10 Things You Can Do To Get A Job In The Game Industry

Chris Hecker is a wise man. Just in case anyone is interested. :) What do you guys think? Sound good?

Since I'm doing a games course and I'll (with any luck) be working in the industry in the next few months I thought I'd look through that and see how it compares to what we're told.

1. Attend a conference.
- They're expensive and sometimes industry only.

2. Join the IGDA.
- A good idea if you can afford it (I'm a student and it seems silly considering I have no guaranteed job yet)

3. Read the news on Gamasutra.com every day.
- I get the e-mails everyday and to be honest it's uaully game politics crap.

4. Read job ads.
- Definately a good idea, I always keep some lying around, its good for motivation and drilling in those job requirements.

5. Talk to developers.
- Depends what you mean by talk really, what are you going to talk about?

6. Wise up about your future paycheck.
- Everyone seems to moan about this one, they must be doctors or lawyers or something but its not as bad as everyone says. It's getting better every year, but at the same time the jobs are becoming more specialised and skilled.

7. Play games outside your preferences.
- This really depends on what type of 'developer' you're aiming for. If you're an artist or a designer sure, but if you're a programmer, don't force yourself into doing that stuff so much, all you're really looking for is new things.

8. Write, publish, speak.
- What? Write what? Publish what? If you aren't in the games industry who's going to let you write about the industry? Surely that's for after you've been there a decade or so.

9. Sketch something.
- Sure if you're an artist.

10. Read a game-related book.
- Read a game development book instead. Recommendations for programmers:
Absolute C++ by Walter Savitch http://www.amazon.co.uk/Absolute-C%2B%2B-3...02290582&sr=8-1

Introduction to DirectX Programming
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction-Progr...02290710&sr=1-3

... and if you're really hardcore, you might want some of these:
something from the GPU Gems series:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GPU-Gems-Programmi...02290760&sr=1-2

something from the Games Programming Gems series:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Programming-G...02290795&sr=1-2

... for the engine programmers, this should be a bible:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Engine-Design...02290811&sr=1-1

for physics programmers, here's yours:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Physics-Morgan-Kau...02290811&sr=1-2

and heres the most important book for anyone wanting to program in games:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fundamentals-Math-...02290872&sr=1-2
There _will_ be maths tests.

Designers:
A Theory of Fun by Raph Koster
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Fun-Game-De...02290617&sr=1-1

I have no idea what artists should do, but I can ask around if anyones really interested.

On a final note the guy in the article's right. Make games. But don't be half arsed about it, finish it and polish the shit out of it before you move onto the next. Finishing projects its a really important skill.

try craigslist

1 - No they aren't. Fancy pants ones, yes... but there are smaller events (such as the Game Design Expo) which is about $40 for the day.

2 - They have a damn facebook group.

3 - Politics 'crap' is what gets you a job. The more you know about what goes on in the Industry, the better off you will be.

5 - About games. Are you kidding? About their experiences making them, and their advice. It is ESSENTIAL to start out. It helps if you go to a game school with teachers who are STILL developing games or at least have at one point.

6 - 'Wise up' simple means know where your skill set lies. Family Doctors and Brain Surgeons are a bit different in terms of pay while still in the same field.

7 - Knowledge is power. Play everything, but enjoy the games you like.

8 - Anything. Start a blog, local newspaper, anything. It isn't to become 'famous' it is to show to potential employers (no matter how small the article or where it is) that you can communicate. Super important.

9 - No, not if you are an artist. Designers need to be able to clarify their ideas with simple sketches most often. To try and touch art allows you to understand the artists point of view, which allows for better communication with them. This is important.

10 - Your books for programmers are good suggestions, but other books help you understand WHAT you are trying to make. Programmers with no understanding of design or art might as well go work for a boring software company in a cubicle.


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Your 'games' course, is a programming course I take it? Which school, if you don't mind me asking?

What got me a job in the Industry is a game design course which makes you complete a game in 3 months to show you can do it. That game got me a job. If your course doesn't do this... it might be much harder. Look into the Modding community (Unreal, Source, etc.) to try and show you can work within an editor's confines and produce results.

You are of course, correct, I need to stop reading threads before I've had my coffee. You were correct in assuming I it's a programming degree. Since this morning I...
- Joined the facebook group :P
- Actually tried to read gamasutra (gamecareerguide.com seems more relevant though)
- Added to my devblog

We don't really get events like that in the UK, the ones I've been to were just student related, like the XNA launch. I wish we did have a few more like that, I think we're all heading off to game grad events in the next few months. I have made an Unreal 2 mod, a total conversion, I wasn't much of a fan of it though, probably because of other commitments (we had to write a renderer and a few other things along side). I guess those books were pretty narrow, but it's just what I'm used to :/ Everything we do now is orienting us to programming games. We're doing DirectX scenegraph stuff in one module, a team based industry 'sim' using Gamebryo in another, MIPS assembly on PSP devkits in another, and J2ME multithreaded stuff in the final one. I do hope they're taking us in the right direction, and they are all very recent ex games industry.

Which course did you do? There's some pretty good ones out in the US.