Hi everyone, Well I've tried myspace and different forums to get my question answered for a class assignment. Its to interview a person who works in the field you wish to get into (mine being game programming) but so far now ones replied. I would really appreciate it if someone would answer them even anyone will do. What your name? What’s your current job title? What do you do? What steps did you take to get where you are today (like schooling, places you learned your skill to get where you’re at)? What were some motivational strategies that helped you in your career (like what kept you motivated into doing what you do, what are some tips you would give someone into helping them stay motivated)? Thank you in advance.

sorry I just saw the lounge thread. So I think my post is more appropriate there sorry again for not noticing it sooner.

Hi there AztecMinion:
I'm not an industry professional myself, just a student,
but this topic (The "Hi there!What's your story" thread) might give you a headstart:
http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=495725

@ yaustar

thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

Quote:Original post by AztecMinion
What your name?

What’s your current job title?

My name is Steve Macpherson, I'm a Programmer for Firebrand games.

Quote:Original post by AztecMinion
What do you do?

I write code for DS and Wii racing games. I'm lead programmer on one project, programmer on another, and an assistant for three other projects.

Quote:Original post by AztecMinion
What steps did you take to get where you are today (like schooling, places you learned your skill to get where you’re at)?

I've spent a large amount of time learning C++ myself, I've never gone on courses or anything like that. The closest I've come to proper tuition is buying a few programming books. I've got a BSc in Computer Science from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, and I'm a DirectX Microsoft MVP.

Quote:Original post by AztecMinion
What were some motivational strategies that helped you in your career (like what kept you motivated into doing what you do, what are some tips you would give someone into helping them stay motivated)?

I've always found programming fun, when I was 10 or 11, I got a Spectrum and a few books of games in Spectrum BASIC which I spent hours copying the code from (It was a book of printed source code for games like Mars lander, Frogger and so on) and then playing with it to make things move faster or play in different ways.
Graphics programming is particularly rewarding; it's really nice to be able to see your work on the screen for the first time, even when it's just a single spinning triangle. Having said that, I wouldn't recommend that anyone tries to jump straight in to graphics programming, it's substantially more difficult than text based stuff, and it's very important to understand the basics rather than dive on in.
As far as motivation goes - if you need motivation, then you're obviously doing something wrong [smile]. There are bits of code that are a bit dull to do, but when they're complete you know it's done and you can move on to something more interesting. I've usually got 2 or 3 projects on the go at once for my own projects (Which is probably a bad thing [smile]), so if I start to get bored with one I can move on to working on another.

Thank you all very much it really helped me out.