The emotional journey, for me, looks like a seismograph, says Greg Kasavin of Supergiant Games.
It's not a curve with peaks and valleys; it's a violent jagged series of near-vertical lines. I don't know how emotionally stable I appear to be, but I know I'm less so than I appear to be.
Check out this excellent insight into the emotional rollercoaster of game development.
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While the industry as a whole continues to grow in many directions, any given place of employment can be quite volatile. Even studios doing well one day can suddenly be closed the next. With that in mind it makes sense to place an added emphasis on finding a job in an area flush with opportunity should the current role not work out.
By calculating both the number of, and size of, studios in a given area, gamejobhunter.com has published a handy analysis of the "Power Rating" of North American game development hubs.
Here's what they've found:
| #11 | Dallas | ||
| #10 | New York City | ||
| #09 | Chicago | ||
| #08 | Toronto | ||
| #07 | Boston | ||
| #06 | Montreal | ||
| #05 | Vancouver | ||
| #04 | Austin | ||
| #03 | Seattle | ||
| #02 | Los Angeles | ||
| #01 | San Francisco |
California continues to be the NA capital of game development as both the Bay Area and LA hold the #1 and #2 spots for most game development opportunity today. Click each city above for detail on existing studios, and for more information on the process used to create these ratings click here.
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My first job in the industry was as a Junior Artist for a government contractor looking to get into the game industry. While the contracts kept us busy, I was more interested in our Xbox and PC game development projects. After two unreleased products, I knew it was time to move on.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
Getting my first job was a difficult task. Years ago, it seemed all entry-level artist positions required at least ‘2 years experience’. Even though I had a solid portfolio, I couldn’t see anyone wanting to hire me without any real-world experience. But I took any and all internships I could get my hands on. Each one helped build my portfolio and gave me the experience I needed. Fortunately, one of those internships landed me my first gig.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
I studied art with a concentration in media arts. It gave me the basic skills I needed to understand how to create 3D art. But in no way did it prepare me to get my first position.
I can’t stress enough how class work alone will not get you a job. A potential employer receives a flood of applications around graduation. Think of how many students submit the same class assignment to the same employer as a portfolio piece.
What is your job today?
I’m currently a Senior Artist at BioWare Mythic.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
Don’t lock yourself in a basement playing games and occasionally adding something to your portfolio. This industry has exploded with talent in recent years. Learn and expand upon your skills. Jump on a modding team or download a free engine to build your own world. There are countless resources available online to anyone looking to make games. Lastly, get yourself onto a game development forum. Post your work and ask questions. Who knows, you might just get noticed and receive an unsolicited job offer.
I started out quite by accident at a studo called Stormfront, in San Rafael, CA. It is defunct now but at the time it was a third party developer for many EA and Atari games. My job was building NASCAR tracks for NASCAR '99 for the Playstation and Nintendo 64. Imagine building an entire race track and stadium for around 10,000 triangles. And a 256 texture was a luxury!
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
I sure did. At the time there was no schooling for making video games, no way to learn unless you A) knew someone or B) had incredible perseverance to learn the art. I didn't have the first, and the second didn't come easy either...not to sound like an old guy but back in those days, there was no Gnomon Workshop DVDs, CGsociety.com, or PSDtuts.com. Everything came from reading through enormous instruction manuals and trial and error.
My demo reel was laughable and I am still grateful to the hiring manager who first gave me more than a cursory glance before rejecting me and who was able to look past the lens flares, chrome teapots, and flying logos to see fledgling talent. Thank you Bill, where ever you are!
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
My school (San Francisco State University) had a computer lab - and by lab I mean a closet with three old Amiga computers loaded with 3DStudio DOS. I bought a book that purported to cover all key aspects of the program. (It didn't.) And I met someone who was kind enough to take me under his wing and teach me the actual ins and outs of game art creation, the stuff a book cant teach you. I was able to generate some content for my demo that probably gave me one tiny leg up over other folks. But it would be a very tiny leg up.
What is your job today?
Like a Virginia Slim, I've come a long way, baby. One thing to remember when you are trying to break in is: once you are in, you are in. What you do with it from there is up to you. I worked my way up from track building to team lead, to Environment Lead and did a small stint as a Producer. I eventually became Art Director and did that for 7 years at LucasArts and then at Paragon Studios making some truly inspiring and original stuff. Now I'm a Project Lead and part time Art Director. I'm still learning, still looking to move up and still loving every minute of this crazy biz.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
Be specific. Your school will want you to have one of everything on your demo reel. I dont agree. (And I wrote the demo reel and artist hiring guidelines for LucasArts.) I feel you should put the following on your demo:
A. only the stuff relevant to the position you desire. Want to be a Character Modeler? Dont put that one and only animation exercise you did on the free rigged character you got off CreativeCrash.com. Or those life drawings from Sketching 101. That stuff is good, but it's not relevant and it gets in the way.
B. Put the best stuff first. You only get one chance to catch the reviewer's attention.
C. Only put the good stuff. Or in other word, do not try and pad out your demo to make it look like you have more. The bad stuff is jsut as memorable as the good stuff. Resist the temptation.
D. No Flying logos, Chrome Teapots, or Lens Flares! ;) Seriously, you know what doesn't matter? Production value. We watch reels with the sound off, and just want to see the content, not an intro vid, screens of text, or a convoluted DVD menu. I'm not saying dont make the demo site or disc clean and presentable, just dont waste time trying to add pizazz.
E. Be confident! You've worked hard, you've got great ideas, and you are talented. Your work will speak for itself!
Good luck! We may be working together someday!
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Right out of college, I got a job working for a company that did third-party testing and tech support for a number of large game publishers. We got to test a lot of great games, but there was always some sort of dreadful "edutainment" product looming on the horizon that made you dread the end of any enjoyable task. It gave me a strong appreciation for just how tough QA and testing work really is.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
Not really, but I'm an old man, so I was "breaking in" during the height of the DotCom Bubble when the industry was DRAMATICALLY smaller and the overall job market was much less competitive than it is today. I was also lucky that the company was local and that I had friends working there already who gave me a bit of a "bump" when I applied.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
I have a BA in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy. "Plan A" for me was law school, but it didn't take much of that for me to realize that being a lawyer would suck out my soul and make me a miserable shell of a man. Games seemed like a good "Plan B".
While my education wasn't really "game related", I think any form of higher education is helpful for future developers. Learning to deal with multiple, discreet and challenging tasks simultaneously is obviously useful. Experiencing an environment where your ideas and performance are routinely judged and scrutinized (and then making use of that feedback) is helpful. Learning to communicate clearly and effectively when discussing complex subjects is EXTREMELY important.
Speaking of education and game development, a brief word of caution:
The upcoming generation of developers has the benefit of an ever-increasing array of very solid, degree-oriented Game Development/Design programs. A good program will set you up with a great portfolio and solid experience that will make it MUCH easier to "break in" to the industry itself. Unfortunately, there are also a fair number of "degree mill" programs out there that are all but worthless. It's VERY important that prospective students do a lot of leg work and research ahead of enrollment to make sure they are spending their time and money wisely.
What is your job today?
I'm a Designer with a small start-up in Huntsville, AL. We haven't announced our first product yet, so I can't get into too much detail at the moment.
Design work in smaller studios is a much more holistic task than the very granular, rigid processes you tend to find in large "big name" studios. You can't just hand something off to a Development Director or Project Lead and expect them to shepherd it through the rest of the pipeline. You need to work directly with engineers and artists and other designers to make sure every one of your precious ideas survives when released into the wild.
One thing never changes, though: You must always keep your Executive Producer happy.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
I assume it goes without saying that you need to work hard, play lots of games, break in any way you can, start at the bottom and work your way up, etc.
Beyond that, my advice (specifically to future designers) is to play games like an anthropologist seeking to understand "fun". It's easy to explain why you love what you love, but professional game developers are usually tasked with creating things that OTHER people find enjoyable.
So play games from genres you don't really like and try to figure out why other people love them. Be humble and respect the validity of designs that you, personally, dislike. Those designs succeeded for a reason and you need to learn what it is.
And who knows? Maybe you’ll come to love those games in the process as well.
For anyone considering game development as a career I highly recommend checking this out.
See below for a preview - warning, adult language included.
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I started as a terrain artist for Mythic Entertainment on Warhammer Online.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
I consider myself very fortunate. I was actually approached for the job by one of the artists already at Mythic. The reason I was found though, was that I had posted my level design class final up on a popular forum call Polycount. If anything, that taught me how important it was to network and get your portfolio and other work out there for others to see.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
I went to an art school for two years to learn the tools that I would use as an artist in the game industry.
What is your job today?
Associate Development Director of Art at Trion for Rift.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
One of the major factors for being a good artist in the game industry is being able to accept critique. Posting work on public forums for others to critique then making changes to your work from that feedback, I feel, is essential for growth and it shows everyone (including potential employers) that you are serious about what you do. It takes a lot to stay on top of what’s new in the art side of video games so communication and willingness to learn are very important especially after school. You never finish learning art.
Associate Technical Artist at High Moon Studios, working on Animation/Rigging pipelines and content creation workflow.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
No as much, but my case is a bit different than usual. I was doing software development before and going to school for Game Art and Design. The skills I had developed in doing so gave me the experience I needed for the job. I also had extensive non-professional experience with the game engine High Moon was using (unreal). That in combination with the fact that High Moon was ramping up a project made the perfect conditions for me to get hired.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
I had finished one and half years of schooling for Game Art and Design. Before that I had an Electrical Engineering degree.
What is your job today?
I am a Senior Technical Artist at 38 Studios working on Client Side Events and content creation support.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
Research the industry and find out what you want to do. This will help you figure out who to talk to and how to best prepare yourself for that job. If you can, sign up for some classes or a degree in the discipline you want to pursue. Not everyone can do this, but school will give you the tools and even open up a network you need to break into the industry.
Then network.
Get involved and go to IGDA meetings. Meet the people you want to work with or game developers that do what you dream of doing. I have found our industry to be very open, and most developers will lend a hand if you are prepared, passionate and work hard for what you want.
For more information on Carlos check out: http://area.autodesk.com/creativecareers/carlos_dominguez
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I started in the gaming industry creating live events inside the Matrix Online. Working with a small team of people, we ran around the game world as some of the main characters. It was ridiculously fun work. I also worked with closely with our fansites, and the community as a whole.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
My background was human services, having worked at the YMCA running youth leadership programs for seven years. So even though the venues were different, the work was very similar. I desperately loved MMO gaming, so helping my new employers connect the dots between the skills I learned as a real-world community builder and doing the same work online wasn’t as difficult as it sounds.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
While college was important, the real learning came from my time at the YMCA. Beyond learning how to be a good human being, you also get lots of exposure to opportunity and risk in an environment where there are a lot of people wanting to help you succeed. The message here is: Work hard in school, but take advantage of all the opportunities you can to get your hands in the mix. Even if you only have time to volunteer- you’ll learn so much!
What is your job today?
Today, I’m a Producer and Community Director for an MMO in development called WildStar. One of the things I love the most about my job is the variety of things I get to do- today it might be designing a website, tomorrow it might be meeting new fans, the day after it might be a trip to another country to show off our game.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
If you are passionate about games, then you need to meet as many industry people as you can. Go to all the conferences (if you can’t afford to go, then become a volunteer!), shake all the hands, ask a lot of stupid questions, and really listen to what people have to say. Get involved online through LinkedIn and other online discussion groups, and over time you’ll get to know some really interesting people that you can depend on to give you sound advice as you continue through your career. Bonus points: Treat all the people you meet with respect. There’s a very good chance you’ll find yourself working with them at several points throughout your career.
What was your first job in the gaming industry?
Programmer, mainly tools. In the early days with a small team you had to be a mutli-discipline person so I also did client and server programming as well.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
My first attempts at trying to break into the industry as a programmer were very tough. I wasn't even considered. Knowing someone, a content developer at the time, was how I got my foot in the door. That made all the difference.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
College degree in computer science, and I played more games than I probably should have. :)
What is your job today?
Producer for General Gameplay Development at Zenimax Online Studios
For someone interested in starting a career in making games today, what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
Don't lift your nose up at any position that gets your foot in the door. Do that job and do it to the best of your abilities with enthusiasm. It gets noticed in this industry and gets rewarded.
]]>Take a look here: Valve Handbook
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What was your first job in the gaming industry?
I started doing graphics in the late 80's back on the Atari ST as an active member of the European Atari ST demo scene. Due to my contacts in the Atari Demo scene, I got in touch with Ikarion Software and was hired to create background images and animated display animations for their PC pinball game "Pinball Wizard 2000".
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
Well, I was lucky. Due to my time in the Atari ST demo scene, I had already created a small portfolio with Logos, images, fonts etc. The demo scene actually built my teamwork abilities; back then we were sending floppy disks to exchange data. It was teaching us all to be accountable and reliable because other people were patiently waiting at their letter box for the next round of updated data :).
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
Back then there was no real university or academy that taught computer graphics for games. Many people (including myself) back then were actually self-taught. I was hired, right after finishing the graphics for the pinball game, as a 2D artist at a games company called Sunflowers Entertainment and my first task was to work on background tile able pieces for a turn based strategy game. I stayed with the company for 5 years.
What is your job today?
After having held positions such as senior/lead vfx artist and principal artist at companies such as EA, LucasArts, and NCSoft, I am now a freelance artist for TV/Film/Games. I enjoy the variety of projects and tasks.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
It's a fast paced industry. My advice is to always stay curious about new tools and procedures. Keep yourself busy even after work; work on personal projects, ideally together with people so you can see how other disciplines are working and learn from them. You can then bring these experiences back to your daily work and help the team and company you work for to excel and in the end release a better product. In short: always stay curious - always think outside the box - always push your limits.
What was your first job in the gaming industry?
My first job in the gaming industry was with Mythic Entertainment. I was brought on board to be a forum manager and eventually wiggled my way onto the engineering team as that was my background prior to Mythic.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
No I did not, but I also wasn't interviewing for a position that required prior industry experience. I came in at a much lower level than I am now and worked hard to move up and gain that experience that I lacked coming in the door. I did, however, find it easier to break in by being involved in a gaming community. My leadership experience in the Drunken Friar forum community helped get the attention of the Mythic Entertainment staff and eventually landed me the interview.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
I was extremely unprepared, but also quite young. Were I to do it all over again and try to come in as a software engineer, I would want my Computer Science bachelor's degree and have a portfolio of games and/or game libraries that I have created to show off my skills. I think that it is important for candidates trying to break into the industry without experience to have something on-hand to demonstrate what they are capable of.
What is your job today?
Today I am the Lead Software Engineer of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. I head up engineering for server as well as client and make all technical calls regarding its progression.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
Be passionate and practice practice practice! It's one thing to come to the interview and say "I want to make games." You need to show us what you can do. What is acceptable as a demonstration of one's skill and passion will vary for each individual's discipline within a game company.
He just made his own game.
Gridiron Solitaire enters beta later this year, and besides sounding like a fantastic game the fact that it exists at all serves as an inspiration to anyone who wants to make video games. In other words, if he can do it you sure as hell can.
In his words, here is how the game came to be:
This is a big day. For me, at least.
In early 2008, I played Fairway Solitaire, and it was wonderful. I wrote several posts about how much fun I was having, and in one of them I noted the three principles involved in making the game.
One of them was John Cutter.
I didn't make the connection, but then I got an e-mail from John Cutter. The John Cutter who designed TV Sports: Football, Wings, Betrayal at Krondor, and who was involved with a ton of other games that are still among my favorites.
It was like a huge rock music fan getting an e-mail from Jimmy Page. Best e-mail ever.
I asked him if he had ever considered making a Fairway Solitaire type of game, but with a football theme. He said there were just too many other things he was working on.
That was a shame, because I really, really wanted to play that game.
Time passed, but I kept thinking about that game. I started writing down notes about what I would want in the game.
In July 2010, I sent an e-mail to one of my favorite people, DQ Legal Advisor Lee Rawles:
I'm working on a design document for a game called "Gridiron Solitaire." It would meld a text sim with a solitaire game. A few features:
--modeled on the NFL league structure (without the real teams, obviously)
--full seasons and multiple season dynasties
--single games take about 10 minutes
--runs of cards constitute yardage, plus simple play selection of run/pass/kick (defense chooses as well in a rock/paper/scissors kind of contest, and guessing right nets a bonus/penalty
--individual plays have a time limit, so the player matches as many cards as possible before the clock runs out
--if a player has to draw a card, there is X chance of getting a random event (contextually appropriate--interception, fumble, sack, for example)
--bonuses based on team strength/home field plus a few special bonuses (for weather or particular stadiums)
Over time, the realtime element was discarded, but other than that, the design didn't change much.
In August of 2010 I made a post about looking for someone who could answer questions about Visual Basic.Net. Garret Rempel became the DQ Visual Basic Advisor, and Scott Ray became the DQ WPF/XAML Advisor.
I knew nothing about programming, and I was very naïve. The idea that I could learn a programming language and make this game was totally ridiculous.
I was, however, very stubborn, and I had an extremely clear idea of the game I wanted to make.
Progress was incredibly slow. I got the smallest book on Visual Basic I could find. Read it. Didn't understand 95% of it.
I did, however, understand 5%.
I read it again, and got a few more, thicker, programming books. Asked Garret and Scott a ton of questions. They were both incredibly patient.
It was painful, but I started making a little progress.
Scott convinced me that a WinForms application would look like ass, and that I should use WPF instead. He was right, but to do that, I had to learn XAML in addition to VB.Net. That sent me sideways for months.
The only way my brain could do this was to proceed one screen at at a time, so I designed a title screen, and team selection, and a schedule screen. Each one took months. At first, I didn't even understand how to open windows.
I'm not even sure when I got to the point where I had a crowd and cards displaying on the field, but it was a huge moment. And it looked like this:
Don't think I don't know how ugly that looks. But the crowd was wearing the primary and secondary colors of the home team, and cards were on the field, and I had a scoreboard and a kicking meter, and man, I was so proud.
I kept working.
I was getting a little better. Instead of being totally bewildered, I could sometimes find at least an ugly way to do something.
In July of last year, I decided that I needed an artist.
I had some very striking background screens, but they were totally unsuited for the "in-game" play (the screenshot you just saw). I wasn't going to work this hard and have the visuals not reflect the effort I put into the game.
I had to have an art budget.
I had mentioned Fredrik Skarstedt several times, because he's an incredibly talented fellow, and he became the DQ Official Artist. And he's damned good--I could describe something I wanted in a stylistic sense, and he was unbelievably good about creating what I was seeing in my head.
Kept working, kept working, kept working. Slowly got smarter. Kept working.
It was very hard for me to keep this secret. I wanted to talk about it, but sometimes when I talk about things, the urge to create them or continue working on them goes away. So I kept my mouth shut, with the exception of an extremely small circle of family and friends.
Since I'm probably putting all of you to sleep, let's fast-forward to last night. I think it's fair at this point to say that Gridiron Solitaire is in beta. It's feature-complete, the art is almost final, and it's fully playable for up to 30 seasons.
This is not me talking about a future thing. This is a real thing. This will be a commercial product. And here are some screenshots:
Those referee cards are used in the game to signal on-field events, just like a referee would in a real football game.
That's the team hub, where you can see all the league news.
There's a full stats generation engine for simmed games, so that you can be part of a larger game world. And team ratings rise and fall over the years, including yours, because there's a card mini-game between seasons that might help or hurt your team.
If you're wondering about the fans in the stands, they're little playing cards, and they're wearing their team's colors. That little section in the upper right? Visiting team fans. I'm going to talk more about the game in the upcoming weeks, but I thought it was time to let you guys know what's going on.
The man had an idea for a game that he wanted to play, and when it became apparent that it may never exist he taught himself how to build it from scratch. If that doesn't represent Passion, Attitude and Drive I don't know what does.
I encourage you to read his blog, purchase the game when it releases, and most importantly realize that you have absolutely no excuse. Get out there and make it happen by any means necessary.
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What was your first job in the gaming industry?
I worked at Tripwire Interactive on Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41 - 45 as a prop modeler.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
I had quite a hard time finding a job. There were no internships that I could find offered for video games, the college had no relationships with any game studios, and every place I applied to never even responded. It seemed all my friends were in the same situation. It was like this for over a year after I graduated; every studio seemed to only wanted people with experience.
Finally one of my friends found out a new studio was hiring a bunch of entry level people. This was Tripwire near Atlanta, Georgia. The guys that formed Tripwire won the Make Something Unreal contest and used the winning to start up their own studio. Being a new start up studio, I guess they could only afford people fresh out of college, which worked out for me just fine.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
Before getting into games, I took 2 years of Graphic Design and Web Development classes. I then worked for the State Government making websites and eventually some independent Web Development firms. While this was fun, I still wanted to get into games but very few colleges at the time actually had a major anywhere close to what would be considered a game degree.
I decided to go to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for their Media Arts and Animation degree. It covered everything from traditional animation to 3d modeling for movies and games to compositing and film. It seemed like it covered all basics of the industrial arts with the ability to focus on a skill later on, which of course I focused on games. It was a hard program and very demanding, but I did manage to graduate at the top of my class with honors. So I had hoped that would have helped me in my search for a job.
After graduating, I decided to keep my skills fresh and up to date while looking for a job, so I started working on a mod for Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. Working on this mod helped provide additional models for my portfolio. I brought on other friends and people trying to get a job in the games industry who were interested in working on something. Even after the team and I started getting game jobs, we decided to keep working on the mod in our spare time because we enjoyed it. Over 7 years after starting it, we finally finished the mod. In case anyone is interested in playing it: http://www.moddb.com/mods/vietnam-glory-obscured
What is your job today?
I'm currently a Senior World Artist at Carbine Studios working on Wildstar, an MMO. Previously I worked at Bioware Mythic on Warhammer Online, where I started out as prop modeler but found my way into World Art, which I found I enjoyed more than modeling. There is nothing like creating an entire world for players to run around in and explore.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
Colleges with game degrees have a lot more contacts and relationships with studios these days than they did 8-10 years ago. Take advantage of the resources and any internship programs they have available.
When assembling a portfolio, focus on showing one type of discipline. If you are wanting to do character modeling, your portfolio should show just characters. If you want to do concept art of landscapes, your portfolio should be full of concept art of landscapes; it needs to be clear what you want to do.
For the purpose of this post let's assume that you have decided to give it a go. You are interested in becoming a QA Tester, either for your long-term career or as stepping stone to a different discipline, and you would like to know how to get an edge over the competition. Here are some thoughts on things you can do to set yourself apart from the crowd.
Beta Test, Post in Forums
These days there are numerous opportunities to be accepted into the beta tests for games, especially online games. Developers use beta tests to achieve a number of goals such as finding and eliminating bugs in the game, testing server load (what happens to the game when lots of people play at once), and as early advertising or marketing for the game. As an aspiring QA Tester you can actually get started right away by joining, and really committing yourself, to one or more of these beta tests.
Treat the test like your first job by repeatedly playing through the levels, carefully logging bugs and gameplay issues that you find, and professionally reporting them in the provided forums or in-game submission form for the developers to review. What's the worst that can happen? You get some hands-on applicable experience for your resume and to discuss at future interviews. With some luck however you may even be able to catch the eye of the developers of the game you are testing and gain either an industry connection or possibly even a job opportunity.
Choose Companies, Play Games, Write Bug Reports
Do you have your eye on specific companies that you would like to work for? Buy some of their games, play them extensively, and write bug reports on what you find. Taking things a step further, why not create a free blog that categorizes and tracks all of the bugs reports that you find and write up? Imagine how impressive your resume and online portfolio will be when you are able to point to high quality bug reports for products that are now live made by the company that you are applying to!
Gain Tester Experience by Testing Mods or Indie Games for Free
Last but not least the advice I have for QA Testers is the same advice I have for aspiring developers - do the job to get the job. Combine forces with indie developers or mod creators and offer your testing services to them free of charge. Again I suggest tracking your bug reports online so that you can share them with prospective employers. Make sure to really dedicate yourself to this effort and do everything in your power to ensure that the game is completed and released, preferably with minimal bugs. The difference between your resume and someone with no experience at all will be stark putting you well ahead of the curve.
When you have some experience under your belt and a compelling resume and online portfolio now you can begin applying for positions. Here is a great reference to see open spots, but you should know that many QA Tester positions are not posted online so I encourage you to submit your resume to studios whether they show an opening or not.
For additional information on the best way to apply and follow up for a position, take a look at Step 7: Finding Your First GameDev Job.
Good luck, you can do it!
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About 20 months ago, I was sitting in at work in a web-software summer internship wondering what I
was going to do with my life. The internship was pretty good, and the work environment was pretty awesome, but I had absolutely no passion for what I was doing. I was very appreciative of the opportunity to do real work and start learning real skills, but it was obvious that the web-software industry wasn't for me.
After realizing that I really disliked my job, I started focusing on post-graduation. I'm a senior at Northwestern University graduating with a degree in Industrial Engineering this June (minors in Computer Science and Marketing). Going into my Junior year, I started asking "Well, what am I passionate about?" I came up with a list of skills - programming, computers, statistics - things I thought that were relevant to the "real business world." It was only until consulting my girlfriend (now fiance) that I was turned onto gaming.
After 20 months of hard work, I finally got into the games industry as a production intern at fairly well known studio in LA. I'll be starting as a Production Intern this coming June, and I wanted to write this so that college students who were in my spot (and I'm sure there are many) can learn from my mistakes and successes.
The first bit of advice I can give is be resilient. It took me 18 months from the time I started working to get into the gaming industry to get my first interview. In fact, it was 17 months until I got my first ounce of humanity out of the industry. I sent in resumes. I posted on forums. I marketed myself. I did everything I possibly could think of. I blindly followed huge stretches. I cold-called several studios. I applied to every position I could think of. It waspainful. For 17 months, everything I did seemed to go into some meaningless black hole in which no human would ever see it. Sometimes I would get an email response from a "do not reply" email saying I was denied. All of this for simple internships. The industry seemed so insular - to get in the games industry, you already needed to be in the industry. If you weren't in the industry, no one paid any attention to you.
There were a few points where I thought it was hopeless or where I was getting desperate. During the winter of my Junior year, I felt that if I didn't get an internship, I was doomed to get into the industry for the positions I wanted. I started looking at gaming colleges and gaming graduate schools, thinking those would be the magical solution. I started lamenting my university, if that's even believable. Northwestern University - an elite college - seemed to leave me leaps and bounds behind other colleges for the only industry I wanted.
But each time I met failure, I kept going. I'd buy a new book to read on game development, or start some new programming project to add to my portfolio. Despite my failures at getting into the industry, I started having huge success for the projects I had taken on. I made 2 stand-alone PC games, which while not that impressive, could be sent out as finished projects. I made a World of Warcraft add-on that was featured on numerous fan sites and became #1 in its category with over 4,000 downloads in the first month.
And this leads me into my second bit of advice: you don't need a job to work in the industry. There was actually a definitive point in January last year where I suddenly realized that I was a producer without a job. I had finished the first major iteration of my add-on and was doing user testing, conducting interviews, and organizing feedback. I started coordinating a few of my gaming friends to help me with each task, such as creating a demo video, structuring the exact text I wanted on the add-on page, etc. I convinced one of them to start making some artwork for the add-on. And suddenly, I realized that I was doing the job of a producer. The programming was done, and now I was coordinating 3-4 people to wrap up everything else and get a solid initial release.
A lot of people come to these forums asking "how can I get into the industry" - and to be honest, it extremely easy. There's a reason that there are so many independent studios out there - there aren't any barriers to entry to the games industry. Start making your own projects. Start doing the job you want to do. If you want to be a game programmer, get C++ and OpenGL and get to work. If you want to be a QA tester, start compiling bug lists and reproduction methods in various games that you play. If you want to be an artist, start making art for a game (either new or current). If you want to be a level designer, pick up Starcraft 2 or Valve's Hammer and start making levels. If you want to be a producer, start finding people to coordinate a project with (you can find people at your University or gaming circles). Several people never even get hired into the industry at all - some people get a group of friends, make an iPhone or Droid game, throw it on the app store for 99 cents, and make thousands. Point is, you don't need someone to give you a job to start doing the work, and the work should come first.
In mid-February, I still hadn't received any response from the 30+ studios I'd applied for an internship with. I started wondering "what am I missing?" - I had an awesome add-on, a great personal website (http://www.MatthewEnthoven.com), a pretty good portfolio. But still, I wasn't having any luck. I started doing research on other candidates - my competitors - and what they had that I didn't. Through my research, I found what I was really good at: I had an awesome personal website. Aesthetically, it kicked ass, which would win me a few points here and there. I had a great University, which despite my failures, I still found as an advantage. I had finished projects that had several hundred downloads compared to broken, unfinished, and untested ones. But the one thing I was missing was a blog.
So I started my gaming blog. Initially, I wrote about 10 articles and started releasing them ever week. After 10 articles, I completely stopped. No one was reading it, and I lost all motivation to continue writing. Between guild leadership, my various programming projects, and my schoolwork, I just didn't seem to have time to write. My blog went down as an unfinished project, going 3 months or more without a single entry.
If you hadn't noticed by now, finished projects matter. Last May, when I looked at my blog again, I realized how terrible it was and how little effort I had put into it. I was actually extremely disappointed with myself - the project had just fallen off the face of the earth. When I started writing again, I wasn't writing to get into the industry - I was writing for fun. I completely transformed my blog from being "wall-of-text" to visually appealing, lots of images, and lots of entries. I started trying to get a new entry every week, but evolved into 2-3 entries per week as I became addicted to blogging about my experiences as a gamer and guild leader.
A "finished project" doesn't just consist of the submitted code, or submitted work. Most projects are never really "finished." A lot of projects/games are always evolving and always changing, and yours should be too. If you've never gotten serious feedback on your code, gameplay, or artwork, you're certainly not "finished." If you've never incorporated feedback, you're certainly not "finished." A project is "finished" when you've released it to the public, gone through iterations of feedback, patches, and bug fixes, and you have a generally complete "product." Think from your bosses' perspective: if you were assigned to this project, would he think it's "done" or would he find it lackluster? You can't cut corners here. While you might be able to trick an HR person to thinking a project is cool and complete, your future boss will see right through it.
Feedback is a critical element of not only projects, but also your career. When I was locked into returning to my web-software internship last summer, I started getting more aggressive with marketing myself and getting feedback. I posted a lot on these forums to get any bit of feedback possible. My resume underwent several iterations as I started distributing it out to anyone who would look and comment on it. I joined IGDA and started attending random game development meetings throughout Chicago, all the while asking questions about the industry and getting feedback on what I had done so far.
Feedback is a gift. Throughout my career search, I've been warned several times of "college arrogance." College students graduate feeling all high-and-mighty with their degree, and in turn, they come off as arrogant and unwilling to learn. Ironically, the students at the highest risk of falling into this trap are also the ones who are most likely to brush it off. If you read this and instantly think "psh, I'm nothing like that," you're already guilty. Careers are built on the basis of listening, learning, and communicating, all three of which can be significantly improved by listening to feedback.
One of my final interview questions in the entire process was "What's the most valuable thing you've learned in your life?" For me, it's been the ability to listen and make people feel listened too. In high school, I was constantly told by my parents, teachers, and friends that I wasn't listening even when I was. I learned about the concept of reflective listening when I got to Northwestern and started implementing it in my everyday life. Maybe it was just maturity, but maybe it was the idea too. Learning how to listen to feedback, however, has easily been the most valuable skill I've ever acquired. It's touched every part of my life.
When I first started poking around asking for advice, I instantly ran into brutal advisors that seemed like forum trolls (*cough* Tom Sloper *cough*). Before I actually listened to them, I would find myself looking into their credentials, usually finding that they were a 1st generation gamer and likely had no clue what it was work in "modern gaming." But everywhere I went, the same people were offering the same feedback, and I quickly started finding that my attempts to discredit were going in the complete wrong direction. Instead of listening to advice, I tried to prove it was ignorant and ignorable.
After meeting failure after failure, I started getting bent into submission while also starting to use more and more resources. Rather than just going onto the forums and posting resumes, I went to my university's career services. I started putting myself in situations in which hiring folks couldn't really refuse to answer my questions. On my projects, I started developing more, getting better at feedback cycles and also structuring my code to easily implement later feedback.
One of the most popular bits of feedback that I saw getting thrown around was "Do you even know what you want to do?" When I first started posting asking for advice, this was usually the response. It's the response a lot of college students get, because the reality is, they don't know what they want to do. If you're a college student reading this, know that it's pretty normal while in college to "not know what you want to do." Even if you know what industry you want to work in, it's completely fine to not know what you want to do in that industry.
Usually, not knowing what you want to do is a consequence of not knowing what work there is to do or laziness. Let's assume it's the first, in which case you probably need to do your research. If and when you get to an on-site interview, it's almost guaranteed that one of the questions, either directly or indirectly, will be "what do you see yourself doing here?" At that point, you need to know what you're doing, and to get that involves research. Research is a critical element of any job search. You need to know the industry, the position, and the company among several other things.
If it's laziness, let me tell you that making games is not a game - it's a serious business that involves countless hours of hard work. When I first started wanting to get into the games industry, I imagined some dream job in which I could sit around and talk to people about what I would want to change in a game and I could write or draw out changes and make other people do the work. That dream job does not exist. Video games are equivalent to almost any other electronic consumer good. You've got target markets, marketing campaigns, budgets, intense timelines, development goals, etc.
For me, there was a point where I realized that you have to have a passion for actually making games - not just playing them. Looking back at some of my old posts, I trashed Valve's Hammer because I thought "it's a stupid level designer" - really, I was just unwilling to put in the work required to actually make a finished level. I don't have passion for level design (or anything related to artwork), and that's okay too. Personally, I found my main two passions to be systems design and production. For systems design, I focused a lot on UI elements and procedural flow, along with systems within my own guild leadership. For production, I've been a leader among gamers for quite a while and want to take my leadership skills to the gaming industry.
Some people get so wrapped up on the consumer side of the games industry that they mistakenly think that making games is just as fun and cool. Using that logic, making french fries at McDonalds must be the coolest job ever because the fries taste really good. If you don't have a passion formaking games, this industry isn't for you. The company I'm starting at works from 10-6, but just walking around and talking to people quickly revealed that most work from 10am-midnight or later.
You need to want to put in the hard work. If you look at portfolio development and think "I'll just cut corners" or "I don't need to do that to get in," you're not approaching it right. When first working on a portfolio, think of realistic projects that would impress your future boss and make them. My blog now has over 100 entries, 500 subscribers, and over 100,000 words (the size of the average American novel).
After finishing all of these projects, I started looking at full time positions last August. Along the way, I found a lot of useful advice that helped me target specific career opportunities and career paths. One interesting bit of advice that I got along the way was "production isn't an entry-level position." I certainly agree still that production isn't an entry-level position, but I didn't seem myself as necessarily "entry-level" - I'd put in a lot of work to game development and targeted my degree to focus a lot on organizational behavior and project management.
Other useful advice was "get out to California," which ended up making a huge impact on my long-term career. If you put in just a few minutes into the gaming industry, you'll find that most advice sites stress the importance of networking. Earlier this year, I flew out to several career fairs in California, a lot of which I had to plead with career services at the respective universities to get permission to enter (before buying my plane ticket, obviously). The impact was magical: I went from having 0 contacts, 0 human response to suddenly having multiple phone interviews throughout the industry. From that point on, I knew I had it made. As an undergraduate, I'd already been interviewed 16 times and received 15 job offers from non-gaming companies I wasn't interested in. I knew I was a pretty good interviewer, and all I had to do was get to the interview to get the job.
I highly doubt that anyone has much success breaking into the games industry without doing some networking. One recruiter told me that the industry is just too "sexy" for you to get in on paper alone. The fact is that the industry gets tons of applications from people trying to break in, and you need something special to actually stand out. While you might think your cool XYZ project is special, it's probably not. I like to say my blog is special, but there are thousands upon thousands of quality gaming blogs out there, many of which have 10-100x as many subscribers. What can be special about you, however, is your personality and professionalism, both of which can only be demonstrated in person.
While it's hard to measure the impacts, I also learned that it's important to be professional, but not too professional. When comparing myself to my "competition," I quickly found that something that set me apart was my professionalism. Some students showed up to career fairs in shorts and tee-shirts when the main attire was generally nice clothes. Some students wouldn't even shake the recruiters hand. Some would joke around and start talking about how awesome the game of XYZ company was. Remember to conduct yourself as a professional developer, not as a geeky-gamer.
At the same time, gaming is one of the rare industries in which you can go too professional. One of the questions I asked in several interviews was "What do you look for in perspective candidates?" Some candidates were actually denied because they came across as too professional - they lacked "cultural fit." I was glad that I was wearing dress-jeans, a casual polo-shirt, and nice shoes rather than the full suit that they mocked in the candidate. Each company varies drastically, and you should do your research and ask questions.
One final note of "professionalism" that got me a huge edge was emailing follow-ups and thank-yous. When you meet someone at a career fair, get their card and send them an email thanking them for the advice. When someone takes the time to interview you, thank them for their time in an email. If you want to be really impressive, write down something memorable to spark their memory. For me, I got very targeted resume advice from one recruiter and thanked him and sent a revised resume. He was very impressed. Another recruiter asked a very interesting question, and I sent a follow-up with a blog entry inspired by their question. Make sure you use proper grammar/spelling the whole way, of course.
The road for me ended with 4 full-time production job offers all arriving at about the same time, one of which was particularly good, and none of which I'm completely qualified for. I went from being desperate to get in to actually getting to say "I know you want to wait to interview me, but I'm already interviewing with other companies" (said to the company I'm signing with). In hindsight, it's interesting that things moved so quickly once I actually started triggering network connections. From the Summer to Fall, I went from people saying "mmhmm, that's okay" to "wow, that's cool." I started hearing things like "You're a rising star" and "You've clearly already put in the work" from two different companies, when before no one even bothered to send me a reply.
I certainly don't know everything about the industry, or what it's like to work in the industry. I haven't even started yet (starting this June/July), and I'm 100% sure that I have so much to learn it's unreal. I've started reading several books on production, agile project management, and general management skills, and I'm sure I'll learn a ton more from my training and coworkers, and even more in the years to come.
What was your first job in the games industry?
The first thing I ever did in the gaming industry was support – tech support and then in-game customer service. I’d had a lot of IT experience and a huge love of gaming, so I thought my life couldn’t get any better than that at the time.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
Sometimes, I feel like my entrance into the games industry was a fairy tale story. I was working in another state and going to school full-time near home to get certifications for my IT career. I wasn’t really passionate about IT, but I enjoyed helping people and really liked the pay. It was the typical grind my days away to support playing games at night. Luckily, at the time I lived just around the corner from a gaming studio. They’d made the first MMO I’d officially beta tested. It was also the game that was eating up all my free time. So, when they posted that they were hiring for technical support, I sucked up the pay cut and went after my passion. I found that doing support for a game company where I could talk about comics and games and dorky movies on my breaks was completely worth it! And better yet, it got me closer to the job I’d just realized that I’d been dreaming about – making video games.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
I learn best by getting my hands dirty – trial and error – so I’m mostly self-taught. I had years of failed attempts at making my own board games, a couple of poorly built modules, and a huge passion for the gaming industry. It didn’t hurt that I got my foot in the door through customer support. That was, after all, the industry that I’d worked in for years.
What is your job today?
Today, I’m a Content Designer. I fill my days making fun stuff for folks to do. It’s a lot of hard work to make things appeal to a wide audience. Sometimes, I just have to scrap an idea and start over. Often, the idea I’m in love with at the time is too quirky. Quirky doesn’t always play well. I think the quests that I’m most proud of are the quirky ones that really turn out well.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
A lot of game design in general is trial and error. You come up with a prototype system or module and then test it until your eyeballs want to fall out of your head and your fingers are about to fall off. Then, you revise and start again. Be persistent and patient. Play everything. Read everything. Try everything. Inspiration is everywhere.
Today guest blogger Rusel DeMaria shares with us the value of gaming history, his thoughts on Kickstarter, and notes about his current project.
Why History? Why Kickstarter?
My name is Rusel DeMaria. I am an author, game designer, consultant and analyst. I am running a Kickstarter project to fund a 3rd edition of my book, “High Score: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games”.
Why History?
For many younger game designers and developers, who likely grew up on games, the history of the industry is probably less important than the technological advances, the newest game engines, and the new opportunities that exist in the world of games. With social, mobile and casual games, this is a great time to be designing games. The barriers to entry have been lowered to the point that just about anyone with a modicum of skill, timing, originality and a bit of luck can hit the jackpot.
However, what makes games good, what makes companies succeed or fail, how do partnerships work, what games mean to us in our world today – all of these are, in part, the lessons of history. As a new designer seeking to get into the business, it’s not a prerequisite that you know game history. It’s just an added bonus that you know what has been done before, because every game designer you admire had something that inspired him or her. Sid Meier had Seven Cities of Gold. Will Wright had the Pinball Construction Set. What did you have? How did it shape your directions as a designer?
And even past the informative aspect of game history, it makes a great story. Writing High Score was a great adventure for me, and I heard the stories of dozens of the pioneers of the industry. I wrote the stories as best I could to bring you closer to the people and to their challenges and successes as they built their companies, made their games and explored the boundaries of game design, marketing, finances, technology and the many pitfalls of success and failure. It’s a good read, and you never know what you’ll take away from it.
Why Kickstarter?
At this time, Kickstarter is a new and potentially valuable source of funding for indie developers. Many small projects are getting the money to proceed and launch new titles with support from fans and people who want to see new games come out. I’m not talking only about Double Fine or InXile, which were hugely successful projects run by famous game designers, but about smaller games, like the D-Day Dice Board Game, which exceeded its initial goal by 1,321%! Or small projects with small budgets that have succeeded, like OutReach the Search for Mankind, School Daze and Spike: A Love Story Too.
Kickstarter is not for the faint of heart. It’s difficult. It requires hard work to set it up and to maintain it to success. Believe me, I made mistakes and had to learn on the job, so to speak. I worked my ass off getting the word out, refining my project and beating the bushes for support. I went way past my comfort zone. In the end, I was successful, but it wasn’t without its low points and times when I didn’t know if it would work. I have a ton of people to thank, without whom I could not have succeeded, and among them are the backers of my project who were extremely helpful. Some offered sound advice about what works and what doesn’t. Others even offered new incentives, such as a custom-made comic just for my project.
Not all Kickstarter projects will succeed, and there are any number of reasons why. So if you are interested in turning to Kickstarter, or any crowd sourcing method, do your homework. Look at the section on “Ending Soon” and you’ll see a bunch of projects with hours to go that won’t succeed. It’s a good idea to learn from those that fail as much as – or even more than – those that succeed.
In any case, if you want to make games, there’s lots of good information on this site. I would ditto a lot of it. Best of luck. I hope to see your games in the future, and maybe they’ll be in the 4th edition of High Score.
Rusel DeMaria began playing video games in 1967. Since then he has been a writer and editor, designer, consultant and analyst, founding editor and creative director of strategy guides for Prima Publishing and author of more than 60 books. He is currently running the High Score 3 Kickstarter project at http://ow.ly/1HTdLa.
So what is an aspiring games developer to do? Here are my thoughts on how to crack this nut:
Why should you do this? Because eventually some of you (hopefully all of you) will indeed get jobs in the industry. If you've positively contributed to their journey then perhaps they will be in a position to help you down the line.
The alternative, blindly reaching out to established developers to connect online, is unlikely to yield positive results. In the same way that you would not want to accept a Facebook invite from a complete stranger, developers do not typically accept a LinkedIn invite from people they do not know either.
What kinds of things can you do to help others? Offer your support in their projects and modifications. Provide feedback and assistance on their resumes and portfolios. Share information that you find online, such as job postings or this website, with others who may benefit from this knowledge as well.
By joining or creating a support group to help each other out in a variety of ways you can eventually build your network from the ground up.
In closing, here are a few additional tips of varying degrees of difficulty:
Above all else remember that successfully networking means to provide valuable help to others. Do this enough and the universe will eventually take care of the rest.
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My daughter and I enjoy gaming together and you can see her little collection of Skylanders to the right. She is four and a half years old so our software options are somewhat limited. Translation - many of the games that she is able to play bore me to tears. Skylanders is the first game we found that genuinely appealed to both of us simultaneously, and we actually completed it from start to finish together. It's an experience that I will never forget and one that I hope she remembers when she is older as well.
What is Skylanders you ask? Spyro's Adventure is essentially a dungeon crawl game with one heck of a twist. The playable characters available to you are first purchased as figures in the real world and then connected through a USB portal to your game. Each figure spawns in the game world and can now be controlled by you.
But wait, there's more! These figures are equipped with microchips in their base that allow them to store data from gameplay onto the actual model themselves. As you progress through the game your active Skylander levels up and earns new abilities and gear (in the form of hats). This progress can then be shared with friends by simply taking your figure to a buddy's house and placing it on his or her portal.
;)
While playing this over the holiday break with my daughter I couldn't help but ask myself, "Who on earth had the balls to approve the development of this game?" The logistical challenges and financial hurdles of creating not only a new peripheral (the portal) but more importantly all of the microchip-equipped figures is astounding. Furthermore, despite the name and Spyro's presence as a playable character, this title is not a sequel to an existing franchise. The gameplay is dramatically different and Spyro is not featured within the game any more so than all of the other characters are.
This was one risky bet!
And let's talk about the marketing and end cap placement of this thing. Have you been into a Toys R Us in the last 6 months? The figures, disks, and bundle sets alone take up a significant amount of shelf space before you even get to the TV's looping gameplay. How did this ever get approved?
Thanks to Matthew Handrahan, writer for Gamesindustry.biz, I finally understand how it happened.
The summary of the story is this: Take one Lead Character Artist with a passion for hand crafting and painting intricate clay figures, add a programmer who harbors a fascination (and apparently a great talent) for working with electronics, and combine a team of passionate developers and leaders who believed wholeheartedly in their idea, and you have a group of people capable and just crazy enough of pitching this elaborate concept for the first time to Activision with actual working models in hand.
Bravo guys.
For all of you aspiring developers out there wondering how to make an impact and get into the business, take note of this shining example of how powerful the creation of a working prototype can be.
And to both Toys for Bob and Activision? Thank you for having the nerve to see this through. You've created a fantastic memory for my family.
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What was your first job in the gaming industry?
My first job was a contract (not permanent) programming position, porting SEGA Genesis games to a portable platform called the Tapwave Zodiac. It was not really "Game Development" since the game was already developed. My job was simply to make the games run reasonably well on that platform.
I ported Columns (similar to Bejeweled), Golden Axe, and Altered Beast. But as I said, it wasn't really about the games. It was more about getting the old games to run on a new (at the time) platform. Nevertheless, it gave me a "foot in the door", and since then people have viewed me as a game programmer.
Did you find it difficult to get your first job given that you had no prior experience?
I actually had a lot of prior experience in other areas of software. I was an experienced programmer. Plus, I did a lot of game programming in my spare time. Then, when the opportunity arose to port those SEGA Genesis games, it was a really good fit - for me and the hiring company.
What sort of training or education did you complete in advance of applying for your first position?
First of all, I had a whole separate career in computer security and cryptography before I decided to go into the games industry. Once I decided to get into the games industry I actually quit my regular job and spent the next nine months programming in OpenGL. Then I got another job in computer security but continued programming games in DirectX in my spare time for about three years. Finally, when I met the hiring manager for the SEGA Genesis porting project, I had so much games programming experience that it was a no-brainer for him.
What is your job today?
Today I am designing and programming an independent game. Recently I was also Assistant Lead Programmer for City of Heroes.
For someone interested in starting a career making games today, what is the main piece of advice you would offer them?
Many paths are possible. For example, some people start out in the QA department. It's often easier to get a position as a tester, and if you work really hard opportunities will come your way. On the other hand, if you want to follow a path similar to me, here's my main advice:
Find a way to make games on your own.
There are many ways to do this, from making MODs, to using free game-making tools, to programming from scratch. Find a method that works for you, and spend as much time as you can making games. Then when the opportunity presents itself you have lots to talk about. You can explain what you've done, what worked, what didn't work, etc. Potential employers will recognize you're already a game developer, and you're on your way!
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Today we introduce a new category to our blog archives called Tools of the Trade. In each associated post we will highlight a particular bit of software, explain its use, and make sure to link the article to the appropriate discipline in Step 2.
Let's start with a very basic tool that can be invaluable for creating and keeping a pulse on your overarching game design. The mind map. To quote Wikipedia, "A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. By presenting ideas in a radial, graphical, non-linear manner, mind maps encourage a brainstorming approach to planning and organizational tasks."
;)
When designing a game, big or small, there can be numerous elements of the game which you must keep track of. It is very important to thoroughly understand the scope of what you are attempting to create, and you will find that this scope may change wildly throughout development. One of my favorite strategies for communicating this information is to create a poster that captures the game design in one fell swoop.
This however is challenging to do and often not possible. Therefore the next best thing is to develop a living mind map which helps organize your thoughts and communicate the scope of the game to your team.
FreeMind is one of many freeware mind mapping tool that allows you to quickly create and edit a mind map with ease. I find this to be a great starting point for creating game designs and a helpful tool to get the many ideas that may be bouncing around in your head down on paper so that you can start to wrap your arms around what you are considering for your game.
Below I've taken a very simple game, Super Mario Brothers, and created an example mind map in FreeMind.
;)
This should help to illustrate the types of information that you want to store in your mind map. It is a living document, which is to say that as the design evolves make sure to crack this back open and make adjustments. Refer to it often and constantly be aware of both what it contains and how many of these features you have completed or are tracking towards.
You may have noticed the various numbers attached to some of the nodes. These are simply icons that you can use to represent different ideas. For example, you can flag nodes based on level of completion in your current version. Or perhaps you want to release your product in stages, you can use icons to identify which stage of release you intend to hit each feature.
Ultimately a mind map can prove to be incredibly useful for any sized project. FreeMind is one example of a free option to help you create your masterpiece, and there are many others that exist out there as well.