The session, featuring Shepparton game developer Jackson Neckhip, will be held at Gamer’s Resort.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Future game makers, assemble, for there is a session about to inspire you to truly bring your creative visions to life, or, pixels.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Local game designer Jackson Nexhip will soon present a Creative City session for those considering game development as a creative career and those keen to see, and play, the creations of some of Jackson’s protégés, live and large.
Currently creating a nature exploration game where you play as a robot, called Robowild, which will be exhibited at PAX in Melbourne this October, Mr Nexhip has been designing games since 2018 after a career switch from chemistry.
Jackson Nexhip’s Robowild game is currently in development.
He says the two fields aren’t as dissimilar as they may seem.
“The thing that appealed to me about chemistry was we would sometimes make models or simulations based on different chemistry or physics equations to predict how something was going to behave in a test tube,” Mr Nexhip said.
“I think that was what sort of bridged me into game development.
“A video game is basically a simulation, it's like you’re programming all these different rules ... and then you’re hitting a button to just set it all into motion and you see what happens.”
He was fascinated by the combination of problem solving, mathematic challenges, programming, software, art, sound and music in game development.
“I just realised it was this thing that just involves basically every other discipline all in one and I thought that was really interesting,” Mr Nexhip said.
Largely self-taught after falling down a YouTube rabbit hole and then exploring the whole warren, Mr Nexhip has his own YouTube channel, Slightly Esoteric Game Development, where he is now the creator of tutorials.
“There’s a lot of brilliant stuff out there and it costs nothing if you’ve got an internet connection and a computer, and the willingness to learn, you know, you can learn just about anything from the internet really,” he said.
But, as someone who spends many hours communicating with others mostly through screens, he says physical presence is important to maintain in the gaming world, which is why he started running in-person game development classes about six months ago.
They are held on Friday afternoons at Shepparton’s Gamer’s Resort.
His foundation students now have real games ready for guests at Monday night’s session to road test after Mr Nexhip’s presentation.
Mr Nexhip will talk about his path and what the day-to-day of being a game developer looks like, while a special guest will also address the crowd, outlining study options and career pathways.
The So You Want to Make Games? session is on Monday, May 11, from 6pm to 8pm at Gamer’s Resort, 20 Edward St, Shepparton (across from Shepparton Brewery).
10°C