Introduction

My name's Adrian Sandoval. I'm 21 and currently attending Camden County College in Blackwood, New Jersey for a major in Game Design and Development. My ambition was to always be a part of the game industry, but it wasn't until my decision to attend Camden that I had settled on becoming a full fledged game designer and writer within the field. I live together with two other friends in an apartment complex across the street from the school, and have been attending for 2 years now. We are currently in Game Design 3.

7:00 AM

It's Tuesday morning, and I'm getting ready for my first class. Game Design isn't until later that night, but that just means there are preparations to be done. I'm in Game Design 3, which means I'm on a team with 9 other people. Over the course of a year, we've been given the task to design our own game using the Torque engine from Garage Games. We all have our individual jobs, and I share the game designer moniker with another person. We're starting to begin the actual development of the game, so my job is now to make sure the team knows what they are doing, and that their work is within the game's original vision. That means I have to keep in contact with each member of the team, see what they are doing, and let them know what I think and what changes could be made. This leads me to the first important mission of the day: checking my email.

Aside from my personal letters and such, my main task is to make sure I quickly respond to any question a team member might have, as well as make sure there are updates on what will go on in class that day. Once I've checked and replied to these emails, the next place I go is to our specialized class forum (provided by firstpenguin.net) to see if there are any class-wide updates. Our professor generally leaves us news and asks questions through this forum, and it's a great way for all members of the team to respond at the same time.

Adrian Sandoval

9:00 AM

I've done my prepping for tonight's class and have headed out the door. Originally, I lived 45 minutes away from the college and had to commute every day with two friends from my area who also attended the school. Now, we have an apartment together that's right across the street, striking the travel down to a brisk 10 minute walk.

My major is Game Design & Development, so I have a wide variety of classes as opposed to a bunch of classes generally geared on one thing. Right now, I'm headed to Structured Programming. I've had a basic interest in the subject, but it's never been something I thought I'd pursue as a career. Still, I appreciate being able to get hands-on with every aspect of the game design feel, so I think it's good to have some knowledge in the subject. It also helps me to understand what my team's technical crew is talking about.

Box Art by Karen McKenna

12:45 PM

My next class is Creative Writing. It's always interesting coming to this class right after programming, since the subjects use completely different parts of the brain. Still, it's a bit refreshing, since part of my ambition as a Game Designer is to make stories for the worlds I want to create. I share this class with different people from all walks of life. Some want careers in different fields; others are taking it for recreation. This kind of world view exposure is really important to me, because the added exposure to different culture and ways of life helps mature my writing, which means I can make much more engrossing stories for my own individual projects.

2:00 PM

Back at home, I have a bit of a break until Game Design at 6. I'll generally recheck my email and the forums to keep up to date since I have been gone. After that, my roommates and I study the best way we know how: playing video games. We like to think that this is the most serious part of our day, apart from Game Design of course.

5:45 PM

My roommates and I are heading out the door. We could walk, but being the lazy sorts that we are, we pile into a car and drive off. While it gives our muscles a break, it's usually not a good idea, because we spend a lot more time trying to find a place to park than we would have spent walking to our class. Thankfully, we’re not late... most of the time.

6:00 PM

Walking into class, this is where I say good bye to my two other roommates, because they're on the other team and have other things they need to do. My team has usually assembled by now, so my first order of business is to talk to the producer of the team. It's his job to make sure the game is keeping with schedule, keeping track of what each member is doing and being the voice of the team to our professor. Aside from updates, he also gives me the producer's report, which is his sheet that tells the professor what each member of the team did that week. Each member then has to check it for accuracy and sign off on it. After giving it the look-over, I sign it, and pass it on to anyone else who may not have signed off. Once this is done, it's turned in to the professor. After both producer reports are handed in, the class officially begins.