About to graduate with my BA but have a few questions

mc511 · 04-06-2010, 01:29 PM

Hello everyone. I am new here and I am studying game design and development at a college and may be graduating this may if all goes well. Now that I am about to graduate I am wondering if I have a good qualifications to get a decent job. so let me tell you guys what i have studied and done since 2005.

I went to a community college that gives an AS in Game Design which really helped me learn alot about myself and the game development process in general. The first class I took was game 1 which i made a 10 page publisher proposal document and an 83 page game design document. The document was pretty much everything about a game that i would one day like to make. It included a bunch of screen shots and loads of detail about the controls to camera angles. It was difficult but the A was really worth it in the end.

In game 2 which was only one semester we had to make a game in 15 weeks. I was with 11 other students and we made a game titled Bloxter. I think we were the first class at the college to finish a game. We used Torque game builder which every class before us used and the engine was much easier to use by the time we were ready to make our game. We finished the game intime. My role was the lead designer. I was making game design decisions along with my buddy but the whole class was able to help make them along the way. My main job was worrying about the GDD and some marketing at the end.

Game 3 and 4 were basically the same class. The game we had to make was to be much more polished and the development spanned 2 semesters. The game we were making was a 2d side scrolling space shooter which in the end turned out okay. I was an artist this time around and would texture weapons that the 3d modelers would give me from maya in a 2d cookie cut out. Both of these classes stressed me to death sometimes with making sure other people were doing their work, along with making sure the art was good to go in the game. It was a good feeling that i wont soon forget.

Other things I did for the school was help get the game development club noticed by some people who work close with the dean. Well my mom did, long story short she knows someone who worked there and talked to this person about the game dev club and this person took notice and made us official for the college. I was also VP of the club in my last semester.

After graduating there I transferred into a college that offers a BA in game dev. The courses there have a much more fleshed out focus such as level design. In level design we learned how to use the Company of Heros mod engine. It was okay but i was never much of an RTS fan to begin with so the engine for me and the layout of the RTS game design was difficult for me. This is basically my final year at the college and I am in my fourth semester. The game we are developing now is a side scrolling shooter. I have had some difficulty with one member learning sprites and another keeping his focus but overall we are a good team of 3 people. In the Fall though i interned at MTV Nickelodeon which was great. I was able to come up with game ideas for some games, use photoshop for editing some pictures. One thing I am particularly proud of was playing a spongebob game alot to find any bugs or glitches and to maybe come up with ideas on balancing game play. My name is currently in the a version of the game as a tester.

Sounds like I did alot. I have many photoshop work to show, and I have developed 3 games a student projects over the years and even interned at a large corporation. Somehow I feel like I am missing something that I should have under my belt for a job. I guess my question maybe is, is this enough to qualify for a job? What portfolio pieces should I gather onto some DVD's or online that developers would like?

By the way I do have a linkedin account that i sue alot and a twitter which is connected to my linked in.

tsloper · 04-06-2010, 06:45 PM

How many of the Barrier-Busting Tips are you doing? http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson27.htm
Hope you're not doing any of the Stupid Wannabe Tricks! http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson24.htm
And don't sue your LinkedIn account, it hasn't done anything deserving of that response!

mc511 · 04-06-2010, 07:06 PM

My apologies I meant use.

Currently in my portfolio I have my Game Design Document that I created back in 2006. Although my main issue is that its very long and having somebody read through it may not be the best idea. Should I condense this document? I also have the game my group made together in Game 3. I use Fraps to record and will certainly do that for this game. I will also have another playable game i can record video on for a portfolio piece. To be honest I do not want someone to have to install these games to play them but to them is watching a video of a game I took part in developing a good thing? I also do have some photoshop work along with some short stories from my creative writing class that I took.

And those were very good tips. To be honest I am aiming my sights on a smaller company first to get my foot in the door. If it means making iphone games then so be it, aslong as I am making games it does not matter. My location is not the best, however there are many places in New Jersey and in New York that I can apply to.

You have a very informative web page sir.

tsloper · 04-06-2010, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mc511

Currently in my portfolio I have my Game Design Document that I created back in 2006. Although my main issue is that its very long and having somebody read through it may not be the best idea. Should I condense this document? I also have the game my group made together in Game 3. I use Fraps to record and will certainly do that for this game. I will also have another playable game i can record video on for a portfolio piece. To be honest I do not want someone to have to install these games to play them but to them is watching a video of a game I took part in developing a good thing? I also do have some photoshop work along with some short stories from my creative writing class that I took.

Sounds like you need to start building a new portfolio.

kbaxter · 04-07-2010, 05:05 AM

What position do you plan to apply for?

Make sure you're within commuting distance of any studios you apply to. If you're not in commuting distance of any, you may need to move before applying for jobs.

mc511 · 04-07-2010, 01:23 PM

Design since my portfolio will cater more towards that. I have taken up the position many times throughout my schooling years as well.

kbaxter · 04-07-2010, 05:37 PM

Game design is rarely an entry level position. You probably want to start applying as a level designer, or maybe even QA to get a foot in the door.

tsloper · 04-07-2010, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbaxter

Game design is rarely an entry level position. You probably want to start applying as a level designer, or maybe even QA to get a foot in the door.

I agree.
http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson14.htm

mc511 · 04-07-2010, 07:00 PM

Both do sound like I can handle them and have the ability to do so. My previous experience had me as a QA tester for Nickelodeon on a Spongebob game. As for level designer, I am the only level designer for the game we are making for our senior capstone so yes both sound excellent.

bob · 04-07-2010, 10:09 PM

MC,

It sounds like you weren't too excited about one or two of the games you made during college. For the benefit of people who are doing student projects too, would you mind telling us a little bit about what went wrong? Or if you don't want to, maybe something about why one of your games was a success?

Thanks,
Bob