How experienced must you be to land a game programming job?

GameDev.net · 1999-10-27T18:05:00

Could someone tell me how good/experienced a programmer has to be in order to get a programming job at a game company? I just graduated from college with a CS degree. I have no professional experience in programming. I have created two demo games. They are both fully playable but they don't have title screens, high scores, etc. One is a 2D souped up Space Invaders clone, and the other is a 3D space shooter like a stripped-down homemade Starfox 64 for the N64.I made these games so that I could have something to include with my resume. Will they help or am I wasting my time because of my lack of experience??Please give me some advice.

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Started by GameDev.net October 27, 1999 06:05 PM

37 comments, last by GameDev.net 24 years, 6 months ago

Anonymous

September 29, 1999 06:00 PM

It is interesting that long hours are seen as a requirement for game programmers.
I work on business software, and I've found over the past 6 years as a professional developer that
(more hours != more productivity)
, and in most cases that the developers who work the most hours are the least effective, and create the most buggy code.
Is this not true for Game Programming?

Also, I'm amazed to find out that game programmers are paid so low.
6-figure salaries are not uncommon for experienced business software developers, and pretty much any business developer who wants to contract can make $40+/hour. I turned down an offer of $50/hour for a job that was just too mind-numbingly boring (read: junior) to accept.
(Above figures are for the Seattle area)
Wow.

Sphet

631

September 29, 1999 07:44 PM

I don't work in the gaming industry, but I do work in the professional software industry. I graduated from college with a diploma in fine arts and got a job as a software engineer. Granted I only makde $42k CAN, but its quite good for the area. I got the job by getting my foot in the door in another capacity (graphic designer), and spoke to the software manager a fair bit about what they were doing here. After I graduated he offered me the job full time. I've been here 18 months and love it. Granted, it isn't game development, but the hours are good and I can develop my own work on the side. Maybe its just me, but I like game coding because its my ideas, and I figure that most game companies require too much sacrifice of own ideas to others. But then, I'm a snob.

MikeD

158

September 30, 1999 01:13 PM

Why are games programming salaries so low?
Think...supply and demand.
Every fresh faced college or uni graduate with a computing degree has udoubtedly considered going into games and with a large base of talent (if not experience) going for the same jobs games companies can pick and chose as they wish.
Most people I know who are in games tend to leave by the time they hit 30 for better paid more relaxed jobs.
Personally I'm going back to University to do a Masters in AI and when I get out I think I'll want back in the games industry but having been here for two years the thought of a well paid job outside games with sensible hours and perhaps a bonus structure (hell, any kind of structure) seems a lot more attractive now than it did when I left Uni.
I think the games industry has to get out of the bedroom mentality which a lot of companies still hold onto and turn itself into a _business_ industry.
IMHO

Anonymous

October 01, 1999 05:43 PM

Have you ever read some of these game industry job descriptions?

For example, look at http://www.vsearch.com/

They're looking for people who completed one or more game titles,
PSX programming (I didn't even know what PSX was before today),
3-5 years experience, lead/senior programmers, etc.. This is very
discouraging for entry-level seekers.

I say a chance for someone with no experience is very unlikely,
especially right out of college. You either know someone in the
field to let you in, or you don't. Or you either live right next
to Silicon Valley, or you don't. This leaves you with little
opportunities, such as starting up your own company or doing
game programming on the side while you work in other job field.

Hey, getting a job in the major you got your college degree is
better than nothing, so stick with it.

Anonymous

October 01, 1999 06:29 PM

This is what your life might be like 2-4 years right after college.
You'll live in a "catch 22" limbo state. Sure, you'll have the degree and
skills, but you don't have the experience, and everyone will dump on you
bigtime because you haven't "paid your dues". You might think about moving
to another state to get exposed to the opportunities you are looking for,
but wait a minute, you don't have the money to move in the first place,
so you are stuck in a rut. Everyone will tell you to just take any job
as if you have the power to make it happen, but they don't tell you where
and how to get this supposedly -any job-. You might even think about
going back to college or some other learning institution to get the skills
that college "was supposed to" have taught you in the first place (as if
a second time will matter), but again, you still don't have the money, and
you come to the conclusion that they simply can't provide you with the
experience that is found working in real industry.

Seems like hell, eh? You'll wish you never left college.

AnotherBigYapper

122

October 07, 1999 06:02 AM

I think you're right, DevShin. In fact, I think that is probably what it's going to be like whether you're right out of college or not.

Turtle

122

October 10, 1999 05:39 PM

I've never accually tried to get a job at a programming company, so if I'm wrong about this tell me.

I'd look at the webs job-listings, and find one that looks good (forget about the past work requirements), and send them a disk with some examples of your work with a filled out copy of the online application. Put the words look on disk for the past work line.

? Anyone in the hiring area would you like games or code for games if someone did this?

I think this is one of the few areas anymore where you can accually show that you know what you are doing before you have work experience.

------------------
DESIGN FANATIC
David Abresch
abre1657@blue.univnorthco.edu

DESIGN FANATIC
David Abresch
abre1657@blue.univnorthco.edu

AnotherBigYapper

122

October 13, 1999 02:23 AM

The fundamental problem: There are just too many programmers. The schools are churning them out at a record pace.

Notice that this doesn't stop big tech companies from making the spurious claim of a great tech-worker "shortage."

Matt

122

October 20, 1999 03:50 AM

To get in, you more or less have to know what the hell you are talking about, and be able to back it up.

Quite frankly, having a degree won't help you much, if you can't solve problems.

I worked at various companies, without a degree. The pay for game programming jobs is less than regular programming jobs, and you are typically expected to work more hours.

Personally, I've decided that it isn't worth it to devote my life to writing someone ELSES' game, when I could make more, and work less writing someones misc. win32 application, then spend all that extra time that I have, working on the game *I* want to play.

Machaira

1,035

October 20, 1999 08:28 AM

I agree that having a degree won't guarantee anything. It might help, but if you can't show something you might as well not even have it. I think more companies are interested in seeing what you can do than knowing you can pass some college courses. I worked as an applications programmer for 6 years and just landed my first job in the industry. I don't have a degree. I made a contact at the GDC Roadtrip here in Baltimore and got to show some people a small game I was working on with a friend. Months later I got a call and an interview.

The moral - learn whatever you can however you can, start writing a game you want to plan. If you get a chance to check on a conference in your area to the GDC do it. You'll learn more stuff and maybe make some contacts.

BTW, maybe I just got lucky or it's because I've got a little experience but the job I snagged actually is paying a little more than I was making as an app programmer and I was making decent money (over 50K).

[This message has been edited by Machaira (edited October 20, 1999).]

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