100 Things Every Game Student should Know with Kaye Elling

I liked the fact that she mentioned she was a cosplayer.

Kaye Elling is a Lecturer in Computer Games at the University of Bradford and is the Course Leader for BA Graphics for Games, where she teaches observational drawing, digital sculpting and many other creative subjects. Kaye's background is in game development where she spent some 13 years working as a Character Artist and Art Manager for companies including Infogrames, Sony and Blitz Game Studios. She has created 3D graphics, and lead teams of artists and animators, on titles including the Premier Manager series, the Bratz series and the Encleverment Experiment on XBLA.

It was unfortunate that this was the only game development talk I was able to attend during my entire week there, but I was glad that it was this one as my friend and I were laughing throughout it. It was funny, frank and rather insightful talk into the video game industry. Kaye Elling was just such a joy to listen to, and it felt like time flew by so fast as we did.

Aside from how video game students should think and act during their time at university (Pretty obvious stuff to be honest, it still saddens me how hubristic most students can be...), we were reminded on how it is that we should present ourselves when we later on have to go out there. You need to earn the respects of the professionals, so commute with skill and integrity, be passionate, and of course, show that you actually know what you are talking about (Terminologies are pretty damn important).

Roles in the industry once again comes into discussion during this talk, clearly to make that decision on what it is you wish to specialise in, you have to make sure that you are absolutely passionate about it. Anyone can have ideas, but during recent times, you need some skills to back it up, don't be the one that talks and not do. To get a better chance at being hired, it of course also helps to pick up some other skills to show some flexibility.

And when working as part of the video game industry, do not make that mistake of thinking like a consumer (A mistake many of us clearly make), think like a developer. Read industry press, not consumer press, "Gamergate" is a consumer revolt, and not a developer one.

It was hilarious to see how this talk had intimidated quite a few of the attendants, because seriously, what'd you expect? Everything she said made absolute sense, and if you have the passion for it, there is no need at all to be afraid of the truths that she had laid out. And as usual, we were encouraged to focus on our portfolios, something I am really intent on working on, hopefully during the Easter holidays next year.

Seeing that Kaye Elling had to compress this list for this talk, the entire list can be found here, for those who are interested in reading further.