Wednesday 18 May 2011

What I've been doing

It's time for an update, seeing as I haven't done a proper one in over a year. I've been very busy since then with all this  stuff...

I graduated from UEL last year and got a First for my efforts. Hooray! This was largely thanks to my dissertation which you may remember I talked about on this very blog at the time. That dissertation is now freely available for you to read in my portfolio (mglanville.co.uk). Hopefully it will help out anyone who is writing their own dissertation and maybe even interest people generally interested in level design.

After I finished university I landed a job at EA Bright Light where I worked on Create and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. My first job in the industry was an awesome experience and it has equipped me with a good understanding of game development to take forward into future projects.

Now my contract has ended at Bright Light and I am spending my time working on Luminesca (which you might also remember me mentioning on this blog). I'm trying to gain crowd funding for the project through IndieGoGo, so head on over and take a look, and if you like it please consider donating (any amount)!

As well as all this I've tried to squeeze in some gaming time here and there. Highlights that spring to mind from the past year have been:

  • Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (big multiplayer battles, but not too big)
  • ilomilo (I love games that play with space in simple yet profound ways)
  • Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (best co-op since Left 4 Dead)
  • Machinarium (charming little adventure and a perfect length)
  • Portal 2 (sublime writing)
  • Talesworth Adventure Episode 1 (solid little adventure with no frills)

Finally I should mention an excellent game design blog I stumbled across earlier this year called Critical-Gaming Network. There's a lot to read, but it's well worth it, so get started now! Start with the Courses 101-6.