Have you ever wanted something, but didn’t really know how to say it? That was me until now. The past few months have been interesting in that I’ve had to ask myself: “Where am I trying to get to?” I quit my job in Japan and returned to the United States to look after family while attempting to break into the video game industry, but it wasn’t until now that I realized how vague that goal was. What exactly is breaking into the video game industry?
At first I thought it was just YouTube. I began my YouTube career while in Tokyo, Japan as a creative outlet to make up for my trapped feelings at work. I also believed it would be a great entry point into the industry, and I’m pleased to say my hunch was correct. Thanks to my identity as a YouTuber and my passion for horror, I had the honor of joining a community surrounding Friday The 13th. Within that community I met YouTubers, livestreamers, voice actors, entertainers, news outlets, and developers each with a particular role to play in the development of Friday The 13th The Game. I had no idea how important communities were and how much of an ecosystem they have. Within this ecosystem there are rules, expectations, customs, and an entirely different world from my days studying to be a translator at graduate school.
I’ve only been a part of this gaming scene for four months, and while I’m still learning, I love almost every moment of it. I have seen how a game is developed and the challenges a company faces after launching, I’ve experienced fielding questions from disgruntled customers, I’ve witnessed the marketing strategies between developers and content creators, I’ve seen dozens of strangers gather in a voice chat room to listen to fan fiction surrounding a game, I’ve seen a fan of the game get hired by a game company due to his commitment and love for their upcoming game / product. I have had the privilege to interview a video game executive producer face-to-face and then play with him in the game his company made while being livestreamed to 100 people online.
After experiencing all of this for the past four months I can say that I broke into the industry and have become a part of it. But I had to keep asking myself, “what is my role in this industry and where do I want to go?” “If I walk down a certain path, am I going to be satisfied with it 20 or 30 years from now?” For the past couple of months this has been on my mind. While I kind of knew what I wanted, I couldn’t really put it in words. Three months ago, I used to solely focus on YouTube and I measured my success based on the number of subscribers I had, but now I realize my perspective was off. I was wrong for several reasons because it’s not subscriber numbers that determine success of a video, it’s watch time. Second, and most importantly viewing your subscribers as a number, is kind of rude. Each subscriber is a person with a name, a life and a dream. Long story short, YouTube subscriber numbers is not how I measure success anymore.
What’s Next?
As of now, I hope to take Mad-Eye Games to the point where I can provide marketing and consulting services and eventually make games people love and enjoy. If I could make this a success within 3-5 years, that would be amazing. There are several obstacles in the way. These range from learning game development software, to understanding marketing, mastering SEO, to building a client base, a good reputation, and knowing people in the industry. While I am still learning, it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It just means I need to work my butt off, and that’s fine.
I’ve got some goals lined up for myself and hopefully by writing them, it will give me an accountability partner and a track for which I can proceed towards my goals as quickly as possible.
Goals in order to approach my dream of starting a company and making it a success:
Learn game development software by taking lessons and then expanding upon those lessons by making free games for my subscribers and followers.
Start a weekly or biweekly podcast
Improve my video editing and content creation skills by making videos no one else has made on YouTube and separating it through high quality editing and putting a new spin on games old and new.
Make a community
Start livestreaming 1x a week and host events with the community
Learn 3D modeling and coding well enough that I can start selling assets in online stores.
Get my first client in the Boston area
Start building my client list and earning a steady income
Hire Staff
Mission Accomplished -> Now it’s time to work work work
Vanessa is an All-American track and field star at her school. Leading her team to Nationals since freshman year, Vanessa developed a reputation for being the best sprinter in New Jersey. When it comes to competition, Vanessa is always focused on winning and never letting her team down. Vanessa’s speed allows her to control the pace of the game by using her mobility to find parts for vehicles and lead Jason away from injured counselors. If you prefer speed and actively outpacing and juking Jason, Vanessa is a good choice for you.
Vanessa’s speed and stamina enable her to search locations quickly and rush to assist her teammates. You can use her offensively to search for parts and harass Jason. Or you could use her defensively to save counselors and kite Jason away. While stealth and sneaking around may not be Vanessa’s style, it is important to not blow the cover of stealthier characters when using her. She is ideal for a solo player who is willing to communicate with teammates and on occasion stun Jason and lead him away.
When playing as Vanessa, you don’t have to sprint to a cabin in the opening parts of a match. Simply jog to the nearest cabin or even search outside for weapons, or items. Even if Jason were to morph to your location, you can easily outrun him as long as you don’t waste your stamina by sprinting aimlessly across the map. Of course if Jason does teleport next to you, RUN!
Your main goal if you want to escape with your life is to protect counselors who can repair vehicles or the fuse box for the phone. If all of the counselors are dead, you will have a difficult time trying to escape. Your low repair skill causes you to take more time and increases the probability of mistakes.
Playing as Vanessa takes initiative and constant communication on your part. If you want to protect the lives of your fellow counselors, focus on searching areas quickly. If you find an objective item, bring it to the objective point. Do not install it yourself! Instead, drop it right next to the objective point and inform your teammates of the item’s location. This way another character with good repair skill can install the vehicle part while you distract Jason.
Your other objective is to keep Jason’s attention on you and lead him away from the slower counselors. If you can keep Jason on you while you search for parts, you’ll bide time for your teammates to get things fixed and thus increase your overall odds of escape. Oh and did I mention you get a real workout?
Extra Tips
Contact your teammates when you’ve found other items such as med spray, extra pocket knives (keep one for yourself), firecrackers, or the location of the fuse box.
The walkie talkie is your greatest asset in this game. Keep providing updates when you can and know where Jason is and whether or not he is attacking a counselor.
Make sure you search an entire cabin before leaving it. If you say you’ve searched an entire cabin and did not find any parts, you’d better be accurate. It could make or break a game.
If you hear a counselor getting in trouble, run over and hit Jason to provide them time to hide or escape.
If you’ve brought all of the items to the objective points, focus on grabbing Jason’s attention and have him chase you.
Pros
Cons
The fastest counselor at Camp Blood. Great for kiting Jason and retrieving supplies.
Not stealthy. Most likely to get sensed by Jason.
Long distance runner.
Will have difficulty repairing any vehicle or generator.
Pretty lucky (6) so she's less likely to have her weapon break and less likely to take damage crawling through broken windows.
More likely to freak out after witnessing too much of the horrors of Camp Blood and Jason.
Eric Lachappa is your typical class clown who likes to snoop about and cause mischief for a laugh. When he isn’t playing Dungeons and Dragons with his friends, he is usually pulling pranks on unsuspecting ladies. Leave it to him to lighten the mood, but don’t let that act fool you. He’s very smart and is quite capable of repairing anything. If you’re the type of character who wants to repair vehicles and keep the lights working at the camp while being able to elude Jason when necessary, Eric is a good fit for you. While Eric may not rely on brute strength, his cunning and intellect are his greatest weapons in surviving the night at Camp Blood.
Due to Eric’s lack of speed and stamina, he is arguably one of the most difficult characters to use in Friday The 13th The Game. Eric does best when teaming up with other counselors and staying in the vicinity of several cabins with many places to hide. A direct confrontation with Jason will lead to a swift death.
At the start of the game get inside a house quickly. You should not stay out in the open otherwise you risk Jason morphing on top of you. Once you have your bearings and hopefully a weapon, or a vehicle-part, use a walkie talkie to locate the vehicles and possibly the fuse box for the phone. Do not leave the safety of your starting cabin unless you see a nearby counselor or if there are several cabins surrounding your location or if you are positive Jason isn’t around. Your main weakness is the lack of speed and stamina so only travel long distances with a group or if you know Jason is distracted.
To increase your chances of survival, it is best to be in an area where there are 3 or 4 cabins close together. So in the event you incapacitate Jason, you can run and possibly hide in a near-by closet or under a bed to fool him. The main building in Higgins Haven and Packanack can be useful for hiding, but have an escape plan and know where to move next if you need to make a break for it.
Extra Tips
Make sure you have a map and a walkie talkie. Communication is crucial for Lachappa’s survival.
If you’re isolated in a cabin with no walkie talkie and you find a vehicle-part, take a weapon instead. Remember where the special part is and come back for it later. Getting caught in the open with no weapon will lead to your death.
When the police are on their way and you have a good hiding spot, stay put. Do not go into the open road unless you see another player you can team up with.
In the event Jason corners you and a counselor in a cabin, have the faster counselor lead Jason away while you hide under a bed or in a closet.
Pros
Cons
Has a very easy time repairing vehicles and generators.
The slowest runner in the group. Can only run short distances.
Can sneak around Camp Blood with ease due to his high stealth.
Doesn't take too much for Eric to get scared. Shouldn't be exposed to the terrors of Camp Blood for a long period of time.
Has mediocre luck so might be less likely to take damage crawling over broken windows.
Low strength rating means he'll do less melee damage to Jason.
So I finally managed to log in to play the game and even managed to kill Jason with my fellow friends and moderators from the F13 discord server. Check out the video below! Next post will be an updated guide to playing LaChappa and after that different updated guides for all of the counselors and Jasons. Stay tuned and enjoy the video!
