SYBO工作室的Amy Kalson谈如何成为游戏开发负责人

原作者：Iain Harris 译者：Vivian Xue

游戏行业各类人才集聚，从美术、程序员、剧情设计者到工作室负责人。

担任这些角色需要精通相应的领域、掌握的技巧复杂且各不相同。

因此，看到一款游戏的诞生是一件美好的事，就好比看着拼图逐渐完整。

为了向大家展示游戏制作幕后的精彩工作，为那些想要进入这个行业的人提供帮助。PocketGamer.biz决定开设“Jobs in Games”栏目，与行业内的成员进行接触。

这次，我们邀请到了SYBO工作室的负责人，也是PopCap的前创意总监Amy Kalson。

PocketGamer.biz：能告诉我们您目前的工作角色和负责的内容吗？

Amy Kalson：我是SYBO一款新游戏的开发负责人。我在这家公司工作了大概一年，能与这个曾经开发过《地铁跑酷》这样优秀的作品的团队共事我感到很荣幸。

Subway Surfers(from appup）

我负责这款新游戏的vision（对现在还未具体实现的事物的总体上的掌握、前瞻性的理解和策略上的考量）、设计和开发管理。从确定预算、人员配置、损益计算到整体创意方向都属于我的工作范围。

我花了很多时间与团队和其他部门的人开会和交谈，以确保每个人都清楚游戏的vision以及我们所处的开发阶段，并协调各部门的工作，以确保我们做出一个伟大的游戏。

我的工作是确保所有的需求都得到满足。我的工作一半是创造型一半是管理型的。

PocketGamer.biz：您当初是如何进入这个行业的，又是怎样走到今天这个位置的？

Amy Kalson：1999年的时候我在一家网络公司做程序员，一边为一个技术栏目写文章。

我参加了游戏开发者大会（GDC），发表了一篇关于制作游戏的女性以及她们如何爱上了这个行业。

我回到学校拿到了硕士学位，获得了Maxis公司《模拟市民》游戏项目的实习，从那以后我再没回头过，一直做着游戏。

PocketGamer.biz：你有想过你会做这一行吗？

Amy Kalson：设计和制作游戏是我从孩提时代起就一直在做的事情。小时候我会精心设计一些 “互动节目”然后哄我的妹妹参加。

我10岁的时候在Apple IIe上编写了我的第一个PC游戏，一款不怎么样的开放世界文字游戏。

十几岁的时候，我会设计并主持谋杀谜题派对，邀请我的高中同学参加。当时我从未想过有人能靠这个谋生，直到我去了游戏开发者大会。

我的两个表兄弟/姐妹也是游戏开发者，所以也许我们家族的人有这方面的DNA吧。

PocketGamer.biz：成为一名游戏开发负责人，你为此学习过什么吗(如果有的话)？你建议有这方面抱负的人学习些什么课程？

Amy Kalson：我本科就读于莎拉劳伦斯学院文学院，在那里我学习过戏剧、创意写作（creative writing）、建筑学和神话。

我还在卡内基·梅隆大学的娱乐技术中心修了硕士，我在那里参与了跨学科团队工作，制作游戏和VR体验。
我在研究生院上的最重要的一门课是即兴表演，因为它教会了我如何合作和如何集思广益。

我对有抱负的游戏制作者的建议是学习心理学。我们在为人类创造东西，因此理解人类的心理是成功的关键。

PocketGamer.biz：你觉得工作的哪个部分让你最有成就感？

Amy Kalson：与他人合作。在我职业生涯的早期，我认为游戏本身就是一切，重点在于你做出来的东西。

年纪大了之后，我意识到伟大的游戏来自伟大的团队，所以我现在的工作重点是如何使我的团队把工作做到最好。

PocketGamer.biz：你认为围绕你的专业领域是否存在任何大众的或专业上的误解？

Amy Kalson：我认为仍然存在一种误解，那就是人们认为男性和女性只喜欢某些类型的游戏。

比如我打了很久的《堡垒之夜》而我的丈夫更喜欢《糖果苏打传奇》，这似乎让很多人大吃一惊。

将玩家分成特定的群体也许可以简化营销工作，但也会使你错失很多机会、使一些玩家无法得到良好的服务。

作为行业内的成员，我们需要学会从更复杂的角度来看待事物，否则我们将继续错失机会。

PocketGamer.biz：有什么关于工作或行业的道理是你希望刚入行的人了解的吗？

Amy Kalson：做游戏总是很难。不管你做过多少游戏，这一点是不会变的。

但它也是很美好的、有回报的，充满了学习的机会。

PocketGamer.biz：对于在这个行业找工作的人，你还有什么其他的建议吗？

Amy Kalson：就像任何创意行业一样，这个行业会让你付出很多代价。

你会错过生日、家庭朋友聚会和假期之类的东西。当你觉得你创造出了美好的东西时你会感觉很幸福，但你也会经历那些令你怀疑人生的日子。

然而，每隔一段时间你将乘车前往另一个地方，而当你回头看时，你会发现有人正在玩着你创造出来的东西，这种感觉是非常曼妙的。

而使这一切真正有价值的是你在路上遇到的人，那些在艰难的日子里与你并肩作战的人们，你们共同经历困难、共同见证你们的作品的诞生。

善待彼此。

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

The games industry plays host to an excellent cast of colourful and diverse individuals, from artists and coders to narrative designers and studio heads.

The skills to pull off these roles, however, are complex and differing. With each position requiring mastery in its field.

As such, seeing a game come together is a beautiful thing akin to a puzzle as an overall picture becomes whole.

To highlight some of the brilliant work that goes on behind the screen, and help others who may be keen to dive in, PocketGamer.biz has decided to reach out to the individuals who make up the games industry with our Jobs in Games series.

This time, we caught up with the SYBO game lead and former PopCap creative director Amy Kalson.

PocketGamer.Biz: Can you tell us about your current role and what it entails?

Amy Kalson: At SYBO, I am game lead on one of our new titles.

I’ve been with the company for about a year and it’s humbling and an honour to be with a group with such a pedigree as Subway Surfers.

I’m responsible for the vision, design, and management of the new game. Everything from the budget, staffing and P&L to the overall creative direction.

I spend a lot of time in meetings and talking to people, both on the team and across departments, to make sure everyone knows what the game’s vision is and where we are in the development process and to coordinate efforts across departments and areas to make sure we deliver a great game.

It is my job to make sure all needs and requirements are being met. Half of my job is creative and the other half is management.

PocketGamer.Biz: How did you first get into games and how did you progress into this role?

Amy Kalson: In 1999, I was working as a programmer for a dot-com company and writing a column about technology on the side.

I went to the GDC to write an article about women who make games and fell in love with the industry.

I went back to school to get a master’s degree, got an internship at Maxis on The Sims and never looked back. I’ve been making games ever since.

PocketGamer.Biz: Is it something you ever imagined yourself doing?

Amy Kalson: Designing and making games was something that I always did, from the time I was a kid. I would design elaborate “interactive shows” and would bribe my younger sister to participate.

I programmed my first computer game on an Apple IIe at age 10, an open world text game that wasn’t very good.

As a teenager, I would design and host my own murder mystery parties for my high school friends. It just never occurred to me that people got paid to do this for a living until I went to the GDC.

Two of my cousins are also game developers so maybe there is something in our DNA that favours this profession.

PocketGamer.Biz: What did you study (if anything) to get your role? What courses would you advise for aspiring professionals in the area?

Amy Kalson: I have an undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Liberal Arts, where I studied theatre, creative writing, architecture, and mythology.

I also have a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, where I worked on cross-discipline teams making games and VR experiences.

The most important class I took in graduate school was improvisational acting as it taught me how to work collaboratively and how to brainstorm.

My advice to aspiring game makers is to study psychology. We make things for humans so understanding the human mind is vital for success.

PocketGamer.Biz: What part of your role do you find most fulfilling?

Amy Kalson: Working with other people. Early on in my career, I thought the games themselves were everything and that it was all about what you ship.

Now that I am older, I realize that great games come from great teams of people, and so my focus is now on how to empower my team to do their very best work.

PocketGamer.Biz: Do you think there are any misconceptions, public or professional, surrounding your area of expertise?

Amy Kalson: I think there is still a misperception that women and men only like certain types of games.

For example, I spend a lot of time playing Fortnite while my husband prefers Candy Crush Saga. That seems to surprise a lot of people.

Splitting game demographics into defined boxes may simplify marketing efforts, but it is also leading to a lot of missed opportunities and underserved players.

As an industry, we need to learn to view things on a more sophisticated level or we’ll keep missing out.

PocketGamer.Biz: Is there anything about the job/industry you wish you would have known when first joining?

Amy Kalson: Making games is always hard. It doesn’t get easier no matter how many games you ship.

But it is also beautiful, rewarding and full of learning opportunities.

PocketGamer.Biz: What other advice do you have for someone looking for a job in this profession?

Amy Kalson: Like any creative profession, this industry will cost you a lot.

You’ll miss out on things such as birthdays, family, friends and holidays. You’ll have amazing days where you feel like you’ve created something beautiful, and terrible days where you will doubt your entire life path.

However, every once in a while you’ll be on a bus going somewhere, and you’ll look over and see someone playing something that you made and that feeling will be sublime.

The thing that makes all of this truly worthwhile are the people you meet along the way, the ones in the trenches next to you who are going through the same difficult and wonderful process of birthing a new game.

Be kind to each other. (source：Pocket Gamer.biz ）