After spending many years in the hospitality industry, our student TJ Payne decided change his career and pursue his passion for Games Programming at SAE.
TJ’s decision and ongoing hard work has paid off, recently seeing him entering a game jam and coming an impressive ninth in the competition.
In our new interview, he discusses his passion for games, time at SAE, and what this achievement means for him and his career. If you’d like to learn more about our Games Programming degree, then contact our team now.
Congratulations on the Game Jam achievement! How did you get involved?
Thank you! I am super happy with the result of coming ninth from 70 entries, although I hope to do better next time. My lecturers brought my attention to game jams, these competitions, where you make a game in a small timeframe with a given theme. I was told repeatedly that employers love seeing that you take your passion for game design home, and try to create projects outside your course.
I also really wanted to get some practice working in teams. After looking into game jams, I realised you can join Discords to find other creatives to work with on game projects, so I did this and found a sound designer for this project. That is why I decided to get involved and create this fun yet frustrating mini-game!
What did you create?
The game’s theme was ‘lava’ and ‘time is a factor’ so after discussing it with my team member (who worked on the audio for this), we decided to use the obvious choice of ‘The floor is lava’ but with a twist.
We reversed the idea and made the ceiling lava, which slowly lowers, causing the player to feel a sense of urgency as they rush downwards to escape. Out of the ideation process came a 2D platforming game, where you have to race to the bottom of the level before the lava catches you or the fire spewing dragons hit you.
Since this game jam was only two days long, I had to consider how I could make an engaging game experience in such a limited time. Hence, the end product is an extremely difficult, unforgiving platform based on Rage games where you have to die repeatedly to work out the right path to make it to the end in the time limit.
The game also records how many deaths you suffer, as well as the time for a completed run, so that players can try and complete it in the fastest time with minimal deaths (or brag to their friends that it only took them 20 deaths on their first full run!).
Largely this game is based on its level design, which makes the player have to jump up and between platforms to reach keys to unlock further parts of the level. This adds to the sense of panic as you are trying to get low down as fast as possible.
What does this accolade mean for you and your career?
I was extremely pleased that my first foray into game jams was so enjoyable and fun, as well as well-received by the other competitors. It honestly just gives me more confidence in my own abilities moving forward. I’m extremely competitive and a bit of a perfectionist so I think achieving this just makes me want to achieve more.
I also think this looks great on my portfolio and I will definitely use this project as an example of my knowledge of level design and how it plays a key role in the game experience of a player.
How did you first get into game development/design? Who are/were your biggest inspirations?
From an extremely young age, it has been the media form that has always captivated my attention. I have also always been a creative person, pursuing many different endeavours over time, and I finally thought I could combine the two passions into one by pursuing a career in game development.
I used to work in the hospitality industry, but after an unfortunate accident left me in hospital, I evaluated what I wanted to do with my life moving forward. That led me to considering whether I should chase my dream career of creating amazing game experiences like the ones I grew up on.
I wouldn’t say there is a specific individual who is a massive inspiration, but many. I think someone like Hideo Kojima, who is unnervingly creative and thinks outside the box when it comes to game design, really inspire me with his fearlessness in taking risks and being original.
What are your career ambitions?
Once I finish this course I hope to land a job working at any games design company. In the long run I am torn between wanting to work for a studio like Sucker Punch (who have made games like, Ghost of Tsushima, Infamous and Sly Cooper) or working for a smaller studio where I can have more creative input, and influence on a project. I think as I progress in my career and hopefully experience both, I will know which I prefer.
The definite goal however is to find a work place I enjoy, a project I am passionate and proud of, and hopefully as an added bonus, move outside of the UK to pursue my goals of working too.
What led you to SAE?
As previously mentioned I suffered an accident that left me immobile for many months, and since my previous job involved a lot of standing, I had to think about what career I could choose if I was not able to recover. After looking into different courses, SAE stood out as a facility that seemed to care deeply about student employment after their course was over. I know this industry can be EXTREMELY competitive, so I think finding a place that wants to push its students into working as fast as possible was a huge factor in why I chose SAE. SAE is also a creative hub, with people from music, 3D design and more all in one building, and I think creatives are interesting and fun people to be around/make connections with for the future.
How are you finding the course?
Challenging. But also stimulating and exciting. The growth from the beginning of the course until now is palpable. I have come extremely far in terms of my knowledge about programming and game design since the first lesson, and yet I still feel like I know nothing in the grand scheme of things as each lesson just opens new questions – in a good way. As expected, I have been given the support and push towards setting up my portfolio and LinkedIn, as well as help with networking to try and use the skills I’m learning to find me a career. My lecturer, is also beyond helpful, his own passion for game design and teaching is contagious and I don’t think I would be as passionate without having such a dedicated lecturer who truly cares. The effort he puts into each lesson, and the care he has for his students has made this course even more enjoyable.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received about navigating the world of game design?
Keep it super simple. Of course games can be complicated ideas, with complicated mechanics. But when starting a project, keeping it simple and making sure the base mechanics work, and feel fun are KEY to making an enjoyable experience. It is easy to get caught up in the finer details of a game and lose the core experience in the process. Being told to keep it simple and lessen my scope has helped me focus on the core aspects of games before building upon that fun enjoyable base later. It is what I would tell anyone starting their journey, as often our ideas are ahead of our skills and this can lead to projects that never get finished or just games that are not fun.
Outside of SAE, what other projects are keeping you busy?
SAE has been keeping me busy! However, I have got a few ideas for games I want to pursue over the coming breaks, game ideas that might take a year or more to produce. I have a few friends now who work on other facets of game design like 3D modelling and sound design, so I am hoping to work on a smaller game project with them that might take between six months to a year, and produce a really polished fun game for my portfolio.
I hope to release one of these games for purchase on Steam so that I can fully experience the entire cycle of game production. I have also started a YouTube channel where I am hoping I can start posting dev logs and culminate with a small audience that are excited to play the games I show in production.
Find out more about TJ’s work on Itch.
STUDY GAME DEVELOPMENT AT SAE
SAE is the perfect creative hub for aspiring game developers to study Game Design and Development hone their skills.
From learning advanced-level industry-standard software like Unreal Engine 4, Unity3D, Autodesk 3D Studio Max and Maya to connecting with like-minded creatives, SAE offers developers a fantastic platform to launch their careers.
