I want Something Just Like This
I want to put out an official record of my return to the world of Unity so that I can revert back to it when the going will get tougher in a few weeks from now. So this post is mostly for me as a future reminder to know the “Why” part and partly for my future collaborators for their question, “Why do I want to work in this industry”.
As a matter of fact, I had locked horns with the bull of Unity roughly 7 years ago. Even back then, the enthusiasm was palpable. However, I see one major difference today. I am far more determined and lesser intimidated by the complexity of such sophisticated technology. Why could I not win the battle in between these years is a tale for some other time.
What brought me back to the ground again? The void of not working with my default nature. Yes, I did try n number of things but none appealed to me like working with visual imagery does.
I still hold a vivid memory of possibly the first-ever computer game that I had played way back in the school days, probably in 4th grade while learning the computer basics. The tutor would allow me to play the game only after I’d have finished the homework and yes, he stood firm on his words. I’d get around 15 minutes to play a game with red walls, running dogs, and a bunch of policemen. Upon searching, I found out that it was “Wolfenstein 3d”.
A few years later, my dear uncle had purchased a desktop at his house and he had invited me to play games if I wanted to. What an offer! So, I’d cycle to his house and rush directly to the computer room to play the next game for which I hold an equally striking memory as my first one. Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2. And yes, I had learned to crack it by replacing one file :) This game had literally made me apparently a pro gamer among my school friends. Honestly, I could only play well and crack the game. Pro, IDK!
From thereon, I don’t have a count at my fingers that I consider as the third most clear memory, but the gaming went on with Halo, Counter-Strike, GTA vice city, and numerous others up until far cry 4. I recall far cry 4 as a game from where I lost touch with gaming. Although I have played games after it, other things in life had taken the best of me meanwhile.
So, Why am I aiming to reopen this old box? Because only through the visual elements do I feel the satisfaction of emotional involvement with my work. No other job so far could deliver me that engagement and hence I felt getting emptier day in day out as far as my professional life is concerned. Fortunately, I still have the scope left to leave the unwanted baggage behind and revert back to what I am just good at and more importantly where I feel good at.
Do I aim to become a game developer? Yes and No. Though game development is a full-fledged career on its own, I don’t plan to restrict myself as a game developer for the entire career ahead. Instead, I aim to get mastery over this tool and leverage the creative instincts that I have to the optimum use in my profession down the line with AR, VR, Films, and Animation. I’d like to explore the broader horizons and contribute to this world the exact same feeling that I had felt way back in school. The medium may change with time and technology but the adrenaline remains the same no matter where one lives in this world.
So, with this goal of making random kids and maybe adults with an active kid side, living at the far end of the world jump with excitement for projects that I may get to be part of down the line, I have restarted the unfinished journey with Unity again.
The Bootcamp with Jonathan Weinberger in which I have enrolled myself seems the perfect reboot place for me and I have full faith in their curriculum to get me rolling out soon to a brand new career. Thank you, Jon :)
Is there a possibility to do anything else? No, I do not want a plan B. PERIOD.
