RIT Presentation: Project Spark

This is a presentation in RIT held by Claude Jerome from Team Takota of Microsoft Game Studios, who is also an alumni from RIT to talk about a game that he designed named Project Spark.

For those of you who don't know about this game, Project Spark is a game that makes games. It provides the players a list of tools that allows them to create their own world and logic (including characters/monsters, game system, combat and etc). Additionally, players can share their games by posting their game to the community. Project Spark is now available on Windows 8 and is free to download.

During the presentation, Claue Jerome made a demo on using Project Spark. The game actually contains more freedoms than I thought. You can apply any logic to anything object you want. For instance, you could apply a bird AI to a bridge object so when you walk up to it the bridge will fly away... Jerome then talked about the Project Spark design and product focus, as well as his role in the game design and development. In general words, Project Spark is a game that contains layered complexity that challenges the players to dive deeper to fulfill their wish. I think the game did a excellent job on balancing the "magic" with the "tool" that the players use to create games. The whole gaming experience is engaging and inspiring.

Jerome also talked about his past careers and experience. He stated that it's very important to learn the following lessons:

• Humility
• Confidence
• Ambition
• Passion
• Balance

These skills(might not be the actual 'skill') are very important throughout your career's life. To be more specifically, here is a list of what I learned:

• First and foremost, you are here to learn
• Embrace your mistakes
• Constraints yield creativity
• Create for your client, not for you
• Perspective is invaluable
• Speak with confidence, not arrogance
• When join a ongoing project
• Assess the project's situation, not just your area/task
• Understand the goal - don't be afraid to ask why
• Recognize unique strengths/weakness
• Don't wait for opportunities to come to you - CHASE THEM
• In any role, find ways to make yourself indispensable
• But try to make the transition easy too.