What Does It Really Take…?
by Eric Marlow
I have always been interested in responding to questions from those of you who read my column. I received an email recently from a reader wanting to know more about getting into game development, and what he needed to do to demonstrate his capabilities. I was encouraged by this email in that one of the first things you can do to start your game career is to take it upon yourself to ask the question “what does it really take to get me in the door of a game development company”.
By asking this question, you set yourself down the road of discovery. But obviously asking the question is just the first step. Any further steps along this road will require an extreme amount of passion and perseverance. While it’s true for any career, it’s exceedingly true for game development - you must demonstrate your value by doing more than just attending courses and expecting a job to be handed to you. It just doesn’t work that way in the real world.
The real world is full of hustle, research, passion, knowledge, and maturity. Without these qualities you won’t get very far.
So in practical terms, what does this mean if you are considering a career in game development? Partly it depends on where you are in your career right now. If you are in high school or just starting college, the biggest thing you can do is to seek out courses that will provide you with the raw knowledge of the tools and techniques of game development. Artists can take multimedia, animation and/or CG courses. Programmers can take programming languages such as C++, C#, and possibly Java. As you move forward in your college curriculum, look for courses that allow you to put all the pieces together, such as game development or game design. Finishing off your college years can be topped off by offering a thesis on a game development-related subject.
If you are a career shifter and want to consider game development now, the process is not so straight-forward. While much credit can be given to those who have already started to establish a solid career in a similar but related field (business programming, architecture, or possibly television/films) you will have to do some work on your own – either look for university courses in game development or do a lot of self-study by joining internet game development groups, or even possibly the local chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IDGA) at www.idga.org.
But the biggest thing that anyone can do is to develop a portfolio. There is no greater demonstration of capabilities and your willingness to overcome what you may not have had the opportunity to learn in school or on another job. This is your one big chance to show off your stuff. If you are an artist, try to come up with a reel that shows off your best talent. Be it animation, 3D models, or even 2D texturing, all are appropriate for a demo reel. Concentrate on your strengths – not everyone can be an animator. Show what went into the creation process as part of your reel – any concept drawings, and pay particular attention to how many polygons are included in the model. Show any unwrapped textures as well, as well as the UV maps too.
If you are a programmer, then build your demo game. I would suggest using a free game engine and start from there, but if you are feeling particularly sporty you can build your renderer from the ground up. Don’t worry too much about “programmer art”. If you have a helpful artist friend, then bonus! But most savvy companies can look past the lack of artistic content to the gist of gameplay and code.
And if you fancy yourself to be a game designer, then go out and BUILD SOME LEVELS! There are a number of ways to show off your design talent, but there is no better way than to have something interactive to show off during your job interviews. Last month’s insider talked a lot about game design, so pick up a copy of the previous issue and get to it!
I can’t stress strongly enough that it will be unlikely that you would be considered for a position in a game company without some level of investment on your part. Investing in yourself is certainly the best investment you can make, so go forth and demonstrate!
Eric Marlow is President and Studio Head for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!
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