College?
20 posts
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by Kodo » Wed Jul 19, 2006 12:59 pm
Many universities here in the UK now do degrees in gaming, several people that I work with have got them. They are useful tools to help you get your foot in the door but they’re not essential. If you can show you are talented, as well as having a sound knowledge of games (on consoles and PCs), game mechanics, as well as software like Photoshop/Paintshop, Word, 3DS Max. Some programming knowledge (C++) is useful even if you don’t want to be a programmer. Writing skills are also useful if you want to go into design. I know a few that got good degrees but still started at the bottom in QA (as testers), there’s nothing wrong with this as it helps to build a solid understanding of company procedures and familiarity with the games the company develops.
To get a job you’ll need good grades and good people skills, but most of all you need to be able to showcase your abilities and explain your ideas.
Working in the games industry can be tough, at times you’ll be working 7 day weeks from 9am till stupid hours for months on end (usually in the last 4-5 months of a project and without getting overtime pay!), pay is ok but not great so if you’re not really passionate about games you’ll struggle.
Note that if you get a job in the games industry they ‘own you’. Usually when under contract anything you design, code or draw is owned by them even if done in your own time. So ironically they actually manage to stamp out a lot of your creativity
Job security: Unless you land a job at EA, who have a very corporate attitude towards there employees (the few I know that have worked for them didn’t like it at all) you’ll probably end up in a smaller developer that runs on money from a publisher by meeting tight deadlines and providing monthly milestone builds which can be hard work. Publishers can drop a company on its ass anytime if they don’t like what they’re getting, which means a lot of companies don’t last. The good thing with the games industry is that everyone seems to know everyone else in one way or another and often securing new work isn’t a problem, so long as you’ve got a good track record.
Not sure if that was any help!?
To get a job you’ll need good grades and good people skills, but most of all you need to be able to showcase your abilities and explain your ideas.
Working in the games industry can be tough, at times you’ll be working 7 day weeks from 9am till stupid hours for months on end (usually in the last 4-5 months of a project and without getting overtime pay!), pay is ok but not great so if you’re not really passionate about games you’ll struggle.
Note that if you get a job in the games industry they ‘own you’. Usually when under contract anything you design, code or draw is owned by them even if done in your own time. So ironically they actually manage to stamp out a lot of your creativity
Job security: Unless you land a job at EA, who have a very corporate attitude towards there employees (the few I know that have worked for them didn’t like it at all) you’ll probably end up in a smaller developer that runs on money from a publisher by meeting tight deadlines and providing monthly milestone builds which can be hard work. Publishers can drop a company on its ass anytime if they don’t like what they’re getting, which means a lot of companies don’t last. The good thing with the games industry is that everyone seems to know everyone else in one way or another and often securing new work isn’t a problem, so long as you’ve got a good track record.
Not sure if that was any help!?
Inogames: http://www.inogames.com iOS gaming
Firetop Adventure (app store): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/firetop- ... ?mt=8&ls=1
Firetop Adventure (app store): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/firetop- ... ?mt=8&ls=1
I'm having second toughts about gaming. 
by Kodo » Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:42 pm
I didn’t mean to put you off, but in my experience that’s what its like a lot of the time. It does have its ups and downs, it is hard, but at the end of the day you get something you’ve put a lot of work into being reviewed by mags, advertised on the telly and sitting on the shelves in the stores so it is kind of rewarding. If you're lucky you might also see some royalties!
Where I am it takes about 1.5 to 2 years to deliver a AAA title for Xbox, PS2 and PC with around 60 people working on it, but you're not always doing the long hours, and I suppose its better than a lot of jobs! As for the job security, I guess that’s very much a thing of the past in most industries anyway, unless you're really lucky.
Some people do really love it though, especially when younger; and it helps if you don’t mind moving around as there are lots of companies you can apply to, some people I know have worked all over Europe
If you think you might fancy getting into games it is a valid career just like any other, in fact it’s probably better than a lot. How old are you? If you’re still at school you might be able to get some work experience at a studio so you can get a look at it from the inside. I think the schools might arrange it, so if you've a careers officer or similar at school it might be worth asking them, failing that it can't hurt to send a letter (or email) to studios that interest you and ask how you might go about doing some work experience with them.
Meanwhile, practice is a good thing and you're kind of lucky to have found GE as unlike some authoring systems it really lets you get to grips with the basics of how games are put together, if you get the hang of this you'll already be developing some of those essential skills, such as programming in C, using art packages and understanding how games work. I've been in the professional games industry for nearly 10 years now and I find GE is a great tool; I got into games because I love them, but for the last 6 years I’ve been working on large titles with big budgets on the latest platforms, this gives me some space to do what I want and its revived my otherwise fading enthusiasm for games
Where I am it takes about 1.5 to 2 years to deliver a AAA title for Xbox, PS2 and PC with around 60 people working on it, but you're not always doing the long hours, and I suppose its better than a lot of jobs! As for the job security, I guess that’s very much a thing of the past in most industries anyway, unless you're really lucky.
Some people do really love it though, especially when younger; and it helps if you don’t mind moving around as there are lots of companies you can apply to, some people I know have worked all over Europe
If you think you might fancy getting into games it is a valid career just like any other, in fact it’s probably better than a lot. How old are you? If you’re still at school you might be able to get some work experience at a studio so you can get a look at it from the inside. I think the schools might arrange it, so if you've a careers officer or similar at school it might be worth asking them, failing that it can't hurt to send a letter (or email) to studios that interest you and ask how you might go about doing some work experience with them.
Meanwhile, practice is a good thing and you're kind of lucky to have found GE as unlike some authoring systems it really lets you get to grips with the basics of how games are put together, if you get the hang of this you'll already be developing some of those essential skills, such as programming in C, using art packages and understanding how games work. I've been in the professional games industry for nearly 10 years now and I find GE is a great tool; I got into games because I love them, but for the last 6 years I’ve been working on large titles with big budgets on the latest platforms, this gives me some space to do what I want and its revived my otherwise fading enthusiasm for games
Inogames: http://www.inogames.com iOS gaming
Firetop Adventure (app store): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/firetop- ... ?mt=8&ls=1
Firetop Adventure (app store): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/firetop- ... ?mt=8&ls=1
by Game A Gogo » Thu Jul 20, 2006 2:12 am
Hyperyon wrote:I'm 19
my bro got 19 3 days ago ^^
Programming games is an art,
- Respect it.
-
Game A Gogo - Posts: 3466
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:49 pm
- Location: French Canada *laughs*
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by Game A Gogo » Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:00 pm
I'll turn 19 in 5 years (14 right now)
Programming games is an art,
- Respect it.
-
Game A Gogo - Posts: 3466
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:49 pm
- Location: French Canada *laughs*
- Score: 181
by Game A Gogo » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:16 pm
Jokke wrote:whoa...nice...i mean u make games at the age of 14...
i started at the age of 12, and i was wishing to make some since 7.
Programming games is an art,
- Respect it.
-
Game A Gogo - Posts: 3466
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2005 10:49 pm
- Location: French Canada *laughs*
- Score: 181
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