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So: after freelancing and sort of bouncing around for the better part of eight months, I'm starting a new job next Monday as a writer at a loving fabulous studio here in Seattle.  aaaaaaah Doesn't matter how many credits I get or how many years I spend in this industry--every moment like this one feels like the first time. VIDEO GAMEZ
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Jul 3, 2012 18:26
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Congrats! May the cry of a Developer always run true and clear! BIDEOGAMEZ
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Jul 3, 2012 18:54
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Unrelatedly - to anyone in this thread still not networking, yet another example of its importance: I saw http://www.blazejam.com/ in a tweet from someone, and decided hey, I want to get involved. The press hadn't been very well managed, as the person running it hadn't really done a jam before, so I stepped in to help. I offered to handle that side of things, and another indie with some experience stepped into handle sponsorships and a few other things. All and all, now it's shaping up better, and we've got a quickly growing list of attendees. Hopefully I'll wrangle some proper press this week, we'll get some solid donations, and we'll help out with the wildfires. Yay! ... in the process, it turns out that one of the involved dudes who I'd never met before has a solid studio that's been around for years, and oh hey, they were looking for Unity contractors, and they basically always are. They wanted in-state people, but could never find them. So now I've probably got enough work lined up to keep me in the green for quite some time. In short: seriously, network. Donate your time. See what happens. You'll have some fun, improve the dev community, and probably stumble over some serious opportunities while you're at it. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Jul 4, 2012 |
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Jul 3, 2012 19:03
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Edit: NM
JerleMinara fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Jul 3, 2012 |
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Jul 3, 2012 21:03
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Shalinor posted:In short: seriously, network. Donate your time. See what happens. You'll have some fun, improve the dev community, and probably stumble over some serious opportunities while you're at it. Absolutely. I have yet to land a gig that wasn't brokered, even in very small part, by a preexisting relationship. One thing I'd emphasize is that networking, particularly in this industry, goes waaaaaaay beyond just hurling business cards at people at the GDC NETWORKIN' PAVILION. It's about making real, lasting friendships, pretty much. Not friends that you can ask for help to find work, but friends that'll push you at opportunities without being asked to at all.
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Jul 3, 2012 23:05
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Shalinor posted:In short: seriously, network. Donate your time. See what happens. You'll have some fun, improve the dev community, and probably stumble over some serious opportunities while you're at it. Networking is without a doubt the most important thing you can do in this industry. It's why I had a job offer 4 hours after being laid off for significantly more money. Go to conferences, spruce up your LinkedIn, and just be friendly without being a pain in the rear end.
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Jul 3, 2012 23:19
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Comrade Flynn posted:Networking is without a doubt the most important thing you can do in this industry. It's why I had a job offer 4 hours after being laid My monitor broke that here and I thought "drat." But yeah meet everyone and be a cool person. Network network network.
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Jul 3, 2012 23:31
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Shalinor posted:Unrelatedly - to anyone in this thread still not networking, yet another example of its importance: Permission to say Nice! Somebody fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Jul 4, 2012 |
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Jul 3, 2012 23:40
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So I'm looking at applying to a studio here in SoCal that's seeking an Associate Software Engineer that'd be working on their back end and server code. Pretty standard listing requiring a 4 year degree or equivalent and strong coding/fundamentals. Plusses are C++ knowledge, interest in their game, that sort of thing. I've never worked in the industry before, but I've been heavily involved in the genre as a consumer in a number of programming, scripting, and other capacities for about 12 years now. All of that's at a hobbyist sort of level, but I'm pretty sure I meet their needs as far as having a strong programming background and good code fundamentals. The only thing that's got me a bit gunshy is my lack of a degree; as I said above I'm experienced but I've only got a few years of college under my belt and no Bachelor's. The other potential sticking point is that a lot of my work has been in higher level languages like Flex, C#, Java and well.. I never learned all those gee whiz CompSci algorithmic tricks and optimizations and stuff. I was wondering if anyone might have advice on good ways to downplay my degreelessness while emphasizing my experience writing good, clean code? I'm just wondering how I'll get past all the recently graduated CompSci majors and such.
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Jul 4, 2012 00:03
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Have you written any software? Showing what you can do is the best way to dOwnplay what you haven't done. Also on the networking thing - its important to stress IMHO that half of networking is being awesome and productive and accomplished - if you want a producer somewhere to send you a steam message telling you to apply to their sweet-rear end game, you should have done a lot of work and design to impress them. Also, having an opinion is fine- don't be the yes-man agreeing to everything. I was arguing something a few months back with mega shark before he got me an in 
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Jul 4, 2012 00:09
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Fishbus posted:Permission to say Nice! Also, the website's updated, so please nobody go linking to that old janky piece of jankiness. New hotness: http://www.blazejam.com/
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Jul 4, 2012 00:18
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Sigma-X posted:Have you written any software? Showing what you can do is the best way to dOwnplay what you haven't done. I've been responsible for architecting and implementing a Flex-based front end for a client, in addition to the usual smattering of minor personal projects, a credit on an open source project, scriptlets for friends, that sort of thing. I'm mostly just wondering if there's any advice as far as putting together a strong application for an Associate Programmer position. I'm confident about my qualifications, but I'm ultimately more than a touch nervous as it's an industry I'm not familiar with working with a language I'm not an expert in with responsibilities that are effectively my dream job. :P On a separate note, on the topic of networking, is the Tustin get together a weekly thing and just sort of a "show up and introduce yourself if you're new" or..?
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Jul 4, 2012 02:02
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One month till I start my first games job 
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Jul 4, 2012 06:25
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A lot of people getting jobs. I just accepted a job offer myself. Start in two weeks.
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Jul 4, 2012 06:29
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I've learned that summertime = busy time at a lot of studios, thus more jobs (and interns). Congrats and good luck to all
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Jul 4, 2012 13:43
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Summer is primetime for internships because of students, too. Though I'm sure the push for the fall release rush into Christmas probably means a lot of summer crunch.
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Jul 4, 2012 20:50
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If I want to get into the field of Game Design; what degree should I be looking into? The OP just seems to be saying to stay away from tradeschools; but I'm completely and hopelessly lost in the woods when it comes to how to actually start on the path of becoming a game designer. I have my military TA I can be spending while I'm in, and I'd like to abuse it as much as possible before I get out.
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Jul 4, 2012 21:28
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TalonDemonKing posted:If I want to get into the field of Game Design; what degree should I be looking into? The OP just seems to be saying to stay away from tradeschools; but I'm completely and hopelessly lost in the woods when it comes to how to actually start on the path of becoming a game designer. I have my military TA I can be spending while I'm in, and I'd like to abuse it as much as possible before I get out. Most designers I know have programming degrees, but I've met tons who have degrees in all sorts of unrelated things like materials engineering or even no degree at all. There's no real reflect designer degree that I know of. Math or programming will make your life a lot easier but they don't exactly touch on the creative aspects of the job. In my opinion, your hobbies and side projects matter a bit more for a designer. Make mods, flash games, or anything you can think of, and make them awesome.
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Jul 4, 2012 21:38
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TalonDemonKing posted:If I want to get into the field of Game Design; what degree should I be looking into? The OP just seems to be saying to stay away from tradeschools; but I'm completely and hopelessly lost in the woods when it comes to how to actually start on the path of becoming a game designer. I have my military TA I can be spending while I'm in, and I'd like to abuse it as much as possible before I get out. What is stopping you from making a game now?
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Jul 4, 2012 23:17
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Yeah, I don't get it. There's nothing from stopping you literally going out there and making stuff like levels and games. That's what will do it for you. Unless you like sitting at the back and being the idea guy and even then that's not even fun. Get your hands dirty.
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Jul 4, 2012 23:34
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Fishbus posted:Yeah, I don't get it. There's nothing from stopping you literally going out there and making stuff like levels and games. That's what will do it for you. Unless you like sitting at the back and being the idea guy and even then that's not even fun. Get your hands dirty. If you absolutely must have your hand held through this, and the benefits cover the cost, you still shouldn't be going to a "design" program. Go to Digipen, and do their 4 year CS program. You'll pop out the other end having been forced to make a kickass portfolio. Realize they don't mess around, though, and that you'll be looking at some very, very long hours.
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Jul 4, 2012 23:37
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Lack of knowledge and skill, really. I know that, as of right now, anything I make wouldn't be up to par with how I want it. So I just type stuff up and I'm sitting around 50mb of text files with just stuff laid out, rather than putting things together. I honestly have no idea what people are looking for when hiring; Are degrees really less important than actual, created stuff? Can I pick up say, something I modded in a different game(Skyrim, Starcraft/Warcraft editors) and then add that to a portfolio? Does that look better or worse than homebrewed stuff? Does it have to be digital, or does tabletop stuff still look good? I'll look into Digipen, thank you. TalonDemonKing fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Jul 5, 2012 |
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Jul 5, 2012 00:01
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TalonDemonKing posted:Are degrees really less important than actual, created stuff? TalonDemonKing posted:Can I pick up say, something I modded in a different game(Skyrim, Starcraft/Warcraft editors) and then add that to a portfolio? TalonDemonKing posted:Does that look better or worse than homebrewed stuff?  Better answer: Something that was created completely from scratch and is polished and high-quality will always be more impressive than a mod or standalone level, because, obviously, it took a lot more work to make than something produced using existing code, content, and tools. An actual "do X or do Y" decision is based on a lot of things though (personal skills, time available, and what's most rewarding to you), and you won't get a definitive answer here.TalonDemonKing posted:Does it have to be digital, or does tabletop stuff still look good?
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Jul 5, 2012 00:50
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TalonDemonKing posted:anything I make wouldn't be up to par with how I want it. You think this changes? No. This is true of every creative person on every creative project ever.
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Jul 5, 2012 12:59
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Star Warrior X posted:You think this changes? No. This is true of every creative person on every creative project ever. If you are ever totally 100% happy with something you made, you are probably doing it wrong.
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Jul 5, 2012 13:33
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TalonDemonKing posted:Are degrees really less important than actual, created stuff? Out of our MP designers, I'm one of two that went to college. Our lead MP designer dropped out. Its all about your portfolio, the degree is just to show that you don't gently caress around and can commit to something long term.
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Jul 5, 2012 16:41
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Irish Taxi Driver posted:Its all about your portfolio, the degree is just to show that you don't gently caress around and can commit to something long term. Granted, once you've got experience or friends and can cut around HR with connections, you'll be fine. Just realize there is a wall (relatively) slowly going up that can make it harder for entry-levels without degrees - or, so I am hearing. EDIT: That said, this may reverse. The wall was going up mostly because it could - tons of huge head-count projects driving increasingly more graduates of schools gave them a surplus of degree-owning folks. As the AAA market recedes and we're left with more smaller projects, each looking more for cheap and promising Jr labor than they are experienced Sr labor... things might really back off degrees and go back to portfolios again. Huh. Anyone want to weigh in on that? I'm certainly not looking for anything but portfolios in who I hire for contracting work, in any case. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Jul 5, 2012 |
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Jul 5, 2012 16:58
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For me I'd say: Level Designer - Make a lot of levels in a lot of different level design editors and do lots of paper level design to fuel the imagination. Game Designer - I personally wrote a lot of game design and concept documents and those saw me into my job. I worked on a HL2 mod for uni but only did a tiny bit of the coding. Creating a game in Unity or another fairly simple editor is always a good way to have something to show off. I do think these are fairly different positions though, as a Game Designer, my day to day activities are very different to my friends who are Level/Content Designers.
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Jul 5, 2012 17:06
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TalonDemonKing posted:Are degrees really less important than actual, created stuff? [...] I'll look into Digipen, thank you. No more grace period on student-loan interest; grad students to pay interest while in school, undergrads lose 6-month grace period "Student loans are the next debt bomb. Most college graduates will not earn enough to pay off their loans. Indentured servitude is back." —Nolan Bushnell, cofounder of Atari and CTO at Speed To Learn
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Jul 5, 2012 22:45
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Yea. Also I wouldn't be surprised to see schools default if it gets really bad. Too expensive, making it too difficult on students to take or keeps loans, less students able to afford college, universities spending money like crazy on construction projects, etc. It's just a big loving disaster and its just a matter of when - not if. xgalaxy fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Jul 5, 2012 |
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Jul 5, 2012 23:04
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Adraeus posted:If you can't get a degree without loans, don't get a degree. loving hear hear. University in the past few years here in the UK has gone from completely and totally free not a long time ago to £1k a year when I first started, then £3k a year, now it's £9k a year. We British are hurtling headlong towards the American student debt situation and it's entirely on purpose. Worse that there's isn't much of an industry left over here post-2007 and I'm finding ever harder to recommend the route I took. Fishbus posted:May the cry of a Developer always run true and clear! BIDEOGAMEZ BIDEOGAEMZ!!! needs seeding and spreading around more. GeeCee fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Jul 5, 2012 |
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Jul 5, 2012 23:44
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Adraeus posted:If you can't get a degree without loans, don't get a degree. Using loans to obtain a degree was the worst financial decision that I've ever made. The student loan situation is only worsening in the United States. Unemployment is also significantly higher for those with less education so... http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/12/01/143016866/unemployment-falls-to-8-6-percent
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Jul 6, 2012 05:01
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Another thing to keep in mind is if you want to move countries and need to get a visa, a degree can matter even after many years of experience.
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Jul 6, 2012 17:28
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Having a degree also warrants a certain amount of lateral movement. None of us can say with confidence that we wont get fired in the next 5 years, and getting another job in the industry is even foggier. Degrees may not matter as much to our industry, but to others, it's kind of a minimum requirement nowadays, like how high school diplomas used to be.
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Jul 6, 2012 17:53
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Gone to the gym every day this week: CHECK Diet in effect all week: CHECK Above progress utterly destroyed by July Birthdays cakes and ice cream: CHECK
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Jul 7, 2012 00:54
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waffledoodle posted:Gone to the gym every day this week: CHECK Check plus for those first two. I've lost like 50 pounds since August. About to be sub-200 for the first time since I was 19 or so. Hooray motivation! Irish Taxi Driver fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Jul 7, 2012 |
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Jul 7, 2012 00:58
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waffledoodle posted:Gone to the gym every day this week: CHECK But see, I jogged 0.6 miles this morning and walked another 0.7, so it's ok  (http://www.blazejam.com is about to begin - WOO)
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Jul 7, 2012 01:00
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There should be a "game developers get healthy and not fat" motivation help thing, Each crunch I think my baseline fatness increases.
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Jul 7, 2012 05:51
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Our studio has a bunch of push-up-clubs and just setup a Fitocracy thing. Also, I spent so much time this week writing a Powerpoint, it's the worst.
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Jul 7, 2012 06:39
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EgonSpengler posted:Another thing to keep in mind is if you want to move countries and need to get a visa, a degree can matter even after many years of experience. If I didn't have a degree I wouldn't have a job right now.
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