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Howdy everyone, a 17 year old Corkonian here who’s just going into 6th year.
My initial career/course choice was Graphic Design in CIT, and I was happy with that initially. It took a few months to realise that graphic design is not something I want to make a career out of, it’s a hobby more than anything and I don’t want it any other way.
Since I was a little child playing the PS1, or even the SNES, I’ve wanted to do something in games but that was as far as it went. I thought that working in the games industry would be unrealistic (who wouldn’t at 10 years of age?:P)
But yeah anyways, the time has come for me to do the LC next year and, I’m now seriously considering a job in the games industry. I just don’t know what to do about it!
I am a fairly artistic and creative person. I’m not BURSTING with ideas but if I was part of a team I think I could bring a few ideas to the table. I’m horrible at maths (which is why computer science is scaring me), I’m more of a practical hands on guy.
That said, I used to play with HTML before and every problem I came across, I found it fun to find the solution and work it out. Is that aspect any way like programming?
I’ve been playing games since as far back as I remember and I’m pretty sure I could keep up with trends too.
I don’t know what career I could choose either. I mean, what’s the difference between a designer and a developer? etc, etc.
My dream job would be working as a part of a team in someplace like Media Molecule, a place with a good corporate culture and a friendly atmosphere:)
Anyways yeah. Hope you guys can help me with a college course.
(sorry for the convoluted rant, I just find it hard to get these thoughts into words since I’m so confused :))
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Look at character based programming/scripting/animation
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Why do you think I could try that? :)
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If you like programming (c++ and/or scripting) and your ok at art.
If you aim for pure GPU based programming maths would be an NB.
Google animation programmer. Its a suggestion for investigation…..nothing more. -
Rooky
You’ve said you are "horrible" at Maths. This pretty much rules you out of any game programming job I can think of.
Seriously.
If you like the "hands-on" stuff, and are "bursting with ideas" then I would recommend you check out something like level design or the game art related disciplines.
But again, this requires that you have an artistic eye and/or have done technical drawing or have an interest in architecture.
My advise, tour a studio (or as many as you can) and talk with the people who work there (Art people, Level designers (who overlap with art people sometimes), and programmers.)
I’ll reiterate again, if you do not like Maths, and/or are not adept at Maths then you should stay away from programming (ESPECIALLY Game Programming) as all the best programmers I know are self-confessed hard-core "math-heads" (their words – not mine).
B.
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Have you looked at many courses?
I would recommend something light, such as LUDO at BCFE. I did that course myself and it is a good introduction into the possible disciplines available in the industry. It covers 3D, Programming, Story Boarding etc.
I would also recommend taking a look at a light scripting language such as Lua or Ruby. Lua is a light, higher level langauge and is used by the likes of Crytek for controlling events in their Level tools and engine.
A good idea would be to get yourself a copy of FarCry, patch it etc, and then try use the Level editor. With your scene set then try using the scripting tools and see how you get on. There are lots of resources available over at http://www.crymod.com
Most of the more hardcore programming does require a good foundation of Mathematics, but the biggest issue people have is their fear of failing. I would never rule out programming entirely as there are such varying languages and styles. Most of which are required in the industry.As regards Development and Design. Well, Development means the building of the game with the bricks, i.e. Coding etc. Design is more the implementation. Designers are not the ones with the grand idea and all the answers, they are the people who must communicate with all the teams on a daily basis and also take notes on peoples opinions and experiences. A certain portion of a designers job (Studio dependent) is merely Knowledge management. That would be the creation of Design docs and Wiki’s as well as scoring algorithms, Flow diagrams etc.
Unfortunately Design is not something that can be taught in a college course, no matter what the Universities might say. At all the careers fairs and people I have spoken with they all say that you must first experience the industry before you can become a competent designer. However, there are those luck few that do get hired as a designer out of college but I sincerely doubt they would be the lead on any big projects.In relation to Art, well art is a very important position in any studio. You don’t necessarily have to be bursting with creative ideas, but an eye for detail and a knowledge of the capabilities and limitations are a necessity. You could always find a job in a porting house where you will be changing the art assets to suit the platform that they are being released on.
One other thing to consider would be Sound engineering. There is a big demand for Sound artists in the industry at the moment, and it is often overlooked by potential students. It requires some creativity, as it is not the sound of a bone breaking that you are actually hearing but a placebo.
If you are really serious about going into the industry then I would suggest going along to your potential colleges open days. Do a bit of research and keep an eye on sites such as http://www.gamecareerguide.com/ or gamasutra and read some of the articles from people in the industry.
The mos timportant thing you could do though is actually sit down and start doing something yourself, whether it is scripting, Design, Art, Sound, Script writing, Modelling etc.Best of luck.
JP
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what’s the difference between a designer and a developer? [/quote:fe5bbc91a4]
A games developer is a person who makes games, regardless of role. A designer is a specific role. So designers, programmers, artists, producers are all developers.
Doodee:
Unfortunately Design is not something that can be taught in a college course, no matter what the Universities might say.[/quote:fe5bbc91a4]
Nonsense. Especially given the list of tasks you’ve attributed to designers.
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Nonsense. Especially given the list of tasks you’ve attributed to designers.[/quote:d74990123e]
You can train towards being a Game designer but it is not the same as doing a program intensive course in college and then being hired as a programmer.
there are quite a few Studios that will not hire people for design jobs without some previous experience in the industry. Whether that’s 4+ Years in QA or a Number of years in coding. You have to know the processes first before you can get a look in.Now, that’s not saying that people who work on a project themselves and follow design methodology stand no chance, but the gravity is that you can’t graduate as a Designer.
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I cant speak for the other areas but if you want to do art then you should have an art related degree somewhere, must art directors and artists I have talked to come from Fine Art or Illustration and alot of companies look for one of these as a requirement. There is also industrial design and animation which would both help for different aspects of game art. There is quite a bit of graphic designer work in games so if your near completion with your graphic design degree I would advise sticking with it. You can always do a masters in games afterwards like in Abertay in Scotland.
Industrial design and Illustration are not taught in this country as far as I know but there are alot of them over in the UK. Though any of these arent an absolute necessity there are plenty of self trained artists within the industry too, but any I have met spent a long time (like 5 years plus) working by themselves learning and teaching themselves, which is a very hard road and not sure it would be for everyone. I would advise looking at gameindustry.biz jobs and seeing what are requirements for various positions and see where you are lacking:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs
Art in games is like art in any industry you have to have a strong grasp of it to make it, and this means knowing the basics and being good at art in general not just in games. Well thats what I have garnered from talking with game art professionals, might be just the ones I talked to. Anyway, there are others on these forums which would be actually game employed artists so they would know better.
On a side note since your based in Cork like myself, you might think of coming to this:
http://drinkdrawcork.blogspot.com/
Its run by the very nice Eva Widermann:
And is free! but she has some games experience on the concept art side so you could talk to her on the day.
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Sound production.. now that’s something that interests me. I love music, have a sharp attention to detail and I even make my own (beatboxing – humanbeatbox.com).
Anyone got any info?
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