Goin into Gaming Industry...

Ravi08 · Post by **Ravi08** » Fri May 29, 2009 2:55 pm

Hi, for future reference i was wonderin beacuse most of u ppl work in the gaming industry, i wanted to ask the following: l8er in life i want to be a games programmer and i know that i will need to create a demo of some kind, my question is that would it be best to use engines such as Irrlicht in it or stick to just my code only.

TY

Sylence · Post by **Sylence** » Fri May 29, 2009 4:12 pm

I'm not working in the game industry but I can image that using a library is always better as writing everything from scratch.

When you use a library you show that you know how to use code that other people wrote and that you know you don't have to reinvent the wheel all the time which means you can work more effective than someone who is trying to do everything by themselves.

Ravi08 · Post by **Ravi08** » Fri May 29, 2009 4:22 pm

thanks Sylence, wat u hav said helps. Sorry to go on but wat bout animations and models, for exmaple i hav seen websites where u can get really gd models and animations, would it be better for me to make my own or use others.

Sylence · Post by **Sylence** » Fri May 29, 2009 5:18 pm

I'd say it depends on what you want to do. If you want to be a modeller you HAVE to make your own models (suprise ^^). If you want to be a programmer you can take some random models from websites because the code is what would matter in this situation.

Ravi08 · Post by **Ravi08** » Fri May 29, 2009 5:53 pm

Sylence wrote:

If you want to be a programmer you can take some random models from websites because the code is what would matter in this situation.

I thought so but wanted to ask just in case.

THANKS BY THE WAY

xDan · Post by **xDan** » Fri May 29, 2009 6:40 pm

if you wanted to be specifically a *graphics* programmer, then I guess you wouldn't use Irrlicht as it does a lot of that stuff for you.

But if you're just a general programmer then there's no reason not to use Irrlicht I guess, as long as your own code that makes use of Irrlicht is substantial and well written, designed etc... (e.g. a complete mini game or level or something?). Obviously you couldn't just take an Irrlicht example and modify it a bit...

</doesn't work in games industry either>

JP · Post by JP » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:16 am

I would say a bit of both would be important... You need to show that you can use other people's code and work well with it and you also need to show that you understand how that sort of code works too so writing a version of it yourself is a good idea.

I had a few fairly simple Irrlicht demos in my portfolio and a much more ambitious PS3 game I'd been doing in my spare time whilst in my 'stepping stone into the industry' job at Sony. That game was done in OpenGL, basically, and so all the graphics stuff was done pretty much by myself, using example code from the internet where necessary.

dlangdev · Post by **dlangdev** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 8:25 am

I'd say be prepared to read a lot of programs written by someone else. Unless you plan on joining a startup which is pretty much a clean slate.

The key selling point for you is to be able to understand several APIs and SDKs inside your head and do aaaaawesome stuff with it. Basically from C/C++/DX/OGL to DotNet, RakNet, Bullet, PhysX, Blender, Phyton, including SQL Server.

You can write your own version, but that wouldn't mean they're going to use that, well you'd be lucky if they went your way. Anyway, it would really help if you put them in your portfolio, that way you have proof you have worked on and understand the basic principles.

Well, that's my case. Yours will be different.

Ravi08 · Post by **Ravi08** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 11:44 am

Thanks for all of ur info guys, i will take all of it on board.

Thanks again

Joe_Oliveri · Post by **Joe_Oliveri** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 4:57 pm

Also be sure to write a few small games from start to finish. This will show them you have the dedication needed to complete the project at hand.

buhatkj · Post by **buhatkj** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:31 pm

The most important thing I think is to just write clean and readable code, and if you have to do a programming test for the interview make sure you carefully read the instructions and answer the questions they ask precisely.
Take your time, and cover all the angles on the problems. The fundamentals are imperative. If you wanna code games, you better know C++, and be very comfortable with all the basic ins and outs of it. It also does not hurt to develop a speciality, such as graphics or networking or animation, those kind of specialized skills can make you extra desirable. Also, advanced degrees don't hurt, though they are not a prerequisite.
Thats the best advice I've gathered in my experience working in the games industry so far. Also, you will probably start as an associate, doing somewhat less exciting stuff at first, but if you show a good work ethic, you should get rapidly moved up.

Ravi08 · Post by **Ravi08** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 5:17 pm

buhatkj wrote:The most important thing I think is to just write clean and readable code, and if you have to do a programming test for the interview make sure you carefully read the instructions and answer the questions they ask precisely.
Take your time, and cover all the angles on the problems. The fundamentals are imperative. If you wanna code games, you better know C++, and be very comfortable with all the basic ins and outs of it. It also does not hurt to develop a speciality, such as graphics or networking or animation, those kind of specialized skills can make you extra desirable. Also, advanced degrees don't hurt, though they are not a prerequisite.
Thats the best advice I've gathered in my experience working in the games industry so far. Also, you will probably start as an associate, doing somewhat less exciting stuff at first, but if you show a good work ethic, you should get rapidly moved up.

thanks for ur input, i should be doin a degree in computer science/information technology entertainment systems this year or next, also i thought i would start my career as a games tester then build up to programmer.

Again thanks for all of ur info ppl.

FuzzYspo0N · Post by **FuzzYspo0N** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 5:45 pm

t i would start my career as a games tester then build up to programmer.

doesnt really work that way, lol. Be a good programmer, not a game tester!

Also, checkout http://gameinstitute.com/ for studying remotely (and doing other stuff , like making games

)

Dorth · Post by **Dorth** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 7:23 pm

Errr, actually, a lot of QA use that field as a springboard in the industry. Maybe 20% of QAs at EA go up to another job not related to testing at EAM. I know I did.

Josh1billion · Post by **Josh1billion** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:03 am

buhatkj wrote:Also, advanced degrees don't hurt, though they are not a prerequisite.

That's the exact opposite of what I've heard from nearly everyone. From what I've heard, most people working in HR throw out applications who don't have at least a Bachelor's degree, regardless of experience, simply because it's an easy way to quickly narrow down the vast number of applications they receive.

edit: I took "advanced" to mean post-high school; if you actually meant graduate school, ignore this message.