In number 6 of the Train2Game blog student interviews, we talk to Train2Game Designer Craig Watkins  (AKA Walkers on the Train2Game forum) He tells us why he decided to take a Train2Game course, a bit about his life around the course and what he hopes to achieve this year.

Remember you can read previous student interviews both here on the Train2Game blog and the Thoughts of Train2Game blog.

Train2Game blog: Hi Craig, why did you choose to study with Train2Game?

Train2Game Designer Craig: I’d wanted a job in IT but I wasn’t really sure what I actually wanted to do. I just wanted to be as close to an IT job as I could so when that when I understood what I wanted from a 9-5 job, I was in a good position to go there.

I didn’t know that Games Designer was a job role. I always thought that the Game Developers and programmers would design the game, while script writers wrote stories for the games that they were making. I tried college to get a foothold in university in order to learn a scripting language and be able to make games. However, I couldn’t study at a college as I get bored easily and need my own motivation.

When I first saw an advert for Train2Game I was very sceptical as it seemed a little too good to be true, but I sent off a request form anyway. Nine months passed and I get a phone call from Train2Game.  I was shocked as I thought I would get an email asking for a lot of money from the get go, but no they went out of their way to phone me for a chat about me and my experience with gaming.

An advisor came round and gave me a lot of confidence about Train2Game and its structure.  I really felt like they wanted to teach me how to become a Games Designer.

Train2Game blog: Which Train2Game course did you decide to take and why?

Train2Game Designer Craig: I chose the Train2Game Games Design course. At first I didn’t 100% know what a Game Designer did but I knew that my skills are more in line with that than the other two options. (Games Developer and Games Artist & Animator)

When I was in school I was obsessed with story driven role-playing games such as Final Fantasy VII.  I used to write down my own game ideas, starting with the genre and a few little comments about what I wanted to achieve – I now know these as Design goals thanks to Train2Game – then I used to write small stories, and then try to link them together to make something bigger.

These were gateways to what I was actually good at; writing game rules, game mechanics, designing content and calculations for scenarios to be resolved by checking against other calculated numbers… these are the things that I loved doing. As I went through the Train2Game course I realised that I really been doing these things for a while just without knowing that was I doing so!

Train2Game blog: What were you doing before you started your Train2Game course?

Train2Game Designer Craig: I was – and still am – working full-time at McDonalds. I have worked there for nearly 7 years now and I’m now a manager at a low-medium volume store.  I manage around 15-30 staff per shift and around 70 staff overall and am part of a management team that drives up to 1.5million pounds of sales a year.

Now I know some of you are saying that it’s a fancy way of saying that I flip burgers, but that isn’t true. McDonalds is one of those jobs that on the surface seems like its one thing then behind the scenes, behind the smiles and the suggestive selling you see what and how the company really runs on, how they manage to get people to come back to the store, how they make sure that they are the best of their industry.

I’ve learned some things while working at McDonalds that I’m not sure that I would learn in other jobs.  It’s full of surprises and no one day is the same with focus and challenges always changing. It’s what kept me there for so long! I get bored quickly and need things to keep me motivated and focused otherwise I drift off.

Train2Game blog: How are you finding balancing the Train2Game course with the rest of your life?

Train2Game Designer Craig: Quite easy to be honest! But that’s all down to the fact that I work 11pm – 7am.  I usually get up late afternoon, spend a few hours with the family, put the kids to bed, watch something with the girlfriend, then get a couple of hours of the Train2Game course in before work. Don’t think I would be able to do it if I worked shifts like I did before!

Train2Game blog: What has been your favourite part of your Train2Game course so far?

Train2Game Designer Craig: I would say it’s the feeling that the Train2Game course gives me that my life is heading in a direction I want to go in. So many times in life we feel as if we don’t have a choice about our actions, that we are going along with the flow regardless of how we wanted it to go and it is hard to swim against the tide. This was the first thing that I worked towards that I wanted to do.

Train2Game blog: What do you hope to achieve with Train2Game this year?

Train2Game Designer Craig: December seems so far away but I really want to have my foot dipped into Section 3 of the Train2Game course,  and I would like to be in a development team and  make a full, successful, enjoyable game if at all possible. I want to be in a close team of people who all want to make fun games as much as me and have the drive and passion to be able to get them to as near a professional level as possible.

Train2Game blog: Thanks Craig.

Train2Game, in association with DR Studios and the University of Bedfordshire, will be holding a Game Jam at the end of March. For more information, see this Train2Game blog post or the Train2Game Game Jam Facebook page. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Train2Game Game Jam Twitter account.