Following is a Q&A with one of the 749 students who received a diploma Dec. 16 at UW-Stout.
Name: Hue Vang
Hometown: Two Rivers
Major: Masters of Fine Arts in design; focus on narrative game design
Awards, honors: Tomb Raider Reborn art contest finalist, 2013; Best Visuals, Gameplay and Most Entertaining Game, spring 2017 Stout Game Expo; Best Independent Game, fall 2017 Stout Game Expo; M+DEV People’s Choice Award, 2017.
Why did you choose UW-Stout? Prior to UW-Stout, I earned a Bachelor of Science in biology at UW-Oshkosh. But since kindergarten, my lifelong dream was to become an artist. In 2013, I wanted to pursue a game design career and looked heavily at the West Coast for a good program, but it was far away and expensive. That same year, Dave Beck and Diane Christie’s senior game design students created Flash Frozen and tied for best game at the E3 national competition. This caught my attention, and being a native of Wisconsin it made my decision to attend UW- Stout a no-brainer.
What are the biggest obstacles you faced in earning your degree? At first my plan was to go for a second undergraduate degree, a BFA in game design and development. I finished my first year at UW-Stout as an undergrad, but shortly after a professor suggested to instead think about going for a Master of Fine Arts so I could truly focus on my craft. Once I was accepted into the MFA program, the biggest obstacle I faced was effective communication among large teams. Getting that right was a challenge, but the experience was very important for my growth.
What stands out among your college experiences? When Flash Frozen won at E3 in 2013, it was deeply inspiring and was one of the main reasons I chose UW Stout. I made it a goal to also win a national student competition. After four years of hard work, that goal finally came to fruition. In 2017, the game I worked on with 11 others, Everend, won for Best Visual Quality at the Intel University Games Showcase during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. I hope that our win will inspire incoming students the same way Flash Frozen inspired me. Also, the strong support from my professors was nothing short of a gift. I’ve learned a lot from them beyond art and design that helped me grow as a person.
What’s next? Finding a job in the industry as a concept artist/illustrator. In the meantime, I have many side projects that I’d like to work on, one of them being my thesis game, Sun of the Children. With the necessary support, finishing that game and publishing it on Steam would be awesome.
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