Hello,

I am an aspiring game programmer. Currently I am in my 3rd year (of 4) of studies (Computer Science).

I am writing this topic to get some advice about a 3D game I will develop that will help me get a job in the industry.

Experience:
I am experienced with the following programming languages:
1) C++ -- developed 3 2D games
2) C# -- developed 1 2D game (using XNA)
3) Java -- developed 1 2D game (on android)
4) D -- developed a ray tracer (which is fairly limited at this time).

The games can be found here:
http://greenbits.webs.com/games.htm

Here is a picture of the raytracer:
http://i46.tinypic.com/2cwn3wx.png

The future:
During the last week I decided to make a 3D game to use for getting a job in the industry. As I understand, it is a requirement to have a 3D game in my portfolio (please correct me if I am wrong).

So I was thinking of a stealth game that will be 3D, with physics and good AI.
Story: The story is short. The hero gets abducted and must escape the place where he has awoken at (a forest maybe).

It will feature a top down camera, like league of legends (similarities stop here).

Here is a prototype picture I painted.


The player starts at the lower left corner and must reach the top right one.
In the middle of the stage there is an enemy who is partolling the area.
* The player cannot attack/kill anyone.
* If the player steps into the "view radius" of an enemy, he will be spotted. The enemy will run towards the player and kill him. So the player must not get spotted.
* When the player walks, he is making noise. If the noise circle (sphere in the game) of the player intersects with the hearing circle of an enemy, the enemy will get in "alert" state. He will walk towards the position where the noise came from and try to find who did it.

There will be certain things the player can use to make it to his destination:
* A device that will make lots of noise to attract attention. The player can use it to make enemies go towards an place and escape from the other side.
* A device that makes the place partially invisible when standing next to objects.
* The player will be able to run (but that will generate more noise)
* A teleport device
* Hiding in the shadows (I don't know if this will be hard to implement -- I hope it isn't)

The enemies will use a path finding algorithm like A*.
A physics engine will be used for collision detection.

Note: I haven't started making the game yet (I haven't even finished the game design document for it).

---------------------------
Now the important question.
Given that I finish the above game in year's time and with the games I have already made,
will I be eligible (is this the word?) to get a job?

Thanks a lot for your time.

Will this 3D game (in addition to some 2D) be anough for me to get a job?

Nothing is enough. http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson49.htm

And nobody can foretell your future.

If you want to make that game, make that game. If you don't want to make that game but think you have to make that game so you can get a job, then maybe making games is not your path in life.

If you just want to do the minimum necessary to get the job, you aren't cut out for the game industry.

Thank you (great article by the way).

I am not really saying anything new here but perhaps rewording it from my own perspective.

Since, as was mentioned, there is no real answer to this, in the amount of time it took you to post this and wait for a reply you could have applied for a job and gotten a reply.

Let the game companies themselves determine what is enough or not. Remember that game companies don’t just ban you once they decide not to interview you. You can always apply again if you have made significant improvements on your résumé.

So just keep adding to your résumé and keep applying to companies. Instead of posting a question here and waiting for a reply, it will instead be that you applied for a job and got an interview.

There is nothing to lose. Failing to get an interview does not close doors. Improve your résumé for next time and the door will be open again.

And in the meantime you may well be surprised and suddenly get hired, something not possible when spending time asking GameDev.net, “Is this enough?”

L. Spiro

I am not really saying anything new here but perhaps rewording it from my own perspective.

Since, as was mentioned, there is no real answer to this, in the amount of time it took you to post this and wait for a reply you could have applied for a job and gotten a reply.

Let the game companies themselves determine what is enough or not. Remember that game companies don’t just ban you once they decide not to interview you. You can always apply again if you have made significant improvements on your résumé.

So just keep adding to your résumé and keep applying to companies. Instead of posting a question here and waiting for a reply, it will instead be that you applied for a job and got an interview.

There is nothing to lose. Failing to get an interview does not close doors. Improve your résumé for next time and the door will be open again.

And in the meantime you may well be surprised and suddenly get hired, something not possible when spending time asking GameDev.net, “Is this enough?”

L. Spiro

Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy for me.

I do not live in a country that has game companies, so I would have to move to England, Sweden or somewhere else in Europe (I live in Cyprus) first. It's not easy to move somewhere without being sure I would get a job there.

Also, I haven't finished my degree yet (I am in my 3rd out 4 years).

Are there any game companies that would tell me "we are going to hire you when you finish"? I think not, but I am not sure.

Related to the sentence above, when should I start making job applications?

Thank you.

Are there any game companies that would tell me "we are going to hire you when you finish"? I think not, but I am not sure.

Unlikely. Read the FAQs, especially FAQ 24 and FAQ 27.

http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson24.htm

http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson27.htm

Unfortunately, it's not that easy for me.

It's not easy for anybody, and it wasn't easy for anybody, including the people who have responded to your questions.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy for me.

It's not easy for anybody, and it wasn't easy for anybody, including the people who have responded to your questions.

I know, sorry if the way I written it gave a wrong impression.

I know, sorry if the way I written it gave a wrong impression.

It’s not just that. It’s a complete lack of validity, period. A self-defeating attitude for the sake of nothing more than easing your own mind, comforting yourself over your lack of action.

Unfortunately, it's not that easy for me.
I do not live in a country that has game companies, so I would have to move to England, Sweden or somewhere else in Europe (I live in Cyprus) first. It's not easy to move somewhere without being sure I would get a job there.

You are telling exactly the wrong person (as to which Tom Sloper alluded).
I moved to a country with no assurances of getting a job in the industry there.
And then I got a job in the industry there.
And it was my first job, meaning no prior experience.


So I personally don’t accept your excuses.
/me tosses your excuses out the window.

…

/me apologizes to the old cat lady on the sidewalk below. “Sorry, those excuses were heavier than I thought!”


It’s your choice. No one can stop you but yourself. Defeat yourself with that attitude and you may as well just give up on getting into the industry. We don’t really need defeatists anyway.

Or you can take a can-do approach, get off your ass and start applying, never give up, and finally get into the industry. We in the industry would much rather have this type of person anyway.


And when I got that first job, only one small project had actually been completed. The others were all labeled as “in-progress”.
No one’s going to say, “Finish this and then we will hire you.” Why do you think only finished products can be impressive?
Certainly finished products show that you finish what you start, but the only thing I had finished on my first résumé was a Tetris clone that took 2 days to code.
If you are a dedicated person, anything you haven’t finished will be because it is an ambitious project and in that case they can understand why you aren’t done yet. Your passion should still shine through.

That is, if you have passion.
If you are worried about your unfinished works, perhaps they are not finished only because you have no passion?

I can’t say. Decide for yourself. If you just know that you belong in the industry, there is nothing stopping you. Start applying.
http://www.gamedevmap.com/


L. Spiro

Sometimes people need someone to "make them wake up" (now that's a bad translation). I guess I needed that.

I will start applying when I finish my exams at the end of May. Like you said, you never know what's going to happen.

If they reject me, I will apply again last year when my 3D project will be finished (or not).