Ethan Wilde: Good evening, welcome to what is the last of a semester long series of talks that the sjc game development program has posted here online and zoom.
Ethan Wilde: called game views i'm really excited to have the opportunity to chat tonight with a search AC alumnus Gregor Gonzales who finished a game as degree here at the JC a while ago and he's gone on to complete a four year bs degree in games from the University of utah.
Ethan Wilde: Gregor was very generous.
Ethan Wilde: And reached out to me and offered to to come back and share his experiences and so we're going to spend part of the first hour tonight.
Ethan Wilde: Just chatting in a dialogue together Gregor and I in zoom things are set up for anybody who's here joining us to to chat to myself or to Gregor.
Ethan Wilde: Using the text chat interface.
Ethan Wilde: Will kind of collect questions that way.
Ethan Wilde: And in the last 30 minutes or so.
Ethan Wilde: Of the evening sometime.
Ethan Wilde: Around seven or maybe a little bit earlier we'll switch gears and i'll start sharing some questions from the text chat with Gregor, so I do want to welcome Gregor tonight I.
Ethan Wilde: would love to.
Ethan Wilde: say one more thing, though, before we kind of dive in.
Ethan Wilde: Gregor in part of his studies at the University of utah worked collaboratively in a team to build a game.
Ethan Wilde: Conrad duck.
Ethan Wilde: Which is in the steam early access games section, the link.
Ethan Wilde: To their project is actually.
Ethan Wilde: Hiding here at the end of.
Ethan Wilde: Our games us spotlight on tonight's lecture So if you hover over that if you're interested in that I think I can also probably copy paste it into the text chat here for anybody who might want to look at that later on.
Ethan Wilde: So.
Ethan Wilde: I want to start off tonight.
Ethan Wilde: Being you Gregor.
Ethan Wilde: To kind of tell us a little bit about before you got to the JC how you got interested in the possibility of coding games.
Gregor Gonzales: So in for me, I may sonoma county native i'm from a little town of basketball.
Gregor Gonzales: When I first graduated from high school, I have the whole mindset of I was going to be, I was going to follow my father's footsteps and become a mechanical engineer, so that was like the big meal like okay to dream following following my father.
Gregor Gonzales: and
Gregor Gonzales: I took a few programming classes at anime high school and then.
Gregor Gonzales: proceeded to go to the junior college, you know started taking calculus the engineering courses and then about one into the courses, I was thinking you know.
Gregor Gonzales: it's i'm not really a clicking with what I want my degree, so I kind of looked around and Lo and behold, that was the Games class, I think.
Gregor Gonzales: ethan when you were first like experiment with the class and its first initial phases, I saw I hadn't picked up and at that point, the rest is history just stuck with it and just never looked back.
Ethan Wilde: So when you.
Ethan Wilde: When you graduated from the JC a.
Ethan Wilde: Did I get it right, did you earn the ass and game development from us.
Gregor Gonzales: So initially I receive the natural sciences associates degree and then uh I graduated the year of believe it was 20 was 2019.
Gregor Gonzales: And that was the year that I, I think I was in your email list, and you said hey the associate's degree in games is ready to go and I sat are sitting there like okay i'm going back to the JC i'm getting this degree.
Gregor Gonzales: So I was almost doing a high up and staying for a batch those as well as the associates, at the same time, so um yeah as soon as those classes were available, then I got the associates degree, and it was kind of funny because.
Gregor Gonzales: That year they did the when we did the graduation, and all that my sister was graduating.
Gregor Gonzales: Was graduating at the same time, I was I didn't submit to like walk or anything because that was in utah and when we're relaunching the conventions like everyone's name splashing by bear comes my name it just pops up, but like.
Gregor Gonzales: The clintons are graduating Lucy twice so.
Ethan Wilde: that's a great story so to tell us a little bit about how.
Ethan Wilde: You evaluated.
Ethan Wilde: The four year degree that you ended up pursuing were there other campuses and other programs that you were considering going to for a four year school besides University of utah how did you make up your mind.
Gregor Gonzales: So there were a lot of different factors, especially when it comes to looking for the Games degree i'm.
Gregor Gonzales: One of the from my case it was kind of a lucky break because i'm in utah have a large extended family out utah so I, as well as like my dad graduated from university of utah as well with the chemical engineers degree, so I will spoil the university utah mailing list and, at the time.
Gregor Gonzales: When I was still like looking around for a new degree.
Gregor Gonzales: My my low and behold, there was like an article that said.
Gregor Gonzales: The University utah was number like raw the top three in the nation of like video game development courses, so I had that my wheelhouse but I was also still looking at.
Gregor Gonzales: Local places like the ucs CSU, to see if there was anything that was in relation to games at all and I eventually I settled with the University of utah because.
Gregor Gonzales: It was more along the lines of they kind of establish themselves a lot in my life so i'm made the choice a little bit easier in the in that sense, but um but pretty much it was just doing the research and understanding.
Gregor Gonzales: What the College had to offer and that's really what i've contributed to my decision.
Ethan Wilde: that's really interesting to know about the connection you had to the school and it really does seem to align really nicely with.
Ethan Wilde: What appears to be a really robust program in this discipline of of making games could, could you kind of pull back the curtain a little bit for all of us.
Ethan Wilde: Our program at the jaycees only.
Ethan Wilde: Two years long.
Ethan Wilde: Our courses are designed to prepare people either for a certificate to kind of go off on their own and make indie games or to get an.
Ethan Wilde: aas degree, probably then to go.
Ethan Wilde: To a four year school we're most aligned with the uc campuses in the CSU campuses like uc Santa Cruz is.
Ethan Wilde: program or CSU chicos program but tell us how.
Ethan Wilde: It was being a game student at utah in this entertainment arts and engineering program that's kind of the umbrella over your games program right.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah so it was at coming in, as a transfer soon um well first off.
Gregor Gonzales: Especially with how games are games, have been very, very revolutionary kind of thing, especially when it comes to scholastic's so.
Gregor Gonzales: uh just I, in my experience with me university utah i'm not sure about the other colleges, but he very prepared to be kind of a guinea pig and trailblazer at the same time.
Gregor Gonzales: Because I like one of the one of the things, especially I mean what are the chances that someone should transfers for a bachelor's in games degree from.
Gregor Gonzales: The little sonoma county junior college to university of utah when actually do the transfer transfer orientation.
Gregor Gonzales: They wrote the at the university utah they lump the government's degree with the engineering kind of college, because you know it's computer based.
Gregor Gonzales: So they lump all those together and one by one Council would come, they would pick up the transfer students, they would go, you know go interact and it was just me sitting there, like the last one and.
Gregor Gonzales: He counselor comes in and says oh it's just you okay that's more than I would normally get so let's let's let's go, so I don't want on one another.
Gregor Gonzales: But it's really the E itself is a very, very welcoming room and, as I said, it's a whole bunch when you join a program like this it's super new, but he I think he has been around for 13 years so even then.
Gregor Gonzales: Even with a little bit of a decade under their belt they're still very new and still very experimental kind of thing like.
Gregor Gonzales: A good example is we started making classes to show students, how to be a producer.
Gregor Gonzales: which I was able to help out with that and, as well as the even offer these Lo and behold, a streaming class like streaming on twitch and YouTube one on one and how that impacts game development as well, which is probably one of the funnest classes, I ever took easiest one but um.
Gregor Gonzales: But yeah just.
Gregor Gonzales: The the underlying concept of he and as going into a four year is just be ready for anything and he just kind of like come in with a little bit mind and think Okay, whatever I help us here today is going to help future generations come in as well.
Ethan Wilde: When you say be be ready for anything and have an open mind, do you have any examples of things that that surprised you in the first semester that you were in the Program.
Gregor Gonzales: One of the biggest things I know as like as this sort of took a total of seven years to get the associate's degrees and the bachelor's degree.
Gregor Gonzales: But one thing that surprised me the most was picking up the very first class which, in the he is called survey of games which is can be explained, they.
Gregor Gonzales: learn the mantra of that classes, if you enter this program it will change the way that you see games, for the rest of your life you won't see it as like your big magic show it's Oh, this is how they broke That apart, and were able approach that using this engine.
Gregor Gonzales: But with a survey, what was the biggest thing that surprised me was a normal classes that required books, of course, to to read.
Gregor Gonzales: This class had moved books like absolutely not so i'm like okay that's weird maybe the Professor will.
Gregor Gonzales: Sign books I go and the Professor said, now we don't assign books, the main reasons because you're going to have to pay for the.
Gregor Gonzales: pay for the Games, you have to play to do write ups.
Gregor Gonzales: For for this semester, so they said I just server money and then i'll give you like a list of games, you can pick from from different sections at least pick one game from.
Gregor Gonzales: The other sections, like, for example, if it's a puzzle game they give you a list of for it to pick line pay pay for it, of course, and then.
Gregor Gonzales: play it for like two hours and do what dissect write up about all the mechanics not necessarily how good the game is, but like how the bill approached it and how it became popular in the first place.
Gregor Gonzales: So that that was like one of the biggest curveballs I got thrown was those notebooks notebooks just buy games and play them and just really get involved with the degree, so that was the biggest things that I got.
Ethan Wilde: I could see how that would be surprising.
Ethan Wilde: yeah that's a great story.
Ethan Wilde: So how many games, did you have like a game, a week or a game every few weeks that.
Ethan Wilde: You had to evaluate.
Gregor Gonzales: pretty much for the other nice thing is that.
Gregor Gonzales: For the he all the professors are very, very tight knit group if I order to to give a short summary of the professors at me it's literally the professors from Harry Potter each one is just so.
Gregor Gonzales: quirky and unique by themselves and they know each other, really, really well like even I will see the.
Gregor Gonzales: One of the engine like the designer professors sitting in with me watching the stream class, so that we can learn about what's going on with streaming and all of that, because.
Gregor Gonzales: And like just it was just a fun fun knit group of professors and it's just those connections so yeah i'm a fancy question but.
Ethan Wilde: yeah that that was really That was really illuminating to hear about that so that's the class that everybody takes so you kind of get to know other people in your program through that class to, I suppose, is that right.
Gregor Gonzales: Yes, exactly, and also, they have a whole bunch of alumni who go to places like bow EA be soft and all those places they have.
Gregor Gonzales: From the four majors which are producer engineer designer and artists, they have them the alumni come and they do like.
Gregor Gonzales: They kind of like what we're doing here is like they say Okay, this is how what I was able to do after II II II II and after graduating.
Gregor Gonzales: And just kind of like give us an experience which direction you want to go to because when you're coming in fresh you don't.
Gregor Gonzales: You have a general idea of what you want to do and most people come in as wanting to be a designer so because designer you know, is the one that.
Gregor Gonzales: decides how the game is going to look and operate, but then, as they dive more into degree and get those interviews with those people they kind of see okay.
Gregor Gonzales: alum be more hands on with it and technical with it so i'll go with the engineer or i'm really like being organized and being able to lead people so i'll be a producer so eventually those things kind of shift and fall into play, right from that get go from that class.
Ethan Wilde: that's fascinating that's really helpful to understand that that's what happens so the like you said, the the program alums who go on to like some of the triple A studios come back when you say they come back, are they are they.
Ethan Wilde: Coming back face to face you guys doing virtual stuff.
Ethan Wilde: Are they working locally in the Community so they're kind of stopping by How does that whole dynamic work.
Gregor Gonzales: i'm a lot of them well with the gun industry as it is even postcode that a lot of them were doing remote, so there was a few of them were doing a lot of remote stuff so they just kind of stayed local.
Gregor Gonzales: One of like it was just kind of like those and also just those connections with other with other people, because I know that.
Gregor Gonzales: One of the writing professors worked on the album the chipmunks game and we actually he actually one of the one classes, we did like a table read other, but it was just it was a.
Gregor Gonzales: it's just the the alumni even them are just so invested with the program and so grateful what they would say done and even to this day, like understand like it's still up and coming and our kind of like just proud to be a part of that history so yeah and.
Gregor Gonzales: When I took the class, it was very close coded so it was in 2019 and then, when eventually it evolved into Kobe we all kind of look each other yeah we're just going to hop on discord have class on minecraft one day so because, why not.
Ethan Wilde: yeah that's great so this this idea that.
Ethan Wilde: The part of what you're learning is coming from a lot of different disciplines this idea of the study being really interdisciplinary when we think about games.
Ethan Wilde: Were there ways that that impacted.
Ethan Wilde: You at utah.
Ethan Wilde: Can you share some of the diversity of the kinds of courses you got to take and.
Ethan Wilde: And how you found your path in that big for choice that you were talking about, or what you what you think you want to focus on.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah so um when with the he didn't always have the bachelor's in games degree, there were actually two other degrees that were in in relation.
Gregor Gonzales: kind of before this was it is like post bachelor degree era and a big thing about games, is that they share two fields, you have the artistic you know art style 3D modeling all that stuff so that fits in the art and art category.
Gregor Gonzales: But then, you also have it's a computer game which is very techie so that's also engineering, so what he did before before the bachelor's of games degree was have the.
Gregor Gonzales: you'll go for the bachelors in computer science, we can eat emphasis for a bachelor's and playing cards, with an e emphasis, so you go through those programs, but have a.
Gregor Gonzales: Specific specialty just focusing on video game development through E and now with the bedroom in games degree that all just kind of.
Gregor Gonzales: flows together and even with stayed there's even a master's program which i'm still debating on if I want to do it or not.
Gregor Gonzales: But uh yeah so the program itself is constantly evolving and like it's well, though, like, as I say, it's one of those things that.
Gregor Gonzales: You just have to be ready be ready for any curveball that comes thrones gets thrown your way because it's very experimental and it's a lot of fun actually when.
Gregor Gonzales: When you get down into it's like okay i'm actually helping create this course, with the professor's themselves were so passionate about this.
Ethan Wilde: that's great it sounds really hands on and really interactive.
Ethan Wilde: As you're talking about the the formation of the of the Games degree i'm browsing this page from your program and seeing all these really wonderful sounding courses that you guys get to take.
Ethan Wilde: Did you after that survey of games class that you described what what was what was the next class that really struck you and really had the biggest impact on you after that class was there, one that stood out to you.
Ethan Wilde: As you think about making your way through the Program.
Gregor Gonzales: I would say, the one that kind of got the ball rolling into committing as a designer would have to be.
Gregor Gonzales: A introduction to a video game design and then followed up into introduction to story crafting so introduction to.
Gregor Gonzales: game design I don't want to spoil the course because that's up to everyone here, if you want to go to the E classes, but pretty much the short and sweet of it is it teaches you how to be a video game designer just right off the BAT and.
Gregor Gonzales: One of the big things it's kind of like it's a rough around the edges saying, especially in terms of design, but the saying goes, you have to be ready to kill your baby, and that is a very morbid idea but i'm.
Gregor Gonzales: Looking at it now, it makes sense because a lot of people enter into E as designers saying Oh, I was working on a game idea, since I was 10 years old, so I have a game Bible with how it's all going to work and i'm going to get a team together we're going to make something fantastic and.
Gregor Gonzales: When you go through the program you realize yes it's a very cool idea to you.
Gregor Gonzales: But what about everyone else, and is it worth investing that much time and you know, especially with the three key curses which i'll probably get to the end of it, it goes into.
Gregor Gonzales: What it means to understand how to make a good gun and understand what you need to look at and what needs to be cut again and where you can gauge where things can be made.
Gregor Gonzales: And then going into story crafting it now was a fun experience because.
Gregor Gonzales: The old.
Gregor Gonzales: said the professors are fun group none of them believed and tests quizzes or exams there's no final exam no mid term no tests, no nothing.
Gregor Gonzales: it's you focusing on what you want to do and showing how much you learn by the end of it, and one of the examples in story crafting what they have you do is take a.
Gregor Gonzales: classic form literature, for me, I chose the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and make a story book which with multiple paths multiple branches, as well as with a certain game mechanic.
Gregor Gonzales: So I added a coin toss mechanic has started the game they will toss the coin, a few times and then depending on how many heads the receivers how much.
Gregor Gonzales: luck, they have so it's for their savvy and space somewhere decisions they lose or gain sanity and the more insane they become, the more they dive into the mind of Mr Hyde and all that.
Gregor Gonzales: So it was it yeah so it's it's one of those things that you're super proud of and to be to make and just have in your repertoire and arsenal of things that you get to explore in the Program.
Ethan Wilde: that's it that's a fabulous example that sounds like a fun story book.
Gregor Gonzales: Oh yeah.
Ethan Wilde: How many.
Ethan Wilde: classmates would you have in most of these classes what, what are the how big is the program and what are your what are your courses organized like.
Gregor Gonzales: So on the like.
Gregor Gonzales: The last class I had.
Gregor Gonzales: The Professor informed us there was a total of 1800 students in the he just in the E itself in terms of in terms of my graduating class there were 180.
Gregor Gonzales: But when it came to survey games which was the introductory there was about 80 students in the class, I will say the average.
Gregor Gonzales: Because of how new yeah he was it's not like a regular traditional class per se so i'd say the average would be maybe the most like 50 and the lowest probably 30 depending on what particular direction you want to go.
Ethan Wilde: that's great was a was there anything in your experience in the program or at the University of utah that you.
Ethan Wilde: really love being part of that really made an impact on you, for for either the uniqueness of of either the campus or the.
Ethan Wilde: program that kind of.
Ethan Wilde: sticks with you as a kind of a key.
Ethan Wilde: Reason you'd pitch University of utah or II II II to somebody.
Gregor Gonzales: I would say that, like the first and foremost the camaraderie.
Gregor Gonzales: Because.
Gregor Gonzales: In retrospect, one of the big things that they teach us at he is to always maintain your connections like always maintain those connections, because.
Gregor Gonzales: That person that you worked on that a certain project with may get a job, like say at bowel.
Gregor Gonzales: And they say hey and what their bosses come up and say hey, we need a designer or an artist or three Mahler do you have anybody in mind.
Gregor Gonzales: And Sure enough, you maybe you would be in their back pocket and they say hey I know this person, they did a really good job and working with law student games.
Gregor Gonzales: Maybe give them a shot so it's just those connections.
Gregor Gonzales: That and like, as I said, the professor's they really want you to succeed, and so do the rest of the students, they are there.
Gregor Gonzales: to fall through and just keep pushing forward and make something really, really cool so it's just that idea of camaraderie as as a group and as a giant unit is what really sold it for me it's just because you can't really.
Gregor Gonzales: it's difficult to find something like that so that's that's was my biggest highlight.
Ethan Wilde: that's a great word i'm glad that.
Ethan Wilde: You distill it down to that word of camaraderie.
Ethan Wilde: Because the way you've shared some details of the program already the fact that there's no exams I know examinations tend to foster competitiveness and students, and so the other question I guess that comes to mind, as you were describing that sense of camaraderie.
Ethan Wilde: I want, I wanted to know.
Ethan Wilde: How was it.
Ethan Wilde: Working on projects in your classes were you working solo or at some point, did you start working.
Ethan Wilde: With collaborators or.
On teams.
Gregor Gonzales: So when it came to the balls and classes, a lot of it was a is individual work um and because, with.
Gregor Gonzales: with how the class courses are structured i'm all the professor's know different game engines, the each one has their specific go to engine.
Gregor Gonzales: And the three the biggest with icon the big three are unity or unreal and game maker, we don't talk about game maker, but i'm so pretty much with all those all those different backgrounds.
Gregor Gonzales: They they kind of like.
Gregor Gonzales: In terms of individual words I.
Gregor Gonzales: it's very that's a very early stages of EA because you're kind of figuring out what want to do it because.
Gregor Gonzales: You want to experience, because you want to see how you can manipulate objects and understand a limbo in Maya and at the same time understanding what assets pipeline is.
Gregor Gonzales: So, in terms of individual work I you definitely do a lot that but, when it comes to the big things that you leave he with it is the game, it is the game projects which i'll probably say at the end with a little slide deck from those three games that I created from the.
Ethan Wilde: super.
Gregor Gonzales: So.
Ethan Wilde: If you were doing it all over again, or like some of the folks audience may be thinking about doing it for the first time, is there a thing that you would do distinctly differently than, then the choices, you made so far, through.
Ethan Wilde: utah's Program.
Gregor Gonzales: distinctly differently um.
Gregor Gonzales: I would say.
Gregor Gonzales: Look around for.
Gregor Gonzales: I will say game jams game James James James James James because even though you're going to be leaving a lot, I am.
Gregor Gonzales: i'm not sure about other programs by know you'll be leaving with a lot more what you you'll know a lot more than when you entered but in terms of.
Gregor Gonzales: Like searching for jobs and all that after beyond school yellow is have to have that resume yeah, it has to be ready to go in your back pocket, and it has to be updated notes, one of the things that they told us is that that.
Gregor Gonzales: You have to have.
Gregor Gonzales: always be sure to update your portfolio, at least, must not, because when it comes to later on someone's going to ask hey can you read replicate this and if it's been about a year since rainbow do that.
Gregor Gonzales: You might get a little dicey so.
Gregor Gonzales: I, I would say, in retrospect go did you go to game jams get involved talk to people get to know them it's not love it's not one of those things where it's like oh i'm going to be stuck with this group.
Gregor Gonzales: or i'm just going to be with these people for a little bit and we're all going to graduate and go our separate ways.
Gregor Gonzales: it's all along the lines of getting to know people and firmly understanding of what you're working because it's real, especially when it comes to game building experiments means a lot, it says a lot.
Ethan Wilde: that's that's great I really appreciate that observation about game jams and experience.
Like you said it does mean a lot.
Ethan Wilde: Are there are there any other things that you can share with folks who.
Ethan Wilde: I think most of the people, joining us tonight are either.
Ethan Wilde: Active students in the JC or recently were.
Ethan Wilde: interested in games in some ways.
Ethan Wilde: Is your biggest advice basically to get into the game jams, or are there other things are there other communities to get involved in besides that.
Ethan Wilde: That you found locally or or online.
Gregor Gonzales: Like.
Ethan Wilde: How do you stay abreast of like the scene of game development, now that you're back in in the.
Ethan Wilde: North bay.
Ethan Wilde: Are there resources that you learned about in your time at utah like websites or or other.
Gregor Gonzales: Oh yeah.
Gregor Gonzales: i'm.
Gregor Gonzales: In terms well utah has a very unique system kind of similar to the junior colleges I forget.
Gregor Gonzales: I forget exactly what is like is it job seeker that you guys use.
Ethan Wilde: I think that's right.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah I think so so i'm at utah it's called handshake handshake is what goes through utah but look through that.
Gregor Gonzales: The main reason is because the reason why those job postings are there is because those companies are looking for that student like the writing Professor is in in contact with a lot of.
Gregor Gonzales: game companies and when they're looking for ED students, they reach out to that professor and they relay it to students, but so in retrospect, when it comes to like job search or getting into the job market.
Gregor Gonzales: professors and those direct color links are you're going to be your glow to because, as I said, there's a reason why those postings are there in the site is because they are looking for you as a student to help them out, and for them to train.
Ethan Wilde: that's that is really true a lot of a lot of creative arts fields have that.
Ethan Wilde: Industry connection where the Faculty feedback into the active work it's pretty cool.
Ethan Wilde: well.
Ethan Wilde: What do you think about taking us on a tour of kind of the three big projects that you worked on and.
Ethan Wilde: And what you'd like to share with us about those I think that would be pretty exciting.
Gregor Gonzales: course of course would be my pleasure all right, let me go to sharing my screen.
Gregor Gonzales: All right, me.
Gregor Gonzales: My.
Gregor Gonzales: play all right.
Gregor Gonzales: Okay, everyone see everything.
Gregor Gonzales: Yes, okay.
Gregor Gonzales: Alright, so there are three key classes, that you will, in terms of E that all students are required to take that goes no shadow of doubt.
Gregor Gonzales: The first one well the first two doesn't matter in which order you take the first two, as long as you've taken them, the first one being traditional game development or trad game developer.
Gregor Gonzales: i'll kind of explain what each one is exactly because the kind of specialize in.
Gregor Gonzales: How you approach the game development as it is the next one being alternative for.
Gregor Gonzales: game development and but the last one is the biggest one called a capstone and we're going to kind of kick things off by exploring travel or traditional development I tried to.
Gregor Gonzales: intro all these classes how they'll begin is the are you know you're bringing your regular class as you would.
Gregor Gonzales: Then what happens is that you will be put into groups based on what you as a person specialize in particularly like, for example, i'm a designer and writer so.
Gregor Gonzales: professors and as well as a ta is we're organized the team, so that everyone has the perfect balance of engineers producers, artists and designers so that everyone kind of gets all of those boxes checked.
Gregor Gonzales: At the start of each of these classes you create a one page document, and this is going to be your one pitch piece when it comes to traditional game development it's as the name states it's how.
Gregor Gonzales: Traditional game development works you think of an idea, though, and you pitch it to your team.
Gregor Gonzales: Of all the ideas of all the one page pitches everyone's select which one they want to go through and through and from there, they start making the video that game development process.
Gregor Gonzales: When it comes to trad or traditional game development, the focus was on the development process itself working as a team is kind of like where the big fundamentals of working as a team begin.
Gregor Gonzales: Because even with I know with a lot of indie teams it's often one or even two people.
Gregor Gonzales: But the tough thing about the indie scene is that you also still need to have an income.
Gregor Gonzales: So it will take some time, so you may just decide to go to a triple A company.
Gregor Gonzales: If you do type of that there's a lot of teams that have about maybe 500 or so people, so you have to understand that you're going to be working with the team and that's this is, this is what this class can be teaching you about.
Gregor Gonzales: When it comes to engines, the professors don't mind which engine you use as long as it's something that they're familiar with, which include unity unreal and game maker, and this is a one semester class.
Gregor Gonzales: no fun fact about he is that at the end of each of the semesters they do this thing called he play which showcases trailers of.
Gregor Gonzales: games made in traditional and up being developed in that will go to as well as the progress of capstone classes and games made in the master's degree program so kind of continuing on with traditional it's a one semester class.
Gregor Gonzales: let's move on to what I had made for my traditional game, so this game was called dumpster Doc dumpster Doc was made using the unreal engine and with consisted of a team of seven including myself.
Gregor Gonzales: dumps about this created the Semester after code.
Gregor Gonzales: And the pitch ways you're a doctor that got kicked out from your job, so now you rummage around in trash piles and collect items and MacGyver.
Gregor Gonzales: Things to heal people with like splints medicine and all that so that was the tribe Members made it was made using unreal and that was kind of a fun experience.
Gregor Gonzales: Going moving on just to save time is all game development development is.
Gregor Gonzales: exactly like travel or traditional but with an extra twist unlike traveling we focus on the game development process and developing a game.
Gregor Gonzales: or two focuses on highlighting a message as the main goal of the game so in terms of gameplay it's going to be very, very simple but also focuses on like.
Gregor Gonzales: Cheap Father on concept that stuff will talk about such as things like depression, anxiety i'm wearing in the ocean things like that, so you as a team.
Gregor Gonzales: same thing one page pitch except your one page pitch isn't like a game design ideal it's a.
Gregor Gonzales: Dramatic idea that you want to address and emphasize on because, unlike.
Gregor Gonzales: Most games that that are that are made this one is particularly focusing on that one idea and trying to get that message across, and making a.
Gregor Gonzales: interactive way in impactful way at the same time, similar to tread, it is a one semester class and this one, when I have taken it was used.
Gregor Gonzales: To use the game maker engine which is kind of like the unreal engine in terms of you can have a drag and drop with programming, or like coding.
Gregor Gonzales: And all that but it's a little bit more a little bit harder to deal with in a 3D space, so when it came to my old game development we create a game called hear us and hear us.
Gregor Gonzales: is emphasized on the ideas of deaf.
Gregor Gonzales: hearing and cochlear implant like no different forms of hearing in understanding that regardless of if someone can hear or not.
Gregor Gonzales: we're all able to communicate it might not be with a spoken language but we're all speaking the same language regardless and we're all experiencing the world the exact same way, so I hear us was made with a team of five using game maker, and it was designed as a panel.
Gregor Gonzales: Several mini game type of game, like a simulating going to.
Gregor Gonzales: High School through through different perspectives one with hearing that with like a cochlear implants battery's dying so like you'll hear beeping and all that throughout the day and.
Gregor Gonzales: it's complete silence when the implant dies, and then complete death, which is just no sound and just writing notes and just playing those little mini games on at the same time, so, as I said, it's not about the entertainment value, but the impact of the message.
Gregor Gonzales: And the last one, this is capstone capstone is the pinnacle of what is what you were building up to.
Gregor Gonzales: It is senior project for graduating students and is only meant for the senior so if you're graduating that that you, you will take capstone because capstone is a two semester long class, you will be placed into a team of other graduating seniors and through those two semesters you will.
Gregor Gonzales: burn and market your brain, so I, you will be making a Twitter page, you will establish a llc so you have a percentage ownership of the company.
Gregor Gonzales: As well as you now have a game in your portfolio that you yourself have marketed and developed.
Gregor Gonzales: And I think as ethan you've already shown you shown commerce black so i'm going to show you guys the trailer that was made and just have like the gameplay and a little teaser for commerce black so hope you guys enjoy it.
Gregor Gonzales: So blown off of that call my crack was my capstone game, it was moved with a team of 24 I using the unity engine This man was a lot of fun to make um it was so the idea of my class was.
Gregor Gonzales: about nine months ago, and before world events kind of took a turn so we had to also learn how to address things publicly, such as you know, the invasion of Ukraine, so we went to our Twitter page and we wrote a message saying this game is.
Gregor Gonzales: We stand with with Ukraine, we.
Gregor Gonzales: began that we're making is complete parody and we had to make changes accordingly in terms of writing and all that so, but it was still such a fun game and it's just been a blast to make and the bad about concludes it.
Ethan Wilde: wow Thank you Greg or for sharing all of those projects and the story of those three fundamental studio classes, where you guys were working in teams to design games I think that's really astonishing really example of.
Ethan Wilde: What looks like a program that's really designed for people to learn how to work together on these big complex projects because games.
Ethan Wilde: Have any level of sophistication take a team like you were saying it's a great observation you had about comparing indie and triple A studio kind of team sizes, which are kind of multiple magnitudes of difference.
Ethan Wilde: Can you share a little bit more with everybody about what you got to do.
Ethan Wilde: On the on the capstone game to come right back team and.
Ethan Wilde: And how it was working on the team from the kind of the in the trenches.
perspective.
Gregor Gonzales: When it came to come right back so.
Gregor Gonzales: kind of the the big difference between capstone and traditional and alt was that in that initial phase of you know, the when the one page pitch when that rooms happening what they would do is they would put me into a team of I think it was about eight people.
Gregor Gonzales: And with that team of.
Gregor Gonzales: Eight you would you as you would pick your.
Gregor Gonzales: Particular one want to make, and then you, for it was about three weeks we three weeks we work on this game, and it was just a prototype if.
Gregor Gonzales: Everything goes the value is a prototype so there were about 20 different prototypes and these prototypes will pitch to a panel of experts, I think there was a producer from.
Gregor Gonzales: A designer from be soft and I.
Gregor Gonzales: Think somebody from the indie scene i'm not sure if I remember, but.
Gregor Gonzales: Others panel of experts, they picked the best prototypes, and so the remake the ones that didn't get their their teams would be dissolved and they were those.
Gregor Gonzales: developers would choose or like rank of the able to see which one that they wanted to work on, so I wanted to work on Conrad crack because Lo and behold, new.
Gregor Gonzales: The original one that I worked on was called moral inbound leads where you get different powers, based on tea leaves.
Gregor Gonzales: It was supposed to be like a journey of relaxation in the eyes of the students, but unfortunately that i'm going to pick so but I can become read crack the actually.
Gregor Gonzales: There is a unique story of how it was created, because it was actually three page patients that were created convert back the one of them what someone wants to make a simulator kind of like how come some later was.
Gregor Gonzales: Another person wants to a Teller.
Gregor Gonzales: Teller Defense game and one person who just want to work on something and just wanted to have like the page shot man dude Communist dnc later will.
Gregor Gonzales: Be so they said okay let's take these two ideas and mash it together and the rest is history so and when it came to my role on the team, I was the designer and writer, so a lot like looking through the steam page like you'll see like the text boxes That was my writing that I had to.
Gregor Gonzales: That I created with the um the other things that was.
Gregor Gonzales: made that that I made was allowed the trailers to so when it came to.
Gregor Gonzales: Because Lo and behold, when it comes to.
Gregor Gonzales: Development it's not just like working on the.
Gregor Gonzales: game engine itself you got to have people to play a game in order to have a.
Gregor Gonzales: True blue when so.
Gregor Gonzales: When it came to my lawyer was designing.
Gregor Gonzales: What what we wanted in the game to kind of keep things like interesting and as we keep playing it, because what we did is have other teams for beam.
Gregor Gonzales: And they tell us what was fun about the game and from there you build off what was fun like for combat crack, for example, the thing that we brought up was providing.
Gregor Gonzales: Like bright, like the unity engine has you know the burn rate like physics and if you hold down a bunny just a business or a bride and from there, we were able to find a fine and build off the fine and that's how it came to be today so.
Gregor Gonzales: get there is a lot of work, a lot of man hours, and it was it was a fun team to work with and yeah just but i'll time.
Ethan Wilde: that's great thanks for sharing all those details about the team experience and working.
Ethan Wilde: What what was the kind of time from from the consolidation moment where comrade crack became the project.
Ethan Wilde: To to the final release how many weeks to do guys get to work on it, and your team of 25.
Gregor Gonzales: We worked on every day and every day because, especially with the with capstone.
Gregor Gonzales: it's the it still class, so we gotta meet deadlines and with these deadlines that means.
Gregor Gonzales: Having presentations are showing off the latest version of the game, when you get these things, called sister studios pretty much, though, I believe I remember correctly, the eight things that will create from this capstone.
Gregor Gonzales: If you go to the actually if you go to go to the E website and go to games in development or me if you go to like the.
Gregor Gonzales: If you go to the student games page and then it should go to like either games in development of games they've been released.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah then, if you go do some development will show up like the.
Gregor Gonzales: show the master's program together soon.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah I think that's yep so that everybody, so all these games came from the masters and the capstone class like this comrade crack the saturation point where Benjamin can rock the boat Paris shiny like tab in chrome and have it all, like all those.
Gregor Gonzales: were so all those things were being at the same.
Gregor Gonzales: Time and when it came to sister Sue you play tests, they had one to sign to to two.
Gregor Gonzales: Companies and I think he was once every two weeks, we would send two representatives from combat back and our sister studio.
Gregor Gonzales: Was I think it was.
Gregor Gonzales: swimmers have a wet was was our sister studio you say to people wherever and yes splinters or Grad we send to people over to Facebook.
Gregor Gonzales: And then they get feedback and then we go back to ours and listen to people over to us to play our game, we just can't give each other feedback and just kind of build it up from there.
Ethan Wilde: that's great it's really.
Ethan Wilde: Wonderful to hear about the.
Ethan Wilde: position of relationships, like the sister studios that you described I think that's really important to to evolving and iterating creative process to get more people talking together about it that's really wonderful.
Gregor Gonzales: Because it's all it's all progress our business for.
Gregor Gonzales: The best set of eyes.
Gregor Gonzales: And a fresh set of ideas.
Ethan Wilde: Could I ask you about this page.
Ethan Wilde: Is this.
Ethan Wilde: Is this many different years of projects that seems to have a huge number of projects on.
Gregor Gonzales: What yep so capstone was them, the first year of creation so yeah all of these games here are our past games created vice by students have this capstone which was capstone 11 and all the way back to capital one.
Gregor Gonzales: And I see that's your program to.
Ethan Wilde: that's great so they're keeping a potential number of the annual capstones and it's cool.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah but we didn't have posters of they even they have posters.
Gregor Gonzales: above them helpers and your signatures on it, they also have like an arcade machine real keyboard and controller has all of us to gain download on to it, so you can just go.
Gregor Gonzales: Over play play it on the machine so it's it's always fun because.
Ethan Wilde: All the past games yeah.
Ethan Wilde: that's really cool wow so now that you've got that experience of utah under your belt.
Ethan Wilde: Where do you see yourself in five years.
Ethan Wilde: Is it somewhere in the games industry.
Gregor Gonzales: I definitely would love to keep working in the games industry because i'm, as I said, like there's so many things that you can do within within games and one One good example is he did a partnership with the.
Gregor Gonzales: Medical college at because a university of utah there's a hospital on college campus so.
Gregor Gonzales: They did a partnership I don't know I forget what the exact name of the program is called but um they pretty much make games in the medical sense.
Gregor Gonzales: So it's it's one of those things where games kind of you begin to understand that games can be more than just entertainment, they can be messages they can help somebody they can.
Gregor Gonzales: shed some light on different things so yeah I definitely don't see myself, leaving the game industry anytime soon at all so.
Gregor Gonzales: i'm i'm right i'm along for this crazy journey.
Ethan Wilde: that's great Gregor.
Ethan Wilde: Thanks for sharing that.
Ethan Wilde: detail about the collaboration between the Medical School and.
Ethan Wilde: The game spooky program that is really interesting transformational games that sounded like your alt.
Ethan Wilde: Class had that.
Ethan Wilde: theme as well, the idea that games can be really about communicating a message or kind of changing people's thinking or opening up conversation that's that's really interesting.
Ethan Wilde: Well we're at about the point where we can open things up to take questions i've got just a.
Ethan Wilde: shins in the text chat so far I don't know folks have sent me directly to Greg or.
Ethan Wilde: But.
Ethan Wilde: i'll share the first question, this is from Jose Jose wanted to know was there, did you experience any culture shock living in utah.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah yeah.
Gregor Gonzales: One of the big things for me was when I first moved to utah.
Gregor Gonzales: I had worked at a hardware store here, and then I worked at another hardware store in utah just so I have a little bit of income and that hardware store was also a army surplus.
Gregor Gonzales: store, so the difference between here and there is like our like, for example, ammunition here is like locked up behind a case and all that over there it's like you can just pick it up off the shelf like candy.
Gregor Gonzales: That was like one of the.
Gregor Gonzales: biggest things and then I walked down the road and Lo and behold, there is an artillery Shell that's for sale and also like a full 100.
Gregor Gonzales: So that was like one of the biggest biggest culture shots that I want to experience, but we know it's one of those things where it's you're exploring the world around list so what better way to do that.
Ethan Wilde: wow yeah that those are good.
Ethan Wilde: Those are good examples that's pretty wild.
Ethan Wilde: i've been to salt lake city quite a number of times I really liked the Community there I definitely has its.
Ethan Wilde: own unique culture but.
Ethan Wilde: it's pretty nice town.
Gregor Gonzales: very easy to find your way around.
Ethan Wilde: yeah yeah and the University of utah campuses got a really spectacular.
Ethan Wilde: location right.
Ethan Wilde: Are you guys are i'm near the corner right before the mountains, I think aren't you.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah that's that's correct so pretty much I know a lot of people.
Gregor Gonzales: Choose colleges in terms of like I want to be more in the city, I want to be more in like rural small town with utah you are walking distance from.
Gregor Gonzales: A town square you take a train and also walking distance to a bike trail in the mountains so yeah it's it's a it's a very beautiful campus say least.
Ethan Wilde: yeah that's great so I have another question this one comes from nate nate want to know if there are any discord channels.
Ethan Wilde: That you discovered in your time at utah or or otherwise kind of that are places you like to hang out in game development communities.
Ethan Wilde: Through discord.
Gregor Gonzales: Oh i'm so when the pandemic style that was like one of the key things that was created was you get.
Gregor Gonzales: it's like uber's mean it's I got another discovery channel to add to my collection, because you pretty much put that classes code in your back pocket.
Gregor Gonzales: So that's that's the one place, that I tended to hang out the most is in those class discord channels and then, when it came to comrade quack.
Gregor Gonzales: recruit that discord channel so.
Gregor Gonzales: And it's just really kept the circumstances of where you need to be and where are you get gold and gold too so yeah those those were the main discards, that I went through and also there was there was a.
Gregor Gonzales: There was the he also have a esports team as well University of utah at yet he also has their own esports team so hung out in that description, a little bit as well too so.
Ethan Wilde: wow interesting communities, yet there that's cool.
Ethan Wilde: Ben asks.
Ethan Wilde: What are the most unique or your favorite games that are that are current and and do you have a reason why, for your favorite games right now.
Gregor Gonzales: Most lucene week and I would say, like.
Gregor Gonzales: I would have to say journey is one of my more favorite games, because the concept of it.
Gregor Gonzales: Is you're going on a journey, possibly meet somebody as well, going on this exact same journey and there's no language barrier it's just little pings and sounds to communicate and, at the end of it, then you get to learn it's almost like those.
Gregor Gonzales: That fun way of.
Gregor Gonzales: engaging with somebody and storytelling without having to need to use words at all, and also it's just a beautiful game in general um yeah but that's probably one of my favorite games that have to be journey.
Ethan Wilde: Right yeah that's pretty wonderful game.
Ethan Wilde: Ben said back that that was that was interesting.
Ethan Wilde: anybody else have any questions you'd like to.
Ethan Wilde: Direct to our guest tonight Gregor.
Ethan Wilde: glad that we got a decent turnout of folks to join us, I know, some people have come and gone.
Ethan Wilde: Another question for you, what about using comedy in games, it seems it isn't used a lot.
Gregor Gonzales: comedies hard to say little comedy is super super hard um for me kind of one of my big marks that I made.
Gregor Gonzales: was making fun will trailers for each of the games that I had made or like.
Gregor Gonzales: When doing assignments, because a few of the assignments were like either do a paid presentation, or even edit a video talking about it so it's in terms of comedy.
Gregor Gonzales: comedy it's almost like games in itself so you're putting like games on pong games, you have you know dark dark humor.
Gregor Gonzales: slaps big dad jokes you get you have all those different types of comedy.
Gregor Gonzales: And then, when you mess it into a game, and you show some way it's like all day they think it's funniest thing ever but then some someone else says that's not funny that's because it's it's really just on.
Gregor Gonzales: A personal taste, so in my opinion that's why you don't see a lot of comedy and uh it's just enter in terms of comedy itself.
Gregor Gonzales: You just have to find that little chore like a good example is calm right back in itself, I don't think anybody expected to see a communist.com marching out of EA.
Gregor Gonzales: But it just had that little little chart little bit charm and just because of that it was able to generate that a little bit of comedy to it.
Ethan Wilde: Great example.
yeah.
Ethan Wilde: Any other questions for Gregory this evening.
Ethan Wilde: Well Gregor I, I want to tell you that.
Ethan Wilde: personally.
Ethan Wilde: I found everything you shared tonight.
Ethan Wilde: Really insightful and really illuminating.
Ethan Wilde: I really enjoyed hearing the detailed description of your experience at utah in the program getting that bachelor's of games.
Ethan Wilde: I think the way that they've set things up sounds really exciting and really engaging it sounds like you took away a lot of experience and a lot of skills and you understand that how to work in you know, a.
Ethan Wilde: full scale.
Ethan Wilde: game development team.
Gregor Gonzales: here's another question.
Ethan Wilde: kind of late breaking question.
Ethan Wilde: A classmate and my certificate program said game, making is competitive if you notice this or is it pretty welcoming.
Gregor Gonzales: um I may have to do a boss Bob like competitive In what sense.
Ethan Wilde: yeah.
Gregor Gonzales: that's a good distinction to make.
Gregor Gonzales: I wonder, because yeah because, in terms of competition, like.
Gregor Gonzales: When it came to survey games, one of the things that the Professor said is that a designer's what this was in 2019 when when I had signed up but.
Gregor Gonzales: uh and they did the classic who's here for what major and like much joy people raise their hand for designer and they said that's a good example because there's a lot of designers.
Gregor Gonzales: In the industry and love, one of the big things that people are looking for is producers and engineers at the time, it could make changes.
Gregor Gonzales: yearly um but and especially with Kobe and all that stuff happening, it changed and fluctuates um but there's.
Gregor Gonzales: Definitely, a lot more people looking for jobs in the game industry than there were years ago when alcorn created pong, by the way, that's one of the big things that you will learn any willing grave in your head until the end of time is that alcorn created pop.
Ethan Wilde: Fair enough that's good yeah that's a good detail um.
Ethan Wilde: But the individual with the question followed up, they say, like like losing your job if you aren't creative enough that's that's the way they were thinking about it is a competitive field.
Gregor Gonzales: Oh Oh, in terms of that from.
Gregor Gonzales: In terms of that it depends on the company because i'm there I recall a story from other people who came in for interviews is.
Gregor Gonzales: That say, for example, just throwing an example like red dead redemption to what took way I think 10 years to create and had about I think a team of 500 or so i'm not entirely sure, but um.
Gregor Gonzales: Well uh like say say, for example, I know that a rock star created them, but I think the story goes, is that there was a mentality that, regardless of how skillful you are.
Gregor Gonzales: And regardless how much you contributed and put pen depends, as I said, depending on the triple A company and.
Gregor Gonzales: There you're probably stick with a triple A company for about five years and then there's probably going to be layoffs because, in terms of games.
Gregor Gonzales: When it becomes the initial creation of the process yeah you're running a pretty big team because you're trying to figure things out and you're trying to make a game.
Gregor Gonzales: But when it comes to things beyond that the base foundations already there you don't need that many people anymore, so of course, things have to be cut and.
Gregor Gonzales: it's just a few companies, they just put everyone in a random generator 30%.
Gregor Gonzales: Regardless of skill and capabilities, but as long as you show that you're capable of and keep those connect cook those connections, even with people who no longer work with.
Gregor Gonzales: They could find something that could pick you back up on your feet later on down the road so i'm in terms of competition it's a yes, an unknown, but for me personally, primarily know because there's so many so many avenues that you can.
Ethan Wilde: yeah those are great facets, to address that question competition, I like how you look at it from the perspective of kind of supply and demand were like some years that everybody wants to be a designer not enough producers and engineers.
Ethan Wilde: And then the question of.
Ethan Wilde: studios scaling up and then kind of shrinking project teams band that the.
Ethan Wilde: question asked her.
Ethan Wilde: follows up and says so it's kind of like the movie industry, where each project is kind of.
Ethan Wilde: fosters its own team.
Gregor Gonzales: mm hmm yeah yeah.
Gregor Gonzales: that's a good that's a good.
Gregor Gonzales: example to it is yeah it's really where the works needed and if there's just too many people in one thing.
Gregor Gonzales: actually got to move on, or you know things happen.
Ethan Wilde: Right absolutely.
Gregor Gonzales: Or you get bought by Microsoft that might be even better.
Ethan Wilde: possible.
Ethan Wilde: Especially these days.
yeah.
Ethan Wilde: wow well I think it's great that you are currently back in the north bay.
Ethan Wilde: Personally, looking forward to hearing about your future adventures.
Ethan Wilde: As you kind of explore the.
Ethan Wilde: The industry and the field of.
Ethan Wilde: games, now that you've.
Ethan Wilde: graduated from from the utah Program.
Ethan Wilde: I hope you'll stay in touch with with.
Ethan Wilde: Our program and our students.
Gregor Gonzales: Absolutely absolutely because, like I said it's a forever changing industry and what you guys are here to say after completing quest I know that you guys are in your finals and all that and.
Gregor Gonzales: Really, thank you ethan for kind of getting the ball rolling for everyone here as well, because without problems like this.
Gregor Gonzales: was a career ago So where do you start, so thank you so much as well right, I mean.
Ethan Wilde: I appreciate that Gregor I think.
Ethan Wilde: I think we'll see more people following in your footsteps and.
Ethan Wilde: going off to.
Ethan Wilde: To four year degree programs and and heading into the industry that's that's what I hope happens myself.
Ethan Wilde: Did anybody else here want to ask any more questions.
Ethan Wilde: Otherwise, we might wrap up 10 or 15 minutes early tonight.
Ethan Wilde: Well Gregory you're the perfect.
Ethan Wilde: candidate to give our our closing talk for.
Ethan Wilde: For our first year of.
Ethan Wilde: Speaking series maybe we'll do this again in a in an upcoming year, but I really feel like you put a bow on it for us in the Program.
Ethan Wilde: Getting to look forward and go on the journey.
Ethan Wilde: with you as you went out and and figured out how to get more training and in a four year degree.
Ethan Wilde: Thanks so much for your time.
Ethan Wilde: And for sharing all your great work and your stories.
Gregor Gonzales: Well, thank you so much for having me it's really been a pleasure and.
Gregor Gonzales: yeah hope to see y'all as future alumni or whatever colleges you choose from, and don't forget about us don't forget about anybody else do you leave behind as maybe you will be next trailblazer.
Ethan Wilde: yeah that's a great closing remark i'll leave it there and.
Ethan Wilde: i'll sign off for the SEC game development Program.
Ethan Wilde: Have a great summer everybody hope to see some of your faces and.
Ethan Wilde: back.
Ethan Wilde: In the fall semester good night.