[LONG] Questions on getting into the game industry

[theNoss]

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[yaustar]

Q. Should I be worrying as much as I am with 2 more years to go in high school?
A. No. You have years to think of this before you make your career decision.

Q. Should I really start working on one specific thing like modeling and work on it as much as I can?
A. Try everything, find something you like and focus in it.

Q. How will the college courses work? Will they require me to be pretty good at the things, lets say modeling or could you go in there with little to zero experience?
A. You should be able to "go in there with little to zero experience" and learn. Knowing material beforehand would help though.

Q. Are there courses(college) for video game design in general and not just one specific thing or something? I think I heard there was but the games they created there were pretty bad but I really don't know.
A. Yes, but generally they stuck.

The replies you got from GameDev I believe say the same.

[jillduffy]

Hey theNoss,
We might be able to help you if you tell us more about yourself.

1. Name three things you love (and yes, video games can be one, but make the other two answers unrelated to games). Really think about this question. Maybe you love a sport. Maybe you love arranging all your CDs in alphabetical order. Think about the things that make you lose track of time -- what are they?

2. What is your strongest school subject?

3. When you're on the computer, what are you most likely to be doing (keep it clean! e.g., writing email, reading email, playing casual games, noodling with your machine, watching video clips, and so forth).

4. If I were to ask your best friend what is your best and worst attribute, what would he or she say? Now, if I asked one of your teachers, what would he or she say? How would your parent(s) or guardian answer that same question?

-jillduffy

[yaustar]

Originally Posted by jillduffy

Hey theNoss,
We might be able to help you if you tell us more about yourself.

1. Name three things you love (and yes, video games can be one, but make the other two answers unrelated to games). Really think about this question. Maybe you love a sport. Maybe you love arranging all your CDs in alphabetical order. Think about the things that make you lose track of time -- what are they?

2. What is your strongest school subject?

3. When you're on the computer, what are you most likely to be doing (keep it clean! e.g., writing email, reading email, playing casual games, noodling with your machine, watching video clips, and so forth).

4. If I were to ask your best friend what is your best and worst attribute, what would he or she say? Now, if I asked one of your teachers, what would he or she say? How would your parent(s) or guardian answer that same question?

-jillduffy

I have to ask, how are these relevant to the OP's questions? (Not baiting, just very curious).

[jillduffy]

My questions are meant to get a feel for the personality of this reader. Is s/he creative? Organized? An idea generator? Technical?

At age 15, I think we may be able to help this reader out best by offering suggestions as to where and how s/he might fit in with the game industry based on personality, rather than skills -- at 15, I don't think anyone has had much time or chance or reason to develop too many high level professional skills. So I'd like to help this person envision where and how s/he would fit in.

Sometimes you can do that by assessing personality. I'm looking to find out not what hobbies and passions this person has, but what those hobbies say about how s/he operates, thinks, communicates, etc. Producers tend to communicate in a different way than, say, artists. So do writers. Programmers tend to think differently from artists.

Maybe I should have asked "What are your Myers Briggs results?"

As a side note, I took those cheesey "what job suits you" tests in my school days, and every single time, I got "farmer." Oye.

[fullmetal84]

where I went to college, we did have a video game design concentration. I am graduating from that this weekend. Essentially, the curriculum was a regular computer science curriculum with some elective courses in video game design. Since this was tied into the computer science department, the backbone of those courses was programming, but that was not all it was. We started out in the simple IDEs, like GameMaker in the first course, and we progressed into a DirectX 9 based engine to complete our advanced course. Also, in that advanced course, we created our own models and assets to include in our 'games.' Like you said, the games created were nothing special, but that was because it was a learning experience the whole semester. Our 'games' were really glorified 1- or 2-level demos. However, everything was created by us. I enjoyed my time there, because I got a well-rounded computer science education while also getting introduced to how game programming works. If you want to check out my 'game' you can head over to the demo section at jmanafi.webclickgo.com

-Jonathan

[theNoss]

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[jslade8581]

Originally Posted by theNoss

4. One thing they would all agree with is that I'm pretty organized with anything really. As for my worst attribute... I really don't know, I couldn't be the one to tell you what my worst attribute is :S. If I saw myself how other people saw me, I would be flawsess, after all I am myself ;P.

theNoss,

I'm just guessing here, but I think jillduffy was looking for a bit more. By answering this question more honestly, you provide an insight into your personality that will help see which part of the industry is a better fit for you.

I recognize that it's really hard to self-evaluate, but it is something that you'll need to learn; you'll be doing a lot of it when it comes time to apply to college.

Here's a simple example (this is JUST AN EXAMPLE, people!): I carry a lot of stress around. On one side, that's great for work - I treat every project like it's the most important project, and I will literally work myself ragged to ensure it is completed properly and on time. On the the other side, that's bad - in really big projects, I can work myself to the point where I stop sleeping properly, let my health falter, etc.

Anyway, good luck. (I still hate self-evaluating too, but if that would help out the Administrator in pointing me in the right direction, I'd do it.)

[JasonTR]

Originally Posted by jillduffy

Hey theNoss,
We might be able to help you if you tell us more about yourself.

1. Name three things you love (and yes, video games can be one, but make the other two answers unrelated to games). Really think about this question. Maybe you love a sport. Maybe you love arranging all your CDs in alphabetical order. Think about the things that make you lose track of time -- what are they?

2. What is your strongest school subject?

3. When you're on the computer, what are you most likely to be doing (keep it clean! e.g., writing email, reading email, playing casual games, noodling with your machine, watching video clips, and so forth).

4. If I were to ask your best friend what is your best and worst attribute, what would he or she say? Now, if I asked one of your teachers, what would he or she say? How would your parent(s) or guardian answer that same question?

-jillduffy

Jillduffy, I'm sure you don't find a compliment from a new member such as myself to be of much worth. But, I have to say, I found your questions to be extremely articulate and inquisitive. I just wanted to thank you for your help on the boards.

[theNoss]

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