Hilmy Abdul Rahim is a lecturer at KDU University College, Malaysia, teaching game development. He instructs game design, game history and game production processes, focusing on how the game industry works, how past incidences influence present designs and how to do game development projects. Over the past ten years of teaching game development, Hilmy has discovered through hard experience what works and what doesn’t. He is now able to guide other teaching institutions on how to teach game development, as part of the service he and his colleagues offer in Malaysia.
Hilmy’s background includes working as a producer in two different game companies, where he learned how different markets can be. If a game development program focuses only on making games the way AAA games are made, it is ignoring the many other ways games are made and sold. Focusing only on one method is an error because graduates may not work in an AAA company. If they choose to freelance or start their own company, the knowledge of the various ways games can be sold will be vital. Hilmy claims, “As educators, we have to pay attention to odd new ways of making and selling games, since we have to determine if that is what our graduates will eventually need to know.”
Building For the Future
Hilmy admits he got into the game industry by chance rather than choice. In his first job, he was given the responsibility of creating a game development degree program, which was the biggest challenge he has faced so far. Resources were scarce, there were very few game development companies in Malaysia, there were no established textbooks, and there was no support for schools teaching game development. And he was alone. Nevertheless, he created the program. However, the education institution then began using the program without due diligence. He stepped in to teach and improve the material, since students had already signed up to earn a degree in this program. Knowing the material for the program was insufficient, he began making connections with game developers in the industry and constantly learning from them, determined that it was the best way to teach the students and to ensure that they would have what they needed to join the industry upon graduation. This took work, but the work paid off. He passes on this lesson to his students, where they learn the value of creating their own network. Hilmy emphasizes the importance of remaining in touch and current with the industry to anticipate what will be coming in the future.
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Over the years, he grew to know people in the industry and how the industry worked. When he left his position, he was invited to join a game development company, and he chooses to remain in the industry because it is filled with people who are willing to help each other. Members of the industry stepped up to help him and his students learn enough to work within the industry. Hilmy believes this kind of support says a lot about their character, and it is a pleasure to work with such people. And, it is fun! Hilmy finds the zaniest conversations in game development studios. Game developers create virtual worlds. Hilmy reminds us that you can’t do this without studying the real world and developing your own unique perspective on how the world works. He says, “Just discussing it is already bizarre, but we have the ability to make something out of these outlandish notions.”
But if Hilmy could not be making games, he would still be doing some sort of multimedia programming and artworks. He is interested in both programming and art, and has always been curious to see how they could work together. He would be interested in doing what Yugo Nakamura and Joshua Davis did with interactive art; they made art and tech combinations that capture people’s interest. Yet Hilmy still finds excitement in working in the industry, the most exciting part being seeing his students go on to gain positions within the game industry locally and overseas. He particularly enjoys seeing them featured in videos talking about their products and seeing them succeed in careers they had told him they wanted when they started learning at age eighteen.
He is now working on a project to document how people join the game industry, since this is a common question his students ask developers. If anyone is willing to share, he would like to record and post it online.
