Getting into the video game industry. HOW?!

[Beautiful End]

(I didn't know exactly how to title this topic or if it even belonged here or in the Jobs Sub-Forum...)

Okay, so I've always been interested in the video game industry. I'm a 24 year old artist who loves to draw random stuff, whether it's random characters or weapons or environments and I even like to create new stories and world. Right now, I am attending a local university and studying Graphic Design (As my 'Safety Net' career) and I'm about to graduate in about a year. I work at GameStop and I am obviously surrounded by games all day long. I don't only sell games, I try be informed when it comes to gaming news (Thanks, Escapist!), new games coming out, controversial topics, etc.

I want to get into the video game industry, but I live in a town where video games are...well, not important, I guess. The people and organizations that focus on video games are small, if not non-existent. So I would obviously have to move out; no worries there. And despite the fact that I've read numerous articles and books about this industry, I don't know where to begin.

I am planning on studying Game Design as soon as I graduate so I can refine my artistic skills and really get some hands-on experience when it comes to working with video games. I don't know much about 3D modeling and just working digitally and I need to learn that. I also heard that schools that offer this program will help you land a job when you graduate.

So my question is: Is this the right choice?

I was thinking of going to an Art Institute, but I heard those are expensive. I'm currently getting Financial Aid and it pays for 80% of my tuition, more or less. but that 20% that I have to pay for makes me struggle, just a little bit, though. So I'm not sure if my Financial Aid would pay for my tuition over there. Even worse, what if it pays partially for it and that 20% that I have to pay ends up being overwhelming?
(Note: I know this Financial Aid business is shady and random. I asked a Financial Aid representative how come my brother receives more money that I do if our financial situation is exactly the same (Two jobs, no kids, blah blah) and she said there's no right answer. So, if you can't reply to this question, that's fine. Let's move on...)

Ignoring the money factor, is going to an Art Institute a right choice? I know there are tons of schools out there that offer this program. I guess I just don't wanna end up going to a bogus school, for whatever reasons.

Has anyone been down this road?
How exactly do you get into that business?

My resources are limited, mostly because of money. But whatever I wanna do, I know I have a year or so to figure it out. Any advice, Escapists?

I'll comment on more stuff if its necessary. Thanks in advance.

 

[DELETETHISACCOUNT]

As someone who went to an Art Institute I will tell you this, DO NOT GO THERE! They're a scam and a half and the debt will just about ruin your life. For further proof just google "Art Institute lawsuit."

Unfortunately, that's all the advice I can give.

 

[ThriKreen]

Well, it will depend on what the school in question offers in terms of game oriented courses. Obviously, research the school and see what they offer. See if they have some sort of online portfolio of alumni and search for their names on LinkedIn to see where they ended up.

But in all honestly, the only thing game studios want to see is a portfolio of your work. Code or art samples, 3D models, a demo reel for animations. The school you graduated from, the piece of paper, aren't nearly as important. What matters is if you can do the work in a particular field you apply for.

My usual suggestion for getting into game development always stands: pick up an existing game and mod it in some manner - replace the textures or models, make it look different, add a new quest and make it do something different.

You can pick up something like Blender and some tutorials for modeling, UDK is free if you want to get into level design. NWN has a decent scripting language for gameplay aspects. Oblivion/Morrowind has a lot of model mods.

And as for what to do for a portfolio? I can't really help you out there, but there are some good guidelines:

- START SMALL

Far too many people jump into modding for a game with some Magnus Opus in their mind, and feel disappointed when they can't pull off what they imagine.

Make it a throwaway idea, so you can see what the game engine can, and more importantly, can't do. If you don't have the luxury of a team of programmers and designers to help you get around an engine deficiency. Once you get more proficient with the engine and toolset (if the game has one), rework your idea to account for what you've learned. Game development is about a lot of iteration and being willing to cut content to make kept features of the game more refined.

Example: When NWN game out, the mod team I was part of tried to recreate the DragonLance adventure modules. Two to three years into it, we realized the NWN engine isn't designed for what we wanted to do, even with the hacks we had to get around some limitations. When we got the opportunity to make an adventure for Bioware's Premium Module DLC project, being veterans of the engine now, we were able to design our adventure to account for the core game's design and produced WyvernCrown of Cormyr.

- Focus on your strengths

Again, unless you are capable of doing modeling, texturing, animations, programming and level design, it's unlikely you can do all the aspects of a demo game on your own (but great if you can!). Not to say don't try them at all, but do and see what areas interest you. Often you'd discover an area you didn't really think about is more up your alley. For instance, I started off with a focus on character modeling and animation, but ended up being much better at environments and tools support.

Same goes for the demo reel, if you're doing animation, don't worry about what the model itself looks like. Use a simple box skeleton or extract a model from an existing game and make new animations for it (Check out this guy's stuff [http://www.youtube.com/user/thejazzman9475]).

- Form/Join a (mod) team.

Shows you can work in a group (kinda important for a game studio) and allows other teammates to fill in gaps for your work and knowledge.

Who knows, your whole team might get hired as a result (see: Portal, Red Orchestra).


Hope that helps!

 

[Beautiful End]

As someone who went to an Art Institute I will tell you this, DO NOT GO THERE! They're a scam and a half and the debt will just about ruin your life. For further proof just google "Art Institute lawsuit."

Unfortunately, that's all the advice I can give.

Dang...that does help. I heard Full Sail was bad too, so that's why I wanted to go to an Art Institute. Any other places you might recommend? I'm running out of options here...

Snip

This is why i want to go to some school first. I know NOTHING about modding games. Heck, I can barely install a game properly in my computer. Now, you might be wondering, HOW?! Well, I love video games and my strengths are mostly related to console video games. The one thing I'm good at right now is drawing, mostly character design.

However, I am part of a group that makes indie games. It's not a serious thing since most of us are busy with school and stuff. But we are working on a couple of projects. Since I don't know much about the programming they do, I do the art and stuff (Sprites, enemy design, worlds, even plot). Would that count too?

 

[ThriKreen]

However, I am part of a group that makes indie games. It's not a serious thing since most of us are busy with school and stuff. But we are working on a couple of projects. Since I don't know much about the programming they do, I do the art and stuff (Sprites, enemy design, worlds, even plot). Would that count too?

Yes, and it will have more weight than a piece of paper from some (shifty) art school.

School helps, but doing the research, training and practice on your own speaks volumes about you: you can work independently, self-analyze your short-comings and improve, and of course, you have finished work examples and can do the work.

A diploma just says, you finished the course.