Anyways, I guess it would be a good time to explain what I hope to achieve through this log, and perhaps life as a whole.
Simple enough, this blog will be a history of my attempts to become part of the game development industry. It will be a discussion about the new things I've learned, people I've met, and code I've written. It most probably also be a self indulging, yet whimsical look into the life of someone that you would probably prefer not to know.
Now.. something about myself...
I am (at this point in time) a 26 year old male who lives in Canberra, Australia. My main career goal is, and always has been, to either work in the game development industry, or prefferably own a game development company (you have to have dreams).
To this end, I have done several thing that may or may not help me get there; I have completed a Bachelor of Computer Science degree, I have worked in the "Real World" for some, and I have commenced (but not completed) an amiture-quasi-professional-type game.
Not much really in the scheme of things, but more than some.
As a result of my past achievements, I had recently (about 3 months ago) applied for a position at one of the local game development companies. I recently (last week), got a call back for an interview with them, and went to that interview today.
Things did not go as miserably as you would expect, and I came away with plenty more to think about. It turns out that they liked some parts of my submission (the affore mentioned amiture-quasi-professional type game), including the detail level of the design document, and the sample particle effects tool that I included. I guess they liked it well enough to call me, and there I was in an interview.
I kind of went into the interview with the knowledge that it wasn't going to be possible to take the job if they offered it to me. Had it been 3 months ago, there wouldn't have been a problem, but I have more financial commitments at the moment. Wrong timing.
Anyway, things went well in the interview they asked about my previous experience, they wanted to know about team experience (I have very little), they wanted to know why I wore a tie to a game development interview. In all it was a pretty posetive experience, I would have qualified for a junior developer possition that they had going, only problem was that the position that they could offer me would not pay enough at this point in time (they may have had other problems, but if they did, they didnt tell me).
So, we parted ways. Me without a gamedev job, them without a new programmer. It was all good, they suggested that I put another application through in 12 months or so, so they didn't hate me. With their help, I decided to continue on my path and get some more experience in the mean time.
So, hear we are. The first step towards a better game programmer. What better way of keeping my motivation up than to let everyone know what kind of an ass I really am. I have decided on the following goals over the next 12 months:
1) Write a blog every week. That way, everyone knows when I've been slacking.
2) Get a team togeather. I have been very lacking in my team experience of late (not sure about team skills though). So it would be good to have a little more experience here.
3) Make a kick ass game in 12 months on a shoestring budget. Ok, a little harder. Luckly, I'd settle with an ass of a game in 12 months on a shoestring budget.
so the race begins...
Heres some cheese++ for ya ;)