Breaking Into the Video Game Industry

An anonymous reader writes "RPGamer has posted an interview with Atlus USA's Tomm Hulett, who has played pivotal roles in bringing various RPGs to North America, as well as the recently-released Trauma Center: Under the Knife. The interview, however, revolves around Tomm's experiences and the advice he would give to those looking to make a living off of the video game industry. From the article: '...You don't get to make games by sitting around playing RPGs and dreaming (unfortunately)--you have to get out there and work hard. I've known a lot of really smart people who just never applied themselves. So, now they're just playing FFXI and talking about how they're going to make games someday.'"

Comments

There goes my plan!

[MyLongNickName]

You don't get to make games by sitting around playing RPGs and dreaming (unfortunately)--you have to get out there and work hard.

Seven years wasted! And NOW he tells me...

I broke into the video game industry once...

[hal2814]

...but then they called the cops and I got arrested. Stupid laws.

Re:I broke into the video game industry once...

[The Snowman]

Did you break into the video game industry to bash their heads in with a baseball bat? If so, I know a Mr. Jack Thompson that wants to speak with you...

Breaking Into the Video Game Industry

[darkmayo]

1. Crowbars and Balaklavas are optional.

Breath of fresh air

[B00yah]

Atlus is picking up where square/enix/borg have dropped the ball, at least in my opinion. Disgaea was one of the most fun rpgs I've played in quite a while, and Riviera was a fresh look at single-pathed rpgs. I can't wait to see Disgaea's sequel next year.

Re:Breath of fresh air

[Seekerofknowledge]

There have been other games published by Atlus and Nippon Ichi Software that you may like -- La Pucelle, Makai Kingdom, Atelier Iris, and Phantom Brave. I haven't played any of them but from what I have seen and heard they are pretty much awesome, being in the same "feel" as Disgaea.

Re:Breath of fresh air

[jclast]

Atelier Iris is not anything like the other games mentioned. It is a traditional console RPG. Turn-based combat and a neat alchemy system for synthesizing items.

It's fun, but it sure isn't Disgaea (or any other SRPG for that matter).

How I Got My Video Game Job

[th1ckasabr1ck]

When I was a sophmore in college I sent out resumes to some local companies and got a few interviews. I showed up with some demo stuff I had worked on in my spare time, spoke with everyone there about why I wanted the job, and they gave me a job offer. I worked there all through school and got hired immediately after my graduation.

There's no real secret to it - Be smart, work hard, apply yourself, and I'm sure it'll all work out.

Re:How I Got My Video Game Job

[badasscat]

There's no real secret to it - Be smart, work hard, apply yourself, and I'm sure it'll all work out.

You mean it's no different than getting any other job?!

Seriously, there are tons of different kinds of jobs in the game industry, and there are lots of different ways to get them. Most of them can be had simply by applying to a classified ad and being the best candidate in an interview. I agree that it's not some big mystery that needs to be solved. The problem is (and I say this from recent experience trying to hire an assistant) that so many people these days seem to lack even the most basic of job-hunting and interviewing skills. Getting *any* job is a mystery to most people. But there's nothing unique about the game industry.

My first job in the game industry was writing for a now-defunct web site (one of the many IGN/Gamespot wannabes) - I got that job because I happened to know a designer at the company and he got me an interview. (Yeah, I got lucky, but social networking is the way a lot of jobs are handed out.) My second industry job, working for a major publisher, I got both because of that first job and because of a web site that I ran on my own at the time. No, I'm not a coder - believe me, you don't want to be a coder working in the game industry. Though I can't say marketing (where I worked) is really much better.

So I broke into the industry with a combination of networking and experience. And yes, the fact that I've been playing games since 1977 did help. Like any other industry, game companies like to know that the people they hire are both interested in and knowledgeable about their products and history. You can't go into an interview and say "now, what kind of products does your company make again?" (I've had people ask me this at my current company during interviews!)

Honestly, though, my experience basically taught me that the game industry is not much fun. So it's all pretty much moot anyway. There are much better industries in which to work.

I will say that that first editorial job was probably the best job I've ever had, and if they hadn't folded I'd still be there despite the ridiculously low pay. But working for an actual publisher sucked. (Despite a doubling in salary.)

How I broke into it

[Surt]

I made a couple of small freeware games, followed by a couple of successful quake mods. The quake mods were successful enough to have been played by the game developers who later interviewed me for a position at Blizzard North, which I got.

Then later after finding out how painful it is to work in the gaming biz, I got out. But if you want in, make some games.

Now I just make fun little games in my spare time, like squish:

http://ptth.net/squish/

If you check it out, journal me how to improve it please!

Re:How I broke into it

[Lorgalis]

If you check it out, journal me how to improve it please!

My first tip of improvement to you: Have a look at what is left of your webserver...

Re:How I broke into it

[Surt]

It seems to be fine. Did it not work for you? I only see about 4 games played, so I doubt if enough slashdotters visited the page to nuke it.

Re:How I broke into it

[Surt]

Note, an AC reported this not working: the actual problem was most likely on the AC's side, this application requires Java 5, since I wrote it as an experiment in learning some of the new features of Java 5. If you don't have Java 5 installed correctly, you'll get a class loader version error.

Nah

[ShadowsHawk]

They don't end up playing FF all day... they end up working at EBGames.

Getting in is easy...

[Torgo's Pizza]

It's getting out of the industry that is the trick. My title sold 10 million copies, but there's little chance of me ever going back into the trenches unless the industry goes through some major changes first. (ie Workplace Living Standards)

Break into the industry via a new market.

[MiceHead]

One way to break into games and earn a living is to build a small team and develop for a new market such as cell phones.

During the early '90s, shareware authors focused on creating games for the newly-popular desktop PCs. That's much tougher nowadays, due to direct competition from untold thousands of shareware developers and the larger studios. During the late '90s, Palm OS and Pocket PC popped up (another new market). At that time, it was possible to spend a week or two of development on a simple-but-enjoyable PDA puzzle game with a grossly disproportionate number of sales (with respect to development costs) during the first few months, and a decent long tail a year or two out.

These days, the buzz seems to be around casual/cell phone games, on the basis that a) it doesn't take [as] much to develop a cellphone game, and b) there are many millions of cellphone users. Java isn't my cup of tea(!), but J2ME offers individual developers and small teams a way to develop content for the myriad mobile platforms.
_________________________
www.dejobaan.com

Java Applet Failed

[Anonymous Coward]

How about this for advice: Write Java code that works.
I couldn't play the game because the Java Applet Failed to start.

Re:Java Applet Failed

[nb caffeine]

same. firefox 1.0.3/sun jre

Re:Java Applet Failed

[HoneyBunchesOfGoats]

Works for me. Latest JRE (1.50_05) / Firefox (1.0.7).

Re:Java Applet Failed

[Surt]

You probably don't have java 5 installed correctly. However, if that's not the case, please send me your console output and i'll look into it. Java 5 installation error is indicated by a class loader version error.

My first

[cgenman]

I applied to basically every open post throughout the US after I had graduated college. I needed to look for a year before I found something. But someone finally foolishly hired me for QA.

I'd like to think that it was the backcatalog of levels and mods I had worked on / faqs that I had written / the thousands of games that I had deconstructed that got me that job. But the fact is the person who gave me the phone interview obviously hadn't read my resume, asked me a few sports-related questions that I didn't know the answer to, and offered me the position on the spot. Weird industry, this one.

BTW, parent is right. Apply to your local companies while you're still in early college, or late high school even. Anything you can do in your spare time, like figuring out how systems are working under the hood or creating mods, is very helpful. Your mod skillz may not be enough to land you a lead level design position right away, but they might be enough to convince a QA manager to hire you to test. Or might be enough to convince an office manager that you're hardworking enough to be an assistant. Or get you an art internship.

Re:My first

[somersault]

Err instead of deconstructing other stuff, you could learn to program and create your own stuff? Show your creative side? The difference with the parent is that he said he'd actually made his own demos. Modding can demonstrate skills as well I guess, and there can be decent programming involved, but most mods are just a few new models/maps/weapons models, nothing spectacular (yeah I did some playing around with mods on Quake 3, have been programming since I was 12, and though I've always fancied working in games, I at this time dont have the balls to move elsewhere and look for a decent games job, and also dont think I've been doing enough stuff like OpenGL in my spare time - I'm working as an IT manager just now).

Re:My first

[cgenman]

Sure, you can program your own stuff. But unless you want to be a programmer, it is a lot more problematic than it is worth. Generally you can make several professional-looking mods that explore certain new aspects of gameplay in the time it would take to write up a small engine of your own. Professionally you would likely be re-using someone else's engine anyway, either an in-house developed one or an externally purchased one.

Deconstructing other games, however, is necessary no matter what you get into. Think of it as writing book reports or taking filmstudies. Unless you study what games are out there, you'll be doomed to repeat the same mistkes. This is true across all disciplines. I've worked with programmers so on-point they could take a design and finesse it on-the-fly to come up with something slightly different than the spec but tons of fun. I've also worked with programmers so dead to the world that they would completely misunderstand specs and implement things that had no relevance to the game whatsoever, and couldn't figure out why.

most mods are just a few new models/maps/weapons models, nothing spectacular

What do you think most game development is? Game companies are only about 1/4th programmers. The rest are artists, designers, and managers / support staff.

also dont think I've been doing enough stuff like OpenGL in my spare time

Except for the specialized job of an engine programmer, that's not that relevant.

Re:My first

[somersault]

Well basically the engine is the only part I'd be interested in, and for some reason I assumed that most slashdotters would be more interested in the code also. I know that visuals are important, but I consider gameplay and engine design to be more important than making everything nice and shiny. Take GTA:SA over most other games.. not too graphically impressive in relation to today's games, but the coding that went into smoothly allowing you go move around such a massive world is impressive. Also I wasnt entirely sure what he meant by deconstructing games, and I agree that it is generally important to use well proven designs etc in games, but it is also important to have creativity and flair. As for mods, I suggested that most mods require very basic coding to implement, but some go further and totally change the gameplay and end up with the mod feeling completely different from the game. Using others' engines is fine and dandy for the most part, but as far as coding for a mod goes, it's mostly pretty simple stuff. And I dont want to sound like an ass, though no doubt I will. I appreciate that there are other parts to making games, but I'm not too interested =p In general, games were better when they were written by coders who used great gameplay rather than flashy graphics to make the game.. these days I've not bought a PC magazine for years, well partially because I have the net, but mostly because games these days are so derivative of games I already have, and none of the demos look that great. Oh another RPG, woohoo; look there, an RTS! oh another football sim? Wow! etc.

People Need to Broaden Their Scope

[mb10ofBATX]

You know, I wasted a lot of time wishing I could work at some game company that was across country in a place too expensive to live as I was use to, even as a college student.

Instead, I got hired on doing simulation work. Now after 3 years, I'm on the design team to support multiple high fidelity simulations. Sure, I may not have a box on the shelves, but (1) I was making more money out the gate (2) my job and company are both secure and will be for at least another 10 years (3) I'm working with cutting edge technology that in general surpasses that of the most modern games.

So, my advice, broaden your scope as to what you consider game development. There's a lot more to the world than just consoles and PCs and cellphones, work that can be considered a little more meaningful than just entertainment but still be just as fun, and people who appreciate my work far more than any hard core gaming fan boy ever would.

I help hire people at a large games company...

[pixel_bc]

To get into engineering:

a) CompSci or EE degree. 4 years.
b) Internship and show that you know how to apply the skills you SHOULD know.
c) for god's sake, learn C++. If your school only teaches you Java, you're already left behind.
d) have something interesting to show you're passionate about games! cool demos. cool anything. Just show that you KNOW gfx/physics/whatever you want to do.