Getting into the industry.

Moved to Breaking In. Desi: View Forum FAQ (above)

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After thinking about it, I decided becoming a games designer would be the best path for me

Why?

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I don't know what part of the industry get into.

Didn't you just say design?

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I'm not good at drawing, so that rules me out of the art and drawing business. What other parts of the industry are there? :)

Research.

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Secondly, how difficult is it to break into the industry once you have all the qualifications?

Define difficult. You can't simply walk in with or without qualifications. You HAVE to be good at what you do and be good at proving it.

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And is the pay good?

Define good. Again, research.

Hi, and thanks for the reply. :)

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Quote: After thinking about it, I decided becoming a games designer would be the best path for me Why?

I decided it was the best path for me because out of the things I had down, it would be in an industry of something I enjoy. I had other job options down but they looked boring. I want to enjoy my job.

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Quote: I don't know what part of the industry get into. Didn't you just say design?

I know I put design down, but I do not know what departments there are, i.e. sound, coding, art.

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Quote: I'm not good at drawing, so that rules me out of the art and drawing business. What other parts of the industry are there? :) Research.

Thanks for the link, I shall read through that.

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Quote: Secondly, how difficult is it to break into the industry once you have all the qualifications? Define difficult. You can't simply walk in with or without qualifications. You HAVE to be good at what you do and be good at proving it.

How easy is it get your first job in the industry? I know it's different for everyone, I guess I was looking for examples.

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Quote: And is the pay good? Define good. Again, research.

Good as in you can have a good life style with the income you earn. Again, I guess I was looking for examples. Thank you for the link though. :)

[Edited by - Designer2Be on July 4, 2010 3:34:42 PM]

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Original post by Designer2Be Hi, and thanks for the reply. :)

I replied too. I recommended you read the FAQ above. I know you haven't read it yet (it's not possible to have read it all already).

Hello Designer2be,

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Original post by Designer2Be Secondly, how difficult is it to break into the industry once you have all the qualifications?

All the design qualifications?
Design is a lot of different things, and it's difficult to master all aspects
at once. That goes for most(if not all) of the arts, though.

Take programming / game development classes at night before proceeding,
to get a better idea of what you really want to pursue.
This will also give you experience, which you'll need anyways...

That's my 2 cents.

[Edited by - SuperVGA on July 4, 2010 4:48:47 PM]

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Original post by Tom Sloper Quote: Original post by Designer2Be Hi, and thanks for the reply. :) I replied too. I recommended you read the FAQ above. I know you haven't read it yet (it's not possible to have read it all already).

Sorry, I must of missed your reply. I shall have a read through that aswell. Thank you.

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Original post by SuperVGA Hello Designer2be, Quote: Original post by Designer2Be Secondly, how difficult is it to break into the industry once you have all the qualifications? All the design qualifications? Design is a lot of different things, and it's difficult to master all aspects at once. That goes for most(if not all) of the arts, though. Take programming / game development classes at night before proceeding. That's my 2 cents.

Sorry, I used the wrong words there. I meant, once you have the qualification in the area you wish to work in, how hard is it to break into the industry.

And I am unable to take night classes as I am still in college and won't be able to afford them.

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Original post by Designer2Be once you have the qualification in the area you wish to work in, how hard is it to break into the industry.

Very. So what? Read FAQ 26: http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson26.htm

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Original post by Designer2Be And I am unable to take night classes as I am still in college and won't be able to afford them.

Alright, then do tutorials online. The "Beginners" section of the forums
is a good place to start. Slopers articles are good although quite subjective. :P

Then again, so is all the advice you'll ever get, and I agree that you
should take a shot at it if you really think you'll like it.

The curious thing is that you believe it will be a nice thing to work with
because you like games. But there is, as with many other professions, more to it.

Otherwise, I'd might as well study to become a chef, a limo-driver and an athlete.

Now, I should get my kitchen, drivers licence and certificate or take trips to the stadium. In that way, I can get a feeling what it's all about.

Game development has several kitchens, or one very large one.
I may be missing some things here, but to spark interest in a different field than artwork;

-music and sound effects (this exists all over the entertainment field)
-programming (useful in many other businesses. economy, engineering etc.)
-designing (this may be very technical, and tells how programmers should do stuff on a large scale. )
-game concept (the idea. probably the one you can relate best to.)

It starts with the idea. Now search the forums for a good "first project",
and read the threads leading from a question as yours into a concluding:
1) "Guess a number game with C"
2) "Snake with SDL and C++"
3) "Pac-Man with OpenGL and C++"

And if you don't feel like touching the technical parts of a game,
keep practising your sketching. I drew on paper until I learned basic.
Then I messed around with that because I thought it was fun.

-And because I think programming is fun, I want a career in games development.
Mainly, I would like to be independent. Make small, entertaining games off my own ideas. I'm willing to spend years on my projects.

What I'm saying is, even though your idea of doing something fun and
profitable is good, something fun, now, shouldn't be eating. It should be cooking.

[Edited by - SuperVGA on July 4, 2010 4:34:27 PM]

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Original post by Tom Sloper Quote: Original post by Designer2Be once you have the qualification in the area you wish to work in, how hard is it to break into the industry. Very. So what? Read FAQ 26: http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson26.htm

Good read that is. I sent it to a friend who needs to get off his backside and start working instead of being a bum. I completely agree with everything in there.

Nothing worth having comes easy. I've lived my entire life with the mentality of "If you want something, work hard for it". That's capitalism for you baby. :D

Thanks for the reply SuperVGA. :)

I guess what I would like to do most is the game concept, but I am open to other areas of the game. I'm going to try drawing again, which should be a laugh. :P

The course I will most likely choose is a bachelor's degree in Games Design and Sonic Arts. So that can help for the music and sound effects part, right?

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Original post by Designer2Be Thanks for the reply SuperVGA. :) I guess what I would like to do most is the game concept, but I am open to other areas of the game. I'm going to try drawing again, which should be a laugh. :P The course I will most likely choose is a bachelor's degree in Games Design and Sonic Arts. So that can help for the music and sound effects part, right?

I suppose so. But i would still suggest you to do a small project on your own,
to get a feel of how it works. In that way, you can be sure that you pick a
good course. I had several buddies who changed course mid-way because they
thought there were too much software engineering and things got too abstract.
-Then they went on messing with circuit boards and such.

Not that I think you wouldn't like it. It would just make you confident to know
that "This is what i really want to do", from having a personal interest in the more technical part.

I doubt the course completely circumvents all the difficulties with that,
like Sloper says;

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"Things that are desirable tend to be harder to get than things that are not desirable"

Although I can find some exceptions for this, in general, he's right.
You're in for a suprise if you think it's easy.

So tasting game development before picking course seems like a good idea.

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Original post by Designer2Be The course I will most likely choose is a bachelor's degree in Games Design and Sonic Arts. So that can help for the music and sound effects part, right?

Was never a fan of 'mixed' degrees. If you are going to do audio, then do a really good audio based degree, not one that has it tacked on or has 'game design' tacked on.

Look through the Skillset site, work out what role you want to do. At the moment, you are saying design but also want to do other roles. Once you have decided, then we can help with what course you need to do.

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How easy is it get your first job in the industry?

Did you look at my signature?

To SupverVGA:

I would like to do a small project of my own. Is there any freeware available that I could learn and do some basic programming?

Also, I just remembered about a book I have, "Java in easy steps". Would you recommend this book as a basis to start learning from? Or would it be best to learn C++?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Java-Easy-Steps-Mike-McGrath/dp/1840782595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278333152&sr=1-1

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To yaustar:

The mixed bachelor’s degree is mainly games design, but it has sonic arts along side it. This is the course I was on about: http://brunel.ac.uk/courses/ug/cdata/g/GamesDesignandSonicArtsBA

And I did read the "How I broke into the games industry" link in your sig. :) It's nice to read a story of how someone broke into the industry.

Also, seeing as you are from the UK, what universities would you recommend? I know Abertay Dundee is the best in the UK, but what others ones would you recommend? I’ve only looked at Brunel and Abertay. I saw Hull, Teesside, and Glamorgan university on the skillset website, but any recommendations I will take a look at.

As for an actual job area, I looked at the roles on that website, and narrowed it down to three:

Programmer
http://www.skillset.org/games/careers/profiles/article_4727_1.asp

Designer (Mainly in the concept area).
http://www.skillset.org/games/careers/profiles/article_4724_1.asp

Animator
http://www.skillset.org/games/careers/profiles/article_4731_1.asp

People can't suggest Universities until you have specifically decided what exactly you want to do.

For the sake of argument, I assume you are looking at all three. These are the ones that I have some knowledge of first hand, there very well be better Universities out there:

Programming, Derby or Hull.
Designing, I don't agree with Game Design degrees.
Art (3D modelling and animation), De Montfort.

Well I'd recommend Teesside University for Games related courses, just about everything's covered there; programming, design, animation etc. I'm on the Games Programming course there, just finished second year, and besides a slow start in the first year (to be expected anywhere you go due to varying prior knowledge of students) the content is challenging and actually quite relevant.
We use C++ all the way through the course (except AI which uses LISP), get taught low-level 2D games programming, Direct3D, OpenGL, hand-held games programming, tools programming and more that I can't remember right now.

I'm also living with computer animation/digital media students which include things like website design, low-polygon modelling for games, animation/rigging, 2D animation, etc.

The designers get taught some actual skills as well, such as modelling in 3DS Max, Photoshop skills, and working with various engines (Unreal Engine 3 generally).

Drawing/concept art for the animation/design courses is a staple.

As for employment, the university has loads of links to games companies, as well as having two games companies half an hour away in Newcastle (Eutechnyx and Ubisoft) who snatch talent from the Uni and run competitions with prizes being contracted employment.

Oh... University of the year as well :P

I really don't know whether to do prgoramming, animation or design. :( Any advise on how I could choose would be very much appreciated.

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Original post by Designer2Be I really don't know whether to do prgoramming, animation or design. :( Any advise on how I could choose would be very much appreciated.

VIEW FORUM FAQ.
There's an article in there about how to make a decision.
Did I forget to mention before that this forum has answers to many of this sort of frequently asked question? You can just click "View Forum FAQ" above.

Sorry Sloper. But when you said FAQ I kept thinking you was on about this one here http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/faq.asp.

I did not realise you was on about this one until I saw this one. http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/showfaq.asp?forum_id=101


Sorry about that. I shall take a read through it. Thank you. :)