Production of UAT Game Studio: Ascendance (Part 4)

Website Update:

This week I have not made any progress on the website.  My co-producer is created a nice video which should be posted on the website this coming week.  I can’t wait to be able to update the website with an exciting new video.  I also plan to have a download button for the demo up sometime next week as well.  Hopefully with a playable demo people will be me active with the game.

Social Media Update:

As for social media, I found out that I missed spelled the web address on the Facebook page so it was hard to find by others.  I ended up creating a new Facebook page and merged the old page to it.  This was more troublesome than I thought it would be.  The merging of the pages did not work fully so I had to re-upload the banner and will need to upload concept art again. 

Game Update:

After talking with the team lead on Friday, it looks like we should have a working demo version of the game by next week.  All that I am waiting on is the lead to build a new version with only the payable levels.  As soon as I have access to this build I will try to have it up on the website for the world to enjoy. 

Weekly Readings:

This week’s readings were chapters 10 and 11 of Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People by Morgan Ramsay and chapters 6 and 7 of Team Leadership In the Game Industry by Seth Spaulding.  The roles of a production lead and development lead were covered in Team Leadership In the Game Industry. 

John Smedley and Ken Williams discus their experience in the game industry in Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People.  John Smedley, cofounder of Verant Interactive, talks about his experience with creating Verant and selling it to Sony Online Entertainment as well as his views and fight with bill against video game violence.  Ken Williams, cofounder of Sierra On-Line, talks about the success of King’s Quest and the failure of Outpost.  What I personally got from these chapters was that there is a lot of uncertainty in the game market and leading a company is very different from being an employee of a company. 

I think one of the main things that I have learned from working on the social media and website for Ascendance is that I really prefer the development side of things over the social and marketing side of things.  Based on the reading I believe my place is certainly development based on the roles given, since that is where I am confident, skilled, and passionate.  Sometimes you don’t know what you want or don’t want until you try it. 

Reading References:

Team Leadership In the Game Industry by Seth Spaulding (2009)

Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play by Morgan Ramsay (2012)

Website and Social Media Links:

Website: http://www.gamerslifeproductions.com/ascendance/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AscendanceTeam/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AscendanceTeam/