Around three years ago I took my first steps into the games industry. Now I'm reasonably well known, recognised as an expert in my area and get to present at conferences around the world. The things that have helped me achieve that though aren't all that hard, and in this talk I discuss some of the tools I've used to become who I am, as well as talking a lot about my own insecurities and those that many other developers were able to share with me.

1. You’re Not Special, Neither am I
Luke Dicken
@LukeD

2. Who am I?
Writer
Lecturer
Game
Developer
Community
Advocate
Research

3. I’m Not Special

4. How Did I Get Here?

5. Choices

6. Commitment

7. Tools to Help

8. Social Networks

9. Blogs

10. Events

11. Community

12. Play Games!

13. Make Games!

14. I Haven’t Got it All Figured Out

15. I’m Terrified
!
Anyone saying they aren’t is lying
…or a sociopath

16. I’m Not Alone

17. “I'm afraid of not being smart or
savvy enough to keep up with
the geniuses that I adore in the
industry!”
Linn Søvig
Spillmakerlauget
(Norwegian Game Developers Guild)

18. “I’m most afraid of becoming
obsolete if I don’t keep my skills
up to date. It’s a struggle to
keep moving forward when you
have to run just to stand still.”
Kaye Elling
Lecturer, University of Bradford

19. “I’ll show up at work and the
doors are closed, the locks have
been changed and the project I
am working on has been
cancelled.”
Andy Schmoll
Games System Designer
Arkane Studios

20. “I’m scared that if I didn’t do
what I do every day, no one
would notice and the world
would be no better off.”
Thomas Welsh
Editor, CalmDownTom

21. “Realizing my skills were just
luck and mediocrity all along.”
Jurie Horneman
Freelance Designer/Producer

22. “I'm most scared of people
hating my work.”
Andrew Smith
MD, Spilt Milk Studios

23. “Even though I've been doing
what I do since 2001, I still fear
that I am just talking out of my
ass.”
Tristin Hightower
Operations Manager, IGDA

24. Are You Scared?

25. You Are Not Special

26. You Are Not Alone

27. It’s OK to be scared
It’s OK to not know what you are
doing
!
It’s not OK to let it stop you.

28. Get in touch
•Email - luke@igda.org
•Twitter - @LukeD
•Web - http://lukedicken.com/

29. Useful Resources
• Darius Kazemi’s “Effective Networking in the
Game Industry”
• http://tinysubversions.com/effective-networking/
• Find a mentor
• http://gamementoronline.org
• Watch free lectures
• http://gdcvault.com

30. Useful Resources
• IGDA Scotland
• http://igdascotland.org
• info@igdascotland.org
• Global Game Jam
• http://globalgamejam.org
• IGDA Scholarships
• http://igda.org/scholars/