WEBVTT - Tech Feature: Careers beyond coding 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:02.840 Seven Feature. 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:07.160 Eighteen minutes to two o'clock and I'll take feature for today. 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:10.680 We're going to talk about careers beyond coding, and I 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.800 think this is a big one, especially for young people 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.800 who are really looking at getting into the space. We 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.239 take your calls on audible one double A three h 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:21.840 seven oh two the WhatsApp line oh seven two seven 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.360 oh two one seven oh two as we are joined 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:28.520 by Tabotolo, who is the CEO and game designer at 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.559 Space Salid Studios. Tabo, welcome to the show. How are 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.120 you doing good? 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:35.800 Thanks to yourself. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.640 Okay, I am doing well. I'm doing well, Tubo. So 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:45.880 let's get started with what Space Salid Studios does before 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.760 we jump into what careers are there beyond coding. 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.240 So thing, I forgot to say hi to the listeners 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:57.400 as well, pardon me, but so yeah. Three PET Studios 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:02.360 is a video games company. We specialize in developing game 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:05.880 space off of social commentary and we use humor to 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.399 break down some of the complex issues that we see 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.759 in the world. We also create interacts of experiences through 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:19.520 gamification where we gamify. Basically, we looked at four different 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:24.800 industries in the events space, digital marketing, education, and training 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.640 as well as the FMCG space, and we create gamification 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:35.039 tools to create a new experience for your customers or 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:36.199 your audiences. 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:42.440 Okay, so let's then talk about other types of careers. 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:47.119 Let's touch on coding where it's had that it being 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.160 so big, and then moving on to all the other 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:52.320 different spaces beyond coding. 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:59.680 Cool. So I guess everybody knows, at least they should 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:03.160 know what coding is, and I guess it's probably one 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:07.280 of the key drivers of the four are movement, and 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:09.480 for a lot of people it's like if you could code, 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:14.200 you're probably guaranteed to have a long lasting career in 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:19.440 the Indus four I are in uh in the movement 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:23.440 that you're currently in right now. But as far as 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:29.240 like coding outside of thing beyond the text space or 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:35.040 specifically in my industry, coding is very essential because you 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.480 need a developer to put in the sound and the 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:43.240 visuals together to develop to the final product, which is 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:47.200 the game essentially, and without it you probably just have 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:51.280 like an animated video. But there are a lot of 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:57.120 opportunities within the text industry as well as the gaming 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.560 industry specifically, where you don't need to be a code 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.200 or you have any experience in coding, and you can 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:04.880 still build a career for yourself. 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:09.080 I'm just wondering in terms of skills, I want to 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.040 touch on it a little bit. There are the obvious 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.160 skills that a person would need to have in this industry, 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:19.799 But what would you say are the skills that would 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.080 be an added bonus if a person also happen to 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:24.320 have those skills. 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.800 So, as far as gaming is concerned, that I always 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:34.400 look at the cost three, which is sound, visuals as 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.880 well as the coding. But what we could also extend 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.800 it to is because for example, my company, we are 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.440 running a business. We do need accountants, we do need lawyers, 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.200 you know, we do need writers people that are going 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:53.680 to come up with amazing stories for our characters. So 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:57.280 there's a lot of roles that you one can consider 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:01.360 that are needed in the in the in the company 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.240 as well as game testers. You know, you'd be surprised, 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.600 especially in the text space, how badly we need people 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:12.080 to test our new apps and our new games because 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:15.800 once we launch, you know, you want to be confident 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.479 that the game that we've developed is good enough for 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.120 the market, and you know, first impressions count, So you 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.080 don't want to release something that is buggy and then 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:31.000 people automatically associate your brand with you know, low quality stuff. 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:34.159 So those are like just some of the careers that 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:39.960 also sorry, the skills that you could potentially have within 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.440 the gaming industry that one might not consider. 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:47.640 I'm so glad you mentioned the part, you know, for example, accountants, 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:53.000 because if I think about my industry of TV production, 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:58.600 it's almost it almost becomes its own specialty to understand 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:04.279 how to cost certain things, how to balance the books accordingly, 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.080 with the industry being very unique where now you need 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:11.080 to explain to a person instead of having to explain no, 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.280 when we use this terminology, this is what we're referring to, 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:17.239 and that's why it's a cost of sales or why 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.119 this is a non a text deductible, whatever the case 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:24.320 may be. And I think it's it's quite helpful that 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.440 you mentioned that because it means that if there are 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:30.040 people who are passionate about gaming but happen to find 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:35.560 themselves even maybe in the legal world, where they might 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:43.480 be interested in coming into your space. Yes, so sorry, 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:44.320 go ahead. 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.960 Now just about to add as well, just as much 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.719 as legal is so important because sometimes you do create 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:57.480 art that might you know, question a certain topic or 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.920 that might highlight like with us we make games based 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.400 on social comment chence. Most of the times. With our 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:06.719 political landscape, people you might be there's a lot of 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:08.800 grey areas and you'd like to be sure that the 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.800 content that you're releasing is not offensive to anyone or 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:14.640 it might not lend you into trouble, you know. So 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:18.360 those are definitely skills that we need, even like producers 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.840 as well, because we have deadlines ourselves, you know, we 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.120 need to make sure that when we sat a deadline 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.080 or target for the end of the year, we meet 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.680 that target. So just like with I'm glad that you 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:34.400 mentioned what you do like film and television, some of 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:38.880 the roles as well to meet you know, the roles 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:41.960 that you have in informing television, we also have the 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:45.040 same like if you have we need active you know, 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:49.760 for if we're using mod chaps for three D animations. 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:51.919 So those are the types of skills that we also 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:56.839 need in the industry that are not spoken about or 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:57.760 not enough. 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:03.120 At least because also things like voiceover artists and and 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:04.120 the list goes on. 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.239 Under person per I could I could speak for hours 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:11.400 and in terms of how many skills that we need 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:15.600 internally outside of the three core major skills. But I 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.000 don't think I have enough side. 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:22.440 Talk to me about because there's also room for writers 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:28.520 in terms of things like putting together storylines and building characters, 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.040 which sounds super fun. And only now as we're talking, 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:37.120 I'm realizing how similar our industries are. It's almost identical 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:41.480 except for you. You the player. You have to create 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:46.680 a world where the players can operate and decide what 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:52.600 the characters are doing. In terms of in terms of designing, 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:58.080 let's say in the gamification world, where you have all 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:02.720 these people from your programmers, to your your designers, to 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:07.480 your sound designers, your writers, all of those things at 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.400 what like in the in terms of that process, who 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.160 in the pipeline is the one that has the final say, 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.880 the final sign off of like I don't like the 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.880 sound of that gunshot or that sword. Well, I don't 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.720 like the sound when these characters walk. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:29.280 Yeah, so it was gaming. It's a collaborative process. I 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:33.280 wouldn't say like somebody has the last call. Obviously we 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.960 do have like our directors or the leads of the 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:39.719 specific industry that you mentioned where it's the sound where 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:45.080 the story. So those guys will potentially have the final 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.400 say as to what comes out. But once the product 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:51.600 comes together, I guess then that the whole team will 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:53.480 have to come in and give feedback. You know. They 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.040 will then find it as the testers as well, they'll 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:59.280 say that maybe speed up this it's taking too long 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.920 to get to this point, or maybe this character, we've 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.360 killed the character off too early. Maybe we can keep 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.440 them for him for a longer period of time, because 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.600 we want to get the character arc just right so 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:13.720 that the player still engages with the game for a 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.559 longer period of time. Because with most gaming, one thing 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:19.800 you must remember is it's one of the reason why 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.000 it's one of the biggest industries in the world right now, 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:28.800 is because unlike our unlike existing traditional media, we can 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:33.440 capture people's attension for a lot longer, you know, and 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.199 we've seen it now when we've tested it out with 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:39.520 like with the digital marketing, Unlike traditional digital marketing where 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:43.959 it's like a detic post or a video, with gamification, 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.880 I can keep the audience locked in a lot longer. 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.600 I can also entice the audience to share the game 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.240 with their friends. You know, if there's a leaderboard. I mean, 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:57.280 if it's like a co op situation where you have 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.160 to play with your friend, you know, and I can 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.880 also capture important data because I've gotten me for this long, 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:06.800 I can kind of like we've already treated like a 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:11.160 relationship together. So you're most susceptible to you know, sharing 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.880 some of your data or purchasing a product because you 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:20.439 now have made some form of connection with the game 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.520 and the message that's been trying that's been portrayed within 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:24.960 the game. 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:30.640 You mentioned that the games need to be tested. Share 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.320 with me what that means and what that means for 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:37.520 the people that would be doing the testing, Like is 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:40.520 it an actual job or volunteers can come and give 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.880 you feedback, So. 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.280 It is an actual job. Countries like the US have 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:52.320 like dedicated like people that they hired to test, but 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:54.600 then there's also volunteers as well, you know, like our 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:56.920 industry is still starting out, so a lot of you 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.080 rely on a lot of volunteers to come in and 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.480 test the game. And what usually looks like it sounds 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:04.960 cool at first, I guess in the beginning, it's not 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:09.680 that fun because it's either you're testing for bugs. So 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:13.199 if there's like a collation in the code, or if 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:17.280 the character keeps disappearing or gets stuck, which stares ruin 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:20.079 the play experience. So that's one of the things. So 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.680 you're probably just walking into walls, you know. That's also 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.160 another way of like another the role of a test 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:28.200 is if maybe the colliders are in the right place, 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.360 and the collider is like an invisible war that stops 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:37.040 you from going through the mesh or whatever the world 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.800 that you're living in. So some some testers have to 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.960 walk through different walls, you know, for hours and hours 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:43.760 at a time. 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.320 But so doing the same thing over and over again 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:52.520 and basically not having fun because it at some point 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.439 becomes a job, right of like please do it again, 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.440 Please do it again, Please do it again. 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.319 Yes, because because gamer are really smart, they're like they'll 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:04.640 break your game. They'll like break it and then expose 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.520 you online and say this game, this is how you 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:09.840 cheat the game or whatever. So we need to really 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:14.040 make sure that whoever plays our game, it's really difficult 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.640 for them to break it, you know. And that means 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.480 that and also hours, Like I said, engagement is a 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.280 big thing in gaming. So a lot of people be 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.600 spending like eighty hours a day or not eighty hours 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.640 a week, so playing video games, you know, So that's 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.440 like a lot of time dedicated to what's doing one thing, 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:32.960 and a lot could happen in that in that in 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.000 that in that space. So with tests they really key 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:39.520 in like the whole development of the of the product, 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:43.440 because within that they'll know where the where the game 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:45.439 breaks and then we can fix it as the depths 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:47.559 and have a proper product. 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:50.600 Please share with us what are some of the games 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:55.840 that are accessible right now that the listeners can already 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.000 start to taste out that they can know actually this 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:00.760 is a soft African game. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.000 Well, you can I guess for start up some Yeah, 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.120 you can check out our games. You can go to 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.360 our website or go to our social media at space 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.440 Sellers that a and it will link you to our 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:18.079 website at space seller Studios dot com. Were on Steam. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:22.800 We also on the App Store and the Android Android Store. 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.040 We've actually worked on a game with the Pedo where 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:29.199 you can play the favorite political leader and we justify 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:30.560 the social ills. 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.760 Yes, oh my gosh, that sounds so cool. 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:40.880 Yeah, it's called two Weekly. It's an economic point of order. Yes, yes, 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.240 check it out. But there's also studios like Free Lives, 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.000 which is one of the biggest. You can get to 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.760 the games on PlayStation Xbox, but those are like complete games. 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:53.480 But if you want to like become a tester, I 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.240 think you can also reach out to us on our 0:13:55.280 --> 0:14:00.600 social media page and if they are openings, because we 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.000 are we're always working on new games and new products 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.000 and we're looking for people to come in and break 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:09.000 them so that we can fix them. And that's the 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:10.920 whole thing with there is you always have to like 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:15.240 fix things. And yeah, but as well as like our games, 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:17.400 you can find them our persform. But if they look 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.520 if they want to test, and they can hit us 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:23.240 up as well on our social media and then we 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:24.160 can take it from there. 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:29.160 I'm sure so many people would be absolutely excited to 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.320 come and taste, but they better be EVID gamers so 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.040 that you are able to walk away with what you 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:39.920 need to Space sellid Studios dot com or space sealid 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.600 z A on all of social media. Table thank you 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:45.400 for chatting to us on our take feature.