Hi I was looking through ads for jobs in game programming in the uk. I've written a couple of games so far on my website by myself www.3drock.co.uk However, the job adverts want not only games skills but a NUMBER ONE HIT GAME under your belt ! Are there any jobs for people that are skilled but haven't worked on a number one hit before ? cheers

Yes they exist but there's not as many as there are for experienced ppl.

There is one I know of right now that can be seen here: http://www.3drealms.com/gethired.html

Sadly for you, it's not in the UK. :(



-SirKnight

Quote:Original post by ade-the-heat
Hi
I was looking through ads for jobs in game programming in the uk.
I've written a couple of games so far on my website by myself www.3drock.co.uk

However, the job adverts want not only games skills but a NUMBER ONE HIT GAME under your belt !

Are there any jobs for people that are skilled but haven't worked on a number one hit before ?

cheers

All companies want somebody with a hit game under their belt. It shows that you can complete a project well and have experience.

But what we want isn't always what we get.

Apply to the jobs anyway, and include in your cover letter that you have demos of your work on your web site.

frob.

I thought about it again, and started laughing hard when I thought what such a job posting would look like:

Wanted: Completely novice game programmer.

Applicant must have played enough games to appreciate how fun they are. High school diplomas are optional, but additional education is preferred. Prior experience in the game industry not required.

Applicants should have at least two of the following skills:
* Ability to compile a c++ program
* Ability to write code that compiles, regardless of correctness
* Basic understanding of manipulating char* arrays in C++
* Ability to communicate well, or at least write poorly-worded blog entries
* Ability to sound intelligent when discussing A* pathfinding, the Internet, email, and other topics
* Math skills, but not to the point of understanding the math behind 3D libraries
* Understanding of how to step through code in a debugger is preferred

Apply Today!

Sadly, this is what too many 'applications' look like.

classic job 'spec' !
I might stick that on the wall at work !

You might want to take a look here:
http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/2006/01/the_latest_opm_1.php

Just skipping through it, and found a job ("Junior Game Programmer") that requires no previous experience with published games. I often see jobs like that in the printed version of the mag, too. Maybe you should get yourself a copy.

Jobs do exist for people without previous experience, I know of a few companies that will entertain job applicants who show solid demos and a sound understanding of what they are talking about.

Your best bet is to look at large companies who have the time and man-power to train inexperienced members of staff, rather than small, one team companies who might not be open to people without the obligatory 2 years experience and/or 2 completed games.

From the top of my head, some large companies to look into that are currently hiring are:
Rare
Codemasters - These do require a 2:1 or equivalent in a suitable degree
Blitz Games
Criterion

Of course it all depends on the quality of both your demo's and your application.

I don't want to get into it here, but companies like to see clean, solid _constistant_ code, comments, well structured classes/files etc.

A couple of demos that do not crash, well explained in your covering letter, along with a solid background are enough for some.

But you have to remember. The games industry is constantly on ups and downs, and taking on inexperienced members of staff is a big risk. You just have to prove to them that you are as little as risk as possible.

Hope that helps
Spree

I'm not criticizing your HTML skills here, but I have made a site with your content (I hope thats okay) that I hope you like (basically I am bored in college and I saw your post, so I thought that I'd re-make the site. Just if you wanted to use it, that's all, I liked the game KillEmAll, I haven't yet got around to downloading ThunderStruck, yet. I hope you continue to produce such great titles in the near-future.

The site is http://www.freewebs.com/ricosroughnecks/3D%20Rock.html

Hi,
Yes I'm crap at websites - feel free to do what you want with the content !
I think my name's all over the games anyway

cheers