Journeys all have one thing in common, they start and end somewhere. My journey, the journey of what is now Pizza Box Games, has been in the making for quite some time. I remember being thirteen and thinking ‘ I want to make video games someday.’
At the time I felt, like many thirteen year old kids, that anything is possible. After all, I had my whole life ahead of me and nothing to lose. I had always been drawn to art through sketching, painting, and to be honest finding ways to procure some version of 3D modelling software. In my teenage years I found myself pulled and tugged by several creative avenues for my future. I dabbled in acting, dipped my toe in writing poetry (yes, it was bad), and spent a good deal of time with a digital camera.
Nothing really satisfied my hunger and thirst for creativity like spending time sketching up a video game character or writing a fictional narrative. I decided to embrace my passion for video games and go to college for video game design. The program wasn’t what I expected, but opened a door to the art world. Immediately I became more interested in conceptual art, fine art, and more traditional forms of creativity.
I transferred to a liberal arts college and took on a focus in painting. Four years later I walked out with a lot of knowledge, skills, and a feeling like something was missing. I lost the reason why I was going to school, why I was learning all of these amazing subjects. After graduating I spent the next year figuring out what the hell I wanted to do. Make comic books? No. Become a graphic designer? Didn’t sound like me. Or I could do what everyone suggests these days and do some freelance web design? Nope!
One thing kept crying out in the back of my mind, like a child lost in a city alley screaming out for help. The child within me, that thirteen year old in me cried out something that I was somewhat afraid to admit. ‘ You need to make video games!’
When I admitted to myself this is the path I want to take I began looking into work opportunities. Because of some circumstances in life I wasn’t able to move out of the area, so it came down to remote work. Even after five years of school and what seemed to be endless practice I wasn’t confident in my work to become a concept artist. I definitely wasn’t adept at 3D software to push out a portfolio.
So, I decided to take control of my life’s goal. I planned on starting a video game studio, then I began the stages to actually start said studio. Now, well.. now I’m in the middle of learning Unity, writing scripts, and preparing a business plan. It is a truly exhilarating feeling fourteen years of work and progress inching ever-closer to the starting line of making games for a living.
Pizza Box Games is intended to be a new kind of game studio. A studio that is open and honest about what is happening on a personal and professional level throughout development of all projects. Obviously there will be certain things held close to the chest until the time is right to talk about and show what is being worked on. Every two weeks there will be a new post encapsulating development/learning processes or a personal view on creating games. Thanks for reading, until next time,
-JT
Pizza Box Games 