If a game studio asks you to write a small code, what would you write?

[jeteran 311]

Greetings.

 

If you are landing a job in the game industry, and the company tells you to write a well-structured code with good style, what would you do to impress them?

 

I had a talk with a nice guy who have worked in many AAA companies and, based in his experience, is better to have something simple, well written and that can be implemented. Not necesarilly to write something complex just to show that you know.

 

Is with ActionScript 3.0, but you can give me examples of other languages.

 

Thanks everyone!

[Tom Sloper 16207]

Moved you to Game Industry Job Advice. Check out other threads about programmer tests.

[Buster2000 4310]

It depends where your game development strengths are.  If you are good at graphics programming then show some cool effect.  If you are into AI then maybe some kind of multi agent pathfinding system.
I think that what the guy is telling you is that whilst writing a full game is an excellent achievment it isn't always the best example to gauge somebodies programming style.  He just wants to see a small demo program that shows off how good your code is but without being too trivial or too complex.

[jeteran 311]

Wonderful, it makes complete sense to me Buster2000.

 

A small background: I have been working with AS since version 1.0 , but my work has been as an Academic, not as developer (I have made many games but actually not too relevant). I want to jump to a game studio and this company, after bouncing many mails, they became interested in me. So for me, having this small questionnaire (is simple actually) is a bit scary for me.

 

That is the only question that I have to answer with code.

 

If any other tip of advice, will be wonderful!

 

Thanks once again.

[nhold 1334]

I did this for a job interview, didn't take the job due to issues I had with their expected work hours but it did land me in this job I have now.

[frob 45280]

If you are landing a job in the game industry, and the company tells you to write a well-structured code with good style, what would you do to impress them?

 

They don't expect to be impressed.

 

They want to see that you can code.  That is all.

 

They're generally looking for a few pages worth of code, maybe 400-1000 lines as an excerpt from a larger system.

 

It should be something that demonstrates you have a good understanding of programming.  For example, you might give code that builds up and maintains a hierarchy of data when a standard container wouldn't work. You might have some processing tasks that you are comfortable with. It should include a few algorithms and a few data structures. 

 

In a pinch, implement a few common algorithms that are not already part of the standard library, roughly 500-1000 lines of code. Double-check that they run okay and have their obvious bugs taken care of. 

 

 

 

 

Keep in mind that in all aspects of interviewing, every step is designed to EXCLUDE, not to include. They are looking for reasons to reject everyone from the pool until the pool drops to 1.  So make sure your code works, make sure it does what it says it does, make sure you can explain it, make sure every word is spelled correctly, make sure it compiles cleanly even on high warning levels.  Then keep it short and simple, enough to convince them you can code reasonably well, not enough that they can scour it for obscure errors.

[jeteran 311]

"I did this for a job interview"

Hey CRYP7IK, thanks for the link. I will check it out. In what language is written?

 

"They don't expect to be impressed."

That is a good one frob, I know see it in different perspective.

 

"So make sure your code works, make sure it does what it says it does, make sure you can explain it, make sure every word is spelled correctly, make sure it compiles cleanly even on high warning levels."

Wonderful, I believe that having a piece of code that catches their attention will lead to be a winner in the interview.

 

Thanks so much for your responses guys, I really appreciate. Now, I will take action.

[nhold 1334]

 

Hey CRYP7IK, thanks for the link. I will check it out. In what language is written?

 

 

It's just a Unity game written in C#. It just shows I can write readable code and have a game that is coherent with a clear win\lose condition. Basically my suggestion is to show you can do what your responsibilities will be in the role.