Hello! I am a Games Designer!

I am a student at the University Campus Suffolk, now at the end of my first week. It's been a great experience. In the first week we got introduced to our lecturers and what our modules would be.A week earlier, we inducted at the university and shown where everything was and what's expected of us, we also went to the Eurogamer Expo :D. At the end of this first year I will have completed a game created by myself in Flash and be involved in a group project. I will update this blog by posting concepts and my experience throughout the year here.

Here is a lengthy-ish interview so that you know a few things about me.

What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading (or the last fiction book you read)?
'Storm of Swords', from A Song of Ice and Fire novels, is the most recent novel I have read. After watching the first season of Game of Thrones, I had to read the series of novels to satisfy my curiosity for the show. The characters are captivating, and the time you invest on knowing them makes you want to dig deeper in the storyline. I don't want to completely ruin the plot for myself so I quit half way through the novel. There is an upcoming event that involves a main character and villain being killed off which I'd rather watch on the HBO series.








What is the Title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non fiction book you read)?
I don't read non-fiction books, the main reason is that I don't really know what books to read, I know that's a poor excuse...I need to collect books that interest me. Non-fiction types of shows I'm interested in are: 'Grand Designs', 'Big, Bigger, Biggest,' (documentary about engineering feats used in massive structures), and the documentary movies by Morgan Spurlock. Morgan Spurlock is just intelligently funny and engaging. Architecture, technology and what people have achieved - things that make me think that it's remarkable that people created these things - are subjects that interest me.

What is the last live performance (music, drama or dance) you attended?
I'm really embarrassed to say that I went to an Adam Lambert gig, and it was at Heaven, a gay club in London. I really wanted to see him live because I thought he had a great voice on American Idol, the tickets were free but sadly it was a bad experience. The band was too loud to hear him , too many fan girls were screaming and the songs he sang were too poppy for me.

What is the title of the last film you saw at the cinema/online or watched on DVD?
'Cowboys and Aliens', the most generic, unmoving and hyped-up science fiction film that I have ever watched at the cinema. It was unfortunate the movie wasn't great, I read good reviews of it, it was just an okay film with huge explosions in it like the Transformers movies. I'm a fan of huge explosions but a good story line and relatable characters, or a more intriguing back story, would have made the film better.

How often do you read the newspaper? (which one)
When I travel on the train, in the morning, I normally read the Guardian on my mobile phone online. I skim through the politics, culture, data and tech pages.

Which Art Gallery/museum/exhibition did you last visit?
I went to the opening of the Colchester Arts Centre. I wasn't really interested in most of the things I saw there. Some art that was on display, in my opinion, was ridiculous. I guess most of the artists want to provoke and be remembered than create real art pieces that show their talent. For example, there was a pile of rubble in the middle of the floor separated by mirrored panels and bamboo held by pots stuck on the ceiling and floor. I had to laugh at some of the photographs; one was a naked woman with a face painted on her body. I'm disappointed at the modern art I saw at the centre. The memorable and interesting things I saw were the golden bike with milk jugs, the old Roman polished coins, and the building itself, it does look great.

How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?
5 hours a week, I'm involved in a team based game called Global Agenda. I compete against other agencies in the game to win the map. The game is an objective game mode in a TPS (Third Person Shooter) genre. The agency I'm in is casual but have won many seasons, a season is 2 weeks. Agencies win by producing the most networth, from facilities on a map, each agency is pitted against each other to take parts of the land. I don't really play this as much now since I've won the most amount of seasons required for the achievements and there is no new content left to play. Other games I have played are Runescape, Minecraft, Vindictus, Mass Effect, Age of Empires, From Dust, Streets of Rage, Street Fighter, and Half Life.



How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than video games?
I spend about 2 hours playing with my two nieces and nephew on board games such as Draughts, Connect 4(4-player), and an air Hockey shooter game, Super Shooter.I do get battered by them because they aren't winning and my nephew gets told off because he starts eating the pieces when he gets bored with the game.





IMAGES: Game of Thrones courtesy of HBO; Colchester Arts Centre courtesy of Malishev Wilson Engineers, Global Agenda by HiRez Studios. Fair usage applies.