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Game development?? (Read 483 times)

Started by unbeknowNst, June 04, 2011, 12:37:23 am
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unbeknowNst

Game development??
#1  June 04, 2011, 12:37:23 am
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Hi, I know this isn;t the right place to ask, and I know it isn't the best option for answers either, but I do have faith in some of the members here who could possibly provide some good tips

Have you guys ever thought of joining CAPCOM, SNK, ArcSys, or anything of the sort? what would you do if you could actually join?

I would love to join Capcom one day and probably make some REMAKE of their classic titles... since my childhood was based on most of those games

just curious, what would you guys do?

I also have another question... is it hard to actually break into game development positions in those places like Capcom?

Helios.

Re: Game development??
#2  June 04, 2011, 12:45:06 am
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In all honesty I'd try to avoid working for a larger company like those mentioned; their staff tends to get screwed over on a frequent basis.  Still, it's up to you.

Joining a small initiative with a few talented people tends to be the best way to get something going, and with this you can also add some years of game development experience to your resume.  From there, with more understanding of what you've gotten yourself in to, you can move on to the giants of the industry.  Bigger companies look at experience first.

unbeknowNst

Re: Game development??
#3  June 04, 2011, 01:22:58 am
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I agree.

But I'd probably need to think of some new innovating games or some new form of development.... and get those works well known by the high hats and have them look at my stuff and have it as a resume.

we all have to start somewhere ... but damn, given if I had all the proper skills, training, experience and knowledge, I would totally be down to just jump straight to the project

Helios.

Re: Game development??
#4  June 04, 2011, 01:39:25 am
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Then we are in agreement.  I suggest picking something to focus on early on.

If you want to code start looking into C++ or C# courses.  With C++ being the current standard in terms of code, and C# being the language of tomorrow.  Start with simple text based games that teach you variables, then move on to functions, arrays, and classes.  Move on to learning some OpenGL and DirectX code.

If you want to go in to graphics get to grips with Photoshop for 2D, or some of the Autodesk software solutions for 3D.  Getting a fine arts degree looks great on a resume, albeit it is an awful lot of work.  Studying the human anatomy is also a very good idea if you want to work on characters.  Read a lot of animation books.

If you want to go in to sound I can't help you a whole lot.  I have very little experience in that field.

Bea

Re: Game development??
#5  June 04, 2011, 01:47:18 am
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If you want to work at the game industry and still have a life, go indie.
Otherwise, sell your soul to those companies and embrace the life of working 16 hours a day, 7 days per week with no overtime payments and a below standard wage.
To quote Lt. Frank Drebin: "Cheer up, Ed. This is not goodbye. It's just I won't ever see you again."

All your MFG bandwidth is belong to me.

S.D.

Re: Game development??
#6  June 04, 2011, 03:01:10 am
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You need proper credentials, a decent portfolio, and actual experience. So uh, honestly? I doubt you have a chance.

A good education and an actual video game career like VPG or GDA help a lot.
So, essentially...If you think you're creative just because you like videogames... well, you're probably (90-95%) wrong. Take an actual game design and gameplay class, then you'll realize that there's lots of technical issues involved in game design and that you have to take out shit, you have to find a balance between features, overall cost and time (So your idea of a massive multiplayer game with branching paths isn't doable). Start with analogous board games. Actual art studies like color theory, fundamentals of observational drawing, anatomy, survey of the game industry, etc. You should be aware of the industry trends, again, you need actual studies.

Helios.

Re: Game development??
#7  June 04, 2011, 05:20:47 am
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While you can ignore most of the overly critical reply to your fairly innocent question...  I do, however, agree that education is key.

Beatrice said, June 04, 2011, 01:47:18 am
If you want to work at the game industry and still have a life, go indie.
With proper time management, and with a good planner as a head of development, you can still have a day job and some semblance of a life.  No need to be strictly indie.

Of course if you want to go indie, there are quite a few indie-friendly engines floating about.  Examples include Unity3D, XNA, or even a graphical API like Ogre to speed things along.  Also remember, as tempting as it is to fly solo in terms of development, it's still strongly recommended to work in a small team in any game related project.  Learning to work in a team with roles is useful in the gaming industry as well, even if you want to go indie.

Everything should be done in the hopes of making your resume look better for your final goal in terms of workplace.  Plan well in advance.

XGargoyle

Re: Game development??
#8  June 04, 2011, 12:59:56 pm
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I also had the "amazing idea" of working in the game industry. As time passed and I became wiser, I decided to abandon this dream and go for a different career path, but most of my former classmates are working for some big videogame companies in my country.

As others said, you will need studies, university ones. Just because you're good and have made a seminar or course on Photoshop doesn't get you a job in the industry.

Earn a university diploma, and then do a postgraduate/master course in a videogame related field. Afterwards, you should be lucky to get an entry job/internship in a small studio, so you could earn experience (not salary). If you're good, your will develop a career and, even more important, a network of contacts that will get you a job in a better place. The videogame industry is based on networking people, if you are friends with a big guy in a big company, you may be sure they will call you. Without contacts, it's almost impossible to set a foot in Capcom or any other big studio.

A different way to get in the industry is going Indie, as Bea mentioned. This won't require you to get as much diplomas or studies as the other one, but it relies entirely on 1) skills and 2) luck.

If you have the "magic wandf" and create with your friends the next "angry birds" or the next "indie facebook application" and become famous immediately, you can be sure the big companies will call you to buy the rights and code of your application, get exclusivity of it, and if you're lucky they may think about contracting you. Again, as I said, you need skills and luck, and it's certainly a gamble, don't rely on this way to set your foot on Capcom.

And by the way, if you work for a big studio, say goodbye to your social life. Whenever a release date for the goldmaster is near, you can be sure to spend the last couple of months living entirely on the studio, sleeping under your desk/cubicle and working about 20 hours/day. And don't dream about earning a big salary. CEOs and managers will earn it, you won't.

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Bea

Re: Game development??
#9  June 04, 2011, 02:09:22 pm
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http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-25-average-game-dev-will-earn-GBP32k-in-2011
http://www.mcvuk.com/features/626/UK-Games-Industry-Salary-Survey-2010

Compare the average wages for development position with the average wages from software engineer for UK:
http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/jobs/uk/software%20engineer.do

Game dev industry: £31,964
Normal industry: £37,500

Those are UK figures, but they already show a lot.

A lead programmer in the game industry makes roughly more than the average wages for a software engineer.
And those get 9-5 days, with paid vacations and overtime when overtime is really needed.
The lower jobs of game biz are underpaid.

Situation in the US is similar, if not worse for the game industry end.

I will refuse to incentive new blood to get into the game industry until they fix that situation.
As it is now, they see those young people are resources they can easily burn out, discard and replace.


Mr. H said, June 04, 2011, 05:20:47 am
Beatrice said, June 04, 2011, 01:47:18 am
If you want to work at the game industry and still have a life, go indie.
With proper time management, and with a good planner as a head of development, you can still have a day job and some semblance of a life.  No need to be strictly indie.
I can see that happening on a studio like Valve. I can't see it happening at Capcom, EA, Activision or other big studios, or the studios they hire to develop their games.


To quote Lt. Frank Drebin: "Cheer up, Ed. This is not goodbye. It's just I won't ever see you again."

All your MFG bandwidth is belong to me.

kakkoii superhero

Re: Game development??
#10  June 05, 2011, 04:47:00 pm
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I limit myself as character concept designer... freelance so far, but I guess it is a less harsh road to contribute in a game-world.

Bastard Mami

Re: Game development??
#11  June 05, 2011, 07:21:49 pm
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Mr. H said, June 04, 2011, 05:20:47 am
With proper time management, and with a good planner as a head of development, you can still have a day job and some semblance of a life.  No need to be strictly indie.

the problem is that most game development staff is very incompetent, starting with the planners who are usually just game designers not people who know how to plan out projects then game programmers are also very crappy as the culture makes a good amount of them just hack with no real project oriented development skills, just imagine that a regular real world app (bank app, store app)had as many bugs as your average games, you would be aable to trasnfer enough money to never work again to your bank account of get out of store without paying for stuff.
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