Games Industry

[BoxCutter]

Have you looked at working as an temp intern (that's what I meant to say)?
That's the only thing I can think of.

Unless you have prior experience this is the way to go. See if the company you'd like to work for has a program where you can work and learn. They are much more likely to hire on a familiar face. In addition to that if you don't have the money for classes I would take the advice of the people here, get some freeware from various websites. There is all kinds of programs out there that can help and maybe even boost your portfolio once you get good enough.

I worked with a guy who wanted to work in the game industry all his life, he spent quite a long time in college taking classes mind you, but eventually he got hired on. I want to say in the art department but I can't really remember what he was studying. Anyways the point is it does happen if you work hard enough.

 

[Aur0ra145]

I've done some modding in my day. I was lead graphic artist for the Department Store Battles team over at Engineerisaac Studios. The modding was a blast, we even got featured in PC Zone Magazine in the UK. But those days are gone, and now I must find real work; which will probably not be in the video game industry.

 

[jasoncyrus]

Realtime worlds in Scotland are looking for gaming staff (no experience required for most)

 

[jaeger138]

Realtime worlds in Scotland are looking for gaming staff (no experience required for most)

Thanks for the heads up but I wouldn't be able to get to Scotland, I'm in London.

Unless you have prior experience this is the way to go. See if the company you'd like to work for has a program where you can work and learn. They are much more likely to hire on a familiar face. In addition to that if you don't have the money for classes I would take the advice of the people here, get some freeware from various websites. There is all kinds of programs out there that can help and maybe even boost your portfolio once you get good enough.

I worked with a guy who wanted to work in the game industry all his life, he spent quite a long time in college taking classes mind you, but eventually he got hired on. I want to say in the art department but I can't really remember what he was studying. Anyways the point is it does happen if you work hard enough.

Thanks for the advice, I'm definitely trying to tap into the wealth of experience here at the Escapist, and I'll look into some internships too, see what I can find. I'll still keep trying to learn though

Does anybody know if the 'For Dummies' series is any good for learning code? I've heard mixed receptions.

 

[Pimppeter2]

First of all.... Is there any Game makers in your area? I think Midway is..was in my area, It would be best to find a place close to home.

 

[jaeger138]

First of all.... Is there any Game makers in your area? I think Midway is..was in my area, It would be best to find a place close to home.

Well there's plenty of developers in London, not all big time ones of course, but I've sent bunch of emails asking about internshipos to a bunch of devs, including mobile/handheld devs. But a lot of the bigger companies internships require you to have/be on a degree to apply so having some trouble there. It'd be great to learn while working but I can't seem to find anywhere that specifically states they do internships for people without degrees who just want to learn, especially in the economic climate we're in.

 

[Jirlond]

MIT has some good free books on learning the C languages nd also the conceptual and virtual ethics of video games. Video games courses are hard, like 3D animation - it will require 100% dedication and love for games. All you can do for 3 years is study and your play time comes out of your sleep. You can really tell who makes the grade - its always the ones who spend all day everyday making a good game from the idea up.

 

[VaioStreams]

to be absolutely honest the best place to start is what do you want to do? if you're looking at journalism. then you need to start writing. take some journalism classes.

if art is your thing then you have a wider range of things. do you want to do concept art? level design? level modeling? character modeling? character design? texture artist? art is probably the biggest portion of making any game. if you want to get in to art (that doesn't have to focus on your drawing) you'll need to learn a 3D program. Blender is free and will give you a really good grasp on 3D animation and modeling. how it works. a good work flow and so on. But most studios these days are running Maya, 3DsMax or XSI (I'm a Maya guy myself). you can get a PLE version of Maya (i think they are still offering it). I'll check and give you a link at the end of this post. if you want to get into art (this is what i focus on. been doing it for some 7 years now) I can give you some good sites to learn this stuff. you're also going to have to learn Photoshop. even if you're not a texture artist. you need to know photoshop. I can't stress that enough. and I don't mean just how to use the filters. I mean know photoshop. there are other programs to know. but a 3D program and photoshop is all you need to start.

Programming will end up being a little more free. You have the Microsoft XNA suite. totally free and there are tutorials. there are just tons and tons and tons of things online to learn how to program. I try my hand in programing but my brain doesn't work that way.

as far as being a writer (writing the stories) no one just walks into the industry as a writer. but that doesn't mean you should ditch it. if you have an idea. start to has it out. you never know when you'll get in and when you're there if they'll like you're idea or not. none the less write it.

the last part of it all is learn a game engine. there are lots out there. the free ones mostly suck. i wont lie. if you're doing art. you'll have to learn another aspect of modeling. but if you get a good grasp on a 3D package. you'll pick this up fast. The most accessible engine will be unreal. simply because if you buy Gears of War or UT3. the engine will come with the game for free. the build of engine is different for both games. but the basics will work exactly the same. another engine that's good to learn is Torque Game Engine (TGE)

I've been looking in to these jobs for a long time as I've wanted to do this sense i was 5. (I'll be 26 in a few weeks.) if you have any question. shoot me an email.

3d programs
Maya - http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7635018
(you'll find 3DsMax on the same site as Maya as they are both made by Autodesk now)

Blender - http://www.blender.org/

Adobe - http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/family/

Engines
XNA - http://creators.xna.com/en-US/ (search that site. you'll find a free Visual C++ program as well

TGE - http://www.garagegames.com/products/tge

I hope this helps

 

[cobra_ky]

Huh. I wasn't aware that localization fell under the umbrella of QA.

Me either, but like I said, all the QA postings I've seen lately have been thus. It just seems odd as some of these postings were for jobs in the UK. How likely is is that you'll find a person who speaks English, Japanese AND Spanish in this country? Kinda specific, huh.

it doesn't matter where the company is, it matters who the games are for. if they're porting games for the American market, you're going to need to know all three languages to QA the translation job for each version. I've rarely seen QA openings require multilingualism, but it's a pretty obvious advantage.

 

[Mozared]

First, I'd try and find out what specifically you want to do. You might feel like "anything would be cool" now, but you'll think differently about that if you've rewrote your script for the elevenhundredth time. There's got to be something specific you like about games, and it might even be something for which a study doesn't even exist.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

you'll have to learn how to code or do design stuff in order to really get into the game industry.

as for not being bilingual, you can easily learn another language and there's tons of free ways of doing so. starting at your local library for both coding and languages will help

Lol, thanx, but I'm not gonna learn Danish just because I saw a job posting that required it. I'm in the process (early stages) of learning a language but I'm not doing it for a job, lol.

But what code would be best to learn? C++? Or VC? Or plain old C?

Do it from C up. Trust me, if you become good at C, all the rest of the concepts will be cake.

go for C i do believe that's what most of the id games are coded in, i think The Carmack might have recently moved to C++ but not sure

i will also say pure ANSI C and not stuff like m$ C cause then you can do cross platform easier

 

[jasoncyrus]

Realtime worlds in Scotland are looking for gaming staff (no experience required for most)

Thanks for the heads up but I wouldn't be able to get to Scotland, I'm in London.

Umm these are the guys that made Crackdown...serious money. You'd be able to rent a flat up here pretty easily with the salary.

 

[PxDn Ninja]

So I'm sure everyone's heard this before, but I did a search and couldn't find anything that answered this.

Of course, like many gamers I want a job in the industry. I'm aware that now isn't the best time for the industry, but that can be said for a lot of indsutries right now.

I'm asking how? All the jobs I see are for seniors with plenty of experience, or involve skills I don't have. I'm not a good artist and I don't know design or programming. I can't afford to take classes in anything either, but I'd really like to learn the skills necessary to get a job. I'm young so I'm open to learning but I'm poor through lack of a job so I need cheap/free ways to help me. I don't care so much which aspect I enter into, I like design, I wouldn't mind learning to code, I wouldn't mind writing, story or journalism, I just really want to know where I start. I don't have a degree but I don't think it matters if you know what you're doing these days.

So if anyone can help, I'd really appreciate it. And hopefully anybody else with this type of question will be able to use this thread for advice too. I may also consider compiling good info into an advice thread which can be added to at any given time.

EDIT: Also, I notice QA testing always seems to require bilingual applicants, anywhere that just wants a dude who speaks English?

The first thing you need to do is decide WHAT your goal is to become in the industry. Currently I work as a designer which was my original goal. I'm working on DS titles, but have done stuff on X360 and PS3. On those consoles however I worked as an engineer.

If you decide to go the path of engineering: Learn C++. Once you have a solid understanding of C++, take the time to learn the differences from it and standard C programming. Most companies use C++ for their PC and console development, however when you get into small systems like the DS, C is used as it is smaller and not as bloated.

Once you have your understanding of the language, expand to different parts of game engineering (Network programming, graphics with DirectX and OpenGL, audio streaming, input controls).

Books to Look into:
OpenGL SuperBible
C++ Primer (This is a must buy. The Big Blue Book of C++)
Software Optimization Cookbook
C# Primer (C# is best for tools development and some online games)

If you decide you would rather become a designer, then I suggest still learning to program, as communicating with engineers is critical. Aside from that, expand your knowledge of games. Keep a notebook and when you play a game, take note of what you find fun about the title and expand on WHY you found it fun and how other games take advantage of that. When something seems odd, figure out WHY it feels odd and how it could be fixed.

To expand these soft skills, you should look to join a mod team for a popular game, or even getting on an indie team as an assistant or associate engineer / designer. This will give you experience in the industry. Build a portfolio (with either real world samples, or simple code / design samples) to present to an employer.

The biggest thing is to ignore requirements for positions. I know this sounds odd, but game companies always post for the highest positions they need, and with the highest requirements. These are never reached. Most people I know got their job by applying for a different one. One which they did not qualify for. Once you get your foot in the door, just work hard and you will be set.

Hope that helps, and good luck on your dreams. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

 

[Nutcase]

My university teaches Python as an introductory language these days. C is taught as a second language for some specializations. Both are very good choices. You could start with C if you liked, but it takes longer to produce results, so you'd have to be that much more motivated and driven. It might be of interest to you that some existing games (Civ 4, Mount and Blade if I recall correctly) use Python for scripting, so knowing the language would enable you to mod these games.

C++ is a poor choice for a first language. You will never be a good C++ programmer without being a good C programmer, anyway. Once you are good with Python and C, you can jump into most other production languages quickly.

 

[jaeger138]

Huh. I wasn't aware that localization fell under the umbrella of QA.

Me either, but like I said, all the QA postings I've seen lately have been thus. It just seems odd as some of these postings were for jobs in the UK. How likely is is that you'll find a person who speaks English, Japanese AND Spanish in this country? Kinda specific, huh.

it doesn't matter where the company is, it matters who the games are for. if they're porting games for the American market, you're going to need to know all three languages to QA the translation job for each version. I've rarely seen QA openings require multilingualism, but it's a pretty obvious advantage.

Yeah, that makes sense. I just wondered about the likelyhood of finding someone who can speak all three languages here, but I suppose there must be someone.

 

[cobra_ky]

C++ is a poor choice for a first language. You will never be a good C++ programmer without being a good C programmer, anyway. Once you are good with Python and C, you can jump into most other production languages quickly.

C++ was the only language i really knew for about four years, and i got by just fine.

 

[Nutcase]

C++ is a poor choice for a first language. You will never be a good C++ programmer without being a good C programmer, anyway. Once you are good with Python and C, you can jump into most other production languages quickly.

C++ was the only language i really knew for about four years, and i got by just fine.

You can get by with anything. Doesn't mean it's a good idea. I started out with C++ myself, and wrote very shoddy C++ for years. So did everyone I worked with. In hindsight, it would have been better to learn proper C to begin with. The less syntax and gotchas in the way, the sooner you can focus on fundamental concepts and theory of programming, and the actual craft of building software.

 

[cobra_ky]

C++ is a poor choice for a first language. You will never be a good C++ programmer without being a good C programmer, anyway. Once you are good with Python and C, you can jump into most other production languages quickly.

C++ was the only language i really knew for about four years, and i got by just fine.

You can get by with anything. Doesn't mean it's a good idea. I started out with C++ myself, and wrote very shoddy C++ for years. So did everyone I worked with. In hindsight, it would have been better to learn proper C to begin with. The less syntax and gotchas in the way, the sooner you can focus on fundamental concepts and theory of programming, and the actual craft of building software.

i always thought C had a lot more gotchas, personally. and it sounds like you learned it in a classroom or work environment, like i did too. The OP is going to basically have to be self-taught, so i suggested what i felt was the less intimidating language to learn. that's also why I suggested python above all else, for the sake of clarity.

 

[Nutcase]

C++ is a poor choice for a first language. You will never be a good C++ programmer without being a good C programmer, anyway. Once you are good with Python and C, you can jump into most other production languages quickly.

C++ was the only language i really knew for about four years, and i got by just fine.

You can get by with anything. Doesn't mean it's a good idea. I started out with C++ myself, and wrote very shoddy C++ for years. So did everyone I worked with. In hindsight, it would have been better to learn proper C to begin with. The less syntax and gotchas in the way, the sooner you can focus on fundamental concepts and theory of programming, and the actual craft of building software.

i always thought C had a lot more gotchas, personally.

C is almost a strict subset of C++, so I'd say it's self evident you can screw up in C++ in almost every way you can in C, and a whole lot more ways in addition.

Scott Meyers' wonderful C++ books are little more than a massive laundry list of defensive programming to avoid specific C++ gotchas for which there is no counterpart in plain C.

and it sounds like you learned it in a classroom or work environment, like i did too. The OP is going to basically have to be self-taught, so i suggested what i felt was the less intimidating language to learn. that's also why I suggested python above all else, for the sake of clarity.

And that is why Python is taught first at my university, then C.

 

[jaeger138]

So thank you so much for all your information here, it's been really helpful, a few of you particularly so. One more question to anyone who cares to answer, I would love to know of any reliable free resources that can help me out at this stage. Most of the free ebooks and tutorials I've found tend to assume a basic grounding in coding so I wondered if there were any literal beginner items to be found around the wonders of the interweb? If anyone can point me to some links or other resources that would be amazing!

I'm aware that in terms of things like this, you'll often have to pay to get something good, but you never know when there's going to be a gem lying around. So thanks in advance!