Silviu CHitu
From early childhood, I had a passion for games and play, with a particular proclivity of pushing, bending and adapting the rules. Computer and console games entered my life in my early teens and soon were an important part of my past time activities.
Those were the days of Prince of Persia and Pac-Man – what seems like a lifetime away from today’s open world, complex systems experiences. I remember always looking for more, thinking about what ifs, analyzing, deconstructing, creating and debating with my friends which game ideas would be “cool”. Of course, that was also before the Internet and YouTube, so at the time I had no solid concept or notion about how a game comes to be.
A first step towards my real game design experience, perhaps the spark that started it all, was the addition of map editors in franchises I was playing at the time, like Heroes of Might and Magic 2, Warcraft 2 and later StarCraft. Still lacking the helpful online resources, I was stumbling in the dark, but, luckily, my friends were excited to play, share ideas and cheer me on this creative journey – which continues to this day.
With the seed firmly planted in my youth, the journey from aspiration to demonstration began when I applied for a Game Tester position at an AAA studio. Here, the pieces of the puzzle started coming together: the components of a video game, its critical failure points, and, most importantly, what elements make a game feel fun and engaging. Still, the game tester’s perspective was only scratching the surface, so I pushed on to learn more.
My first look “under the hood” presented itself after promoting to Dev Tester and beginning to work with, analyze, and ensure that all the editors, tools and other in-house components of the production suite behave as expected – thus, understanding the process, pipeline and tools required to develop a successful game.
With this technical knowledge under my belt, the transition to Level Design came naturally. Looking back, this was what I had unknowingly been (trying to) do in my youth, but with the added clarity of specific goals: functionality, player behavior or immersion, a mindset of problem solving, engine and design constraints, gameplay and art requirements, and strict deadlines. It was a cycle of learning, experimenting, implementing and refining – my deliverables, my processes and myself. This was one of the most rewarding points in my career, because I believe there’s no greater accomplishment for a game creator than seeing others enjoy your work.
While creating levels, missions or even game worlds was fulfilling, I realized there was a missing element: the higher view on design and its philosophy, so I applied for Game Design. There, as the sum of my experiences with different facets of game creation, I gained clarity on concepts and notions, as well as the subtle aspects of game systems, loops, 3Cs, progression and engagement. Overall, this brought me a solid, in-depth understanding of the game-player relation and how the game systems can and should be fine-tuned to achieve real engagement and immersion.
This has been my journey of understanding and creating games so far, and now my goal is to help others achieve their dreams of creating games.
Tell me your game’s story and let’s continue it together and shape it into an amazing experience!
