We started a conversation about how it all started.

"When my father bought me my first computer, I played pokemon and beat the game. Then I realized that it would be great if there were more levels, or if I could change something. That was the main driver - to change and edit the game myself according to my wishes.' Jasmin Škamo was the best-ranked game developer on the well-known global platform for freelancers 'Upwork' for a long time. I was interested in what his journey was like, from a beginner to someone who is so good at his job. He explains that it all started when he and his friends Andrej and Dragan, who are also part of the tershouse community, indulged in their boyhood dream. "After finishing high school, we had a long vacation and decided to try making video games. Back then, there weren't that many resources for game development, so it was very difficult and challenging. But somehow we managed, and after four months we released the game on Steam, the biggest platform for video games. The game was sold in a few thousand copies at a low price. The earnings at that time motivated us to believe that we can do this in the future.'

The fact is that today few game developers, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are engaged in game development, which at first sounds very fun and interesting. When asked why this is so, Jasmin explains that game development is simply not taken seriously enough, as it actually is. Games, as he explains, are a kind of media for simulating an experience, such as a book or a movie, with the fact that games are interactive where you actually become a participator. "It's difficult in BiH because game development is not taken seriously enough, so there are not enough studios or companies dealing with it, and consequently young people have nowhere to learn and work." Another limitation is that the option to go abroad is not possible, considering that no one wants an employee without experience, and thus a vicious circle is created.'

Jasmin Škamo

Since I myself am a fan of games, like many other young people, I was interested in how the creation of a game looks like, where to start, and what the complete process looks like. "The first step is coming up with an idea of a story that you’d like to play through. Then, you go through the important first steps that cover the elements a game should have. For example, let’s look at Mario 64. If you remember, it’s a 3D platformer where the main actions are jumping and running. At Nintendo, when they were making Mario 64, they spent three months working strictly on Mario's motions. They invested all of their focus into creating those motions and nothing else. It was only when they perfected the movements that they moved on to making the actual game as we know it. Lots of things affect how the game will turn out, but what’s most important is to have fun while making it,' explains Škamo.

Jasmin Škamo is one of the many freelancers at tershouse. For most of them, this format of work suits them best for many reasons, and I asked Jasmin what his reasons were for deciding on freelancing. ‘There are many advantages; you work when you want, how you want, you can choose projects, earn serious money. I recommend people to make things, even if they seem useless - it will pay off someday. We have spent years making games that pay very little, but the experience is what builds us and positions us in the market. It is very important that anyone who wants to be a freelancer has a portfolio of their work so that everyone can see the projects they have worked on, because this is what makes you stand out on freelance platforms.'

Of course, I couldn't help but ask (my favorite question :)) why, as a freelancer, he decided on tershouse, out of several coworking spaces already present in Sarajevo. Jasmin says that the atmosphere is what attracted him and kept him at tershouse. "Previously, I worked in other coworking spaces, which had too corporate an atmosphere for me, and the location didn't suit me either. We found out about tershouse by chance through a recommendation. The original idea was to find our own private office, and to spend time in the coworking space until it was realized. However, when we came to ters, we were attracted by the good atmosphere, the good vibe and the feeling of being at home. At tershouse, we have the feeling that I hang out with my friends, along with work. Here I opened a new world of engineering, community and relationships with people. The community itself and the energy that greets you at the front door of tershouse is priceless.'

In the conversation, we also touched on the challenges faced by game developers. I asked Jasmin what difficulties he has encountered so far, to which he replied that it was the lack of colleagues from the profession with whom he could talk about potential problems. In addition to this, as he says, there is also the mistrust of friends and family because they did not take him seriously earlier and wanted him to have a more serious and secure workplace.

Given that it is not uncommon for developers to 'move' from one branch of IT to another, if they are not lucky enough to immediately find themselves in something they like, I asked Jasmin, at the end of the interview, if he could see himself in another branch of IT. "I tried both web and mobile development, but I didn't feel the passion and love that I have when I do game development. While doing this, I feel true happiness, which I cannot have while working in other IT branches. Creating the experience itself is my great passion.'

If you want to be part of the terhouse community or the terhouse freelance community, which consists of 40 members, stop by Kolodvorska 5 and exchange experiences with them and find out what the benefits of working from a coworking space are for them.