Introduction to My EAE:MGS Experience

Here it is, my first ever blog. The notion is a little surreal, but it should be fun to relate the more interesting experiences (along with the [likely] less interesting lists of "Stuff I've Done" as producer on my teams' game projects) that I enjoy/endure along the way to earning my MFA in Film and Media Studies (emphasis in game design and development, considering that the program I'm honored to be a part of is the Entertainment Arts & Engineering Master Games Studio).

Now that you've lasted through an incredibly long sentence peppered with asides, let's get down to business. I'm working through the Producer track of the EAE:MGS, so that means I get to do a heavy load of lists, charts, plans, and the like, along with fun stuff like game design and playtesting. Here's what I have managed to accomplish so far during this first week:

Production Class:
- Created this blog
- Read class texts and took note of different general steps in production processes
- Made charts and graphs about industry trends
- Put organizational and planning techniques into practice as they related to the projects class

Projects Class:
- Brainstormed product backlog with team members (Lords of Awesome [working title of our team])
- Compiled ideas and refined them into a cohesive pitch document for our first prototype
- Made said pitch with team to entire projects class (we feel confident that it was a strong presentation, time and resources considered)
- Researched and began writing about different environmental issues that people should be more aware of, so that we can give accurate and well-presented educational information in appropriate context in the game
- Helped Chris (the artist in this first prototype team) design and layout the first prototype level (excited to see how this turns out when it's actually built in Power Game Factory!)
- Created the game blog/developer diary

Writing this stuff down is actually giving me a better idea of what I am intended to do in the producer track than I had previously thought. Let's hope that I can live up that standard. It's been fun so far!

P.S. When I get a little time, I'll be adding some style (and hopefully some images and videos here and there) to the visual presentation of this blog, so forgive its current plainness. I hope the content makes it worth checking out, either way.

- Troy