Hey all, first time posting here and I’ve been using Unity for about two years now. So I’m about to graduate from a community college with a degree in Simulation and Game Development and I feel like I’ve learned a lot in my time here. I also feel that I have a good overall grasp of basic tools but not the finer points of game designing. I know that with hard work and my passion and talent for modeling and animation I can succeed; but my real question is where do I go from here?
Should I go attend a 4 year college somewhere that my credits won’t transfer to?
Should I get a degree in computer science that won’t apply to gaming for job security?
Or should I just keep working hard at my craft and pray I’m picked up by a company?
My main point is, from where I am as an amateur what is my best route into the industry?
Everyone says be a game tester but those jobs are near non-existent in my experience. I’ve been trying to land one for three years. I’m in North Carolina so all that’s really here is Epic games and I haven’t heard many good things about testing there.
Sorry for the book but any help would be greatly appreciated!!
From what I understand studios look for completed projects and especially completed projects that require a team using something like GitHub.
Certs are worthless.
A CS degree helps a lot, but is not absolutely necessary.
But having a media presence, database experience, a personal site, a couple games under your belt, collaboration work, demonstrating that you know different programming patterns…
That’s how you get noticed.
BTW, this is “game design”. This really belongs more in “general”.
There seems to be a mixed bag of skills mentioned there. You’re talking about learning CS (which boils down to programming), but you’ve said that your talent is in “modelling and animation”, but the topic is about being a better designer.
Do you know the difference between those things, and do you know which one(s) you want to focus on?
From what I’ve heard that used to be a great pathway into the industry, particularly for people who want to do design. These days I think Not_Sure has nailed it - if you want to make games, make games and show them off. Get a portfolio together. Complete projects, ideally with teams (game jams are a great way to get this started), and get them released to storefronts.
Note that getting stuff released doesn’t mean they have to be paid apps. For a beginner feedback is far more important than the small amount of cash a first game is likely to generate. Once you’re making stuff that’s competitively good then it’s time to start learning the business side of things if you go that route.
I would also suggest being absolutely clear on what role you’re interested in as a part of a game development team, and constantly investing in your skill as a part of that role. A CS degree might be a great idea if you want to be a programmer*. Similarly, a reputable game art or design course could have great value.
By the way, general programming/software engineering skills are definitely applicable to game development. As I often say, game programming is a specialisation of programming, not a subset.
Indeed. Several years ago, QA was a way into a company and you could prove yourself from there. These days, it really isn’t, as most companies either outsource to companies that specialize in QA, or they are part of a deal with a publisher. It is more rare that QA is directly associated with a studio. And often in the cases where you do have internal QA, they are specialists in that field, not entry level positions.
Since everyone has the tools and the information to make games today, the best way into doing it to just do it. Make games that show off your skills. That is what everyone you are competing against is doing. There is no way around it, no on the job training, and even the most junior jobs are are highly competitive. If you want someone to pay you to make games, you need to show that can make games.
I get interviews based on portfolio, with no formal training at all. So far none of the conversations have gone further then that, I want too much money for an entry level game position. But the jobs are out there.
I agree with the others. I wouldn’t pursue a QA route. These days QA seems to be fairly senior. All of the low level QA work can be done by simply putting the game into early access.
Also plus one for picking a specialisation. You don’t have to stick with it, but looking for a specific role will come across better. You don’t have to stick to your specialisation. Within a year into my first role I had permanantly abandoned the specialisation I had gone for in the interview.
if you really want to get a hold in the gaming industry, you need to decide in which field you want to work
character artist ? enviroment artist ? game designer ? animator ? and so on
big companys are usually looking for very specific fields while very small or indie companys need you to know your way around more than one area
cater your portfolio around the position you are aiming for
having only handpainted characters on your folio won’t land you a job for an enviroment artist position at a studio which specializes in realistic games
also, having some finished group projects under your belt will increase your chances big time (finished games, mods)
make an artstation account and post your stuff, ask for critique on polycount, go to meetups and speak to the people there, write tutorials if you feel comfortable
compare your level of skill to that of your competition. the skill level for even entry level positions these days is crazy.
look at all the stuff on polycount. forget any of the big name studios if you feel you are way behind.
Well, I can not speak for working on a visa in other areas, but I will say that there are LOTS of programming jobs in my area (Northwest Arkansas) and only about 1/3 require a degree.
And even then I’m sure you could get around it if you know/talk to the right people.
Ok, but as I’m in the UK I’d (probably) need a H-1B visa and it’s requirements are “To qualify, you will require a bachelor’s or higher degree (or equivalent) in the specific specialty for which employment authorization is being sought.”
There’s similar restrictions going from USA to other countries, so if working abroad appeals than getting a degree should be on the todo list imho.
For anyone still getting established I wouldn’t put much hope in working abroad, degree or no degree. If the current populist trends in politics continue, we will all be restricted to working in the country we were born into. Immigration restrictions are being tightened up across the world. Games studios in particular seem to have been hit hard.
If you care about that sort of thing, I would strongly suggest getting involved in your local political process.
My country has been systematically destroying higher education for three decades now.
Text books cost upwards of $500. Tuition around $10,000 a semester. Parking (in a country that requires you to drive) costs another $1000 a semester. Then mandatory meal programs that cost around $15 a meal for low quality slop that they make as bad as possible to discourage you from actually eating it.
By the end of 4 years you’re in debt for more than it costs for a house and in return you get a piece of paper and a lick and a promise that you can get a job with that piece of paper. But it’s not like “Debt” debt that you can claim bankruptcy on. Oh, no! This is a special kind of debt that never goes away.
Meanwhile all education is suffering to fund the amateur sports teams that has ridiculous restrictions on receiving any money as an athlete, but the school makes hundreds of millions, while on paper it looks like the program is losing money. And of course there’s wide spread academic fraud for all the athletes, not to mention cover up after cover up of their criminal activities. GO SPORTS!
And living in a college town I know A LOT of people who have ruined their lives going to school.
So it’s no surprise to me at all that a lot of companies don’t care if you never finished college.
You know, just like Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, Sergay Brin, Larry Page, John Carmack, Carla Fiorina, Theodore Waitt, Steve Wozniak, and Steve Jobs…
Yeah, but most of those people didn’t get their success by getting hired, and if you’re looking at getting a degree then getting hired is generally the goal.
Also, many of those people are tech entrepreneurs, and success as an entrepreneur doesn’t necessarily correlate with technical skill, which is what people hiring into technical roles are typically looking for. When you’re hiring you generally want to fill the role with someone who’ll focus on technical tasks and complete them reliably to a high level of quality, rather than someone who’ll get bored with that, leave and start their own business…
As a general rule innovators across most industries don’t get hired. Or if they do, its for a brief stint before they go out and start changing the world. If you want to do that then that’s fine. But they aren’t really solid examples for someone wanting a more normal career.
College life is different now. You should go to a community college where your semester costs $1500 and get all the general requirements done. They spend two years max at a University, a state university where a semester costs between 3k and 5k, and if possible live off campus or at home with parents.
Then you get out with maybe 20k in debt instead of 100k and you have a bachelors degree rather than some AS from a for profit tech school.
Unfortunately, the minds of the young have not yet caught up with reality. My daughters have big dreams at private schools while living on campus. I have to temper that with some realism. Do well at the community college and get scholarships to pay for a lot of your tuition. My son did and was offered all sorts of scholarships. Of course, he decided to live at home and go to a state school and limit his debt.
Once you have that degree, then you can go wherever you want as long as their are jobs available. I have met to many post college grads who don’t want to leave their small town and then end up working retail with a degree in engineering. lol
You should be able to get a job in Software Development industry. This will give you some idea about practical SDLC which also applies to games software development. Continuing your education is always good and writing indie games in your own time will help a lot in building great portfolio.
