High School

[Ajax]

I am a junior in high school, and I am very confused as to what can be done to prepare myself for a career in game design. I have several concepts and ideas, but I do not know what areas are more important than others. I consider myself a talented writer, but I need improvement in my hand-drawn artwork. Is that even important? What can be done during high school to help one's self achieve their dream job in developing video games?

[Maj Boomer]

I would say that it is never to early to build a portfolio of ideas and game design projects. If you have some of the games that have editors (Unreal, Half-life, ARMA, etc.) you could build a portfolio of levels and artwork with those. Read some of the books that the industry is using as textbooks. I have one called "Game Development Essentials (CDROM)" by Jeannie Novak. I got it from Amazon for less than $50 The CD that comes with the book, has the editors and sofware you could use to start your portfolio.

Of coarse there is always the ever popular "keep your grades up, stay off drugs, and stay out of trouble".