Game Design

I always used to say that I am a gamer in theory which meant that I liked the idea of games but never really had much time to dedicate to them. Since my children have come of age as to speak and started gaming, things have been a little different. I am extremely time poor with studying, working and running around after the boys but those times when we sit and spend all day crafting in Minecraft together have been some of the most fun and cooperative. (I do wish they were just as cooperative when it came to things like washing dishes.)

As a teacher, I can see the benefit of these games such as Minecraft.

As a coder, I have been excited to learn about the programming behind them. As the requests from the boys for mods have increased, it has given us a goal for a future project to learn and acheive together.

As I mentioned on the CV page, my ultimate aim is to bring my desire to teach and my love of coding together to create tools and gamified educational environments for students to learn, especially those that struggle.

With that in mind, I have enrolled on my next adventure: Cert IV in Digital and Interactive Games which I will follow with the Diploma. Along with my skillset from webdesign, the two have the potential to compliment each other to proudce interactive, gamified educational experiences where children, espeically those that struggle can earn a sense of achievement and progress.

So, I have dabbled a little bit in Lua for Roblox and I continue to learn about Java for Minecraft in my own time and I am looking forward to 2021 where I can start an offical certification in game design. As those adventures unfold, there will be more content, posts and information on my journey and my projects on here.

My all time favourite game is Dungeon Keeper from the 90s. I still sometimes make time to play with Horny. Others from that era include games such as Ages of Empires and Quake II, latter being my first experience playing with random people online. Further along the timeline, I was a little obsessed with Oblivion for a while and had to take a step back when out shopping my brain shouted 'restore fatigue' everytime I saw a watermelon. These days I mainly play Minecraft with my boys and Stellaris and Destiny 2 with my gaming buddies although the grinding aspect of games like Destiny 2 soon get tiring and just not challenging enough for the grey matter.

Whatever keeps you gaming, keep on gamin'!

Buket Swain November 2020