PPD

 I have done a lot over the course of this year, making many mistakes, facing numerous challenges but ultimately leaving with far more knowledge than what I went in with. I have spent most of the year learning and developing my coding skills, with only a very basic understanding at the start of the year, which I have built up into creating my own Tower Defense style game. This game started as a Games Jam project earlier this year, but is something I have continued with well after then to create a playable game.

I have also spent some time working further on my 3D modelling skills, something that was reasonably developed prior to this year, but still needed some work. I learnt much more about 3DS Max over the year and I also started to look into learning other software, namely Blender. Progression was very slow with Blender and I have still been unable to fully pick it up, forcing me to put it on the back burner for a while.

I have gotten far better at both coding and 3D modelling, but I still have a long way to go as a developer, with my storytelling and design skills still lacking quite significantly. While this is quite a major weakness, I am planning on working on it over the holidays, with a plan with my classmate Dylan to create a game based on something he is doing for a Minecraft Realm for our friends. This could create for a very interesting experience, as well as the opportunity to full flesh out some of the ideas that wouldn't quite work in this Realm. We plan for this to be a passion project and a way to stay in touch during University, with us going to opposite ends of the country.

While these are quite glaring weaknesses, I have also built up strengths over the course of the year, with my coding, 3D modelling and problem solving skills being far better than they once were. I feel like I could make good contribution using these skills, even though I am still no professional, and it puts me ahead of others that may be attending my course.

With the game industry growing quickly and new technology being created, as well as quite a lot of the game dev veterans getting older and retiring, there are a lot of job opportunities and openings coming into the sector. With my plans to go to university, I will be able to develop my skills and create a more appealing skillset to employees, which will further expand my horizons and provide me with more opportunities to get a job in the industry.

With the skills I have developed over the course of this year, I have been able to create a more appealing skill set that would be desired in the industry. Not only have I built up the skills that I had at the start of the year to a better level, but I have also developed new skills that would also be wanted within the industry. This widened skill set will make me far more likely to be able to get into the industry, as I now have more paths open to me. Also, with the indie games sector growing recently, it is more likely that I could get a successful job without having to move as far.

However, this growth within the sector will bring with it strong competition who are also going for the same roles as me. The new technologies will require more practice and training, and possibly more qualifications will be required for job roles. This would majorly slow progress in building up the skills required, as the list to learn is getting longer as more things are developed. Many of these new job openings are in other countries, so I may have to move great distances to get my dream job, or I may not be able to go for these opportunities due to financial circumstances. 

This strong competition is still a factor, even with my expanded skill set. Despite the slowed training time, I have still started to learn some new software that I would need.

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