Sounds to me like you have a good plan.

in my free time i'd like to work on small game projects of my own throughout the whole thing

This is the most important part of your plan make sure that it gets a lot of your focus!

in my free time i'd like to work on small game projects of my own throughout the whole thing, then perhaps one day become self sufficient, or use work history/qualifications/personal projects to break into the games industry

It's not so fantastic, if you'd try to use that experience for some regular, 9-5, SW programming job. Actually, gamedev exp might hurt you, since many interviewers (totally irrespective of how senior they really are in whichever language) will look at games programming as something totally inferior and "too easy", just because they don't know any better ("it's just a stupid game. It can't possibly be harder than some SQL!", "3D Engine ? I could write a 3D engine in less than a week, if I really wanted !", and so on ) .

I've done a lot of Interviews in my life, but the only time the interviewer really acknowledged the off-line / free-time gamedev coding results was when I applied to a 3D gfx / gamedev job.

In majority of other cases I used to get replies like those few above, plus "Well, it may be nice that you programmed 3d engine, toolset and several games by yourself, but that does not really say anything about your technical abilities. Can you tell me how to optimize this SQL query ? How many golf balls fit into 787 ?".

For these kinds of jobs, it's better to spend half of a weekend doing some quick/simple App with a lot of "hard business logic"

Now, I understand that at this time you can't possibly imagine not wanting to be in gamedev industry , but try and take a look into the turn-over rates (and the reasons) in gamedev....

as i've heard there's a demand for qualified software engineers

If you haven't spent last 7-10 yrs programming in your free time already, your heart is not at the right place for gamedev, thus you will find the gamedev as the worst possible fit.

Just go and choose some other area - Java, .NET, ...

GameDev is the worst possible SW area where you go to "earn money due to demand"...

Allow me to slightly over-generalize, but over-generalizedly game development requires the type of passion that simply tells you, “I am a game developer.”

Over-generalizedly, if you are a good fit for the game industry, you would never consider working in any other type of software programming. Frankly, if I could not make games—specifically games—I would simply change my career to dolphin training or work for National Geographic—something exotic, with animals, and hopefully travel (I am not kidding about this by the way).

VladR is also correct about the ridiculous types of questions they ask in interviews for normal software programming. Morgan Stanley asked me in the first interview to determine how long it would take to move Mt. Fuji to Beijing given its cone radius and height and distance between it and its destination. I replied, “Oh, so now China thinks it owns the Senkaku Islands, Okinawa, and Mt. Fuji?” ???, I didn’t actually say this—I gave a real answer.

L. Spiro

i don't believe it's very realistic to just try to break straight into the industry without much more experience and work on paper

Why not?
I think you have an extremely skewed perspective on how to get into the game industry as a programmer. Note that I explicitly stated “as a programmer” for a reason, which I will discuss in chapter 2 of this post.

First-off, I am not exactly sure what “work on paper” is supposed to mean but neither of its 2 meanings are valid. If you have papers from a school that show you did some work on projects while there, that is all you need. If you are trying to say “a résumé that has written on it that I have worked a job in programming before” then you are totally off base, as far as getting an entry-level position in the industry. That cascades into the “without much prior experience” bit you wrote as well.
For both points the answer is the same: No prior experience needed for an entry-level position. Read any job description for qualifications for entry-level positions.
Plus the fact that I don’t knowingly know anyone who works in game programming now but started in other types of programming. They are surely out there, even in my office, but all who I have asked have been doing only game programming.


Chapter 2: Programmers are Exceptional (in all things)
The game industry is already very lenient on the qualifications of who it hires in general, as in most fields in the industry the more important thing is a demonstration of ability/skill.
But programmers have it easier still, because not only do they get special treatment in the game industry, they get it everywhere else too. For example, Japan is strict on who it allows to enter, and engineers are required to have a Bachelor’s degree or above. Except programmers, who only need the absolute minimum qualifications (a diploma) to get able to a visa here.

Given all that, I think your plan is also overkill. There is nothing special a Bachelor’s will get you that a standard diploma won’t. Even a higher salary. While it is true that some companies pay better to those who have higher degrees:
#1: There is no reason you have to work at such a company. I’ve only worked at one such company.
#2: By the time you get to the point where you get something extra based on your degree, you will have more than enough actual hands-on work experience to more than make up for it, and possibly still be making more than the guy the same age as you who wasted 2 or 3 years in a classroom for a degree. Either way, you will be making more sooner because no one pays higher based on degrees right out of the gate. In fact, many small studios which are your best bet into the industry, won’t higher people with Bachelor’s or above because they demands too much money. Plus, what is the purpose of any extra salary you did get? You would still have less cash each month after paying off student loans for the next 12 years.

TL;BRIAABIWSFI (Too Long, But Read It All Anyway Because It Was So Frigging Interesting):
Nothing to say here.


Option #A: Spend 4 years in a classroom getting a Bachelor’s, start a job at age 26 at an entry-level salary, slowly climb in salary but live in poverty anyway as you pay off your debt, and pray that some day your degree will gain you something, knowing fully well in the back of your head that even if you ever get a raised just because of your degree you could have reached the same salary sooner based on experience alone, which always trumps degrees.
Option #B: You don’t want to know.
Option #C: Spend 1 or 2 years in a vocational college getting a diploma and start a job at age 24 at an entry-level position. Salary will likely be the same starting off but you will be 2 or 3 years younger and countless amounts of money less in debt (my diploma only cost me around $6,000). As long as you have a portfolio (which you claim to have), there is no advantage a Bachelor’s gives you in finding that first job, so you can do everything with a diploma that you could with a Bachelor’s, including moving around the world as I do, all with more cash in your pockets.

The choice is fairly clear. Go with number B.

L. Spiro

1. but yeah, as i said, my ideal would be to have an income, and work on my own projects in the free time
getting a job at a game studio would be great, i just don't think it's very doable, especially within AU, ideally, i would work in an independent setting
2. as for portfolio-- when did i say i had a portfolio?

1. Most game industry employment contracts do not permit side projects without express written clearance. So if that's what you want to do, a game job is contraindicated.

2. To whom and what part of which post are you replying to?