Impossible question. How long did it take you to learn how to write? Or swim?

Some people learn things almost instantly. Others struggle and takes months or years or perhaps never grasp the subject. Really it all comes down to you.


As to your application of prior knowledge, well frankly the C++ language hasn't changed all that much in 10 years, so if you remember anything, it should still be mostly applicable. Frankly though, if your goal is to land a game development job in Montreal, you are going about it the wrong way. The reality is, only a handful of employees in a company work on engine development, if frankly any do as a lot of studios just buy off the shelf.

You want to get noticed, work on a mod, or put together a hell of a demo for your CV.

and I am not sure if it's worth all learning it even if I am really passionate about creating 3d engine because at 32 am affraid it could take too long... even if I have all day to do it all years long etc when I study the source of Quake 3 I am discouraged by the complexity and size of it, I ask myself question like will I ever be able to code like that/close to that i mean like working on a project that size etc

currently I am studying my MCITP certifications from Microsoft (IT Pro stuff, Active Directory, Dns, Dhcp, Virtualisation, Windows Server 2008 etc) and I am doing really fine, but 3d graphics seem to be my passion am just affraid a bit.... I live 4hr's of car from montreal and ubisoft recruit big like all the big studio so I was wondering, if I push it hard 10hr's a day for the next 3 years for example etc but at 1 point you have to decide what you want to do and stop learning 2-3 different things/fields

Sounds like you're undecided on what you want to do for a career. Maybe you should do some thinking and ask yourself what's the worst thing that can happen if you don't pursue your passion? On the other hand, what's the worst thing that can happen if you do? It's entirely possible that working 10 hours a day for 3 years will result in nothing significant. Of course it's also possible that working just 1-2 hours a day for 2 years may be more than enough.

Personally, I feel that you don't really get to choose your passion--I think it more or less chooses you. What I mean is that people that have a passion for something are so obsessed that they cannot see themselves living their life any other way. This is why there is a notion of the "starving artist." A person will endure failure, false starts, rejection, unemployment, hunger, hardship, etc... all because they are so stubborn that they cannot see themselves working the typical 8-5 job. Most people are not that serious about becoming musicians, athletes, artists, actors, writers, game developers, etc... which is why very few are successful. Incidentally, this reminds me of an anecdote about Socrates and a man who wanted to become as enlightened as Socrates:

One day a dispassionate young man approached the Greek philosopher and casually said, 'O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.'

The philosopher took the young man down to the sea, waded in with him, and then dunked him under the water for thirty seconds. When he let the young man up for air, Socrates asked him to repeat what he wanted. 'Knowledge, O great one,' he sputtered.

Socrates put him under the water again, only this time a little longer.

After repeated dunkings and responses, the philosopher asked, 'What do you want?' The young man finally gasped, 'Air. I want air!' 'Good,' answered Socrates. 'Now, when you want knowledge as much as you wanted air, you shall have it.

It's easy for us to believe that given enough hours of practice, we could also produce the equivalent of a Quake 3. Perhaps, but I would suggest reading the book Masters of Doom and you will see that the genius behind Quake 3, John Carmack, had the kind of desire that Socrates was talking about.