Jayden Wijeyakulasuriya is a Game Development major planning to graduate in 2029 and join his dad in the family of Boilermaker alumni. Wijeyakulasuriya loves the intersection of creativity and technology, like the art, music, animation and coding of game development. He plans to make indie games after earning his degree and getting more industry experience. As one of the developers of a recently-published game called Dino Deathmatch, he’s already working on that experience by joining a game development challenge on campus held by SIGGD, a special interest group on campus.
Q: Why Purdue?
Wijeyakulasuriya: My dad went to Purdue for his master’s and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, and I was born very close to campus. It's always been somewhere I've felt connected, and the fact that it has one of the best game development programs in the country made it all the more appealing to me.
Why are you interested in game development?
I chose game development because I’ve always loved making collaborative projects that take a lot of different skills. Instead of only doing one thing, I’m able to keep doing art, animation, music, coding, and voice acting because of game development.
What do you hope your degree will equip you to do in the industry?
I hope that this degree will give me the experience in making games that'll help me build an impressive portfolio and be a useful asset in the gaming industry. I really am looking forward to having my name in a couple of published games to clearly show my abilities in a finished product.
What’s in your future?
If I had just graduated, I would be looking for a job, immediately being able to start working and gaining experience in the industry. Ideally I'd love to branch off after a few years in the industry to make my own indie games.
What motivates you?
I'm motivated by my creative drive, and my desire to make the best product possible in my works. I hate submitting work I'm not proud of, and I'm extremely happy when the work I've put into something pays out in the end—whether that's my math homework or a game I'm developing!
What has been your biggest challenge or win so far?
My biggest challenge has to be the transition to all these new softwares. Coming out of high school as a Google Drive/Docs/Gmail exclusive person, it was a big change from what I was used to. My biggest win so far at Purdue was publishing my first video game with the help of two of my friends during the SIGGD (Special Interest Group for Game Development) club's Game Jam, an event that challenges teams to publish a video game in 48 hours. We published Dino Deathmatch, a dinosaur-themed party game where you smack opponents and try to hold on to the crown, and have been pushing out consistent updates since. It definitely is my proudest work to date.
Who at Purdue has made an impact on you?
A positive experience I've had with a Purdue professor was with my band professor, Jay Gephart. I've always loved music and band, and he has always made class exciting and fun to be in every Tuesday and Thursday. Even when I mess up my part and get rightfully called out for it, he teaches me the best way to fix the problem while poking fun at the situation. I could not have asked for a better band director!
What is one piece of advice you wish you had before starting college as a Game Development major?
Remember to clear your storage before starting classes! You'll be downloading a lot of high-end softwares and programs to just view or run your projects, so you'll need storage and decent processing power. Always have an external hard drive on hand in case, organize and name files appropriately, and clear out your downloads folder every so often to remove clutter. Always know your computer/iPad/tablet's strengths and weaknesses, and try to avoid putting too much strain on it at one time (e.g., running Krita, FL Studio, and Godot all at once), along with giving it frequent breaks where it is completely shut down!
I’ve also learned that the best skill a game dev can have isn’t artistic ability or fluency in a coding language. It’s people skills. Without being able to properly communicate what you or the game needs, it’s unlikely you’ll get anywhere through the development process.