but perhaps as a first step, get into Arma 3s 3D editor. Incredibly deep and you soon learn that the entire sp campaign was made through that and easily accessible, free external tools. Uses a similar code base to C+ with a great community.
Tom Mack
2018-12-13 13:22:32 +0000 UTCThis is great! Working in a construction and having people say “just fix it!” Without understanding how much work it actually takes. My guess is game devs get that same feeling on a much larger scale with all of the YouTube comments and games media. So glad to get a peek behind the curtain and understand more about this.
James Galos
2018-12-12 22:20:18 +0000 UTCThank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the show. Thanks for sharing, too. =)
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-12 20:42:26 +0000 UTCThis is, pound for pound the best episode of Fireside Chats so far. I’m a developer working with Xamarin (basically the sister technology of Unity but it’s used for mobile apps instead of games) and I’m making a little game with Unity in my (limited) free time. So needless to say the subject matter appealed to me. I even did a little double take when I saw the notification come through from the Patreon app. To top it off, it’s always nice hearing you talking with a fellow Lobsterback. You asked some great questions and I really enjoyed Will’s candid answers. Thanks for this, I’ll share it with my fellow developer friends too!
Russell Garrett
2018-12-12 19:55:03 +0000 UTCWill is on Twitter; he may be able to help you out there!
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-12 19:35:54 +0000 UTCGreat chat! I would be interested to know if Unity has any interest in making a consumer product a la RPG Maker
Mitch G
2018-12-12 18:08:45 +0000 UTCGlad to hear it. =) Enjoy!
Colin Moriarty
2018-12-12 17:27:13 +0000 UTCThis is the Fireside Chat I've been waiting for! I am a project manager looking to move into the video game industry. Very excited to listen on my commute.
Niall Prendergast
2018-12-12 17:23:49 +0000 UTC
