Working in the Gaming Industry

[oktalist]

so...anyone have advice for a graduate with a BA in CS? I'm on my last year and I'm considering the industry, but I want to know what else I need to learn (already have C, C++, Java, Python, Lisp, C#, and a bit of assembly under my belt) I'm also building my own project with XNA.

Forget Java, Python, Lisp and C# unless you want to work on games for mobile phones. C++ is still where it's at for the console and PC platforms. Read up on the Gang of Four / Design Patterns and the Effective C++ series if you have not already read them. C++ has more ways than most of biting you in the posterior. Study algorithm complexity. Understand memory management. Learn where to avoid inheritance and virtual functions. Plan for change when you write classes. Tackle the riskiest things first. If you really want to learn another language then Lua is one that might come in handy; quite a few games companies are starting to mix it in with their C++ code, for the less CPU-intensive stuff.

Expect to begin on menial duties; for my first couple of years, most of my time was spent hand-editing thousands of pages of XML describing character animation blends. And the money is not great, compared to other sectors of the IT industry. And the hours are harsh. And all the artistic freedom is in the hands of the designers; us programmers are basically code monkeys. I'm not trying to put you off, just making sure you're not disappointed. It helps if you really believe in the project you're working on; our game was quite innovative and had an awesome storyline, so that was okay.

A lot of people can put a programming language on their resume, but the difference between their work is WILDLY different. Create something to show that you're different, slap that on a disk, and mail it in with your resume. That'll get you an interview for sure.

Yup. The important part being your source code. If you're applying for a programming job they're not going to be that interested in what a good texture artist or level designer you are. They should want to see that they can read and understand your code, that it is efficient, and that you use the right constructs in the right places. Comment your code well, but don't overdo it. Have well-defined interfaces. And of course no memory leaks, hanging pointers, null dereferences, array overruns or other undefined ghoulies. Don't assume the person calling your functions knows what they are doing.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

For one, know what you want to do. You said level design, so you need to get into computer graphic design and animation. Research good schools. By bias approval, I recommend Full Sail University. Mostly because they have a good rep in the industry and you'll get hands-on training, even making assets for a game development project.

What exactly are you basing this on? There are much cheaper schools for game design in Florida...like UCF and UF. And from what I've heard/read about Full Sail, it's very difficult to hold a job while going there.

OT: It would probably depend on what company you worked for, and what your job actually entailed. Seeing as I want to go into the gaming industry (since I'm going to school just for that), I might want to go the route of creative director. I'd like to oversee every aspect of the game, from music to art.

As for breaking in, here's a suggestion: just start making games. Flash or something similar. Get your name out there. Since I haven't tested it yet, I can't guarantee results.

 

[Dr_Baron_von_Evilsatan]

Forget Java, Python, Lisp and C# unless you want to work on games for mobile phones. C++ is still where it's at for the console and PC platforms. Read up on the Gang of Four / Design Patterns and the Effective C++ series if you have not already read them. C++ has more ways than most of biting you in the posterior. Study algorithm complexity. Understand memory management. Learn where to avoid inheritance and virtual functions. Plan for change when you write classes. Tackle the riskiest things first. If you really want to learn another language then Lua is one that might come in handy; quite a few games companies are starting to mix it in with their C++ code, for the less CPU-intensive stuff.

Expect to begin on menial duties; for my first couple of years, most of my time was spent hand-editing thousands of pages of XML describing character animation blends. And the money is not great, compared to other sectors of the IT industry. And the hours are harsh. And all the artistic freedom is in the hands of the designers; us programmers are basically code monkeys. I'm not trying to put you off, just making sure you're not disappointed. It helps if you really believe in the project you're working on; our game was quite innovative and had an awesome storyline, so that was okay.

yeah I'm not sure why I posted my languages (I've been recovering from a concussion) I'm honestly surprised I didn't put down my classes as well. Anyways, I already know that C++ is where it's at from all of the job listings I've been looking at. I believe I'll be learning Lua in my last semester so that's a plus. I'll get on that reading as well. Money really isn't much of a problem and neither is hours. IF I really get sick of it I can leave and do it as a hobby but I at least want to try it first.

If I may ask, where do you work?

 

[Deleted]

I'm going through education to become a graphic artist and writer mainly to get into video games. But think of it like this, every ten year old kid and their dog wants to make those 'awesome games for themselves' and only the best of the best join the big names.

Think about it, if 100 people can make decent concept art and only 2 make it, it doesn't mean those 2 were better. The companies don't know what they want until they want it.

I sure hope I make it though, or my life has been a waste.

 

[Jonci]

Okay, I'll try to answer what I can.

Well you're the first person I've met who has said positive things about Full Sail (Who wasn't a rep from the school) excluding my parents' friend who is a freelance recruiter. Thank you for telling me that getting into gaming isn't the body-strewn apocalyptic wasteland that most people make it out to be. I have to admit recently I've been quite depressed thinking that I'd never get to work for game company with my limited resources (After reading that 'You're game ideas suck' article on the Escapist yesterday I went into emo mode right up until this very moment) but I have a question: my family can't really pay for all my expenses while I attend so would it be realistic to have, at least, a part-time job while attending Full Sail? I also thought of moving to Orlando and working for a year or two to save up money.

I'm going to get to Borders ASAP, pick up a C++ book and read THE CRAP out of that thing.

Did you know anyone who took the Game Design course? If so, how did they like it? Did they get hired by someone?

First question: Having a part-time job while at Full Sail will be hell. Some people have been known to do it, but you are doing 8-hour classes with a schedule that changes each month. Most students survive by savings, parents, and assloads of student loans. Usually mostly student loans, so you'll need to plan to pay those off.

Second question: No, the Game design degree is new to Full Sail and I don't know anyone that took it. Really, that is more of a secondary course for someone that came from the computer animation or game developer courses. No one just becomes a designer for any company out of college. Most designers come from the artist side of the industry, mostly level designers, due to creativity. Some make it out of development, if they can show they have good ideas, though there is more money in being senior/lead programmers. Hell, one of my own teammates from Full Sail became a designer after two years. Don't ask me how. I think he just had the right friends.
From what I've heard, the course sounds great for those that want to be a designer, since final project is taking students from the animation course and development course and making your own game. You take on a manager role and it's your job to make sure both teams are on schedule and doing their job.

I think, if anything, it just makes us more critical of the games we play. I can't play anything without dissecting it every step of the way but sometimes that makes it all the better for me. Even bad games can be viewed as a collection of terrible ideas and potential ammunition for shooting down similarly bad ideas that surface in meetings.

This is true.

As for how to get into the gaming industry. The line I keep hearing from interviews with developers is that you should produce something on your own. Even if it's something primitive for demonstration purposes they can at least have some of your work to look at and see what you're capable of.

A lot of people can put a programming language on their resume, but the difference between their work is WILDLY different. Create something to show that you're different, slap that on a disk, and mail it in with your resume. That'll get you an interview for sure.

This is also true. Artist show off their concept art, models, levels, etc.... Programmers show off a working game, complete with source code they have ownership of. Doesn't have to be anything grand. Just has to show you know your stuff.

What exactly are you basing this on? There are much cheaper schools for game design in Florida...like UCF and UF. And from what I've heard/read about Full Sail, it's very difficult to hold a job while going there.

OT: It would probably depend on what company you worked for, and what your job actually entailed. Seeing as I want to go into the gaming industry (since I'm going to school just for that), I might want to go the route of creative director. I'd like to oversee every aspect of the game, from music to art.

As for breaking in, here's a suggestion: just start making games. Flash or something similar. Get your name out there. Since I haven't tested it yet, I can't guarantee results.

I'm a graduate of Full Sail. I know what is like there. Yes, it is very difficult to hold a job while going there. Full Sail will even tell you you shouldn't try. I didn't have a job while I was there, so I can't say anything about what it would be like doing both.

Yes, UCF is probably cheaper, but are you going to learn anything worth knowing? I went to Full Sail because they teach game development. Not Government, Math, English, with a side of basic computer science. Just so I can be tossed out with a piece of paper that says I'm well rounded but don't know a damn thing about where I'm trying to go. Full Sail instructors come from the industry. They'll teach you with the mindset and you want into that industry. You'll be beaten with advanced ideas of C++, design, and what it is like to work on a project meeting deadlines, working with random people, and getting your ideas shifted around on you just to get you ready for the real world. Traditional universities will teach you computer science while Full Sail teaches you to be a game developer.

 

[Jonci]

I'll add this. Every nut with the dream of making that awesome game probably will never get to make the game they want. If they did, it came from spending their own money and time doing it. And most likely is sitting on a flash site or XBox Live Arcade. No one makes blockbusters on their own and no company is going to run with some 20-something "designer"'s idea. Whether an artist or a programmer, it will be your career like any other. You'll have a boss that has his own boss. You'll do what you are told to do and you better do it great, because there are hundreds of other wanna-bes right behind the door pounding for the chair of the next guy that burns out or get fired.

If you want to be a part of the process, study, study, study. Learn everything you can from whatever college you go to. Research what the industry is doing and what the hot buttons are. When I was a student, shaders were increasing in popularity. You don't know how much I screwed myself over by not learning about them, because most of my interviews asked about them.

AND MAKE CONNECTIONS IN THE INDUSTRY! Friends are just so much more effective than a resume that every other "talented grad" has. You are barely hirable with just a resume and a demo, and only if they are filling seats with worthless grads. Hell, I only got my job because the company's last development team quit suddenly and they needed replacements fast.

Most of all, no matter how much you learned in college, read in books, and picked up from forums, when you hit the industry and get behind your desk on some project you know nothing about: Prepare to have all you know feel like you just finished the 1st grade. You won't be ready for everything, but you better damn be able to take it. Pick up everything comes your way and make it your own. And never let a challenge defeat you.

It is hard and draining and all the more worth it when the product YOU have been working on it on that computer screen running. It could be a whole new graphics engine or one small mini-map on the corner of the screen, but you were a part of it and it exists right before your eyes. That is what real developers are after. Not their own idea, but their own work. Someone else could have created the idea, but you brought it into the world with your own skill and that means just as much.

 

[Alex_P]

And the money is not great, compared to other sectors of the IT industry. And the hours are harsh.

We talkin' paid or unpaid OT here?

-- Alex

 

[SimuLord]

I long ago realized that I didn't have the programming chops or the design/creative ability to make games. More recently I realized I can't summon the muse on a regular enough basis to become a game journalist/writer. So if I'm ever going to work for a game company, it'll be as a staff accountant/auditor, which means I'll be one of those bean counters everybody hates. Even then, Corporate America isn't my thing---my goal in life is to run a private accounting firm catering to small business owners: "Big business financial services for small business people at small business prices."

But I'll still play games. Probably business sims, oddly enough.

 

[Low Key]

My ultimate life goal is to work in the game industry. I'm currently in college for network administration, so something in that field would be preferable. Game development has always intrigued me though. Maybe I can do side jobs involving that.

 

[oktalist]

And the money is not great, compared to other sectors of the IT industry. And the hours are harsh.

We talkin' paid or unpaid OT here?

Unpaid. "Voluntary". They can't force you to work late or come in at weekends when there's a deadline approaching (which is every 4-6 weeks), but you may find your career progression slow if you do not. Especially if the publishers are waiting on a deliverable that's already a week late and your code is part of what's holding it up

It's not all the time, but it is quite frequent.

And they can't moan at you for watching ZP whilst working out-of-hours. Not that they would anyway

 

[[AU]Specter]

Its not all its cracked up to be, unless you get a job like Robert Bowling, basically run a forum and go to E3 to answer questions relating to your game.

Otherwise it would be toil'ing in front of a graphics engineering program, or writing code all day.

/Assumption.

 

[Mcface]

Its a job that seriously depends on you giving it your all.
A lot of jobs allow you to slack off, dick around and work only when totally necessary.

Not with creating games.

Because if you do, it will suck and you wont have a job.

 

[SimuLord]

Its a job that seriously depends on you giving it your all.
A lot of jobs allow you to slack off, dick around and work only when totally necessary.

Not with creating games.

Because if you do, it will suck and you wont have a job.

Although some companies will take longer than others to dismiss you *cough3DRealmscough*

 

[Alex_P]

We talkin' paid or unpaid OT here?

Unpaid. "Voluntary".

^ Be sure to factor this in when trying figuring out how much your paycheck is worth, folks.

-- Alex