Photo: Michel Caron – UdeS
Who has never wanted to combine their passions to hope to make it their life project? Thomas Crozet, a multimedia and video game sciences student, takes up the challenge by trying to make his dream a reality. He is currently working on the design of a 3D video game which is intended to be educational and easy to use so that it can be suitable for people who wish to learn history other than through books and documentaries.
Since a young age, Thomas Crozet has had a real passion for video games, but it was when he discovered historical strategy games that he began to be more intensely interested in history and its riches.
I was already interested in video game development when I became interested in history. Then, basically, I play a lot of historical games like Total War, but I found that it lacked a certain degree of historical authenticity. This is why I started designing Avant-Garde, my 3D video game.
Thomas Crozet, student in the bachelor’s degree in multimedia and video game sciences
A student who wants to be enterprising
Before undertaking studies at the University of Sherbrooke, Thomas Crozet first gained experience in the professional world of video games. Although enriching, the experience nevertheless pushed him to begin a course at UdeS in order to gain greater freedom of action.
« As an independent developer, you have to know how to do everything: do programming, design, marketing, etc., says Thomas. Returning to university allowed me to learn some of the skills needed to start and run my own studio. »
Photo: Michel Caron – UdeS
Today, Thomas is in 3e year of bachelor’s degree in multimedia and video game sciences. Between his classes, his work and his active participation in events and activities of the video game community in Sherbrooke, he runs his studio called Study Eternal Life. He is also part of the 2024 cohort of the Desjardins Entrepreneurial Support (AED) of the UdeS, which allows him to exchange with people from various backgrounds in order to improve his skills as a young entrepreneur and receive initial feedback concerning his video game. His involvement and his inspiring career have earned him various scholarships, including the scholarship to support internships in entrepreneurship and social innovation.
The Desjardins entrepreneurial coach (AED) is a training program carried out by the Collective Doing Business Together for Tomorrow which supports students in the development of their entrepreneurial projects. This is done in the form of workshops which are open free of charge to the UdeS student community aged 12 to 35.
An educational video game, you say?
In addition to the fact that his project is entertaining for people with an interest in strategic video games, Thomas Crozet aspires to arouse the interest of the uninitiated by making his game a new educational tool.
As Thomas explains to us, “ the idea is that this real-time strategy game, focused on the reconstruction of historical battles, can confront the player with the conditions and resources of the time so that they understand how and why these battles took place this or that way. »
The latter also hopes that his project can spread into secondary school classrooms to contribute, in his own way, to the transmission of heritage and awaken the curiosity of young people.
« What matters to me is to give visibility to our historical and cultural heritagesays Thomas. I think it’s a shame that we have courses on this, but in the end, few people really remember it. »
Photo: Provided
Although the game is still in the prototyping phase, the student does not intend to skimp on resources in order to offer the best immersive experience possible.
My goal is that my game is made up of ten to twelve battles dated between the 18e and the 19the century, some of which will be located in North America. For each of them, I dare to hope to be able to collaborate with a historian who has made it their field of expertise.
Thomas Crozet, bachelor’s degree student in multimedia and video games
This large-scale project strewn with pitfalls does not scare this student, who is determined to achieve his objectives.
As Thomas Crozet completes his studies in December 2024, he will continue to dream bigger and bigger with new ideas to bring the past back to life through his studio, which he hopes will one day be able to have people on board who are just as passionate as he is.
My dream is to have a team around me to always aim higher and to contribute to the development of video games in Quebec.
Thomas Crozet, bachelor’s degree student in multimedia and video games
In any case, we hope that his exhilarating journey will inspire certain students to develop their ideas and undertake their projects without ever losing the ardent passion that drives them.
