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How Does One Become a Game Designer?
Andreas(R) would like answers to this query: "I imagine that creating PC-games would be an exciting and creative profession. Obviously, it takes a lot of programming skills to put together most advanved games with realtime 3D, AI etc. What is the best way to aquire the neccecary skills to get these kinds of jobs (such as game designer at Westwood, Sierra, Epic)? Is a CS-degree the best way? Does one learn useful things in relation to games (such as programming for Direct 3D, or Direct-Rendering with Linux)? Given how the computing-industry has suffered economically recently; will there still be a demand for programmers/game designers in the future?" If there are any readers out there currently in the gaming industry, how did you get your first break?
To break into the gaming industry, like most IT jobs, one needs experience. Sure, Computer Science degrees will help in the application process, but you may need to focus a bit more on the math and logic side of things. The best thing one can do when trying to obtain a gaming job, is to make your own game. But before going for the 3D-realtime-60fps-shooter, think about starting small. Having the experience that comes from writing a 2D platform game or a couple of 3D demos under your belt will be worth more, to a game company seeking new talent, than any set of degrees.
First of all, pick what you're going to do... then by default pick a codebase you can throw stuff into easily.. ie the quake or unreal family of engines (basically any fps really), and then hack at it until you're good. I started with textures and skins, and got good at it, and now I work for an (unnamed) company... but at one point I was making crappy mods for quake1 and putting them on cdrom.com for others to download and tell me how terrible they were. But if you perserver long enough, you'll get good at it, be it, mapping, modeling, skinning, coding, foley'ing, or hell even marketing. The more you try the more people will know who you are, and that is half the battle. Make a fun game, and the industry will notice because its made up of people who play games 24/7 be it their own, or someone elses.
Grab a copy of this months Edge magazine. Its produced in the UK but available worldwide. Its widely considered (at least over here) to be the monthly industry bible. Cos its graduation time this month has a special supplement magazine covering getting into the games industry. There are loads of universities now offering computer game degrees and animation courses, and theres loads of advice from industry professionals.
Was involved in a student organisation of game programers ( EGaDS! - Electronic Game Developer Society of the Universtiy of Texas at Austin While I was there, the thing I heard most often from guest speakers was to make sure you have a demo of some kind (eurodemo, game, mod, level, etc), or be willing to do grunt work as a tester (at the same time working on your demo...)
It's important that you show initiative, that you can learn on your own, cause you do that kind of thing a lot. Versatility is good as well.
And most important, know the right people. Sorry, but all this other stuff just makes sure you resume doesn't get thrown away with the rest.
Also -- what about those of us who purely want to author the games/concepts? Some of us come from writing backgrounds and have many ideas that cease to be realizable upon the inherent linearality of the printed page. Web fiction still does not have the attention to be a viable art form that also has an effect on a wide range of people --> I'm very interested in writing computer games. Designing a metaphorical universe (with leaving the actual execution to other indivduals) What would prepare me for this? Conceptual Design Art programs? d. Taylor Singletary - http://www.mp3.com/taylorsingletary
Go to a news and magazines store, pick up a copy of Game Developer magazine, and look at the classifieds.
Definately there is. In fact you don't have to be a programmer or artist to be a Game Designer/Game Story Writer. In reality it turns out that good game programmers are usually not very good writers or game designers themselfs. Obviously if your are going to be a Game Story Writer you don't have to had any technological knowledge of any gaming console or hardware at all. On the other hand, if you would like to be a Game Designer, then you would be much better and professional if you do the basics of the technology on wich your game would run. This is this way because a Game Story Writer does not need to know how the Designer/Programmer/Artists are going to implement the story you had written. But on the contrary, Game Designers must do, at least if they really want to understand the programmers point of view, which I think is a really important one. In my case for example, I design a lot of kweel stuff (at least to me) and I have to see how it becomes just garbage while the programmer explains to me why it can't be done or at least not the way I expected to work. So you can save yourself a lot of work (and a lot of time to the programmers) time usually they don't have. :) Well that's my two cents, I hope it could give you a better notion of the main differences between both careers.
jt@ez-networks.com
I work at one of those places mentioned by the poster. First thing first, ignore all those people who say you must have a degree or some kind of genetic defect which enables you to grok the making of games. Making games is the science of fun, you can practice and study it. Do that. Study by playing every game available. Look to science fiction and fantasy novels to help your creative juices. You can study 95% of the games out there by looking at the demos they make available to the public. You can practice by getting a couple of extendable games (unreal tournament is my fav for this) and making a level where there is some kind of clear goal, motivation, and purpose to the level. Two rooms + hall + 3 monsters = bad. Intro scene, dialog audio, evil guy introduction, camera pan of destination, multiple paths to goal with varying strategies = good. Finally, when you have something cool and presentable, make a CD of it that is so easy to use nobody will have to think hard or waste time figuring out something you should have had the courtesy to make simple. If anything more complicated than 'click here to see the actual game' is required, make screenshots to entice people and accompany it with a brief description of the work. You should probably have the screenshots anyways. Don't stress too much about art quality. Focus on gameplay, why the gameplay is fun, what makes it worth spending even a moment looking at it for. Special attention to details often overlooked (sound etc) will get you brownie points. Test the CD exhaustively among all your friends. Failure of your CD to work flawlessly will guarantee it's summary dismissal unless your resume is cool enough to warrant the attention. Ultimately, getting a job in the industry requires you to figure out how to demonstrate to people you have skills they need. If you can't even figure out how to make it easy for us to see what you have to offer then you won't get a chance. If you want to do it, do it. Don't give up. Just cuz big bad company ignored your resume+demo this month doesn't mean they will the next. That usually means you got lost in the crowd. Try again until you get a definative response from people you have identified to be responsible for dealing with recruiting. This is coming from a college dropout who continues to kick himself for waiting as long as I did to even try to make games. I could have been doing it from day 1 had I only known what idiots manage to get jobs in this field. If you are smart and creative and have drive, you can get a job in the game industry. Doesn't pay as much as database work though, and there's always risk of someone wanting to make you his bitch.
speaking as a tech director that has hired staff from Digipen: I will place any graduate from Digipen in my serious consider pile instantly. Of the 5 guys that I've hired from there, every single one turned out to be a hard worker that knew how to get his job done. This is in contrast to some CS types that are too shocked at the amount of hard work it takes to put out a game that they would freeze when the deadline pressure loomed.
>How can you gain experience if all jobs
>require you to have had prior work experience?
Contribute to an opensource game or gaming
library. There are plenty of game related
projects on Sourceforge. Your contributions
will appear on your resume as a solid body
of work and knowledge.
ac
The game design industry is worse than the model industry. Cut throat. Cut throat. Cut throat. Games are a hit and miss field. 5% hit. 95% miss. Skill is irrelevant. One slump ends your career. Look at John Romero, of Doom/Quake fame. Then came Daikatana. Now he's wondering where his next meal will come from. This kind of risky career might fly if you're single but is far too unstable a field to support a family or make house payments. If you're not producing, you're gone. Replaced by the next punk with a vision, until he gets into a rut and is replaced. And why not. Plenty of more kids where he came from stupid enough to think they can be creative and hot forever.
You'd know this if you played The Sims.
P.S. Don't bother working out, and bad hygiene won't count against you as long as you go to work in a good mood.
Check out www.garagegames.com, here you can license the tribes2 engine for 100$... play with it the rest of the year and you just might be ready
Simple, just show them snapshots of all your high scores
Hey I went to digipen and it was completely worthless. I was in the 4 year degree track and I think maybe 1 teacher had peaked my intrest. I loved the project class and worked my ass off for that, doing stuff I wasnt supposed to do (read:networking) for another 3 semesters. The math teacher had a monotone voice that could put you to sleep in 5 min and showed NO enthusiasim. In highschool I liked math, in community college i liked math, in digipen I slept through math. Frankly the $12,000 a year (not including room and board) is a waste of money.
>>I imagine that creating PC-games would be an
>>exciting and creative profession.
christ. "I really like driving cars --- designing and building cars must be an exciting profession."
Get a clue. Don't assume making games is 'exciting and creative' if you have NO IDEA how it's done. And if you have NO IDEA, making this as a career choice probably isn't a good one.
Sorry to throw some cold water on ya - but quit fooling yourself. Looks like any monkey with an IP connection can get an 'Ask Slashdot' question postest lately. At least this one wasn't such obvious/blatant spam as they usually are......
The positions needed to be filled to create a normal-sized game are: programmers, artists, producers, designers, testers. Do you want to be a designer or programmer? The title and article don't really match. To be a designer: live and breathe games. Play all genres, all platforms, plus retro. Make some quake levels (that play well). Design some board games/card games/tabletop games that you can test are fun with your friends. Maybe write a couple of game design docs (3 pages max). To be a programmer: live and breathe code. Go to www.flipcode.com and read all the articles, follow the links, and explore this great site. Write a couple of demos - if you want to do game code, a simple (but complete) 2d would be good. For 3d coding, an abstract 3d demo would be useful. Read about good programming practices too (games are big projects these days, and can't be hacked together).
Yeah, one time the CEO of General Motors told me he'd sign over all his assets if I made a barely functional model car. Of course, at the time he was trying to marry my 6 year old daughter so maybe that was why he lied.
I can't find the compiler on my windows pc. Can you help me?
Sure, Peter Molyneux is a great programmer and game designer. But he is rare.
;)) called RadarScope. His first game job was to make an interesting game. He came up with Donkey Kong. Experienced managers (probably also were programmers) thought it woudn't be popular. But it certainly was.
:)
A game programmer is a great job, very challanging, and constantly presenting new challanges as platforms advance. Depending on where you go (3do/Acclaim or id/epic) it can be possibly the best programming job in the world. John Carmack is a game programmer. There are lots of interesting sub fields such as AI, real time advanced 3d graphics, or simply time effective code managment.
Shigeru Miyamoto is a game designer. Nintendo made a boat load of crappy games (probably designed by a programmer!
That brings up another point about how the industry (especially PC) needs game designers who have experiences outside of Star Wars movies, 80s comics, and Doom as their favorite game of all time. The game industry is shrinking because it can only make games for itself because of lack of qualified game designers.
As you can see a game designer is COMPLETELY different than a game programmer. Or game artist. Or musician.
But it is also the hardest position to aquire (and its the most glamorous!). Obviously you wont be able to start out as a game designer by giving out a resume.
Unless you can make a kick ass resume by shown games you've designed. They don't even need to be video games.
Think about what makes a game fun. Interaction? Progress? Building? Story? All depending on the game.
Grab Mr. Do from mame.dk and get the MAME emulator. Mr. Do is one of the best games of all time for what it is. When you play it you get a ball with one shot. Look at how long it takes to come back and all the little details. Or Zoo Keeper.
It is important to study the old games. "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." If you really are qualified as a game designer you should know why Super Mario 3 on the NES was a better game than Super Mario World on the SNES.
Why is 3rd person (tomb raider referrence) a fundementally flawed view for game PLAY. Even though it makes for nice screen shots.
If you want to be a game designer experience is needed for sure. It is best to have some programming and art experience. So make your own game.
If you think that a game engine has anything to do with designing a game then forget about being a game designer and go focus on programming, you'll probably make a fantastic programmer.
But if you want to become a game designer you should be able to make a fun single screen 2D game that doesn't even have scrolling. And probably a Quake mod that isn't just "Quake, but with more gore and guns"...
Making a few small games is the best practice because:
1) it gives game examples for a resume
2) it gives you experience so that if you are hired you don't make mistakes on the companies time/money
3) its fun.
Don't just worry about fun things to do with the game, think about the whole picture. Why is four people sitting on a couch generally more fun than playing four annonymous people. Even though Marble Madness wasn't a big hit (bad timing!) why is it such a fun game. Think about how fun it is to simply spin the ball and get into the game compared to simply pressing up. How did Sonic become one of the best games of all time, despite just having ONE button.
Go play Action Supercross too.
Some time in 1991 I decided that I was going to work for Origin. Origin at the time was the epicenter of the universe, or so it seemed to me. I didn't bother to tell them that I was coming to work for them, but I got myself a shiny new 386 and Turbo C++ and when I wasn't delivering pizzas I was learning how to make the computer do cool stuff.
Early 1992, I packed up and moved to Austin. I still hadn't told Origin that I was coming, I just figured I'd show up. In Austin I continued delivering pizzas and learning C++ and 3D graphics. I put together a little demo moving a texture-mapped polygon around on the screen. It was utterly primitive compared to what you can do today (and about 10000% more work). But it was kind of nifty.
What I did next was I mailed a letter to Richard Garriott's house which basically said, in all sincerity, "Hire me, for the love of God please hire me!" (I knew his address because by pure coincidence I'd happened to make friends with his former next-door neighbors.) It's embarrassing to admit, but that's what I did. I even offered to work for free on a trial basis. I figured my letter would make Richard think, "Well now, here's just the kind of person we need!" In reality he probably rolled his eyes and tossed it on somebody's desk on his way in to work.
Long story short, I got called in for interviews, showed them an absurd level of enthusiasm, showed them my demo, and shortly thereafter they hired me.
The moral is: pester the founder of the company you want to work for. No wait, don't do that. But it doesn't hurt to be a little creative or outlandish, and if you're young you'll forgive yourself someday. And the other point is: my silly antic got me the interview, but my demo got me the job. In fact, a good demo might be enough to grab somebody's attention and save you a lot of humiliation.
And it bears repeating: If you think it's a dream job, you haven't gotten it yet.
Digipen teaches everything, C, C++, direct3d, opengl, digipen produces excellent programmers for all platforms. Who got the idea that it only teaches you to program for the nintendo console?
...pose for Playboy.
Having gone to Digipen, I must say that you are completely wrong. In two years, I never once saw a piece of proprietary Nintendo equipment/hardware. Digipen focuses on giving students the most hard core computer science training you could imagine. 8-13 hours a day of MATH and computer science. Any school that has a class about Quaternions is not slepping on math.
And if anyone wants to try out some of justin's work and has a ti calc, try out Joltima...you can download at ticalc.org. If your TI has a link port, chances there's a port of Joltima out there for your calculator. Justin blew everyone away in the ti calc "scene" when he released this game out of the blue one day on IRC. It's an awesome RPG and it fits in a few tens of kilobytes. ;)
I see a lot of people talking about learning how to code being what it takes to make a successful game. I think those people are missing the point. What makes a good game is the game, not the code used to make the game accessable to the user.
Consider Final Fantasy IX - an awesome game IMO. Look at how it's rendered. Some 3D models, but the field mostly 2D graphics using some tricks to give the impression of being done in 3D. Yeah this is stuff you need to learn to do, but it's trivial compared to the characters, the writing, the artwork, the animations...
Another low-tech game, Myst. The game was a damned HYPERCARD STACK, I learned how to make those in the 7th grade. And yet it was one of the best-selling PC games ever. People making games for the PC only wish they could get those kind of sales on half their offerings.
That's not to say game engine tech is not at all important - far from it. All the creative and artistic talent in the world won't be worth a damn if you don't have the code to make it work. If you are interested in learning how to code engines that's certainly a good thing.
Best place to start is to buy a couple good books. The OpenGL "red book" is a good place to start. If you don't speak linear algebra as a second language, you might want a good math book as well. I also recall a rather specialized book on gomputer 3D geometry focusing on teaching the math using OpenGL code. I don't recall the title or author, but I'm sure someone can dig it up. Go through these things cover to cover. If you get hung up somewhere, ask someone. It's a lot of work but in the end you'll know more math than you ever wanted. But you'll also know 3D graphics inside and out.
Beyond that, all you really need are knowledge of C (or whatever), some basic physics you should likely have learned in high school, and probably some experience with client/server communication over the Internet.
To be a good designer, you must play a lot of games. Be able to identify game aspects that don't appeal to you, indicate why they are unappealing, and offer corrections. Also, having a large store of game design ideas from past designers will serve you well.
:) )
Good game design is also in large part psychology and deep knowledge of human nature. To keep them playing the game, you need to be able to anticipate the effect of game design decisions on the user's emotional response and keep them emotionally involved by manipulating their primitive urges and reactions (greed, wonder, frustration, etc.).
If you have these skills, you should probably go into whatever degree plan will best help you do design. The gaming industry is (thankfully) not as degree-oriented as a lot of other IT industries, so you probably want to go to school to learn and party (or play LAN games
And finally, design games. Build a portfolio - do a simple, but complete, game design and apply around.
-- Too lazy to get a lower UID.
If you have to ask, then the answer is no.
There are many roads that will lead you into the development of games. One is the college route where you get a degree and find a job at a games dev company. Another is to write something so fantasically awesome that you get snapped up by a development house.
Another route is through open source game development projects, most notably WorldForge , a group that has been working for over a year on creating framework software for creating massively multiplayer online roleplaying systems. There are several milestone games detailed on the site, and the entirity of the source is available.
Check 'em out -- it got me into the game development scene. :-)
"We have the right to believe at our own risk any hypothesis that is live enough to tempt our will."
http://gabrielcain.com/
The gcc is able to bind against the MS libc, if you want (Mingwin).
But for a real project, people will use MS devstudio.
Okay, perhaps they are too old, but the doom and quake engines are available for free on the net. Plus the black book from Michael Abrash is online over at Dr. Dobb's. It describes the techniques behind doom. Even in the times of Direct X and Open GL there should be some wisdom in it.
Of course we talked about their prior job in game industry - doing a killer game is a dream many programmers have.
From what they told me, it is a very tough business. People seem typically to start young, with no prior education, being recruited from the amateur scene. Job hours are long, payment is low. And of course one needs to stay on the frontier of the hard and software.
Assembly programming is done by few specialists (like game engine designers), C/C++ is the implementation language, with software design techniques just starting to get introduced.
From comparision to the people I knew from the scientific and economic scene, these guys are fast pragmatic programmers, not so much on the theoretical side (the feared property of CS graduates :)
Possibly that fast problem solving capability is the key feature to survive in the hard gaming industry. I was surprised to hear what simple tricks are sometimes used - just to get the deadline.
I've never been employed as a game programmer, never had much of an interest, but I had a friend who use to work for a large game programming company and his comments were: "When you first start off, the first project you work on is always some obscure portion of a baseball game." He did not elaborate why. That is all.
I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.
Maybe it's not what you thought as a "game designer" but when technologies come and go, I think that people like Kim have a better chance to survive.
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Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
It strikes me that experience is the best thing of all to have, but the quality of your experience will be much heightened by getting a degree, preferably a master's or even a PhD, in computer programming. And go to a good school to get it, like UC Davis.
There are a lot of geeks in the industry who have gotten by on sheer brainpower. But no matter how smart you are, people that make you look flatly stupid have spent a lot of time thinking about basic computer theory and problem sets. They won't have been solving your exact problem, but they will certainly have developed techniques you can use.
Now, this isn't to say that degrees are the ONLY way to get the advanced knowledge. If you are smart enough, you can certainly do it on your own without ever setting foot in a classroom. But there is a HUGE amount to know. Whatever your approach (formal or informal) you will need to spend a LOT of time and effort studying basic theory and practicing implementations.... and endless, endless hours writing code.
There was an earlier article today about the use of LISP in the real world. Go read that article -- that guy knows what the hell he is talking about and will give you a pointer down the right road.
The general standards of intellectual excellence were much higher in the 1950s and 1960s. MAKE SURE you expose yourself to the thinking from that time. Our standards have dropped enormously and most people aren't even aware of it.
Remember, the only effective difference between cavemen and modern men is that we know more now. They were just as smart as we were. They had every bit as much basic brainpower. But they didn't have any knowledge -- they had no way to leverage those brains.
Expose yourself to the brilliant, brilliant work that has preceded you. Even if this doesn't make your actual code writing any better, it will give you a peek into a universe of problems that are enormously more interesting than connecting a web site to a SQL server.
I was offered a job in a rather famous games company (which I didn't take). I have a CS degree and a PhD (which invloved AI), but no real games experience...
Certainly I didn't mean that a game designer can't code, the obvious example that comes to my mind is Peter Molyneux, who is reported to have a big hand in coding the game (and does a great job with publicity besides). But I was also thinking of people like Bruce Shelly of Ensemble and Bill Roper of Blizzard who don't get mentioned as often when it comes to the nuts and bolts of programming. While I'm sure they are quite clueful about technical aspects of the game implementation, I'm not so sure they are cranking code.
And what good would a designer be if they didn't have a clue about the implementation?
I was just going with the (probably incorrect) impression that the Ask Slashdot poster was wondering where he could learn to assemble polygons onscreen so that he had a game.
Chris Cothrun
Curator of Chaos
Bleh!
Look at all the k-rad 3D games that are boring to play. Look at some games that are behind the technology curve that are fun to play (I'll offer up Starcraft and Counter-Strike as a pair of recent examples, I'm sure you can come up with your own).
The skillset that goes into a modern game is enormous. Art (3D modeling, texture art), Music, Game Design & Balance, Programming (3D, Network, UI), etc. You're lucky if you're good at one of these, much less a few of them. Find an area that you are good at and cultivate it, make yourself the best. The companies you mention often have 20-40 people working on a game, you'll have to find your spot on that team.
gamasutra.com is an excellent resource for professional level game development info.
Chris Cothrun
Curator of Chaos
Bleh!
How can you say you have "large-project management" experience when you are working on your own projects? That's not what large project management is about.
(Just in an argumentative mood :-)
There are specialized schools for this kind of thing. One that comes to mind is Digipen.
> And why should the people who want to program them all have to be obsessed gaming maniacs who have no balance in their lives?
The reason is simple. People love games. I know people who stay up all night playing games. Their lives revolve around games. This excitement permeates the industry and it's seen in what it has produced. How much innovation in hardware and software has originated in the gaming industry lately? Quite a bit.
Your point is well taken. I think that most industries can and will support a reasonable lifestyle but the industries that are _really_fun_ or perceived as such are different. Sure there are exceptions to the rule but look at any industry that's considered fun. It's either really competitive or next to impossible to make a living. I worked in adventure travel. It's tough to make a living at that because people do it simply because they love it. When was the last time you stayed up all night playing with your copier or fax machine? Does this mean that your industry doesn't do good work? No, but it may mean that there aren't as many wild technological leaps being made there.
If you have to ask then it's not for you.
I am not in the gaming industry but I have read enough articles to make me think that those who survive that industry are those who are totally consumed by it. If you can't stop thinking about games and programming and optimization and graphics then maybe this is the industry for you. If you consume everything you can get your hands on - books, source code, games then you likely know what to do next. If this just sounds cool then you will likely be competing with people more dedicated than yourself.
When I graduated from University there were several game companies pursuing me because I majored in Physics and minored in Computer Science, and spent several years doing research in machine learning. From a purely coding aspect the most important skills are going to be math (Linear Algebra), physics (Classical Mechanics), AI, and Graphics. So if you are in school pursue those classes. If you can make it through the upper division level classes you should have no problem learning new algorithms and implementing them and learning new graphics APIs.
Of course some relevant experience outside of school (your own demo or game mod) never hurts.
Scuttlemonkey is a troll
They don't. That's why you start out as a codemonkey and move your way up, at least, AFAIK.
--
Beside knowing computers a game must know how to tell a story and how to draw.
To tell a story learn literature and writing. The same story ideas and characters occur over and over again in history with new twists.
To draw learn drawing, painting, drafting, graphic design, film, multi-media, etc. You can never know too much art.
Games use sound too. So learning music theory will help you too.
Many medium to large cities have computer clubs with graphs, animation, gamers, or artist interests. Sometimes it is a special gamer club; other times a sub-group. That way hobbyists compare their game projects with others and start getting paid work with game companies. You'd be surprised how many small game companies there are all around the country. The computer clubs I've been around have been full of gamers.
No amount of preparation will help you to be a game creator as well as creating a game. So the first step is to make a game or few.
Writing an extension (e.g., a mod) to an existing game is a great way to focus on gameplay without getting lost in technical details.
But definitely get out there and make a game!
Rule Number Two: Design
Learn how to design a good game.
Rule Number Three: Self-management
Motivation and organizational skills are paramout.
Rule Number Four: Nail the technical fundamentals
If you're going to write computer games, a CS degree will certainly help you be a better programmer. You'll learn about algorithms, data structures, order of complexity, etc. This is the least important ingredient.
First of all, you're right. You imagine it would be an exciting and creative profession. The reality is that it's long hours and little glory, unless you're lucky enough to make that one-in-a-million big seller.
Okay, so you still want to do it... When I was programming for a Major Game Company (which cancelled every project I ever worked on, but I'm not bitter...) most of the resumes got tossed if you didn't already have a couple of games under your belt. That was stupid , but that's the way it went. Personally, I looked for someone with a strong math background. You'll need it. 3D graphics are all matrix or quaternion operations, and you'd better have a feel for it. Yes, you can get by with some cookbook operations and very little real knowledge. But your game will show it. Also, pretty much everything these days needs some sort of decent physics model. 3D graphics have been beaten to death, but today's computers are powerful enough to support really good collision detection/response routines. If only we had someone to program them... Good AI is a field that's also lacking. Winning a lot of single-player games relies on taking advantage of the stupidity of the AI. I'd love to see a game where the difficulty level actually made the opponents smarter rather than just giving them bigger guns.
Providing some sort of demo program with your resume gets you good bonus points. It doesn't even have to be pretty, just enough to show that you have some idea what you're talking about. BUT MAKE SURE IT WORKS! I immediately tossed one otherwise good resume because the demo program had a major memory leak, and consumed all physical RAM and about a gigabyte of swap within 15 minutes. Otherwise it would have been a good demo.
Play games. Play lots of games. Love games. Be one with the games. Game programming is a labor of love. Unless you're willing to eat, drink, and breathe games you won't stand a chance. Also be willing to give up your social life for 18 months at a stretch. Game development works in period of constant "crunch time". You will work nights and weekends. Frequently.
Chelloveck
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
No. Fuck off.^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
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As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
By doing it outside of a job. Do you own a computer? Have a compiler too? Great, you're all set. You don't need an employer to "give you a break" in order to start getting experience.
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As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
I think this is a very common misperception. Gameplay is all about how easily the gamer loses himself in the game, encompassing everything from input, to graphical representation (which doesn't need to be utilizing the very latest in 3D rendering, thus requiring a GeForce 3. For the type of game, an ascii interface is perfectly fine for nethack (I know there are tile-based guis for it, as well)), to story and plot, and so on. Not all factors always matter. For instance, graphics have little to do with nethack, and story has little to do with Quake 3 Arena. However, Quake 3 has gameplay that is just as good as, if not better than, nethack, in terms of a hack'n'slash type game (pure action). It's not even fair to hold up (arguably) the best roguelike game to your "average" or worse FPS (say, Daikatana). That'd be like holding up Half-life to the crudest roguelike out there, and thus claiming that Half-Life is a far superior game (and by saying so, also inferring that all roguelikes are poo).
Judge gameplay by context. It's pretty hard to compare an average FPS to an average roguelike, except that the "average" games typically fall short in the "gameplay" department, regardless of genre.
The goal is balance. There's no point in pushing for the best graphics in the world if you have no game to back it up, but the converse is true as well -- a game with an interface that was clearly neglected, added on as an after thought, is not a good game, no matter how promising the gameplay. Now, going back to the roguelike games, that doesn't mean you have to have a deformable 3D world with dynamic LOD and a state-of-the-art terrain engine. It simply means that spending time and thought on your "graphics" (such as they are) is necessary, and shouldn't be simply tacked on at the end.
The chief way to get into the gaming industry these days is a combination of modding and schooling. Many of today's "Gaming Gods" (for lack of a less-lame term) got their start doing mods. The TeamFortress people, now working at Valve; Steven Polge, the guy who wrote the first real bot for Quake1, the Reaper Bot, now working for Epic Games; GreenMarine, LeveLord, Stevie Case, and so on. Mods in the gaming industry have become the equivalent of an artist's portfolio. They give you game the creation experience you need to get a game design job.
At the same time, don't forget that schooling is important. Ignore what all the high school drop-outs turned IT bigshot turned homeless bum on the dole say about schooling being useless. It's far from it, if you take the time to apply yourself and actually learn something. Depending on what type or role you want to play, many different majors would be useful. Want to be more involved in the design of a game? Get a business major, with an English minor and an emphasis in a graphic art. Want to be an engine programmer? Take all the math you can. And once you think you have enough math, take some more. A CS degree is also useful, to help teach you proper coding and design discipline and algorithmic analysis. Want to be an artist? Attend a good design school. Want to be a sound engineer? Get a music degree. Your education shouldn't stop with a college degree, but you're that far ahead of those without one (and that gives you a slight edge against those without when applying for a job, which is very nice to have in today's economy).
Above all, though, don't forget to have fun. If you're not having fun, trying to pump out a mod or a tetris clone or whatever because you feel that you have to rather than because you want to, then you're on the wrong track. Take a step back, look at where you're at, and re-evaluate what you want to do with your life.
I think the 20,000 lines of code he's referring to are LOC to be done in your "off-time," as in when not working, going to school, etc. Things that count against this don't include code written for employers as a general rule, because you're trying to hone your talents, and probably wouldn't want to try something radically new on a project for which you're under a deadline. (Then again, maybe you would. YMMV) Stuff written as a hobby, for friends, University projects, etc, all count since that's code that is done mostly to your specifications, not someone else's.
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When you think of the game idea, and the process for building it, and your first thought is "that's easy!" then it is possible. If there is a big grey area between starting and completing development, then it might be better to do something easier.
Come up with a good idea and build it. A finished product, or at the very least, something that works goes a long way towards learning how to develop games, which is more important than how fast they go or how many polygons there are.
After seeing Daikatana, I don't think Romero is the model to follow but he is with Stevie "KillCreek" Case and there are worst thing than that in life...
After actually looking at the photos on the site, if I was Romero, I'd probable be hiding now
Work hard at becoming a good programmer. A good programmer can learn any toolkit. Game are developed by teams of people, so learn to work well with others.
Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt. I worked at Origin Systems with one fellow who went on to great things at Ion Storm, and with another guy who's heading up Sony's Star Wars Ep1 MMORPG. Going in through QA doesn't substantially increase your odds of landing a design position. Being a good designer (that is, being able to communicate to somebody WHY one game is fun and another is not) is critical.
That's why I'm not doing it. : ) There's a whole lot of esoteric theory behind why games work, and I didn't feel motivated to learn it. People who did, are now very successful game designers.
Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
I'm going to second this just to make sure it gets noticed. I've worked in the game industry for 3 years now.
... that project got at least 3 people jobs with serious companies, including 2 game programmers now working for a top 3 game company).
:-)
Game Designer is the title for the guy with a management hat who gets the last word in making gameplay mechanics decisions and balance decisions. He is typically responsible for the game design documentation. He may or may not do any programming on the project. There is typically only one per title, this is a very hard job to get, and will involve working from the inside of an established company over a period of years most likely.
Game Programmer is the title for me, the guy who actually sits down and writes some code to make the game do what the Game Designer says. I take art resources and load them up and make them display at the right place at the right time. I make the king's prefix add damage (up to 150% damage, as specified in a spreadsheet by the game designer). There will likely be something like 4 to a dozen programmers, and one lead programmer on a title. The lead programmer gets more influence on design since he may be laying out engine features that create or restrain the type of content possible in the game.
The game programmer job typically gets some input on how the game works. Sometimes if you have a great idea, you just code it up, put it in the game, then ask the game designer: is this not cool? And if he says it is cool, you get to leave it in. This can be a fun and rewarding job, though frustrating when you lock horns with the game designer and lose. You get to mold the game somewhat, but it does not come from your vision.
If you have programming skills, and you'd like the game programmer job, a good way to get started is to prove you can do it by working on a game-mod project (say something like LMCTF for quake 2
I will also chime in on the glamour issue. It's all fun and games until the 15 months of 18 hour days starts. Then it is pretty rough on your family life, since you can't really drive home to sleep in your own bed when you're that tired. The pay is also typically significantly less than what you'd get applying equal skills to a business environment job. I've had offers at least 75% higher than what i'm making now, but I do enjoy being able to walk into fry's in my development team sweatshirt and have people in the games aisle ask me about it.
In any case, good luck with your dreams and ambitions.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
(Though design is becoming less and less accessible to programmers.)
This is sort of a tangent... but why is this happening? I know that game design today is supposed to consist of taking a known engine, tweaking the heck out of it, adding content, and shipping. Whee, another FPS.
But it seems to me that truly innovative (and therefore great) games come from programmers or ex-programmers, who wield the power to identify something that hasn't been done with the hardware, and do it. Carmack, Wright, Molyneux, Meier, Lord British, etc.
Perhaps the decline of the programmer/designer is a symptom of the stagnant state of the game design practice?
Or maybe good game designers who aren't programmers just don't get enough press? (I'm not talking about level designers here, I mean the creators of totally new genres)
You know, it wouldn't be too hard...
There have been random level-creation tools out since Doom, they take a library of pieces with standard connection points and build a level with them. For an angband-y feel, the combat would have to be RPG based, not quake-skill based. That's an interesting task, but not impossible.
The NPCs (as few as they are) have been done. Look at any of the Quake-engine based games that involve look at someone while their mouth moves and a sound is played - perhaps with subtitles to match.
I actually put some work into an RPG in quake, where the combat was based on your stats, but weighted by your performance in actual fighting. The number of shots that hit the target in a given time, and the number of his that hit you, are used to weight the damage rolls from the RPG element. It gives a good player an edge (customizable) and still makes it stat based.
It's not always perfect - with melee-attack creatures it looks funny if you dodge their attacks and still take damage. (This isn't a problem with distance attacks - the computer can cheat a bit, making some attacks perfect shots, to deal the ammount of damage it had rolled.)
If you went with either all twitch combat (FPS skill) or all random RPG combat, it'd be easier, but IMHO not as much fun.
If you're interested in this, feel free to drop me a line. I wouldn't mind working on this.
I'm told that The University of North Texas and UW have good gaming stuff going on. I'd investigate further and come up with better URL's, but then all hopes of getting this post moded up would fade because it'd be too late, and I am a whore!
Slashdot 's editors are dickheads
That Stevie Case was also fucking John Romero....
ReadThe ReflectionEngine, a cyberpunk style n
Generating opponents' moves has nothing to do with real AI. Yeah! You tell 'em!
Hmmm... Generating opponent's moves is all that AI chess programs do. Is that real AI? It's got decision trees and minimax, pruning etc. Sounds like AI to me.
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I've read about some schools that have training in video game programming and apparently their grads are quite well regarded. There was a fast company story on one, DigiPen a little while ago, they seemed to think it was pretty good.
If you can't get right into the industry, perhaps these would be some ok options.
I think that is excellent advise. I'd also add that networking (the people kind) plays a big role - so try to get in contact with people who work at game companies. When they are ready to hire, they will pick people they know before they pick random people. So, read .plan files of developers and if they talk about something of interest to you write them back and try to build a friendship. Don't come of as a braggart - but if you have stuff to show put something in your mail .sig and half the time they will be curious and take a peek. They probably won't browse more than a few pages so put your best stuff up front (code/art/music/etc).
If you write to a developer more than once, re-introduce yourself or maybe quote your last email because they probably won't remember your name. If you write them enough (with useful info) then they will start to remember and respect you and maybe offer you a job or suggest you to someone who will offer you a job.
-- Virtual Windows Project
I think it is important to distinguish between being a game designer, and a game programmer. Historically they have been the same person, but that is not as common as it used to be, and it is getting less common. Games are not really designed by one person, but by a team of people. The Lead Designer may come up with the concept, and even the plot and many of the features, but artists are a critical element in designing the mood of the game, programmers often have great new ideas that come up as the game get's developed. Even the program manger has an impact on game design by deciding how much can be spend on what, and what has to be cut when time runs short. The question is, do you want to be strictly a designer, a programmer, an artist, a producer, a program manager, D) all of the above? There are many opportunites in the gaming industry, it is important to decide what you want to do.
Jens Wessling
Right...
And the kids that wrote the most popular online multiplayer game had a big production budget (counter-strike).
It definitely takes longer to complete a game today, and getting published is a major pain in the ass. However, one does not necessarilly have to go through a publisher to release a game. The Internet seems to work pretty well for that.
The above is certainly not for everyone. The graphics capabilities are severely limited in the current version, but if you can work within the framework they provide, you'll find that it's a joy to use and extremely easy to write your own games. It won't help you if you're looking to break into the popular 3D gaming industry, but it's great for the hobbyist/2D game writer. And who knows, when the graphics get the much needed facelift, maybe this will be the next big development platform in a few years. ;-)
Say hello to zMac.
Step 1: Realize that there is much more to a game than programming. :)
Step 2: Memorize the Nintendo mantra: games must be fun. In other words, games are not programming demos, they are interactive entertainment.
Step 3: Get into the gaming industry and be great at what you do so you get noticed. How? That's just an implementation detail.
I've seen many awesome coders who can knock your socks off with projects they've done, but have no formal CS training. And I wouldn't hire most of them. They understand how to write code, but they don't understand why it's necessary to design before implementation, extensively document code, have a process for source review, use a revision control system, implement a unit test strategy, and the like. All of these things are necessary when working on a large project with multiple engineers.
Most games are a huge undertaking. I last worked for a games company, Turbine Entertainment Software, that had dozens of people working on a single project. In addition to the fact that they were all really smart people, if they hadn't followed good programming methodologies nothing would have ever been shipped.
Today, I'm Director of Software Development for a storage software company, and implementing good policies is key to keeping on track. All code is required to be reviewed by another team member before it may be checked into the repository. All modules must have unit test cases. No code may be written until design of the module and its interfaces are complete. This might sound draconian, but it means that we know what we're writing before we start coding it, we know it works when we're done, and we know what it does when we look at it again 3 months from now. Fewer bugs, fewer unexpected surprises, and fewer late nights trying to fix something that has to have been done last month.
Games companies are often hiring; they tend to not pay as much as other computer industry jobs but can also be a lot of fun. If you want to break into the games industry, send a resume to some companies you find interesting. Show that you can write good code, show that you have the creativity to design an interesting game, and show that you understand what's necessary to actually complete a team project.
--Jered
I used to Work in the Video Game industry. But I was the token Support Sysadmin guy. I basically took the job, sicne I thought "Hey, It's a video game company! That would be nifty to work for!"
And it was. Nerf gun fights, free lunches on Fridays, paid trips to the movies every so oftern, and decent hardware. Very much fun, but without taking it to an excess. Plus people worked hard there, and really enjoyed their jobs.
I had orignally wanted to move into a position of Doing QA on games, or helping to write tools, But eventually my Unix Yearnings got the best of me, and I left the mostly WinTel shop, to pursue a full time Unix admin Gig (But I left on good terms, and also after attending enough coffee sessions, BBQ's in Austin to garner some great friends, and industry contacts!)
So, try for a backdoor job in, Webmaster, tech support, documentation writer, maybe even Coffee boy for the office, have your portfolio built up, and eventually, spring it on them, you might find a receptive audience. I know that I saw more than a few cases of Tech Support people moving into more developer orientated roles.
Oh yeah, being in the right location helps... In my case, it was Chicago initially, and then Austin Tx. (Great town for gaming companies!) Seattle, SiliValley, and the SiliAlley are other potential game company hotspots.
http://thepoliticalgeek.com/blog/ Politics for Geeks.
Most companies blend the game designer position into another position: programming lead, producer, or design may even be democratically handled by the whole team. It's unusual to find a dedicated game designer.
The few people I have run across as dedicated game designers are typically expierienced industry people working on epic-scale RPGs or games with a lot of movie footage which need scripts.
You're also unlikely to start out as game designer. You'll need to prove yourself in another position first. To do that, put together a killer demo game or two on your own (preferable), or get a degree with strong marks and practice the hell out of your interviewing skills. The demo is preferred, as it shows genuine interest and understanding of the field - most college kids I interview want to reinvent everything we do without having a clue about what we're already doing, or are pure academics who don't have a grasp of resource-limited development.
Man,
I loved that game. Bring it back with super-duper graphics, and the world is yours.
HI Mom!
Linux - Because Mommy taught me to Share.
Oh yes, and to get this job I had to learn Java in a week. So what did I do? I made a game! Simple little "us vs. them" spaceship thingie, with one team of circles versus another team of circles.
Then I added multiple frames.
Then I added individual popup menus.
Then a point-based ship building model.
Then keyboard shortcuts and tab stops for every ship.
By the time I felt I was ready to move on to Geology Explorer, I didn't really want to. My precious little Spacewars has sat unused on my work machine for weeks now...
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Co-founder of GerbilMechs
I lucked out. I've been playing games since I was 4 (Donkey Kong on the ColecoVision, biytach!) and programming in every BASIC I've found since I was 10, but just recently I managed to get what I consider my big break. NDSU hired me on to work with their Geology Explorer.
:) Silly me.
Basically a Java shell for the LambdaMOO backside, it's got a good mix of graphics, interface, AI, and MOO specifics. After a couple months, MouseListeners are my willing slaves, and most of the niggling problems I had coming in have been ironed out. Mostly I've been making the graphics both run fast and look nice AND be functional. Yay, me. Sure, I didn't actually make the thing, but in my opinion it's much harder to tweak someone else's code anyway.
Um, by the way, I wouldn't recommend using the Explorer in the next couple days. I'm in the process of revamping EVERY SINGLE CLICKABLE OBJECT on the planet, which means that about half the world is broken right now
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Co-founder of GerbilMechs
I've been in the industry a whole... six months. :)
I'm still in shock.
Had an IT job. HATED IT. No surprise there. Saved up a few thousand, quit and started a gaming news website which made for a lot of 20 hour days and no traffic cuz I sucked at promoting it
But I wrote well enough that when a friend pointed me out to Incite they picked me up as a freelance. (yeah, ignore my "cuz" and "thru" shortcuts, I *can* write, but I'm lazy in posts).
Yes, Incite sucked but it got me resume space.
So while I made a few bucks here and there, and picked up a part time job so I wouldn't starve while working on my failing website, I started hanging out in different IRC channels that game devs frequented, and made a few friends.
One was aware of my writing and one day I got a message that there was an unannounced writing position (if you haven't guessed by now I'm a story geek, not a code geek).
A night of frantic inspiration turned into a half decent Sci-Fi style story about a battle on a freighter hangar deck, and a couple of weeks later I had a job.
What advice would I have? I'm still a newbie to this, even though I've been a gamer since Pong. But the first thing I would say is ask yourself where your talents really lie. Figure out what it is you're magic at, and become the best at it. Make people oooh and ahh. Then collaborate with others, and make things that people enjoy.
Someone will find you. And if they don't, jump in front of them and make them notice you.
I hope the engine engine is capable of rendering something other than the dark, boring environments seen in the screenshots on the site.
Game designers could really learn a thing or two by playing Serious Sam. Look at all those bright environments and colorful characters! Yowza!
For those who haven't yet seen it, check out Serious Sam from Croteam.
Of course, in an interview they said it was 5 years in the making, so it's not an overnight success thing. But there are still a few surprises out there.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
http://www.eecs.tulane.edu/www/Terry/OpenGL/Introd uction.html
I did not break into the gaming industry, but I do know a couple of people who did. One of the first people I knew to get a game programmer job was extremely self motivated. There were few courses geared toward game programing, but there were graphics and heavy programing courses. Every chance he got, he would write either a game or an API for a game he was writing. His Java project was a Defender type game that was actually a lot of fun.
The best way to break in is to learn and experiment on your own. There are classes, such as graphics, advanced programing classes, and matrix math courses, that help, but nothing will compare to having a portolio of games that you have written.
The University of Abertay in Dundee, Scotland (original home of Lemmings creators, DMA) has a degree in Computer Games Technology
The only thing you can accurately describe as "Scotch" is a sticky tape made by 3M. And it's
The course description might be helpful. Here's the key bit:
The course is intended for people straight out of high-school, rather than as a second degree for people with a CS qualification already.
The only thing you can accurately describe as "Scotch" is a sticky tape made by 3M. And it's
The great thing about the Ti-82 and -83 is that you tend have them with you when you're stuck in boring situations, i.e. high school and college classes. Personally, I think I've done better in Math and CS throughout my education as a result of having them. When a teacher says something and you don't quite grok it, or when it sparks an idea in your head, you can use the BASIC-like language to throw together a quick implementation, and see how it works. All in all, they keep the brain cells working at times when they'd otherwise be off thinking about funny trolls to post on Slashdot.
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"Here to discuss how the AOL merger will affect consumers is the CEO of AOL."
grep -ri 'should work'
If you want to be a game designer, go out and design a game. Nobody is stopping you.
If your question is 'How do i get paid to be a game designer?', then the answer to that is that you need to have designed games without being paid before you have a chance to get paid to do it.
You're not going to get hired to design a website that someone's business depends on without even knowing HTML.
The key is to be able to demonstrate and communicate your skill and talent to a potential employer.
There are millions of people in this world who can talk shit about designing games all day long, and only a tiny percentage on them that can actually deliver.
Most employers want people who fall into the second category.
I gots ta ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
My only comment to that is what about fields that aren't quite defined in the gaming industry, such as the one I'm trying to break into, the role of the art technician, or technical artist in some cases. They're supposed to bridge the gap between programmers and artists, and yet, going to college, there is no real way to emphasize something that is so set in the middle. College will help with the specialized notions, but for those of us that are diverse in our skills, we're penalized for being diverse. Don't mind me, I'm just an irate, out-of-work college graduate.
Thought it worth mentioning the route I took into games programming. I started coding games in my spare time and eventually got good enough to sell them over the internet, even getting onto some compilations in retail stores, and making a few thousand quid for my efforts. Getting magazine reviews and coverdisk placements also helped. I coded and designed all the stuff myself, you can see the games i did at www.positech.co.uk. On the basis of this, I got a lot of interviews very quickly the minute I registered with an agency. In the end I got 3 job offers and ended up with the one I really wanted all along. I dont have any formal programming qualifications at all, but I did have something hardly any other candidates have: My CV was just colour screenshots from 4 finished games, and a URL to my site where you could download and play them. That pretty much sold me as a candidate, and just goes to show that being a bedroom hacker CAN still get you a good job in the games industry. (In this case at elixir-studios in the UK).
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
"Real Artificial Intelligence"? Well, if what you mean is "closer to human intelligence", doesn't that make game AI (being less human-ish), MORE artificial and therefore MORE worthy of the term "Artificial Intelligence"?
Its not that I don't want you to feel smart, its just that I want to feel smarter. Thats a joke, see?
I suppose I'm not too threatening, presently, but wait till I start Nautilus
Have a look here:
www.digipen.edu
In addition to other media, they have a few courses in game design.
--
python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
You should have a sense of what makes a good level and what makes a bad level. Start at testing in any game house that's hiring. You could get promoted to assistant level designer.
Are you kidding! I can tell for sure that a game is crap by looking at the publisher!
OCEAN games anybody?
Heheheh.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
Don't listen to them. Just sit there day and night playing games until your fingers bleed.
I've been doing that for 21 years.
Where do I apply for my game design job?
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
So far the majority of the replies are saying that one of the most important things you need is to focus on maths. Or rather the majority of the people here are giving advice on how the programming aspect of the industry. I've found with most people wanting to get into game production focus primarily on the programming aspect and forget about the most important part, the actual design. The question asked was how do you get into game design, which is not the same as game programming. Although maths are important they are not the last word. If your looking to do more than just design an engine, then it comes down to, can you write a clear concise and complete design doc of the game. Now I must admit I am not a game designer myself, however this is what I aspire to be and I"ve asked the "how do I get into game design" question many times before and the answers I got were simple: Make your own games and document the process as clearly and completely as you can. What schooling do you need for this? amongst the programing and math courses that would be beneficial, take any course that relates to information system design and learn about ERDs and DFDs and the others. It will make for a much more impressive portfolio when you go in for the interview
Wouldn't it be to your financial advantage to take the higher paying job and get a screen printer to make a development team sweatshirt for you? Even if it didn't look quite right (or not at all right) most people wouldn't know...
"I'll take the red pill, no, blue. AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH........"
"I'll take the red pill. No! Blue! AAAaaaahhhhhhhhh"
- Monty Python meets the Matrix
Take a look at this online book.
Their advice is similar to advice given to writers (that I've seen attributed to Stephen King): you learn to be a writer by writing. Lots.
Most of the people I know in the game industry who went the CS route built a portfolio of code, engines, and demos that they could show to folks that alreaady are in the game industry. Coders that want to be in the industry are legion, coders who are willing to put together a decent portfolio aren't as common.
If you're serious about it, you should probably attend industry events like the GDC, E3, and the various GDC roadtrips to network. And if I'm not mistaken, the GDC even allows you to be a volunteer to get a discounted admission fee.
Read, read, and then read some more about how games work, how they are made, etc. Go to sites like Gamasutra.com, flipcode.com and gamedev.net. Practice your skills by writing 3d Demos (getting OpenGL books and reading the DirectX doc tutorials come to mind). Buy Game Programming Gems and read it cover to cover. Get to know people in the game industry, and keep them as contacts (but be nice and friendly). Actively get involved in a mod for any game (Half-Life, Quake3, Unreal Tournament, Tribes2) and whatever you do, stick it to the end. Companies will recognize polish and hard work. Also, play lots of games to try and figure out how they work.
What not to do/expect:
1) Don't expect everyone to help you. Try to figure things out for yourself. The net is your best research tool.
2) Don't expect to get in right away. I busted tail on reading learning and working for several years before I got a break.
3) Don't listen to these trolls who tell you that all the hard work is pointless or that a nice demo won't help. They will, and those that review demos will recognize it for what it is.
4) Don't think that because you are a good coder or have played a lot of games or your friends say you are smart that you deserve a shot. You don't, because all the others trying to get in are the same way. You need to learn about the industry. I finally got in because I didn't expect anyone to help me but me.
=I am Jack's general protection fault=
Do you want to be a game designer or programmer? This is a very important question.
;).
I am a programmer. I have a couple of degrees in CS (one is generally plenty for game programmers), and plenty of coding experience. I was almost a game programmer, but I changed choices at the last minute. I may some day be a game programmer. Although I am aware and useful enough to contribute to the design process, I will probably never be a full-on game designer. If you want to be a programmer, then program, program, program. Come up with your own projects and code them. Code projects with your friends. Built 2d and 3d game engines, graphical demos, or anything which might constitute a piece of a game. Code projects using D3D and OpenGL. You can build game programming skills to a pretty good degree without a game programming job.
One of my good friend from our (mostly technical) school has a managment degree. He is computer literate, but admittedly couldn't code his way out of a paper bag. He is a game designer. He thinks about the way games work, what makes them fun, what could be done new to make them more fun, or -- much better -- make them sell more. He decides what type of game to make, what features it needs, how the user should control it, how many classes/races/widgets there are, etc. To be a good game designer, you need to design games -- from scratch. Come up with a concept, and describe it in detail (detail, detail) until enough programmers and artists could get together and build it. My friend has a degree from a good school, experience in the field, and a drawer full of fully fleshed out (hundreds of pages) game designs, and the job market is still tough right now, since having game design skills is much harder to quantify or prove than having programming skills, at least until you're well known and established in the industry (and have a few successful games under your belt).
It's up to you which you want to do. I suppose it's possible to do both, but it's very difficult to start with both. So choose one, and just do it until you have the skills to get a job (and can work your way up), get sick of it, or are simply forced to do something else because of the bad games market right now
-Puk
p.s. There are, of course, a bunch of other people involved in game design, not the least of which are artists and modelers, product managers (whee), and even lawyers (IANAFL). I was just concentrating on two groups.
"The quickest way? Start your own game company and start making the game you want to make. That's what we did. If you don't yet have the skills necessary to actually make a game, then pick a direction -- art or programming -- and learn them. Go work for a game company and get the experience and knowledge of the industry you'll need. Starting out as a tester is a good way to get experience while learning. If you're really dedicated, you can skip the game company experience and just start on your own game, but you'll have to learn a lot of things about the biz the hard way.
IMHO, "Game Designer" is a title that carries a lot of mythical baggage, much like "Fairy Princess". Yes, everyone wants to magically become a Fairy Princess/Game Designer. Just kiss an enchanted frog or wave a magic wand, and *boom* -- you're wearing a glittery pink tutu and diamond tiara, sitting on a comfy tuffet at a tea party in Candyland with Carmack, Molyneux and Will Wright. "Please pass the sugar...mind you don't wake the dormouse in that teapot. Now what were you saying about pathfinding, Mr.Miyamoto?"
But, sadly, it doesn't work that way.
Now, where's my damn tutu?"
Sparky
co-conspirator, They Came From Hollywood
http://www.theycamefromhollywood.com
This was posted on PlanetBaldursGate on Monday, April 17 of last year.
Dave's background: There are many more fields in building a computer game than programming alone, Bandit. I would suspect that over three-quarters of the people who work here wouldn't know what to do with a line of code if they were handed one.
Aside from the programmers, we've got artists (besides the computer artists, I know that some of them have backgrounds as comic book artists and graphic design... although it helps to know how to use the graphic editors, it's not always necessary to get hired if the talent is there), animators (most of the animators here have specific animation education backgrounds, I believe) and designers (which includes game designers, writers and scripters... with most of us being a blend of the three).
I, myself, am on the design team as a designer/writer (although I now do some scripting, as well... a bit different from programming as the programmers build the game editors that scripters use to put the game pieces together). I got involved in the business in a strange way, I guess. I used to manage a hotel before I came here... I just had a hobby where I ran a PBM (play-by-mail) RPG that I had designed. Bioware was looking for designers who had designed their own game (and finished it... an important distinction), and a friend of mine who was playing my game happened to work here. He offered my game to Greg and Ray to look at and they asked me to give some writing samples for a job. I had no intention of applying (it was nice, but I had a career in the hotel industry at the time) until the next day (this is where it gets weird) a company came in and bought my hotel and I was given three months severance (they always let the GMs go on a takeover). So I thought, "Well, why not?" and gave Ray and Greg some samples of writing I had done as well as the first few chapters of a book I was writing on the side. They liked it and voila, here I am.
It's true that some companies only promote people to game designers from within, but Bioware works on games that require a lot of design and writing (hey, a million words doesn't come from nowhere) so they have hired people just for these jobs alone. They tend to require people to have scripting skills as well as creative writing skills (instead of learning the scripting as I have), but having talent doesn't hurt. There are a lot of other designers here who write great and learned their scripting skills along the way beside myself.
So there are a lot of different ways to get into the business, I suppose.
The "one million words" may refer to Planescape: Torment, which supposedly had over a million words of dialogue in it.
The produce for Icewind Dale, J.E. Sawyer, used to be a webmaster for Interplay or Black Isle.
Oh, and the two people who founded Bioware (the company that made BG2) are both doctors in Canada who just decided to start a game company.
I'm seen this question asked many times, and more often than not someone at a game company (like Bioware) simply says, "Send us a resume, we do hire people in the normal way."
~Moller
One of the most common ways nowadays is to enter a company thru QA.
Testing games usually leads to position in game design or producer positions.
I've seen programmers come out of QA but that's pretty rare.
Be ready to work A LOT, game testing is one of the most thankless job I know.
If by 'game design' you mean programming then your best bet is to start working on some demos on PC. The more you can show the better chance you have at landing a junior programmer position.
I got my break in the industry because I used to spend my time writing demos for the Amiga back in Europe.
Hope this helps,
-D
Though demands for graphics and sounds have exploded I still think a good gameplay is the most important thing, and that's one thing that doesn't require an army of developers.
So by not consentrating on flashy graphics you can put all your energy into making a damn fun game and not just let it fall into the usual mold. Sure, having good graphics helps the gameplay along a bit (IMHO), but I don't need the most cutting edge graphics all of the time... good graphics (IMHO) can be done by a few or even a single person.
Well... bla bla bla, I'm just mumbling on, let me close it up:
Start small, consentrate on gameplay and build it up from there, if you got talent, you'll probaly be picked up eventualy.
I've chocked over a lot of projcets that were simply too big before I slimmed my ambitions. That's the hardest part for me, not getting carried away. So, now I'm off to my tiny project, hoping to gain some experience, that can only be gained through actually making games.
I managed to get in by making mods for games like Quake 2 and Half-Life - nothing shows your skills at making a game more than actually making a small game!
As for education, I don't have a Uni degree, and quite a few of the other designers I know don't have degrees either, so it definitely isn't a prerequisite.
Most of the stuff that you're thinking of learning about though seems very programmer-oriented (D3D, AI coding). There is a difference between Design and Programming (and Art), although in most cases a designer also has skills in another area.
Your best bet is to make a small game or a mod, and submit it to a game company asking for a job at doing what you like doing best. If you enjoyed making the levels and game rules, then be a designer. If you enjoyed coding the engine, then be a programmer. If you enjoyed making the models, be an Artist. If you just enjoyed playing it, be a QA guy!
Oh yeah, also check out GameJobs and The GarageGames marketplace for positions
I know from experience that some of these places only care about the degree. I was a highschooler with a fairly extensive background and was 1 point off of Westwoods qualifying test, but they wouldn't even consider me for a position since I didn't have a degree. (I think "Nice score, go to college" would be a good paraphrasing of what I got back on that particular test.)
I also thought of pursueing a career in video game creation, however, I have little to no programming skills. I'd like to be the person that writes the stories for games such as Final Fantasy, ChronoCross, or Parasite Eve. As video games stories become more and more complex and moving, is there a job market for a Video Game Writer?
The ABSTRUSE One
Jason Byrons
"You all laugh at me because I'm different
I laugh at you because you're a
do what worked for me: stalk 'em. when Myst first came out, i fell in love. Cyan had lots of people applying for jobs, so instead of sending a resume, i moved to Spokane and began living on their steps. the rest is history.
good luck.
-k
Date one of the people that work for the company.
GeneralKael -- Slacker Extraordinaire
There is lots of other good advice posted, but here is my story/opinion:
I'm a game programmer. I started programming on my Commodore 64 in about 1986 while I was in high school. I didn't get too far on most of my early games, but I learned the basics of programming and assembly language. After high school I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depends on your point of view) to get a couple of jobs making games at a couple of small companies. I worked very hard and accomplished little there, and ended up going to university.
I finally got a degree in Computer Science. I found some of the courses a bit redundant since I had been programming for several years already, but the whole experience was good as a maturing process. I'm much more organized and methodical about software development, and that's mostly what I was missing before university. There's more to programming than understanding the syntax of the language, in the same way that not everyone who speaks English can speak eloquently.
Since then, I developed a game out of my basement (on contract). This is really where I got "legitimized" in the games industry - once you've shipped a game, you get a lot more respect. This got me into a position at Electronic Arts, where I am currently.
The main thing to remember about game programming: it's not all fun and games. Games are usually extremely complex for the size of the teams developing them, schedules are extremely tight and the pressure can be enormous. You can't always just go on to something else or forget about that hard-to-find bug when it's your job. Most games get done through hard work and sheer will-power, and usually require some very smart and talented people around as well.
So, the only advice to give (and this applies to people looking at design / production / art) is really: make something on your own time! This is easiest for programmers (it's hard to make a functioning game without code) so it might be necessary to team up with a programmer (or two, or more). Game ideas are a dime a dozen, so most people in production work their way up from QA, starting off by proving they are organized and can design games a little bit at a time. You might be better off trying to manage a project with a few people and go from there - design is 10% good idea, 90% convincing everyone else it's a good idea. Artists can show their skills by drawing, but it's more important to show what you can do with a modelling package. Making something on your own shows that you have some talent, that you are motivated, and that you would give up some of your free time to make something.
Don't think of game programming as a job - it's a way of life. You could get by doing 9 to 5, but there are people (like me) who live and breathe programming, and you won't move up very quickly. I wake up in the morning with elegant solutions to complex problems spinning in my head. Some people might think that's a bit weird / obsessive / pathetic, but the fact is: I love programming. I can work long hours, but I still come home and play computer games and even prototype my own game ideas. If everybody did something they love as much, the world would be a much more pleasant place.
sig fault
The best bit of advice is to just make them. Don't worry about how they look or sound, because someone will always come along and do it better than you. Just strive to make a fun game on any platform -- including index cards or IRC or Shockwave -- and you'll get noticed.
My first commercial product, Acrophobia, was originally a game played by 500 people on IRC. Now, it's been played by something like 1.5 million people. (You can see Acro at flipside.com whenever they get their newest merger crap out of the way.)
Online wrestling as a trading card game? WWF With Authority.
--
I've had offers at least 75% higher than what i'm making now, but I do enjoy being able to walk into fry's in my development team sweatshirt and have people in the games aisle ask me about it.
--
They would be paying too much.
Nah. Innovation happens regardless of trend. That's why it's innovation, you see.
If a corporation is a personhood, is owning stock slavery?
Or make a really nifty version of Angband?
but running a website will get you familiar with the companies, technologies, and people. i've gotten interviews over lunch by chatting up some people at a trade show. networking and industry knowledge gets you in the door. technical skills get you hired.
Ummm, Jon, aren't you supposed to be dead...? - Otter(3800)
Friends of mine in the gameing industry (All in NYC) are all graduates of Fullsail in florida. Have a look at http://www.fullsail.com/. I'm not a graduate myself so I can provide no more information then a point in the right direction...
I personally don't believe that this can happen right this second, but as these games are evolving it will require much more merging... just ask the persistent world game developers. Obviously, the down side of this is the multi-role problem of having a development house consulting on the various aspects of their efforts while maintaing expertese in what they do.... jack of all trades, master of none and such. But like anything else in its infancy, it is just a necessary phase to go through in order to grow properly.
Personally I would like to see more effort put into AI and physics, which in turn allow more effort to be put into gameplay and story. There is enough pretty but crappy products out there, again IMHO. A scalable game (not just graphics) would be a great system to allow mod's to be added onto. Instead of just tweaking the AI scripts, names, and graphics... a good mod maker would be able to unlock the components for a differing physics and graphical rendering and make a much different game than what he/she originally had. For example, take a game like Homeworld, spice up the physics and rendering (since speed is not an issue), include methods for creation and editing of objects (with some of the standard primitives out there now) and end up with a neat little space ship designer, or perhaps an educational program for physics and math... or higher level as a teaching program for working/developing 3D graphics, physics and AI. What about making it into a Home design/add-on for home and gardening freaks. Now, this may take such a high level of design that time makes it obsolete once it is released, but then again, if you design it in a modular fashion, you could add/modify the graphics engine later.... just a thought. Would love to work on something like this myself, but spending way too much time playing with networks these days.
I seek not only to follow in the footsteps of the men of old, I seek the things they sought.
I work as a programmer for "Magitech", a small Canadian game developer. We've been working on a real time strategy game called Takeda for about two years now (you can check it out at www.ezgame.com).
There are plenty of resources all over the web for people who are interested in being a part of the game industry. To name just a few:
www.gamasutra.com (all about making games).
www.gamedev.net (same as above).
www.igda.org (international game developer's association - check for a chapter in your area)
All of these sites have articles about how to get started in the industry (along with a ton of other information about making games). If you want to get started, you could also visit www.sourceforge.net and look for games people are working on there: Often they're looking for help. Finally, if you live in california (or can get there), check out the game developer's conference, they have a job fair every year.
Now i'll describe how I got my job. My boss posted a job listing at my University's career centre (University of Toronto): he was looking for an artist. My art skills are horrible (I'm a programmer, what can I say) but I really wanted to try making games, so I volunteered to help out for free. I made sure to let him know that I could program, and that I'd be willing to do whatever he wanted me to (well, almost.. =). He hired me at just above minimum wage. At the time, I had just finished my first year at school (in comp. sci and math) and had had my first exposure to C/C++. Everything worked out, and now I'm in third year, the game is almost done (we're looking for publishers), and I'm not making minimum wage any more.
The independent games festival really allowed my company/game to get some publicity and attention. We now have 6-7 employees, but for about a year and a half there were only 3 of us. It's not easy to break into the industry, but I don't think i would go so far as to say it's impossible.
Ryan MacLean
www.geocities.com/rwbmaclean
If you want to do programming, make a good mod for Quake, Half-Life, UT, etc. A lot of companies looking for coders give mod making virtually as a requirement. A lot of the guys already "in the industry" got there through mod-making. Mr Elusive, id's bot AI coder made the Omicron Bot for Quake 1, and Steven Polge, Epic's bot programmer, made the Reaper Bot, also for Q1. There's tons of other people out there who became first popular in amateur circles.
For level design, and probably all other aspects of the gaming industry, the path is largely the same. Make custom content, make it good, and hope somebody notices. Also, submit your work to companies when they're looking for new blood. Ion Storm Austin and Ritual Entertainment have both gone looking for new mappers in the past few months.
I don't think it's easy to get into the industry. Far more people want to work at id software than actually do work at id software. Part of the problem are the legions of people who are innacurate judges of their own work. The other problem is that many companies do in fact seem to look for people who've already done work in the industry before looking elsewhere for talent.
In the end, don't make mods, or maps, or textures, or music, or anything with the sole intent of getting into the industry, because it's a pretty rare occurance to actually "make it." Create for yourself, and yourself only, and be pleasantly surprised when you get a job in the gaming industry.
I would actually start by getting a CS degree (good math, algorithmics, ai... courses). Sometimes, I don't understand how people think... anybody (well, with a brain) can learn simple technical stuff like directx by himself over a few days. You don't need courses about that.
.sig
Now a good computer graphics course (you can take one in your CS degree), where you learn about 2d and 3d rendering, recursive ray tracing, visible surface determination, dithering, and other basic techniques, will be interesting. Just look at the discussion (from Tim Sweeney) about the scripting language and scripting engine design Epic did for Unreal Tournament (http://unreal.epicgames.com)... this is serious and interesting game programming challenges that involve higher challenges that making a sprite move with directx...
Now, if this will get you a job in the computer gaming industry, I can't tell you for sure. I just finished this month my CS degree, and I will look into that pretty soon (I already have a job in cs, but i'm really interested in games and computer graphica)
Hope this helps,
(P.S. English is not my first language)
phobos% cat
phobos% cat
cat:
I'd have to disagree. "science" in a general sort of way... sure. You have to have a pretty logical mind, yeah. But you dont have to love math.
I'm "good" at math. But I LOVE CODING. This is why I got a CS degree, and I was really pissed that they made me waste 80% of my time with non-coding classes.
Yeah, you can't really write the next "Wow, gotta have it!" game anymore unless you've got a huge budget... but there's still other opportunities.
The old games were made by a programmer who had a real simple idea for a game, coded it up, and sold it. We can still do that... just not with games. Fifteen years ago you could have probably done something like with a word processor too -- not anymore though. There's plenty of oportunities though...
A quick and dirty piece of software that'd let you interact with MS Exchange scheduling features from a *nix client would be nice. Can't be too hard either (I'd imagine)... could be a nice tool. Heck, Napster is good recent example of a quick and dirty hack that caught on huge. Shaun Fanning wasn't even experienced at the type of coding he initiall put into Napster... he was just learning as he went.
This by no means answers the originall poster's question... but if he's looking to do something neat, and be recognised for his work I'd suggest not going into gaming... pick networking.
I've been doing that for 21 years. Where do I apply for my game design job?
You should have a sense of what makes a good level and what makes a bad level. Start at testing in any game house that's hiring. You could get promoted to assistant level designer.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Exactly! Exactly! Programming those little suckers, while building your programming abilities little by little, also enhances your ability to do ... whatever it is that you're trying to program! And stuff......
Don't take this entirely serious or entirely sarcastically. I aim to amuse, but I'm also partially serious. Find your foundation and go from there!
I've been programming for over 20 years, I don't a college degree, and have had several jobs. Oddly (or not so oddly,), the better the company, the less they care about paper qualifications. If you find yourself being dismissed out of hand by a company for lack of experience, ask yourself why it would be worth your while to work there.
The way to get a great job is to be a great candidate. It's that simple. This doesn't mean "spinning facts," because if it's a good company, they will detect this.
1) Decide what skills you have (or could have) that are useful. Be prepared to convince them. If you want to do art, have a portfolio. If you want to write code, have some source code. Be prepared to discuss your work.
2) Be able to talk about the field (games.) What do you enjoy playing? What makes a specific game good? What feature was a good game missing? Why didn't the designers put it in?
3) Write a "deep" demo, not a shallow one. No one cares about another bad Quake knockoff. Pick a small domain and master it. For example,
4) "If you wanna be a writer, write!" is a good rule. You should be writing 20K lines of code a year. This is how you hone your skills. Don't worry about the code being useful/portfolio-stuff.
5) "The trouble with most wannabe sci-fi writers is that all they read is sci-fi." Great ideas come because you have deep knowledge of other fields. We all know about war, sci-fi, martial arts, DnD, etc. Great games come from new domains, not recycling ideas.
6) Tell me your idea for the ultimate "FPS-RTS-MMPOLG," and I will listen politiely. Tell me your idea for a game that my mother would buy (and she probably wouldn't even know it's a game,) and I will hire you on the spot.
He then went from artist to Project Lead, and led a team that did absolutely nothing on a non-game called Cyclone Alley.
His fame came when he went to id, and they let him talk to the public...
First, I hired people from the defense industry. That was easy, since I was working on hard core miltary sims. Some of the people had real simulation or real AI skills, and also liked the stuff we were working on. These people tended to be older, and had real engineering degrees.
Second, I would hire hot young punks out of college. The prequisites for that was DEMOS. The course work was important, but WAY more important was what a person did on their own time. Mods, tech demos, school projects that actually did something real, or real jobs carried a lot more weight. Also, having that inner "drive" to do whatever it took to get the code done. These people I looked on as blank slates, and I could use them just about anywhere. They would work hard, and if I watched them closely, they could learn alot. I am happy to say that a lot of those people grew up to be damned fine programmers, working on award winning titles. One was the lead programmer of Deus Ex!
The last (but not the least) place I would look would be in the company's QA dept. Our QA staff (back in the day) was the best in the industry. Those guys would know more about our games than we would. They would often do things on the side (tech demos, modding our games) that would make me want to have them join the dev team. I have hired QA people into my teams as assistant producers, designers, and programmers. I had even better luck with these people, since I had already known them through their QA work, and those people grew into great talents. One is working on Star Wars Galaxies now!
So, I have used three paths: Real world experience with the subject matter (really prevelant now that everyone is doing client server stuff), hot punk out of college, and rising through the ranks from QA.
Each has its plusses and minuses. But it always comes back to hard, good work, enthusiasm, and just being a good person.
Donut
ps. I was a young punk from college. Thank you Warren Spector and Rich Garriott!
The Game Designer is the one who comes up with the idea, figures out what the game will include as far as gameplay goes, produces the game design document, etc.
The Game Programmers take this design document and build a game from it. Think of it like constructing a building, the architect draws up the plans, and the contractors build it to specifications.
The days of writing a game from complete scratch with no plans are long gone, and it is generally a bad idea these days since game projects generally tend to be advanced and complex.
A good read for you would be "Game Architecture And Design" written by Andrew Rollings and Dave Morris. ISBN: 1-57610-425-7
#include std.disclaimer // I do not work at Bioware
However, that being said, I am a long-standing drinking buddy of the brother (hi Chesterfield!) of Dr. Greg Zeschuck. So, here's some hearsay.
In a nutshell, the gaming industry is very hard to break into for a couple of factors. One of the most important is that it is exceedingly hard to make a commercial quality game that will be successful.
There is an enormous amount of fine tuning that go into produce a FPS game. Even non-FPS games require significant effort. Civilization, while not being gee-whiz-bang for action, is still one of the most compelling and addictive games to this day. Reason? Insane amount of time spent on game play development.
Therefore, it pays to be very, very selective about who you hire. CS and other math-intensive fields are first round draft choices. It's not meant to demean trade school grads, but frankly, they don't have the math skills. It's nothing personal. The amount of effort that is required to produce a solid, customized business app is probably several orders of magnitude less than to produce a "good" quality game. Games require good AI, good graphics, lighting fast algorithms, etc. IT'S MATH INTENSIVE! Business apps? Just make sure it has built in email and the world is your oyster.
The second part is that it is a very glamorous industry. Just like the movie industry, there is a lot of cachet in saying, "I word for id/Valve/Bioware". While the rest of the IT/IS world toils in keeping things working for humanity, these folks develop the stuff we enjoy to relax with. Who gets the geek groupies? The game developers. Billy Joy is one heck of a programmer, but man, did you see the way those giblets explode when you hit someone with a rocket launcher? It's freaking brilliant!
So, just like wanna-be starlets, the casting couch is the first step to heartbreak in the gaming world. Just because you want in, doesn't mean they want you. Even if you do get it, a lot of shops pay nothing. You're there for the glory factor, not the paycheck. You want serious money (and you're not a game god), go and DBA Oracle. Just suffer in silence, ok?
I can think of 2 recent, excellent games that have been done in the so-called "basement" style. They are Combat Mission:Beyond Overlord by Big Time Software and Steel Beasts (don't remember the URL).
For those of you who don't know, Combat Mission is a WWII squad-combat simulator with what I consider a revolutionary AI and excellent gameplay, even for non-grognards like me. Steel Beasts is a tank simulator that was good enough for the US military to buy 1000 copies.
Combat Mission was put together by a small indie team, and Steel Beasts was done by one guy. So it can still be done.
Keep your friends close. Keep your enemies in a little jar on your desk.
That's completely silly. Run a website and game companies will suddenly hire you as a game designer? I doubt it. Learn some math, code up some demos that show what you can do. THEN maybe they'll hire you. A mod will definitely get you points. A website might get you noticed, but it won't get you the job you want.
I am graduating with a CS degree in a couple months. I am a big gaming dork, and have ben since I was a little kid. This, got me flown out to talk with one of the companies mentioned in this ask slashdot.
Being pretty smart and enthusiastic about games got me a job offer.
I ended up not taking the job though. I really wanted to do games, but they offered me a lot less money than I wanted, especially to move to that expensive area. I ended up taking a job with a software company here making $17K more in a lower cost of living environment.
Some day, I may regret not having taken that job. We'll see, it depends on if I can work my way into the games group at the company I work for now within a year or two.
-Brian
"Faith strikes me as intellectual laziness." -Robert A. Heinlen
The latter is a tough road, but not as long as you'd think. Typically, I saw people fight their way out of QA in 1-2 years or they would quit -- it's a hard job.
Success is a matter of hard work, intelligence, and the ability to communicate good ideas. Understanding good game design helps, too. For example, what makes Starcraft a great game, but Dune 2000 only average?
I have a warning though, it's a hard life with a lot of sacrifices. You essentially have little life outside the and unless you date or marry someone from work, your sex life is on holiday for the duration.
I hope this helps.
two undergraduates could introduce a totally new genre into gaming with one game (Elite)
this put me in mind of a friend who's currently doing something that could provide good portfolio (she doesn't need it, it was actually a bit of fun and a chanceto play with WML)...
I'm thinking of WAP Elite. What she's done is re-created the Elite environment in client-server multi-player guise, for WAP phones and emulators. A potential employer could see the site, check the gameplay, because Elite is such a classic, they would rapidly find that she's implemented all the canonical stuff with near-total accuracy, whilst still introducing new stuff (the multiplayer aspect, implementing it in coldFusion and WML etc). They could also see that she's got 300+ players by word of mouth while the game's still in Beta, and plenty of traffic at alt.fan.elite
Now that would get me interested. As would a long list of Quake mods she's done.
Go there. Check it out. Enjoy.
TomV
of years as a research fellow at the Army High
Performance Computing Research Center where I
spent my time designing and optimizing physical
simulations and rendering code for SIMD computers. Then I spend a few years in parallel/
distributed networking, and now I'm coding P2P
apps, so although I've never done a lick of game
coding, I think I'm pretty well qualified.
However, I don't think there's enough money in
the game industry to pay me a competetive wage.
Hence the question: What are salaries like?
Options? Royalties? How do you get paid
in the gaming industry?
-I like my women like I like my tea: green-
Ya know I gotta say, unfourtunately, that I couldnt agree with you more
Although the way that I figure it, if a game was once good, It will always be good, It doesnt actually get worse as time goes on.(same goes for other software, wordperfect for dos, im not too sure which version, worked great for me). Right now the game I play the most is Rocket Jockey, friggin' awesome game. but it is about 5 years old or so, I could check but Im too lazy. The graphics arent as good as unreal tournement or quake 3 but the way the Idea of the game is sweet and the way that is designed is really good.
Although good graphics are definately a plus!
"Alcohol, cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems" -Homer Simpson
Instead of askink slashdot, just "ask hook".
He has been answering questions thrown by people for some years, also check his editorials.
Who is he?
Fh
The best thing one can do when trying to obtain a gaming job, is to make your own game. But before going for the 3D-realtime-60fps-shooter, think about starting small. Having the experience that comes from writing a 2D platform game or a couple of 3D demos under your belt will be worth more, to a game company seeking new talent, than any set of degrees.
;)
That is the best advice you can give. Also, try to network as much as possible. Make yourself known in various gaming communities, catch the attention of some current devs and designers. Make a name for yourself, no matter how small it may be... it will only help in the future.
And get used to not making a lot of money.
Tim "Drysart" Fries
Associate Producer, Fallen Age
NO CARRIER
I know Counter-Strike is a great game, but why do you need a degree in it, just to make games?
I've always wanted to do game programming. I found a school in Washington called DigiPen. It is across the street from Nintendo and is backed by Nintendo. It is a great place. What is nice about it is that the teachers are actual game programmers using the current stuff. You don't learn old then have to catch up once you are out of there. I was going to goto DigiPen but things fell differently here. Instead I found that I prefered working on game engines than writing actual games. There is a great game engine called Genesis3D. After being in the community for alittle while and people seeing what I could do, I was able to join the small team (about 10 people) that actually write the game engine (the engine hasn't been worked on for a year so we are doing a major overhaul). You don't have to have a CS degree. You don't even have to have high skills in math (unless you are writing complex physics and certain areas of a game engine). What people don't realize is that most games out there use some game engine off the shelf so all the complex work is removed. Barbie: Gotta Groove was written with the Genesis3D game engine (as an example). Even games written on consoles have alot of the hard work already removed as game engines for the consoles have already been written. Some development houses do modify or write their own engine to have different effects but the main game programmers never see this level of detail in their coding. This is why I went for working on the game engine itself instead of writing games as there is more detail in what you have to do and know. Bottom line is that you have to know what area of game programming you want to do. There are alot of areas and everyone specializes in just a few. AI, multiplayer coding, graphic display, sound just to name a few (and the game engine usually takes care of all but the AI so there isn't alot for the game programmer to do other than tell the engine "here's a map. I'm here. Display it").
"Is a CS-degree the best way?"
:P
Do you get an honorary counterstrike degree if you play it 24/7?
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Tonight on Fox: Deadliest Executions Part XVII
Make a game. Publish it on a webpage. Hear people tell you it sucks. Give up. Get idea for new game. Make game. Publish it on a webpage. Hear people tell you it sucks. Give up. Go look at really cool games. Make mods. Publish mods. Hear people tell you mods suck. Give up. Get fed up with people telling you your games & mods suck. Get job maintaining boring C++ code for legacy systems. Make game in your own time that only you care if its cool or not. Show friends who don't suck. Publish it on a webpage. Hear people tell you it sucks. You don't care. You make it the way you want. Because you don't care, people tell you game is cool. You improve game because only you care what game is like. Listen to whiners who liked game the old way. More people tell you game is cool because you don't care what they think. Game becomes big smash hit. Sierra offers you great game designer job. You say no because you only want to make games you want. You tell your C++ boss he sucks and you start your own game company. You hire people who don't suck. They worship you. You don't care. Now you don't care about even your own games. You retire on $2 million and spend the rest of your life posting questions to Slashdot.
managers...why god invented purgatory
I graduated DigiPen. There was exactly one SNES related course, and that was because they had some Dev Kit's for it. (As it is, the SNES is not too different from the Gamboy color and the Gameboy Advance, though that was the course that revealed to me the simple fact that I do not want to work at the Assembly level for any length of time if I can avoid it). And DigiPen is not only for US students. It is for anyone who can afford the tuition and living costs. Also, I have yet to work on a Nintendo Console, though I would not mind the chance to do so.
At the time I graduated, there were plans for the new course to incorporate more recent console tech. Though I cannot speak with any accuracy on what they teach now.
As for how much weight A DigiPen diploma carries, it varies. Some companies hired DigiPen grads, liked what they got, and hired more. Others did not like what they got, and those companies did not hire more.
Since I am currently employed and truly love my job, I have to say that for me, DigiPen was a great choice.
And as for the primary thread, I can say the following. The one thing that helps for getting a job as a designer is knowledge of a wide range of games.
END COMMUNICATION
Bottom line: The gaming industry is just like the entertainment industry.
Good point. From the outside, it's all too easy to glamorize the computer gaming field. In truth, day to day it is more like "battle of the gigantic egos" and not nearly as fun as it might seem. And just like in the entertainment industry, there is far more supply than demand for people who want to be game designers / game programmers / movie stars / oscar-winning directors / rock stars.
Crystal Space is a Free and portable 3D environment, with lots of really cool and advanced features.
... See the extensive list of features for more details.
From the website:
Crystal Space is a free (LGPL) and portable 3D Game Development Kit written in C++. It supports: true six degree's of freedom, colored lighting, mipmapping, portals, mirrors, alpha transparency, reflective surfaces, 3D sprites (frame based or with skeletal animation), procedural textures, radiosity, particle systems, halos, volumetric fog, scripting (using Python or other languages), 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit display support, Direct3D, OpenGL, Glide, and software renderer, font support, hierarchical transformations,
Crystal Space currently runs on GNU/Linux, general Unix, Windows, Windows NT, OS/2, BeOS, NextStep, OpenStep, MacOS/X Server, DOS, and Macintosh. It can optionally use OpenGL (Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac, OS/2, BeOS), Direct3D (Windows), Glide (GNU/Linux), GGI (GNU/Linux), Allegro (GNU/Linux, DOS), X11 (Unix or GNU/Linux) and SVGALIB (GNU/Linux). It can also optionally use assembler routines using NASM and MMX.
Although this page is called 'crystal.linuxgames.com' don't let this name confuse you. Crystal Space also runs on other platforms like Windows. In fact, Windows is considered to be a very important platform since it is currently widely used for games. Personally I use GNU/Linux so Crystal Space will always work good under GNU/Linux as well.
Crystal Space is a large open source project. There are about 600 people subscribed to the developers mailing list and this list is very active (2718 messages in the first eight months meaning about 11 messages a day on average, Note that in the last three months there have been about 50 messages a day!).
There are working hard to get 1.0 out, but the API is already quite stable. In the CS guide there are two good tutorials, and compiling from cvs source is easy. Have a 3D look for yourself.
"Tell the world that we're going to be the grim reaper of innocent orphaned children." - linux/init/main.c
That's what some of the folks said in "Meet the New Game Gods," PC Gamer 11/00. Stevie Case got a job in Ion Storm QA after beating John Romero in a Quake challenge. She says, "I was the lowest paid person when I started at Ion Storm out of a hundred people--the lowest paid, and I just used my free time, I did everything extra I could, I offered to help, I was learning level design, learning to write strategy guides, all this extra stuff. And if you put in the extra effort, they see that and move you up."
American McGee, who started at id, says, "I started anwering the phones and went from that to writing code, doing levels, doing sound effects, making music, I mean just everything and anything I could get my hands on I would take over and do the best thing I could with it."
Ed Del Castillo parlayed contacts from a video arcade into a Mindcraft support job.
Also, check out the Ask Devs section of Voodoo Extreme. Kevin Levine, Brian Hook, and Tim Sweeney have addressed this topic.
"Meet the Next Game Gods" in PC Gamer 11/00 touches on how some current designers got their start.
Not to pimp myself unduly, but I've learned a LOT about large-project management, design, and the like by working on my own projects for Half-Life(Granted, HL's not Linux friendly yet, but the same deal applies for really any game. It's just that HL has a very actuve community). Nothing will prepare you as well as actual experience will... I know probably half a dozen people who were hired at games companies solely because of their work on a mod or independant game. They're looking for those kind of people, and if you happen to be where they're looking, well... =)
-Corvidae
Game Designer is the title for the guy with a management hat who gets the last word in making gameplay mechanics decisions and balance decisions...
Where I worked, the game's Director took over that job. None of the designers got a say in anything, and the damn director would make drastic changes in gameplay on a whim. The project was getting later and later, and people started quitting left & right... including me. My only experience in video game design was a disaster. Having Activision as a publisher didn't help either.
On the other hand, I have a lot of collectible card game and RPG credits. Fun work, but it doesn't pay much unless you are one of the R&D guys at Wizards of the Coast.
From a personal experience, companies may rate interests and hobbies very high. I've never had formal training in electronics or coding (well except bits of op-amps and FORTRAN with physics :-), yet I've been hired
for responsible positions in serious
projects involving both. Real life experiences are usually valued more
than theoretical education. Of course, the best of such experience is
often from a paid work... Nevertheless, if you're interested and talented
in a certain area, why not get the formal qualifications as well?
--
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
Rollercoaster Tycoon, arguably one of the most successful games of the past 3 years, was written by, I believe, 1 programmer, 2 artists, and a sound guy. Starships Unlimited (www.apezone.com) is one of the best "4x" space games to come out since MOO2, in my opinion, and was done by one guy (it's sold direct, and has no marketing campaign, so hard to compare sales).
Sure, you're not going to write Baldur's Gate III or Half-Life 2 in your garage, but you can make some damn fine games. Besides, like with writers, if you have a calling for this stuff you can't NOT do it. I've been a game developer (programming + some design) for almost 10 years now, and if they stopped paying me to do it, I'd still be working on my own stuff at home.
Even if you don't write the next Rollercoaster Tycoon, having the experience of really trying to make a polished and complete demo is immensely useful as both resume fodder, something to break you out of "the pile" of discarded resumes, and is just damn good practical experience.
Don't get me wrong, the industry has some awful spots in it and some glaring flaws (excellent developers struggle to even turn 1 cent in profit while crappy publishers can screw people over left and right, market crap, and still turn a great profit). But I wouldn't trade it for the world. You need something to get your "shot" at a live or phone interview, but after that, you have to let your inherent talent, competence, and passion carry you through.
The "I like to drive so it must be fun to make cars" analogy *is* a good one. Making games can be a lot of hard work at times. But if you have the calling, it can be very rewarding as well.
-- Rob "Xemu" Fermier
Lead Programmer, Age of Mythology
www.ensemblestudios.com
(Irrational Games, Looking Glass Technologies in prior lifetimes)
-- Rob "Xemu" Fermier
I think Carmack got married while designing Quake3 or something like that... though he brought his laptop & did some programming on his honeymoon. Or maybe I just got the story all wrong. That's what I heard at least.
I didn't mean to disparrage Wolf 3d; I spent hundreds of hours playing it, so clearly I think it rocked. (I could probably make a case for suing Carmack for RSI based on this game alone :) It invented the first-person shooter as a genre, and it's still fun as hell.
But the technology is out of date. The graphics are dated, the sound is dated, and I don't even remember if there's a deathmatch mode. The point is: retail games made in 2001 higher technological standard to live up to, which would be difficult for an individual programmer to achieve on his own. But making a game with slightly dated technology is quite possible; people have done it. (And by concentrating on gameplay and not just technology, you might make a game that's actually more fun than those modern retail games.)
I recommend a CS degree; you'll learn higher-level concepts that will be hard to pick up otherwise. However, you might not apply those skills day-to-day.
For that, the only way to go is to start programming games. You might not be able to make a world-class first person shooter during your spare time, but you might be able to make a Wolfenstein 3D. Consider it a necessary part of your education; you will never take a class that teaches you all of the skills, so you have to force yourself to make time. The experience you gather from doing something like this cannot be gained any other way.
Well, "does all the glitz and glamour stifle innovation?" Of course it does. Innovation = competition. If it didn't stifle competition, companies wouldn't buy it.
But I'm not so sure it's completely black and white. Some games do get away without the mega graphics and things and still do at least reasonably well. Grand Theft Auto, Roll Away, Chu Chu Rocket and especially **POKEMON** are names that come to mind.
It depends completely on the course you're doing.
In my CS course, for example, the only nod to anything about gaming was a Graphics course in the third year.
Assembly language? Are you sure? I've never heard of a Windows-based game including assembly, and I rather thought that most console firms required you to use their C libraries for hardware interaction for QA purposes.
But I think the real big warning has already been given. A "games programmer" does nothing but read a precisely stated design document, translate it into C, and document that fact. (Which, oddly enough, is almost exactly what any programmer does.) Designing games is now done by marketers and committees. That's why they're so generic these days. Sorry.
These must be some odd jobs you're looking at. All the gaming ones I've seen say "at least one previously published title minimum". Not much way of spinning that with interests.
As a rule of thumb, it usuallu takes 5 to ten years to get enough experience and expertise at something to be good enough that someone would want to hire you for a skilled position. This includes related experience, and all of the school of hard knocks stuff. This works out to be about 10,000 hours of screwing around with something (40hr.wk X 50 weeks/year X 5 years) You can short cut this to some degree by being talented, or putting in an awful lot of hard work, more hours per week. This is not restricted to formal schooling
Note: Prior Experience with related stuff will count against this. Also, hours daydreaming, watching tv shows, and other brain fart class activities do not count. There is an awful lot of learning time that gets wasted, instead of being really focussed and picking something apart.
(I would love to see a graph of learning rate plotted against IQ sometime. I wonder where the point is where someone learns 2 or 3x faster than a normal person.)
Here is a possible plan of attack:
- At age eight to ten, really get into games, get really good at them
- At age twelve or so, get bored with just playing the games. Pick up a book to figure out how to add levels to the games you do play (such as doom, quake, or whatever) These certainly used to be availble, but things change(?)
- by age 13, start getting familiar with the inside of your machine, or maybe with an old throw-away machine, you might do this if you wanted to install upgrades into your box
- By age 14, get into messing with the game engine. This is certainly available for a number of games. Use this to enhance your games.
- by age 15 start getting into somekind of programming so you can start doing your own stuff, especially building more exotic addons for your favorite game.
- By 17, actuallly build something that runs somehow.
The order is somewhat arbitrary, and shows how you could get several thousand of hours of related experience while being a teenager. Y'know spending maybe 20+ hoursNow if you do this while in college, you would have to put in more time while doing classes at the same time. This could get intense as you could be putting in 80 hr weeks (courses, course work, game work, design) on top of trying to make money, and socialize. (This may be why some geeks have not developed all of their social skills.)
Now If you are older, you'll have to fit this in while indulging in this thing called "having a life", because the earlier plans take advantadge of your free time as a teenager to get things rocketing. Later on, this becomes more difficult, and it becomes far more difficult to find 10 or 20 or 30 free hours in a week to get things rolling. To get the requisite 5 to 10 thousand hours of practical experience will take longer if your are devoting only 5 or 10 hours per week. It is easier if you have a job in a related field, even if it is something like a repair shop at "Computer Jungle" or whatever the local shop is.
So that is a quick overview.
Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Well, honestly, a "game designer" in the strictest sense is NOT a programmer by trade usually. I don't know what the original poster is thinking, but a game designer is just what you're talking about. A game designer authors the games/concepts. They don't touch the code (usually). I've worked at two game companies, and the game designers have traditionally been English majors in college.
My question for you is that do you believe Microsoft is getting in this industry for the greater social good or for big $$$?
Yes, companies exist (usually, but not always) for big $$$. And I believe, because I've worked with them, that there are game programmers and designers at Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony that care a lot about games. They grew up playing and loving games, and now they really do give a fsck about making games that will be fun, interesting, and new. Oh, and yes, they work for incredibly competitive and profit-minded companies and it's also their responsibility to ensure the games sell well.
I understand that some people believe too many compromises are being made, but face it: big companies (eg. Nintendo, Sony, EA, MS) have historically put more than a few great games into gamers hands by 1) taking the R&D funding and publishing risks for small development studios or by 2) conceiving and developing the games themselves. Games are risky, often don't break even, and usually need investors or advancers.
Many, many games don't see the light of day or fail in the market and somebody has to frequently eat a couple of million dollars that a game concept, proof, R&D, production, publishing, promotion, and support can cost. Now, I'm the last guy to think that more money automatically makes a better game, but I'm pretty okay with a well-heeled corporation letting small game studios have some creative freedom and take some chances. (Even if there's a bit of corporate control and input that goes with it.) My hat is off to all small game studios that find a way to stay independent, but if everyone had to self-fund games, well, one bad game and they'd be sunk. And that might really suck.
I have worked in the games industry for 10 years on and off, on platforms from Game Boy to PC and many consoles in between. For companies like EA, Relic, and some that shall remain nameless. Between projects in games, I've worked in "traditional" software for about half that time.
My summary (it varies from day to day) is this...
The games work is much harder, much more challenging, sometimes well-paid, sometimes not. And I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. The most brilliant programmers I've worked with are game programmers, bar none. (Not the most organized or best planners, though!) I hope this doesn't sound too idealistic, but... Games aren't made because they're necessary or because a client needs a feature set, or because a competitor is neglecting a niche in the market. Games are made for really noble reasons, IMHO -- so people can have fun, and interact, and be challenged. People play (and hopefully, buy) your creation. And they use it because they want to. That's rewarding. To me.
I have a degree in CS, which still puts me in the minority of games programmers. I have programmed, led, hired, and designed. (Though design is becoming less and less accessible to programmers.) I believe that on the planning, organization, and methodology front, some education and non-games experience is good for the games industry. But make no mistake: you're going to suffer a bit working in that industry. So it's all going to come down to single-mindedness and passion to make a game. If you don't have that, then don't waste your time -- you'll make more money and be happier elsewhere. Projects are getting longer and longer. Budgets are getting bigger and bigger. And of course, it's Big Business now, so occasionally corporate boneheadedness gets in the way. So do it because you want to. And have a backup plan for when you burn out. Then take some time off, and throw yourself back into the trenches. It's the Good Fight in software.
By the way, if Vancouver is in your range of acceptable places to live (and it should be!), then those two companies I named above are fantastic places to work.
According to the philosophies of Richard Stallman, software should not be written as a closed system that does not allow the users freedom - freedom to change, modify, and hack the underlying source code.
If you really want to design games, do it for the benefit of the GNU project. This will involve ensuring that all of your games and projects run smoothly on GNU/Linux systems and other free platforms. It will also involve named all of your games with a "G","GN"or"GNU" For example, if you wanted to create a GNU-project-compliant Halflife clone, you would name it GNarflife. For a GNU-project-compliant version of Unreal Tournament - "GUNreal Tournament."Thanks for reading and let's stop evil propreitry licenses from dominating the destiny of humankind's technology advancement
Cedric Balthazar Rotherwood
Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform +
System Admin. for Solaris
Having just entered the game biz recently, I actually did it the stealthy way: I DIDN'T come in the graphics route... rather, I came in on the networking and community side of things, strong knowledge of sockets, Unix, Linux, etc., as well as building communities and environments for the dot-com world. This ties in pretty nicely to where multiplayer games are going, and now I can take some time and learn more about graphics and engine design while I work.
It sounds like you want to be a programmer. For that, you need to know math fairly well, especially Linear Algebra for 3D Math. Program everyday and put together a portfolio of demo programs. Its not nessecary to do everything from scratch! Game developers are looking for people that can take existing librarys and put them together. One way to show them that you can work with existing tools is to do a game mod or two for games like Unreal or Quake.
Get together with someone who can do artwork and/or music because programmers are rarely artists, and you won't have time to do good artwork and program anyway. Either create your own engine, demo programs, and/or mods and put it all together so you can send it along with your resume to game developers. Make sure its easy to install and virus scan it.
Read, read, and read some more, and write programs to make sure you have learned what you read about.
Good books are:
OpenGL Programming Guide
Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice - by Foley, Van Dam, et al
3D Game Engine Design - by David H. Eberly
Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics and Procedural Elements for Computer Graphics
Good Luck!
I believe several players think they could be a great game designer because they think of features or ideas that are not in their current game, and then poof 6 months later they see the same feature idea in a different game and they think "hey I thought of that first". Somehow gamers think this will also make them a great game designer. First, most game designers will also be the project manager. The reason for this is the game designer has to weigh the feature idea, to how much effort it will require to implement the feature, along with issues such as staff, figuring out how much art work is required, how much development work would be required, etc. A project manager has to put a dollar value on a feature, and has to weigh it constraints. Designing games or any software for that matter is not just sitting down and thinking up cool features. Anyone can do that. So back to the original question, what does it take to become a game designer? Well given a feature idea, you have to have a good idea on what it takes to make that feature a reality. This means you need to either know how to program the feature yourself, or you've been involved with enough projects first hand that you can make a really good guess. This is why the majority of great game designers are also programmers themselves. But even being a programmer it isn't enough, you just have to have enough projects under your belt that you can run a project with your eyes closed. So if you can do that, you are ready to be a game designer. How do you get enough projects under your belt? Well you get a job working for a game company, and you either write software, create levels, or do art work. I'm not talking about some little mod, but you work as part of team. Do that for several years, get promoted and then one day your name will be on a cover of the next greatest game. You also have to realize, that making games is a businesses. As cool as making games is, it has to turn a profit. So in order to be a game designer, you also have to be in a position where you can be trusted. Some biz guy is going to give you several million dollars, and say ok go make a game that can make me even more money. How is someone like this going to trust you? The only way is if you've done 5 other projects that where all successes.
The route takes a lot of time, but there is one other way you can do this, start your own game company. The guys at Blizzard where just a couple of guys in college who wanted to do games. Day 1 they where game designers. You can do that to, just be expected to use a lot of your own money, and make sure that if you start you will never give up. You can succeed. I belivie this route may be difficult, because you will be competing with real game companies, but its possible. Now days you see lots of game companies going out of biz because it's a difficult market.
The sad thing is, it's far harder to "break into" the game industry in the same spectacular way as did, say, the wunderkids of the 1980s. (I'm thinking of Crammond, the Oliver twins, Braben and Bell, etc etc.)
These days, there's such an emphasis on expensive production effects (full motion video, Hollywood actors, life-modelled action, and so on) that you can't really do anything that competes on your own.
Such is the price of progress. It's a far cry from the day when one teenager could write a best-selling game (Jet Set Willy) or two undergraduates could introduce a totally new genre into gaming with one game (Elite). The question is, have we lost something? Does all this glitz and glamour stifle true innovation?
Over to you kids...
arnald
Also Team Fortress garnered it's designers a contract with sierra for a sequel.
You're never going to gain the requisite skills if you post to /. all day! ;-)
As others have pointed out, there is a world of difference between videogame programming and design.
If you think you have (or can develop) the technical skills to become a games programmer, then I'd strongly suggest you take that route. The fact is that the demand for programmers is so much higher than for designers - a good games designer is worth a great deal, but there are simply many more of them out there.
There's also a misconception that a games designer spends much of his/her time coming up with new ideas for games - not so. Ideas for games realy are two-a-penny - implementation is what's important. The vast majority of the games designer's responsibility is in areas such as level layout, AI script tweaking, etc... etc...
If you're a reasonably competent programmer, then there are any number of books to get you started (eg. Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus, Game Programming Gems). However, in my experience (been programming in the games industry for 8 years), the best programmers are the ones who teach themselves. I did a 3 year computer science degree, but didn't learn anything games-related directly. It did, however, give me 3 years during which I didn't have to worry about getting a job, and was therefore able to play around with hand optimised assembly. Most of my game development skills at the time came from downloading demos, and trying to figure out how the hell the latest effect worked.
If, on the other hand, you're more comfortable with game design, then a near encyclopaedic knowledge of videogames is pretty much a must. Be able to describe exactly what it is about your favourite game that makes it more fun to play than the others - gameplay is almost a mystical, intangible quantity - one that is highly sought after. Be able to compare and contrast games in the same genre, and identify what you think the strengths and weaknesses of each are.
Anyway, best of luck - it's one of the best industries to be in - if also one of the most demanding.
Game programmers need either a CS degree or a CE degree. These games take an incredible amount of skill. There is a need for speed, so many critical parts are coded in assembly, and the less critical parts must still be programmed well. CS/CE is the only place you'll learn it, trade schools just don't cut it. If your interested in design, but don't want a computer of engineering degree there is also a large demand for Artists.
Be aware, its a good paying industry, but its highly competetive and hard to break into.
At my current school they offer a gaming speciallization. Its after the second year, so i'd assume its a lot of GL, DirectX and assembly.
Good Luck
Don't listen to any of these fools. Everyone in the game industry is working now, not reading slashdot.
An completely other route, and about the only route where other studies than CS make an effect, is to be interested in history, since knowledge about history is what is needed to make scenarios.
I'm still trying to figure out what people mean by 'social skills' here.
What they tend not to be focusing on is that part of it is blatant self advertising:
-
The creator of the Worms series of games walked up to Team 17 at a trade fair, loaded up his admitedly amateurish but original effort on one of their Amigas and said "This is what I can do.
-
If you read the Lionhead website, the guys who are the makers of Black and White, they talk quite a bit about how their team members got noticed. One of their coders entered a game design competition when he was a kid that Peter Molyneaux was judging with the prize being to work at Bulfrog. He was too young to enter but just wanted to meet Peter. As a result Peter followed his progression through university and when the time was right offered him a job. I believe their web designer was a QA tester who knew a little HTML and volunteered.
-
Even in the movie industry, there was a thread months back about two kids who sent in their 3D showreel to Lucas Arts and ended up doing albeit minor roles on Episode 1.
The moral of this post is - there are a huge number of opportunities but most people who take them don't do anything to distinguish themselves. If you're doing QA, use it as a chance to volunteer to help on other projects. If it's a mod, design one perfect level rather than 30 good but not unique attempts. If it's a demo, find out where the heads of the companies you're interested in will be and find a way to show it to them. You need to be something more than one of the many hopefuls.Finally, a common cry from most of the 3D people who see a constant stream of showreels. "Don't send an animation of a spaceship - we've seen it all before. Show realistic moving light through a window or great character animation. Focus on one thing you can do brilliantly as most projects have a lot of specialists not one person filling every role. Most important, don't send in a group project - how are we supposed to know what you did and what's other people's work?"
Let me correct that, you have to really want to write games. You have to want to write games so much that you actually write games! You write in Java or C++ or Visual Basic or even C on your Linux box, but you have to want to write games. Writing games is inventing the puzzle in reverse and if you don't enjoy doing it, just to satisfy yourself that it can be done, you should reconsider. But if you have the moxie to come up with an idea and work through the programming challenges, you should be good as gold.
Today's shops are all full of teams, much like filmmaking. Producers, technical consultants, graphic and sound artists, and even, in some cases, actors; all managed and accounted for by an office of managers, paper shufflers, meeting facilitators, bean counters, marketing, etc. If you don't fit in as a designer, there's many of these aspects you might consider.
The best true gauge tho, is if you actually have what it takes to sit down and code up games on your own. The tools are out there.
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Let me correct that, you have to really want to write games. You have to want to write games so much that you actually write games! You write in Java or C++ or Visual Basic or even C on your Linux box, but you have to want to write games. Writing games is inventing the puzzle in reverse and if you don't enjoy doing it, just to satisfy yourself that it can be done, you should reconsider. But if you have the moxie to come up with an idea and work through the programming challenges, you should be good as gold.
Today's shops are all full of teams, much like filmmaking. Producers, technical consultants, graphic and sound artists, and even, in some cases, actors; all managed and accounted for by an office of managers, paper shufflers, meeting facilitators, bean counters, marketing, etc. If you don't fit in as a designer, there's many of these aspects you might consider.
The best true guage tho, is if you actually have what it takes to sit down and code up games on your own. The tools are out there.
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I can't imagine a better way to break into a game company other than getting involved in the industry. Run a gaming website (or work for DailyRadar... oops! heheh), make mods for existing games (the guys that did 3wave CTF and Rocket Arena got jobs this way), or even do skins (read: Paul Steed). Anything that you can do to attract the development companies' attention has got to be a definate plus.
--The space between my ears was intentionally left blank--
I started a small company last year (Affinix Software) and we're working with GameBoy Color. The good thing about making a game for a low-end system like this is that it is actually possible to create a good game with a small team on limited funds. Once we get "our foot in the door", we should have no problem expanding to other platforms (our next target is GameBoy Advance).
This is all without any CS degrees in the company, however we all are extremely experienced in our respective areas. The two programmers, Hideaki and I, got quite a bit of experience from our days with the TI scene/community. Because these calculators use a very similar processor to the GameBoy, we were able to walk right into development. It is actually quite common for TI folks to move over to the GameBoy world (see Icarus Productions).
Unfortunately, the GBC is about to be phased out for the GBA, so it's a little late in the game for you to begin a GBC project. However, a GBA game still does not take quite a large team as the powerhouse systems (PS2, XBox, GameCube, PC) do. So if you want to enter the market, I say enter from there. Of course, this advice is really only useful if you plan to start your own company.
-Justin
A good resource on learning about this is http://www.gamedev.net Take a look.
This is my first so forgive minor breeches of ediquette(and mispellings)
I am a college student now trying to get into this field.
Now here is what I know:
thios is for the software companies:
programmers skip ahead
A CS degree is worth nothing, at least not at my school. There are no classes in most universities on actual windows programmig. Many universities don't know what language they want people to code in.
What does this mean to you. You get a guy for 75G's that can write "hello world" in basic, cobol, fortran, and maybe in VB. Yeah, hew/she knows what an 8bit cache is, but so can 255 out of every 511 people, coder or no. In college you have no time to write your own code. If you are going to be competitive in todays classroom you must spend at least 25 hours outside classroom to keep up. so if you take 15 credit you will spend 52 hours a week on school, not counting nutrition, sleep, and in the case of those of us who's parents wheren't coders to, work to get through school. You do the math you'll see what i mean.
A degree in Cs means nothing next to 2 yearts of good hard coding.
"Don't believe the hype"
This is for the future programmers
Step one:code
If you can't code "hello world" then you can't code DiabloII. Code a lot. Sit a yur computer and when you find a progream that sucks fix it. Write a new program that fixes the problem. Your eyes will go bad and you'll get carpal tunnel, but that's the price of success.
Step two:don't code
If you don't have another job or enjoy sports, then you will hate your life and you will be a bad game designer. Get out play frisbee, drink with your friends.
Step two b:code
take those things you esperienced while out and turn those into programs. Here is an example, my roommate is a big drinker,he is also a programmer, so he took a drinking game called power hour and wrote a progam to make it easier to play.
Step three: Game on
You have to love games to be ready to code them. If you can't play for hours and enjoy it, then yu'll never code for hours and enjoy it. So Game on, you deserve teh code break by now
Step four: code
I know it's getting repeatitive, but now you've looked at another game,a proffesionl game. So what sucked, what was cool. How can you incorporate that into your game.
But wait there's more...
Ther are other things you can do
Make connections. Everyone says to write a game. That's pretty big undertaking especially the first time and later when you make bigger projects, so make geek friends. It doesn't matter if you've met, work via http://www.sourceforge.org or something. You can do bigger cooler projects, your more visable, and like any class if you don't understand you've got a study buddy. Another recommendation in this area is the national Game Developers Conference http://www.gdconf.com . get on the volunteer programand you can met fellow programmers and companies.
Last thing other than more coding:
Read
there are a million webstites out there just for this. I will not list them all, just run a search and go to all of them. Bookmark it than read it for updates daily. Read books, there are tons of books out there, programming, windows programming, game programming, openGL, DriectX. You want to know everything about all of them. So read, then code some more.
Wow, this seems like a lot of work.
just remembe what Henry Rollins once said:
"The scars will take me far, they always do."
Good luck and remeber me on your way up, I'll be out there looking for a job soon.
here
If you're keen on building games, you ought to be hanging out on sites that deal with them, like the Linux Game Development Centre or Gamasutra and such.
--------
Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
In case you haven't figured it out yet, there are a *lot* of ways to get into the business, ranging from years of college study to chance meetings at the right time. "How" you get in isn't really the issue.
*Lots* of people want to be game designers. Working on games is to the IT industry what being a novelist is to a journalist. Sure, the pay typically sucks, and you've got to be prepared to deal with bullshit politics and merciless finances, but in the end, you work on *games*. And they *pay* you for it.
You've got to be smart, you've got to be well-read, you've got to be articulate, but most of all you have to be *dedicated*. 18 months of 18 hour days will shake all the romance right out of you, if after the shiny wonderfulness of working on games has burned out you can't still look at it and say "I can't imagine doing anything else," stay in the corporate IT world.
Study *everything*. You need programming skills (practical experience making production software, not just classes and theory), management skills (designers are as much managers as dreamers), business skills (unless you understand counting beans, you'll never understand why a decent game on time and in budget completely blows away a "good" game that was late and over budget), artistic skills (not neccessarily to *do* art [I can't draw a circle] but to discuss it in terms an artist can understand), knowledge of aesthetic principles (elegance is elegance whether you're looking at polygons, oil paintings, C++ code, or bridges), psychological theory and practice (at the most basic level, good gameplay is behaviourist "Scheduled Reinforcement"), and depending on what kind of game you want to work on any of many, *many* other fields. Then go back and play games, good and bad, and see how they fit with what you've studied.
It has to be your passion, and then you have to temper that passion with practicality. You can *work* on games by being a specialist (and you'll need to do that first in most cases), to do a good job of designing them you need to be an intellectual omnivore.
--Dave Rickey
Getting A Job In The Game Development Industry
http://www2.ravensoft.com/getajob.htm
Here is the index of the article:
I've got a friend that recently got into the gaming industry, and these seem to be some of the factors that came into play.
It's a combination of a few things. You've got to be smart, have a good programming foundation (mostly C and C++), and be a gamer. They're doing some pretty hardcore stuff, so obviously they need people with the ability to execute it all. Also, they want people that are going to be passionate about their work.
But probably one of the things that would help your cause, as with many industries, is connections. Who you know is at many times more important than what you know. This is not to say that it's the only thing (I listed some of the others), but you need to get your foot into the door first, right?
If all you have are silver bullets, everything looks like a werewolf.
Check out the Oracle at Gathering of Developers. It has many questions in a similar vein and answers from those actually in the industry, and it has a lot of good info. As they say, it is a "moderated public forum geared toward striving game developers".
So now I'm a firm believer in personal networking, and of being ready for your chosen career even if your chosen career isn't ready for you.
On a more practical note, most of the designers there worked their way up from testing. On an even more practical note, I was laid off a year later and left the industry, but I could still go back with the experience on my resume.
What you've described is exactly what my friend did. I'm graduating from college this May. A buddy of mine from HS enrolled at the same time I did, so he'd be getting out too - if he hadn't dropped out to work for EA. This kid skipped class almost all the time, drank like a fish, and thought having a "3.0" meant your car wasnt as good as the Mustang 5.0.
But although he wasn't a great student, he WAS a great level designer - he spent all his spare time playing Quake and Quake 2 and making levels for them. I thought it was the biggest waste of time until sophomore year, when he told me he was packing his bags and moving to sunny Cali. His starting offer two years ago was higher than mine is now. So you never know...life is funny like that.
(and if you're reading, Sean - rock on, I'm proud of ya.)
-- Chris
-- Chris
$email=~s/[^a-zA-Z0-9@.]//g;
-- Chris
-- Chris
$email=~s/[^a-zA-Z0-9@.]//g;
You should be writing 20K lines of code a year. This is how you hone your skills. Don't worry about the code being useful/portfolio-stuff.
20K a year? Whoa, I wrote a 20k AI program that I didnt even use becuase I decided to make a multiplayer game only. It took me about a week. I cant get a programming job because that "lack of experiance thing" but 20K does not seem to be a lot. Then since I cant get a programming job I wouldnt really know.
Arathres
I love my iBook. I use it to run Linux!
stainless steel
I fully understood what the parent post had in mind. If you are so curious as to why it was so large. It was an AI program that simulated battles for the Games Workshop game called Warhammer 40K. It can be found at this website.
Arathres
I love my iBook. I use it to run Linux!
stainless steel
God knows what moron modded this as flamebait.
This is in fact exactly how to become a game designer....sort of...
Programmers do not become game designers, artists do not become game designers, people who have spent several years doing a 'videogame design' course at university do not become game designers.
Game testers, the lowest of the low in any videogame company, or at least the ones who have an IQ greater than or equal to that of a chimpanzee and who possess those rarest of game tester qualities: motivation and ambition, (an unsurprisingly tiny proportion admittedly) become game designers.
If you want to be a game designer you must subject your poor creative brain to years of mind-numbingly tedious and repetitive games playing until someone notices that you've somehow managed to avoid transforming into a vegetable and haven't yet quit for a more profitable career flipping burgers.
They will then promote you to 'assistant designer'. If you are any good you get to be a designer after many gruelling years, otherwise they 'promote' you to head of the quality assurance department.
Sound tempting now?
grab your ankles bitch
20K a year? Whoa, I wrote a 20k AI program
It sounds like you mean your AI program was 20kbytes... the author of the parent post meant 20,000 lines of code/yr, not 20kbytes of code.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
uuh.. That was my mate.. I wouldn't say that I eat Sod's meat, would I???
You've got mail. Pattern baldness. - Crow
To be a game designer/programmer, you have to spend almost every waking hour playing Quake III, Unreal Tournament, and every current first-person shooter. Sure, I know that some kill-joys are going to tell you about becoming a proficient programmer, going to college, and all that stuff. Or they will go on about how there are so few jobs in that field and so many eager candidates that it's real unlikely you will get such a job. Don't listen to them. Just sit there day and night playing games until your fingers bleed.
I work at a games development house and recently asked pretty much the same question of one of our lead designers on behalf of a friend who was looking for work. He said most designers start out as testers to get a foothold in the games world.
And to elaborate on the subject line.... just because you have IT industry experience this doesn't mean you can get into the games industry. They are, from what I can tell having worked in both, pretty separate entities.
I became a professional video game developer in 1993. I was going to university for Computer Science and flunked out because of some family problems. I was unemployed for 11 months when a friend of mine saw a poster at a local college looking for someone to write a video game. He just copied down the number for me to call and didn't really tell me what I was getting into. What I didn't know was that I was about to get an interview and land a job with the soon-to-be creators of a major video game (I'll change the names to protect the innocent.).
I was seriously concerned going into this interview that my mere two-and-a-half years of university and an incomplete Computer Science degree weren't going to be enough to secure a job in the gaming industry. Fortunately I was a bright kid and I had a good track record through high school.
My strongest qualification was that I had been programming since I was 8 years old, and I could answer all of my interviewer's questions with expert authority. I knew my stuff and I had a huge portfolio of software I had written. They were personal projects, not professional software packages, but the content was appropriate.
If you asked me how I got these qualifications, and how I learned so much, here is what I would tell you:
I devoted a lot of time to computers in my childhood. I learned the tools of the trade early, and I was a computer hobbyist to the extreme. I experimented many different kinds of programming. I delved into hardware by building crude joysticks. I read my computer manuals nightly. I convinced my teachers at school to allow me to submit interactive software and computer generated videos for my assignments while the rest of my class was worrying about whether to double space their printouts. I was never afraid to attempt harder things, and I always had ambition to continue to improve my skills.
Another key thing is that all the people I hung around with were very smart. Peer pressure never held me back. I had a few friends who were computer enthusiasts like me and I worked with them on computer projects all the time. I always picked the brains of people who knew more than me, and I always searched for smart people who could answer my questions.
My one piece of advice would be "Program!" Do it as often as you can, in every way you can think of, and always push yourself to do better.
The one way in which I wasn't as strongly qualified as I could be was that I didn't play as many games as some people. Don't get me wrong, I've played games countless nights and long enough to dry out my eyeballs, but I have my favorites and those are the ones I play. I don't follow the magazines and web sites to find out what's new and what's coming out soon. I once asked my boss what he thought the perfect qualifications were. He said, "They'd have to have started programming on the first computer they ever owned, and now they'd have to eat, sleep and breathe video games." It turned out I was only half qualified for the job. I was bored and useless at trade shows. In fact, one year everybody but me and one other guy at the company went to E3 (a huge computer game expo).
Having said that, the hiring practices of the company were not in accordance with my boss's vision. Some of the less glamorous ways to get a job (all of which happened): sleep with the boss, grow up with the boss, give the boss a gift, have all the same toys and childhood fantasies as the boss. And an only slightly more reputable way to join the team was to be forced aboard by the publisher.
The guy we hired to run out and pick up fast food for us all actually became a level designer because of his keen aspirations and constant dedication. One other potential employee just visited the company every day and said, "So, can I work here yet?" He would sit in on brainstorming sessions and review latest content before he was even hired! His relentless determination got him hired, and now he's lead level designer.
I only lasted 5 years in the video game industry, now I work in the television industry--a job I got through a head-hunter. It's an adventure filled career track, but it is not for those who are fond of sleep.
- Wyck
If you want to be a designer, you have to show something good. Not necessarily technologically impressive, but something with good gameplay and good ideas, preferably well implemented. A simple solo project is fine, but to be really impressive you probably want to get programmers and artists involved.
You might also try making some really neat and original mods and maps for existing games. Show off your design skills, and remember that as a designer you'll have other people to implement the stuff so long as you have a good vision to drive it.
As for game programming, look for the same things as any other programmer, but substitute game related stuff into the skills you show off. Do some graphics or AI projects. An education is a good thing here, but make sure to take applicable courses. Abstract math is pretty useless, but graphics, AI, UI and algorithms could all be useful. Again, though, experience is the key. Have some existing work to show off in your specialty.
Gaming houses don't have huge profit margins, and their problems are pretty simple. They aren't looking for the best or the brightest. They want people who may have limited abilities, but can solve their problems right away, without any training. To get hired, you have to be one of those people.
Even Slashdot wants to hide some things
Which one do you want to be? A game designer must have production skills. The ability to come up with a game concept(characters, missions, goals..etc), storyboard the game, and refine gameplay. An Engine developer requires a different skill set: AI is important if you want your characters to be interesting. Math & algorithms are necessary to make the physics of the game look real. And to handle the game engine rendering. All the Engine developer skills rely heavily on CS theory as well as being able to write code. So what do you really want to do? -ted
The game business has many similarities to the film business. A few people make ungodly amounts of money. Most are paid ridiculously low wages. The power in the industry lies with the distributors and control the finances.
I don't do video games any more. When I was in the business we were on royalties and did pretty well. Today it sounds like a games programmer gets paid half or a third of what he could make elsewhere and since video game companies are only as good as their last hit the stock options are likely to be so far underwater you will need a snorkel and flippers to find them.
Today with tools like Java it should be possible to construct playable clones of 1980s arcade games in a few hours or days - we used to write them in weeks or months in assembler using cassette tapes as storage.
I would get my kicks writing a couple of games that way, perhaps releasing them as open source on a web site or whatever.
Then having got that out of your system go find yourself a nice dotcom startup and concentrate on the real problem of separating the great american public from their retirement investments in the shortest possible time by convincing them that your startup is going to be the next Microsoft like the rest of us do.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
Don't even worry about impressing the industry. There is always room at the top for good designers (or musicians or whatever). If you're talented, go ahead and produce something to make yourself visible. Nobody can read your mind, you're going to have to actually do something to be noticed.
After that, if in fact you are good, the industry will find you.
contact a game developing studio, and ask them what they did. try to interview them or something. try www.superxstudios.com. my friend owns that company, and they released their first game about half a year go in UK. I have a copy that i could play, but this crap computer can't handle it. jthrush@superxstudios.com. he owns it and is the main coder. -teldak
If you take the route of mod-maker to get your foot in the door, hire a lawyer if and when you're offered a job. I'm not 'in the biz', but I would imagine if you let yourself get all starry-eyed at the chance of working with the Disco Pirate himself, you'd be more prone to signing away the lives of your children and grandchildren.
Yahn Bernier, who now works for Valve, wrote a level editor that landed him his job. write good stuff, and people will take notice!
The company I work out does mainly console and coin-op games, though, so YMMV in the computer gaming world.
I work for a major gaming company as a programmer. Most of the game designers I've worked with seem to come from a variety of backgrounds. Quite a few start off as game testers and work their way up through the ranks. Others are programmers who decided they they preferred the design side of things. Some are writers or video-game store managers who decided to pursue other careers. Still others come from even more obscure backgrounds. Often it's a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right experience. The main thing is you need to be able to prove to the company that you can be a competent game designer, however that may be. But getting your foot in the door is the first step. Very few people start out right in game design. Often it's a matter of working your way up from something like game testing. Best of luck!
I worked in a games company on my first job. This was good and well and it was a challenging start and the job was fun and I loved working with those people.
But there was a problem.
Money.
Games programmers make peanuts compared to what programmers in other markets. Of course database jobs are far less glamorous and finance applications are not always cutting edge but there is a difference between making $65k and $20k which is what most game shops will pay their new recruits. Games companies are a western equivalent for sweatshops. They fill the definition nicely. The hours are long, the pay is shite, the pressure always goes downwards and the management is largely lacks management skills. Lack of proper planning is what makes most games programmers work twice as hard as they have to. I may sound like someone who doesn't have the "heart" for games. That's silly I have a lot of devotion to programming in general and 3d programming in particular. I wrote cool shit since I moved on. But I had to move on so that I wouldn't have to scrap through for the basic necessities. And I'm not looking forward to coming back to your industry other than by founding a company of my own. I'd rather have my cash and 40 hours week and enough spare time to code fun stuff of my own. Ironically I'm working on a remake of a certain classic game from the eighties.
The best way to get into game programming is to stay away from the gaming industry.
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
a couple hundred replys to "how to make a game" and none mentioning art and design training--maybe thats why all games today blow
--rock me like a huricane? NO rock you
Obviously, experience prevails above all. The thing you must consider is what role you wish to play.
For various reasons, games are segmented into pieces. You've got the engine, the AI, the content (graphics, sounds, etc. etc.), environment (worlds, maps, game boards, etc. ).
I do not work in the game industry, I wish I did. I've read up on it quite a bit and I've talked with several hiring managers with game companies.
The core of any game is the engine. It is responsible for talking to the user. It displays the graphics, plays the sounds, handles input, and lots of other details that are mostly product dependant. If you enjoy writing 3d engines, dealing with the corrupt MicroSux API, tweaking the abilities of the hardware and writing the smallest, fastest code possible - this is the place for you. Learn C/C++ and Assembly. The AI of most games is also incorporated into this piece, but not always.
The content of the game (or media) is just as important as any other part. You can have the best 3d engine ever but if you're textures look like they were made with M$ Paint you've got serious problems. If your sounds aren't of the highest quality (no screaming mom in the background ordering you to your homework) your game will be a joke. Are you a talented artist? I sure hope so.
The game environment is probably the funnest job. If you enjoy making maps for Doom, CS, Quake 3, Wolf 3D, etc. etc. you'll enjoy this job. Design the worlds the people play in. It is difficult to study for this though. The qualities software companies look for in this position cannot be expressed directly. It's the little things that count. Did you use crates in your CS level or did you actually build objects to create a unique environment? If you drop that egg, does the yoke spill on the floor or does it just crack open and disappear.
If you want to get started, get involved with a project. Start writing your own game, or join an existing project. Most projects die long before completion because of lack of resources, by joining a team you are adding to your skills and increasing the probability that the game will actually finish.
If you decide to do your own thing, don't worry about areas you're not looking for a job in. If you're an artist, use one of those pre-made game engines. They won't be judging your game engine, or your AI system they'll be looking at the astetics of it all. If you're skills reside in coding don't worry so much about the artwork, most programmers couldn't draw to save their lives and most companies realize this.
Once again, I'm not in the game industry. But I've got two cents for sale so here they are.
Check this out for a more down to earth look at game design. It'll let you know what you're thinking about getting into.
The only way to get a job as a game designer is to start your own company, make a game and hope you get bought out? Wash, Rinse, repeat... Others might suggest getting a starting position in the industry, but I ask you why you would want one of the lowest paid jobs in tech.
Internet Retail spaces are wonderful. Get over it!
Companies are advertising for what they would like to get, but they also know they have little chance of getting what they want. If you want the job just apply anyway.
Schools like Digipen focus mainly on platform programming, eg how to code for the N64. That's fine and dandy, but happens when it takes 4 years to do the curriculum and then the hardware's outdated? http://www.cs.nwu.edu/academics/courses/c95-gd/ind ex.html is worth looking at--it's Northwestern University's current game design course where the focus is on true design. It's a great class!
Fullsail is probably a better option than DigiPen.
DigiPen only accept US citizens (the bastards), and only offer 2 courses. Fullsail, on the other hand, accepts anyone and have a whole range of new media programs on offer.
"Faith is the last resort of a desperate man" - Me
GameDev.Net is a site run by amatuers for amatuers (not flamebait here, not one of the staff has actually worked for the games industry, and very few of the articles are from people in the industry). For a site aimed at professionals, however, use GamaSutra
(Disclaimer: I moderate the Linux forum at GameDev.Net, I have nothing against the site. TANSTAAFL, on the other hand, is a complete asshole)
"Faith is the last resort of a desperate man" - Me
Bottom line: The gaming industry is just like the entertainment industry. It's about who you know, who you fuck, and who you fuck over, and don't expect it to be an easy entry or lucrative unless you're just brilliant or have sucked the right cock.
--
$ chown -R us:us yourbase
You can get all of the basic skills of being a game programmer from a CS or Comp. Eng. degree. But remember, those are the basic skills. The main thing that seperates the good programmers from the bad is experience. Being able to create a doable schedule and make milestones is just as important as knowing killer 3d and ai hacks. As a game programmer you don't really have that much input into the design of the game simply because you are too busy trying to get everything done on an impossible time frame. Sometimes you have say in the design but that job is better left to...
Game designers are people that eat, live and breath games. Most of the game designers I have met have generally been people that were good at thier job (testing, art generally, but sometimes programming) but wanted to move up the food chain. The best skill a game designer can have is the ability to organize reams of data and present it in a clear and coherent form for the programmers and artists (in the design doc). Having moved from the more technical side of game development they have a better idea of what goes into each part of the game, be it technical or artistic.
The best game designer i know was an artist that started out on the Atari ST and worked his way through all the consoles up to the Playstation. He had great technical knowledge about artwork and the limits of each console and could design the game appropriately for whatever system he was working on.
With all that, your best way to get a first break is as follows. If you have no skills whatsoever, try and get into the testing department. Slowly but surely, if you're good at your job, you will have to chance to learn the skills that will let you move up in the company (just don't but everyone while they're working :). If you have or art taking a CS degree, try and get a co-op term during school, or try and get an entry level position on one of the game or tools teams. Then you just work and work and work while you get some real experience making games. It's kinda like climbing the corportate ladder, but slightly more fun.
But always remember, making games is fun, but it's not as glamorous as it seems.
Listen to my music.
I don't know about gaming, but I have had a couple of programming jobs. I've noticed that the best guys around are the guys who like goofing around with stuff on there own, starting at high school. At my first job out of college (CS degree), I was quickly humbled by our alpha geek, an 18 year old kid who had not even graduated high school yet. A good way to gain some experience in school is to get in the good graces of a professor/researcher who is doing something like you want to do. If there is an engineering research center where they're doing some work on high-end computing, or if there are professors who's specialty is graphics/imaging, then you might want to check into that. In a nutshell, here's what I will look for if I ever start my own software company: (1) Degrees are fine for coders, but I'd rather take the 18 year-old high school kid with experience and the lust for bytes than the guy with the Masters in CS. (2) Programmers who take it personally when their code breaks are valuable! I'd rather have a guy who turns something in 2 days late with no obvious bugs than a guy who turns something in 2 days early and leaves a pile of bugs. Bugs aren't as easy to find in general QA as you think, and gamers are notoriously cranky when they buy a buggy game. (3) People with other interests. Coding should be how you make the money to lead your life, not your life itself. Outside interests keep your brain fresh, and they can help contribute to creativity.
I have no friggin clue how to get a job... I think its like hollywood's writers. If you're a good writer, you're not going to be found. All they want is good special effects. I think you'll see the same in computer games, no content, lots of special effects ala movie games. www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~sager/about
God spoke to me
I'm very much like the poster of the topic. I'm currently a highschool student which wishes to become a game programmer someday. In my lifetime I've heard hundreds of reasons of ways to break into the industry. The most repeated(and almost sure way) to get into the industry is just to show that you have what it takes to make it. Tim Sweeny stated in a response to a question on voodooextreme that you should either join a mod team or code some demos. These projects are as important to programmers as a portfolio is to an artist. Above all, you must show to companies that you can work efficently on a project and actually RELEASE it. Personally, I have made a few games in my lifetime which I know will help me later on when I'm searching for a job. I also taught myself OpenGL. These little hobbies can really go a long way if you keep at them.
Visit http://nehe.gamedev.net These guy's have a class act openGL tutorial. The previous link from DanThe1Man is the source code from a book "progammin openGL for X Window" --I think the name is right. Anyhow it is a good book and it is writen by the gy at SGI that developed the glut libraries for openGL. I have found that a combination of the book and the tutorial from NeHe have been the best for me. NeHe covers alot of the relavent information to game design. You know the stuff that you want to know like texture mapping, loading 3D worlds, colision, particle engines, etc.. The book however gives you a good fundamental understanding of openGL. I personally think that there is likely to be a better book on the subject though. Look around, I know there is the openGL Programmers Bible, and some others out there.
what?
The old problem of AI - AI is the field that contains all the computer problems that haven't been worked out yet. As soon as someone solves an AI problem - it's not AI anymore.
Not only has AI got everything to do with games, games are where some of the best AI research and application happens these days. An example - no-one, to my knowledge, has yet developed a bot for counterstrike that plays as well as an average human team member (though from what I've heard, some now get pretty close, by using Neural Nets and machine learning stuff like that). The reason - counterstrike is TOO HARD for most AI researchers! I've just started a PhD in AI, and I might have a shot at it, but it's a bloody hard problem.
Why would counterstrike be harder than chess? Because chess is organized. Each piece is completely defined, the order of play is completely defined, and the possibilities at each stage are completely defined and are quite narrow. Games like Go have completely defined rules, but because there are so many different possible moves at each stage, the search space is huge, and the computer players are thrashed by any competent human player. And Counterstrike, the rules aren't known - there is no hard-and-fast rule about when to use cover, or what is the optimum range for a sub-machine gun. If a game designer makes a game that simulates the real world, designing believeable AI for that world becomes almost as difficult as building a robot to navigate in the real world.
As a point of interest, one of the main robot-based AI interests at the moment is the world robot soccer championships - teaching robots to play soccer. Trying to create 'intelligent' team behaviour is one of the most interesting, and most researched, problems in AI today.
So in summary, generating (or predicting) realistic opponent behaviour (opponents that behave like people) is as good an AI problem as any.
To get back to topic, I applied to Ratbag Software (Powerslide, Dirt Track Racing) for work, and they advertised regularly at my Uni. They wanted Computer Science and Computer Systems Engineering Graduates who were not only top of the class, but who also knew C++ and had already tried game pogramming. So I'd agree with all the comments about getting a degree, and trying things like mods, bots, etc.
Hope this has been suitably enlightening.
--
The Milky Bars are on Me.
-- This post is about truth, beauty, freedom, and above all things, Karma
would come out to about 76 lines of code per day, that is if you took breaks on the weekends. Was this just an arbitrary guess, or is this a realistic estimate for how much code a professional developer does? Perhaps the math is getting irrelevant here, but this is looking like 10 lines of code per hour, per eight hour work day.
The state is the great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everybody else. ~F. Bastiat
In an old PC gamer magazine there was an interview with Sid Meier's and they asked him about the best way to get into the industry and he said that the easiest way was through testing and Q&A kinda jobs since so many of these people burn out they are always on the lookout for more
How can you gain experience if all jobs require you to have had prior work experience?
Somebody who once wanted to attend Digipen explained to me that a lot of platform specific info is taught, but can be carried across to computer programming.
Christopher N Emmick
Christopher N Emmick
A good man, a better nerd.
Did Romero design those boobs for her? Or is that one of her own mods? Maybe Alice McGee gave her figure a once-over with the level editor.
Either way, they don't look naturally that big. Overinflated -- like the hype surrounding Daikatana.
Christopher N Emmick
Christopher N Emmick
A good man, a better nerd.
There is still a growing demand for games. Successful computer games these days gross much more than films do - it's an incredibly lucrative market if you get the right product. Of course, many fail, but the ones that succeed do so hugely. As a computer science student at Cambridge University, I must say that there's quite a lot of stuff in the course which is directly applicable to game development; particularly AI, 3D graphics, general algorithms and data structures.
Learning how to be a good game developer is much like any other programming discipline - it's not about how to code the surface stuff (like being able to use Direct3D properly), it's far more about how to code the stuff which is hidden from the user. AI and suchlike is difficult to get right, and having some formal training helps you to attack the kind of problems you come up with. Anyone can throw a bunch of polygons up onto the screen using OpenGL/D3D - it's a trivial operation. The skill is in writing well-scaling code for handling the game world. This is hard, and given the increasing complexities and demands of modern games, formal training is only becoming more useful IMHO. Proper software engineering principles are becoming extremely important - the days when you could knock out a best-seller in your back room are over; most new releases are developed by teams of at least ten people over the course of several years. Of course, this is a very expensive business, which is why the number of game development companies and (in particular) publishing houses has decreased recently.
Games are also losing their geeky image and becoming more mainstream. There is also the theory that once people start playing games, they tend to do so for life. Most young people tend to and the older generation of people who don't play games is dying out, so again the market is expanding.
Game consoles will also effectively drop in price as console/satellite/cable/video/tivo/dvd/cd players in the living room get replaced by one box. This should (yet again) increase the size of the market, making it even more lucrative.
Once you get a foot in the door of the industry, it's relatively easy to climb up the ladder due to the smallish size of most companies and the very flat management structures that tend to be in place. If you want to do artwork, a good portfolio is apparently a must. Otherwise, an ability to solve problems (as always :)) and creatively program around things. That and some luck. If you want to start up your own company, it's quite hard to do unless you can find someone who's already made it in some way (previous success at some game or other).
...if he comes around reading this. |-]
The sad story is that some kids (including myself) go to get a CS degree simply because they play pc or video games whenever they're not doing homework. "Duh. I like playing Metal Gear. Therefore it follows that I'll enjoy programming." That was my mentality, anyway.. NOT GOOD. You have to love math and graphs and lab science to begin with. 7 years experience as an adult:
- place science first in your life (assuming that's you're 1st love and philosophy)
- happiness second (ie stick to your hobbies, quit your job if you're miserible, etc..)
- money is third (assuming you want to eat and maybe support a family someday)
Not that you should listen to me, for I am only One Man.
I have been coding for about 6 years and started out with simple VB stuff. Learning any programming language will help. After learning VB, Qbasic, i got big into C\C++. This is were most of my productive work has spawned. After creating a few PC demos and simple games i got a hold of some PSX (Playstation 1) dev libs and started coding some games for the PSX. This path has gotten me pretty far into the game coding scene and now i think my lack of knowledge in low-level programming and math is the only thing holding me back. Once i get out oh HS and into some could CS course i hope it will all fall together and i can decide if game development is right for me.
I've been in the industry for 6 years at both Origin and Retro Studios. I'll answer two questions and ask another, and you can take it from there.
:-(
1) I officially started in the industry when I sought an internship at Origin. They needed more help and I was 'overqualified' (read: monkey), so they hired me full time. So much for finishing my degree.
2) I officially left the games industry after shipping only three titles in 6 years, all of which happened to ship in the first three years.
Now, my question for you is, why do you want to enter the games industry?
It's a harsh environment, full of people willing to do it for very little money because they love it. Most of the senior management of most companies are hackers at heart; this sounds like a grass roots appeal, but it actually indicates a complete lack of managerial understanding for running a company. Larger teams (most of mine were A+ projects with 25+ people on the game full time) have many egos to contend with and too many good ideas to implement. Smaller teams tend to be dominated by a few vocal individuals, but frequently suffer from having projects killed or companies going out of business.
Let me make this last part very, very clear: You will NEVER make the game you want. Never. Get over that right now and accept the rest of this and you might actually be a good fit in the industry.
For advice on how to make a splash, see other replies--they're pretty accurate. The one thing I would stress any programmers that are interested, is to either specialize completely on one topic, or learn everything a little bit. Competition is fierce, but there's always value in a resource that can be thrown into any project anywhere.
Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
As a developer, I would say that my CS degree program was helpful in learning programming theory; and it certainly helped me get a job. But gaming is a specialized application of programming skills. You need to understand how to optimize every instruction you write. It means having a deep understanding of how to manage memory, object behaviors, and how your rendering engine communicates with the graphics hardware on a very low level. Plan on becoming a high priest of C++. Game programming is a very competitive field... but if that's where your muse leads you, then start with baby steps and MASTER them... learn how to write game mods/levels and ASK a lot of questions. As you master the gaming object-behavior models, learn how the gaming and rendering engines work. You can find the source code for some games and it's worth dissecting them to see what makes them tick.
The knowledge base moves very fast so you might learn more from discussion lists than from published books. For what it's worth, keep your sense of humor in overdrive and your ego in neutral because gamers are a tough (talking) crowd. You will spend a year toiling on your amazing new game with its secret new gaming engine and somebody will gripe that your shrapnel dispersion algorithm doesn't obey pure Newtonian physics. The good news is that gamers can also be fiercely loyal and willing to offer mods/levels if the game is cool.
They not only make the best games (well, game) but they have bulletin boards dedicated to these sorts of questions. Who could be better to ask about the games industry than Peter Molyneux?
There are a lot of ways into game design, and a number of skills that are useful.
Designers get their jobs one of four ways:
1) They get peter principled up from game tester by kissing ass or seeming particularly smart.
2) They are good game programmers who have a knack for game design, and manage to switch over
3) They are a management guy (assistant producer) who feels he has a knack for game design, and transfers over (I say he, because 90%+ of game designers are male)
4) They cut into game design directly by displaying an extraordinary understanding of game design either through level design, making a shareware game, or extreme playing skill + analytical ability.
The skills/qualifications necessary for good game design are:
1) Strong understanding of systems design, or even if you dont possess a formal knowledge of it, an ability to make "big-picture"-centric decisions on a project. Game design is ultimately about taking a core set of atomic gameplay "fun elements" and building a game system around them. Thats an engineering project -- make a vehicle based on a combustion engine, design a software system for certain strengths, etc. I personally feel that engineers are better qualified than most other types of people because more engineers are good at systems-design related stuff.
2) A wide playing experience (gives you good ideas, gives you a contxt to compare, gives you a feel for what sorts of things can be fun and which are not)
3) Ability to communicate. Game designers are responsible for bringing the art and programming teams together for a common purpose, and making sure everyone understands the central vision (so they can all contribute coherently). This is the case because game design dictates so heavily how the rest of the project will be. Well most of the time...
4) Ability to be objective and not get too attached to ideas. Game design is always a little hit or miss, and people that grow too attached to ideas can easily compromise themselves when the ideas dont work out too well.
If you want to be a game designer, I recommend the following:
1) Play games. With bad games, try to figure out why the game is bad, and moreso, why the designers made the decisions they did (i.e. what they were trying to accomplish, but failed at doing). With good games, try to figure out how they couldve been better, and also why they are good. Serious thought spread over years will make you very good at designing your own games...
2) Take some systems engineering classes.
3) Design some games on paper, analyze them, then do some more. I recommend also getting involved in game projects like shareware and MUDs -- good experience.
4) Try to actually make a shareware game if possible, but its dicey if you just want to do design and have minimal programming skills...
Game design, unlike what most 15 year olds think, is not about having cool ideas, or lots of great ideas. Its about choosing good ideas. Everyone has good ideas, but the best designers know how to combine them into a coherent, fun game, or better yet, come up with a gameplay concept, and assemble good ideas around it that fufill the concept. On the topic of getting into game design, like anything in life, game design comes to those who want it the most... Tom Cadwell Lead Designer Ethermoon Entertainment (a small indy developer) http://www.ethermoon.com my ancient course notes from a class i taught over IAP at MIT: http://web.mit.edu/tcadwell/www/gamedesign.html
I'm not sure if this was mentioned yet (I scanned through the messages and didn't see it) but one of the easiest ways to get into the game industry is to become a game tester. It is the absolute worst, most thankless, tedious and underpaid job in the game development heirarchy. It sounds cool at first - you get paid like $10-$12 an hour to play unreleased video games ALL DAY LONG! And sometimes all night too! But, you'll quickly learn that playing unfinished video games really sucks, as most of the playability of a game doesn't show up until the last month of development. Big game houses like EA start hiring testers in mass around September, if I remember right. After the Christmas rush, they keep the good ones, and after a few years they get promoted to various associate producer/designer positions if they are liked by the higher ups. I got into the game industry a different way - my girlfriend worked at a coffee shop down the street from a small development group. One day, someone who worked there asked if she wanted a production job. She said no, but told them I'd be interested. My interview went like this: "Do you like racing games?" "yes." "Cool. Do you like boxing?" "no." "Hmm. Well, what kind of music do you like? What about the Pixies?" "Surfer Rosa is their best album." "Killer, you're hired!" My job consisted of running repetitive scripts for programmers, and eventually turned into an art position because I was better at photoshop than I was at math. After two years of working at a game company, all desire I had to play games had been destroyed. The job was fun, but everyone I worked with got totally burnt out on it.
Don't forget about the possibility of being your own upstart company. With 1 or 2 business classes, you can learn enough about the business-side of starting your own corporation or company. With the right game, this could be a very lucrative opportunity for any 'creative game designer', with or without degree. Often times, you hear of people finding talent on IRC and doing the long-distance project. This might be a way to squeak out a small project and see what you're capable of.
C. Griffin
"Can I keep his head for a souvenir?" --Max from Sam 'N Max Freelance Police
Almost forgot - while only a guide, this is a very good guide to getting a job in the industry, it covers more than just programming options, and is written by people who know what they're talking about.
Getting A Job In The Game Development Industry
This is a Frequently Asked Question for people in the game industry, and the standard response is usually along the lines of there is no such thing as a game designer, at least, not in the sense that you mean.
:-)
:)
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Other's here have talked about the reality of the "game designer" position in the industry, so I'll take a different tack: What is it that you want to do?
If you want to program your own AAA games, you're going to need to be in a position where a publisher or studio trusts your track record enough to finance a multi-million production with you at the helm. The key word here is track record, and in an industry where most games fail to break even, you'll exceptional ability and luck to get there. But I don't think you really want to get there - you'll discover that you spend all your time "managing" the project, and barely any time actually creating anything yourself. You also need your "vision" to be flexible - meaning the final result might not be what you had intended. Indeed, chances are your vision needs to seriously bend accommodate others, eg your dream project might be a first-person shooter, the studio says "our position in the market demands a 3rd person Tombraider clone - do it like that" and from day one your baby is not what you wanted it to be. When you're working with other people's money, you generally have to work in their interests.
Another option is the go-it-alone garage route. These days it is next to impossible to compete with the AAA titles on a garage budget, but there is still the occasional exception to the rule. I would advise against this route however, unless you have a solid concept that is so far outside the box that it's revolutionary, and some means to support yourself during its production. Even then, I would advise extreme caution - as I said, most games make a loss. That means that even if you've spent two years of your life living on 2-minute noodles and burning the wrappers for warmth, sacrificed your free time, time with family and friends, career opportunities, etc., in all likelyhood it will not make you money. But it could be used as lever into the industry. I would advise a less harrowing lever however
Of course, you don't have to compete with the AAA titles - there is a substantial market for simpler, cheaper games. Go to the local store, find the cheap games (not old discounted AAA titles), look at who publishes them, and check out their website. Many are always on the lookout for new games. Some people who have taken this route can make a decent living, some can't. Either way, having a published game to your name is a HUGE asset should you want to get a job with a studio.
As many have advised, the closest real-world position to being the imaginary game designer, is amateur game modding - you have the creative control. I would suggest, however, that you try to think a variant on this approach. For example, Valve have just released the beginning of new technology to greatly increase the spectator-participation potential for gaming tournaments. If you had come up with that concept and mod, eg something that makes new things possible, you'll go places FAST
Working on the AAA titles in the industry, there is no escaping that you will be part of a close-knit team. You can be a creative contributor as well as code-monkey, but there is no one person whose Word Is As Law. And if there is, chances are the work environment will not be healthy
Working as a game designer in Europe, it's (increasingly) obvious to many of us that the way that game development is and should be are two entirely different things. We are moving (albeit slowly) towards a more efficient, smarter working model, shared ironically, with the movie industry.
Ironic in that they are two different art forms, however, to further draw the contrast, you don't need a key grip for every day you are in production on a film. The same holds true for game development. We need to shed our rigid software development upbringing and recognize the nature of what we do. While rooted in software, games extend beyond the model applicable to spreadsheets and databases.
The need for several key resources (design lead, prg lead, art lead, etc) throughout the development of a title is obvious, however, how often is it that the artists or programmers or sound engineers must wait for the next phase of development to actually begin their work? Too often. How many resources ($$) are wasted during this time, wasted resources that could be used to make the game that much more refined, that much more playable, that much more polished? Perhaps the question should be: "how many start-ups do we need to go through before we realize that teams should and need to bring resources in as the title demands and remove them when their work is done?"
Given the somewhat seedy underside of game development, I know many talented people who'd prefer this model.
Mod this up or down, but it's logically The New Way.
j game designer adventurer