What does it take?

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	Author	Topic: What does it take? (Read 764 times)

ben the random guy

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What does it take?

« on: January 20, 2008, 07:35:15 PM »

to become a video game programmer or to be involeved in stuff like that
im a junior in high school and video games is something that intrests me
but i have no idea what i should do
so what courses are good
and what college courses would help

and i think i have some good ideas if i could make games likea zombie mmo? haha its genius isnt it


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ha dirkha shirka shirka muhammed jihad

PanzerBoxb

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2008, 10:22:38 AM »

Ben, there are several colleges that are now offering game development oriented programs. Taking coding and math classes would be a big step in building up towards such a goal.


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RangerMoose

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2008, 08:27:41 PM »

I always here that it's a good idea to get involved with a mod or similar project to get your foot in the door.


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Iron Brain

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2008, 11:29:32 PM »

First you have to decide what it is in video games that you want to do. Working in video games now days is like working in movies. Just because you are used for movies in Hollywood doesnt mean you are an actor. You could be a private consutlant or set director or a props guy or a makeup expert ect ect. There are some good books you can find about getting into the game biz. Look on Amazon, should be a good selection there.


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UnderTaker

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2008, 02:36:42 AM »

Have a look here http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/sv_home.php. They have a massive amount of info and there are some free online classes that you can check out as well.

Just keep in mind that working in this business is not like just playing the coolest games out there, it takes a lot of Hard work and determination.


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KorJax

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2008, 08:49:45 AM »

I highly recommend you visit http://www.gamecareerguide.com and http://tinysubversions.blogspot.com/2005/10/effective-networking-in-games-industry.html

If programming is what you want to do, get math classes and try to take any IT related stuff for high school Wink

A computer science degree is also great as well as it teaches you ALOT about the ins and outs of programming and will make your job alot easier if you are up to the challenge. In-general most game dev companies don't care WHAT degree you have as long as you have one, as it shows you can complete long-term goals (although it helps if the degree applies to what you want to do in the games industry, i.e. a computer science degree for being a game programmer).

What is most important to game devs is simply your portfolio. So it's very important to boost you game dev knowledge by working on indie game designs, modding teams, etc.. etc....

They will hire you based on 3 things... your portfolio/experience, if you have a degree, and even what people you know on the inside.


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TheEnigma

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2008, 04:44:58 PM »

Ben I'm not sure what kind of programming experience you have had if any. It might be worth picking up vb to get the ball rolling so you can understand the fundamentals of programming. If you've got experience disregard Grin


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death_grin

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #7 on: September 08, 2008, 02:25:59 AM »

Quote from: Iron Brain on January 22, 2008, 11:29:32 PM

Ohhh man that reminds me of those terrible "game school" commericals (I think one is for phoenix online and one for IT tech.) Always saying things like "Wouldn't it be fun to play games for a living?" It irritates the heck out of me.

@Ben...
Your right about mods being a good way to get your foot in the door. One thing I might suggest is look at some games you like and think of some simple mini mods that you could make for them. IN particular if they use "simple" scripting languages or coding like LUA or python. You can start with a code base and modify it from there. Research the language at the same time. This would help you gain a practical knowledge of the language as well. But I'm not a coder so its just my thoughts


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ToeBall

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Re: What does it take?

« Reply #8 on: September 08, 2008, 02:05:14 PM »

Calculus 3 is a must, physics, obviously object oriented programming and theory of computation is very usefull also. Learn a solid basic programming language like C++. I highly recommend a book like Deitel & Associates' C++ How to Program, not because it's a particularly good C++ book, but because it covers quite a bit of computer theory which is essential knowledge for programming. Once you learn that you can pick up new languages in a few days to a month. As an added bonus you'll be a software engineer rather than just a programmer. Pay particular attention to dynamic memory management, pointers, and function efficiency (big O). There's also a begginer's section on GameDev.net that might be usefull, can't say for sure. Finally, once you get comfortable with C++ or whatever language you decide to go with, join a mod team. I've gotten alot better as a programmer since joining MWLL, of course it helps that I've had really talented people on the team to push and challenge me constantly.


« Last Edit: September 08, 2008, 02:07:35 PM by ToeBall »	Logged

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