Software Developer?

Hey dude.

I’m a final year student at IT Tallaght. Having nearly finished my degree I think I can safely say that if you maintain a high enough level in software development, you’ll be able to make a halfway decent games programmer.

And you’ll also have something to fall back on (regular developer) if things don’t go too smooth. I’ve heard good things about Cork IT if its any use. I still think Sligo is the best I’ve heard.

Any other questions?

Thanks alot for that. Would software dev differ from games programming or are they similar?[/quote:3b08b0614a]

The base technologies are the same.

But the mindset is very different and to be honest, Games programming is a lot harder as its unforgiving.

EXAMPLE 1:
Say for example we take 2 programs. Your web browser and Kung fu rag dolls (a psn mini game). When your using them, think of the differences even though their both likely written in C++.

When you click in your web browser, some processing goes on. Images are loaded. Text is written and depending on your internet connection, your waiting about 2-3 seconds.

Now consider games. Can you imagine a game where you had to wait 2-3 seconds for a player to switch positions? or a new character be loaded in?
This is probably a bad example due to the vast differences between http and tcp/udp (you don’t need to know what they mean).

EXAMPLE 2:

Bugs. Think of how often a browser crashes when you do something odd. Flash player drops out, text goes all weird or the dreaded message "Program is not responding"
You just restart the program. Inconvinient but no biggy right?

If in game even a single crash, freeze or bug pops up. Your gamers are NOT going to be happy. And you be sure they’ll never buy another game again (excluding Bethesda because they actually leave in the funny bugs)

So as you can see, games programming is pretty unforgiving. But trust me its a lot more fun. Its much more rewarding to get the nasty blood physics just right than it is to have a jpg load 25% faster on a webpage.

There are plenty of books and such out there that "might" do you some good but I’m skeptical of them all because they are just so diverse and some of the code is just plain old.

If you need to make a plan then try this. Think of the biggest baddest game you’ve ever wanted to make (everyone has a dream game). Now throw it away and go make Pong.
No seriously. Once your comfortable enough with a language, go make pong, then space invaders then pacman and so on.

You’ll learn something new every time and build up a nice portfolio to help you later on.

And like I said. If all else fails and your not good enough to make games, there is a shortage of good developers in Ireland and has been for the past while. Your gonna get a shot of business stuff shoved down your throat in any college (even CS courses) so its nice to have a fall back. Make game programming your hobby before you try make it a job.

And finally, Good luck.

Study software engineering. 4 years comp sci. take graphics and math papers.

Thanks alot ive already done afew C++ programmes but nothing to do with games yet apart from level design on TrialsHD. By the way do you get the chance to do a small bit of games programming in software development courses during college or would you have to do it mainly during your pair time? Sorry for all the question.

Thanks[/quote:e6f352fa24]

Its fine dude. Thats what the forum is here for.

If you’ve already done some C++ then your gonna be miles ahead of most people in your class.

As for the games specific code. It depends on the course. I know mine has an interactive media development module which covers game development briefly. I also did my third year project on a game which gave me the time to work on it myself.

For most people, spare time is the best time for them to code games.

Study software engineering. 4 years comp sci. take graphics and math papers.[/quote:bcf442e81c]

This.

I’d go off on a big explanation of Software Engineering but I’d just be reiterating what Overtone said.
Software Engineering will set you up well in the coding department, and if you get to work on a bit of gaming in your own time you’ll be golden.

I’m currently in my final year at NUI Maynooth doing the Computer Science and Software Engineering course so if you have any questions just throw me a PM or reply here or whatever.