Average age of Game programmers and the speed of technology
Author
I''ve read a number of posts. A few people have said I''m x years old and I hope I''m not to old to get into the game business.
I too have the same fears. I''m 23 years old. Professionally I''ve done quite well. A Programmer of a software house (databases) and if I keep on the same career progression I could be contracting/consulting in a year or two. But I know thats not the career path I want.
I know I''ve still got at least one maybe two years worth of learning and experimenting before my skills will be strong enough to sell to Game companies. And through dedication and luck I might get there.
But I can''t stop thinking will I be over the hill at 25, and will technology be so advanced that the goal posts have been moved when I get there.
So I''m curious. What is the average age here and do people have the same fear that the speed of technology may outrun them?
What else do you need; besides a miricle.
Money. Lots of Money. or I''ll never do a sequel!
Well, I''m currently 21 (OK, 20, give or take 12 days or so) but am only into games dev as a hobby atm. I''ve been poking around with graphics and game-effect kinds of things since I was about 12 (BBC Micros rock 
, have a couple of years of OpenGL, but have only recently started playing with DirectX.
The impression I get is that gamesdev companies *do* prefer younger, fresh talent, although if you can program DirectX/OpenGL in your sleep (if, in fact, you ever get any sleep) and have a bloodstream largely composed of coca-cola and/or coffee, I think you''re basically OK.
*shrug* I''ll be interested to see where this thread goes.
--
I reserve the right to be completely wrong
, have a couple of years of OpenGL, but have only recently started playing with DirectX.The impression I get is that gamesdev companies *do* prefer younger, fresh talent, although if you can program DirectX/OpenGL in your sleep (if, in fact, you ever get any sleep) and have a bloodstream largely composed of coca-cola and/or coffee, I think you''re basically OK.
*shrug* I''ll be interested to see where this thread goes.
--
I reserve the right to be completely wrong
I''m 23 at the moment as well, and since I''m doing a PhD at the moment, I won''t be hitting the "industry" until I''m around 27.
It doesn''t really worry me, I think I can keep up with technology. I''m lucky in that the place where I''m working is a university, and they encourage me playing around with things.
#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ Mad Keith ~
It doesn''t really worry me, I think I can keep up with technology. I''m lucky in that the place where I''m working is a university, and they encourage me playing around with things.
#pragma DWIM // Do What I Mean!
~ Mad Keith ~
I´m 20 and doing graphics and design for various small games as a hobby.
As for the gaming industry ... I´m not so sure. I guess i´ll finish my studies first, and then, armed with at least some knowledge, a university degree and a secure "day job" try if there are more possibilites in the industry.
In austria there aren´t many devellopers/publishers, so i would probably have to move around in the EC, and this is nothing i want at the moment.
And as for skill .... well, gradually increasing but not enough for the tough wide world yet i guess.
"If you know what you want and know what you do best it´s unlikely to fail completely"
As for the gaming industry ... I´m not so sure. I guess i´ll finish my studies first, and then, armed with at least some knowledge, a university degree and a secure "day job" try if there are more possibilites in the industry.
In austria there aren´t many devellopers/publishers, so i would probably have to move around in the EC, and this is nothing i want at the moment.
And as for skill .... well, gradually increasing but not enough for the tough wide world yet i guess.
"If you know what you want and know what you do best it´s unlikely to fail completely"
Author
To Parm (and every one else realy)
I''m Kind of a curious to where you found information on programming when you where younger. Parm talks about programming at the age of 12. I started to program at a similar age using a Spectrum +2a.
The thing that stopped me dead in my tracks is I could never find out any information. Oh there where lots of books in the libraries on the theory of computer graphics but not a single one that went beyond print at 20,20 "Goodbye world!"
Its only now, I''ve learnt where to look (which internet sites, books etc) that I''ve been able to start to make programs that actually look like games!
What else do you need; besides a miricle.
Money. Lots of Money. or I''ll never do a sequel!
I''m Kind of a curious to where you found information on programming when you where younger. Parm talks about programming at the age of 12. I started to program at a similar age using a Spectrum +2a.
The thing that stopped me dead in my tracks is I could never find out any information. Oh there where lots of books in the libraries on the theory of computer graphics but not a single one that went beyond print at 20,20 "Goodbye world!"
Its only now, I''ve learnt where to look (which internet sites, books etc) that I''ve been able to start to make programs that actually look like games!
What else do you need; besides a miricle.
Money. Lots of Money. or I''ll never do a sequel!
I''m 22 and could have entered the industry @ 21.
Will probably enter it this year or next.
-* Sounds, music and story makes the difference between good and great games *-
Will probably enter it this year or next.
-* Sounds, music and story makes the difference between good and great games *-
I''m currently 28 yrs old and only started game development one year and a half ago. (Started with good general programming skills but little game programming skills, but fortunate enough to know someone in the biz.)
Age requirements are a joke and often a myth. IMO, there is actually a shortage of decent, knowledgeable, professional game developers. If you can show the skills (or even better, a simple demo), I expect you won''t have a problem getting in.
If you want a game prog career track, start acting like a game programmer now while you''re still at a paying job. Read until your brain hurts, start writing sample code until your fingers bleed, talk with amateur and professional developers until your mouth and ears can''t take any more, learn the skills until you have no choice but to change jobs, and play play play games until your brain rots. (The "play games" part is more for research rather than entertainment. When playing, work hard to understand what was done right, what was done wrong, and exactly why the game is or isn''t fun to play.)
---- --- -- -
Blue programmer needs food badly. Blue programmer is about to die!
Age requirements are a joke and often a myth. IMO, there is actually a shortage of decent, knowledgeable, professional game developers. If you can show the skills (or even better, a simple demo), I expect you won''t have a problem getting in.
If you want a game prog career track, start acting like a game programmer now while you''re still at a paying job. Read until your brain hurts, start writing sample code until your fingers bleed, talk with amateur and professional developers until your mouth and ears can''t take any more, learn the skills until you have no choice but to change jobs, and play play play games until your brain rots. (The "play games" part is more for research rather than entertainment. When playing, work hard to understand what was done right, what was done wrong, and exactly why the game is or isn''t fun to play.)
---- --- -- -
Blue programmer needs food badly. Blue programmer is about to die!
I''m 26 and programming for a Credit Union. I was lucky enough to have started programming back in late 1984. Back then, everything you bought showed you how to write a program to use it. When I got my first joystick for my TRS-80, it came with papers that told what memory locations to PEEK to get the different information. (position, button)
Boy I wish I had the internet back then! So many resources!
E:cb woof!
Boy I wish I had the internet back then! So many resources!
E:cb woof!
to NeoReality:
I had the exact same problem...
I was very interessted in programming in the old c64/amiga days.
I tried to learn some amiga assembler and later some pc assembler..But like you I could only find books for beginners...
And I knew nobody that was interessted in the inner workings of computers, so no help there....
Thank god for the interneet...Besides now there´s plenty of books covering C++ and DirectX etc...
Now I´m 25 and I feel I should have been a Guru at this age. But I´m not....
-- There IS something rotten in the state of Denmark --
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