To begin with, he started to clone already existing games like Flappy Bird, Super Mario Brothers to learn the advanced concepts of gaming.
Gaming Industry has been offering a vast array of opportunities to the young developers and so has a young Kashmiri man decided to invest his skills in this field. The creation of this virtual world involves different dimensions of art to which only a skilled person can do justice. In the summer of 2017, Amir Yatoo set up his gaming studio, Santafeast after completing his BTech from SRM University.
Amir reveals that he had never really planned to be a games developer though he had an appetite for technology from the very beginning. “It wasn’t accidental either. I believe that all these games that we used to play in our childhood have a deep impact on us,” he says.
He eventually found himself pursuing a degree in electronics and communication and it was there that this 26-year-old considered a career in the gaming sector.
“In my third semester, we were given a project to work upon wherein I designed an Android App called ‘Engineers Calculator’ which was entirely based on software. I learnt JAVA, Android Studio, Eclipse and basic prototyping in six months and was able to create my app. To be honest, my course had nothing to with me wanting to be a games developer and I ventured on my own to explore new ideas. I was fascinated by coding and started to dig deeper. I even took online courses to learn various tools of game development,” says Amir.
To begin with, he started to clone already existing games like Flappy Bird, Super Mario Brothers to learn the advanced concepts of gaming. Shortly after that he worked as a freelancer and worked on small game projects as a firsthand experience in mobile game industry.
“After August 2017, I started working in my studio on full time basis. Till now I have successfully developed three games while several others are still in production phase. Two of them, ‘Arrow Swings’ and ‘Lucent- Meteors Crusher’ are available on Play Store and are rated above 4.8. I am very happy to see the kind of feedback I have received so far especially from foreign countries,” he says.
Though this industry has a promising future but it is still struggling to gain recognition, which is the reason why most people consider it as a feasible career option. Amir shunned all the criticism that followed him all through the way, concluding that this was all due to lack of awareness and would eventually change once he becomes successful.
Talking about the hardships he had to face, he says, “It’s very hard to market a game with zero budget even if your game has potential to grow or has a market value. Reaching to the audience becomes a challenge and that is what I am working on. Since this concept is new in Kashmir, so whenever I need technical assistance, I find it difficult to consult a professional from the same field due to lack of any.”
Two international game publishers have agreed to bring out two games of Santafeast marking a great development for the studio. One company, 1208 Production, belongs to USA while the other, VOODOO, is in France.
“I have already started to make games for VOODOO and I am expecting a release by the end of July. This will be a big achievement and I am really looking forward to it,” says Amir.
For him the best treat is when people from farthest corners of the world reach out to him and share their experience with him.
“When people appreciate your creation, every hardship that you have faced to reach where you are seems insignificant. Being an indie developer, you need to love your work. The whole process of game development is intriguing. Innovation, learning new things, meeting new people, all this adds to your experience.”
Box: “It’s very hard to market a game with zero budget even if your game has potential to grow or has a market value. Reaching to the audience becomes a challenge and that is what I am working on. Since this concept is new in Kashmir, so whenever I need technical assistance, I find it difficult to consult a professional from the same field due to lack of any
Source : https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/op-ed/rainawari-engineer-builds-kashmir-s-first-gaming-studio/288833.html
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