#61055 - Ahmad - Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:31 am
i'm only 14 of age but i need to know if my high school grades will help me or not and what do i need to become a game programmer.
#61071 - tepples - Thu Nov 17, 2005 4:20 am
High school grades will help get you into college, but standardized test (SAT/ACT/AP/foreign counterparts) scores will likely help more.
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#61078 - ScottLininger - Thu Nov 17, 2005 4:47 am
| Ahmad wrote: |
| i'm only 14 of age but i need to know if my high school grades will help me or not and what do i need to become a game programmer. |
High school grades are important when you're in highschool. They'll get you to the next level.
Punctuation, capitalization, and grammar are also very important. If you are not a native English speaker, then you can be excused for this to a certain extent. If you are a native speaker, then I highly recommend you spend an extra 10-15 seconds before you post. The way you write tells volumes about your general ability to communicate, and that's more important than any high school transcript.
-Scott
#61117 - wintermute - Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:57 pm
#61159 - thegamefreak0134 - Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:37 pm
Let's not be discouraging now. He wants help getting a specific job, not advice as to which job he should pick.
At this point (I'm in high school too BTW) you should probably worry more about getting a degree in software engineering. Take lots of math classes now, and any programming/graphic design/whatever technology courses your high school has to offer. Make sure you try to graduate on the recommended or distinguished plan. Do anything you can extra curricular wise to impress schools. Oh, and graduating in the top 10% of your class is almost a must.
When you get there, make sure you study extinsively and do well on college entrance exams. (SAT and ACT come to mind, but that may be different wherever you are.) Getting a load of schollarships is pretty nice too.
Once you have a major in software engineering or whatever, I hear that you need to actually code something yourself from scratch as a demo. I'm sure more people here can halp you with info on that. However, from your current place in time, don't worry about that too much yet.
If someone disagrees or I've posted incorrectly, let me know.
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#61160 - poslundc - Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:41 pm
There is still good, honest work to be found in the games industry, but it's hard to find. The majority of companies are quick to exploit what I call the "starving artist syndrome" - adopting the attitude that we won't hire anyone who isn't passionate about making games to the point that they won't mind being treated like dirt.
It's a kind of clever inversion of priorities that the companies use to either mask or ignore the fact that the employees are, in fact, the most valuable resource they have.
It's my belief that the few big companies that have achieved international success by adopting this attitude are lumbering dinosaurs. They are financial companies that happen to be in the business of games, not game companies. They continually draw on vaster resources to maintain the same levels of quality (or less), and they will continue to succeed only as long as they can cannibalize at their former success. It will probably still take quite some time, but once their business model is finally proven untenable, I believe we'll see a shift in the industry towards more humanitarian practices across the board.
In the meantime, you may have to spend a few years cutting your teeth at such companies before you'll have the luxury of choosing where you work. But doing what wintermute suggests and not following that career path may be the wiser choice overall. It's possible to pursue careers in parallel industries such as embedded systems - although the educational requirements are usually much higher - and get into games later on, once you have some experience in the software industry, if not the games industry.
I don't personally believe you need or ought to be a starving artist to be passionate about your profession, and I hope I am never in dire enough straits to have to work for a company that treats me like one. I would probably switch industries first... which is why unless you think you'll be content being a starving artist, it's a good idea to pursue a more well-rounded education.
Dan.
#61206 - isildur - Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:53 pm
As long as there will be programmers willing to work 60+ hours a week for next to nothing, there will always be companies that will take advantage of it. And that is true not only for the game industry.
Just before the turn of the millenium, there were not enough programmers on the market and companies would give some great working conditions. I once had a job where they had a pool table you could play anytime you felt like it. They had a kitchen filled with food, beverages and munchies, all for free. Some even had a gym. But there are less and less companies that offer that much to make their employees happy and loyal.
#61212 - Miked0801 - Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:20 pm
And some that still offer those and more ;)
#61213 - Codax - Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:32 pm
First off, it's good that you have a direction you want to go in. The most important thing is to believe and know where you want to go. Once you have your goal you can figure out the best way to get there. (Talk to any AI programmer, lol) Instead of working obsessing on grades, obsess on learning... the grades will follow.
If you can learn enough to make it into AP courses you'll find your college life a ton easier. I definatly wish I'd gotten those Calculus classes out of the way in high school. Don't bother with AP english, college english courses are much more fun.
While in High School, try read as much as possible about computers and programming. Maybe make some C++ apps. Learn DirectX. One of my favourite books was "Learn C++ in 24 hours". Don't forget to go out and date, do things. Experience the world. Love and be loved and all that. There is more to life than video games and coding, those things...can be related to coding...so it's good to experience them ^.^
Good Luck!
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#61273 - Palamon - Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:26 pm
I sure am glad I took AP Calc. and got to skip the dreaded (from what my friends say) college calc 2.
As for your highschool grades and such, what the others have said is true, especially about the well rounded education part and being a top student.
Don't believe those Game design commercials on G4, they are evil.
Plus, if it is that easy to get into game design, then the field is probably saturated, so if you want to get a good job, you have to show skills beyond your average "I like to play games, I want to be a game developer" type person.
As others said, if you don't already know how to program, learn asap.
I taught myself the basics with my good old TI-82 graphic calculator in middle school, making games and pushing the thing to it's limits without assembly.
Then when I took programming classes in highschool, they were a breeze because all it did was fill in the gaps of my knowledge. (My friends and I used to compete over who could put the best extra stuff into our assignments and get the most extra credit :-P)
Anyways, show initative. If you don't know already, learn C++ and learn how to make some GBA games yourself (since you can learn to use the hardware and everything you need is free)
That way you can decide if game development is a career choice or just a hobby.
And if it is a career choice, you already have some useable experience, and an ace up your sleeve at any college/job interviews.
(shows determination and initiative)
#61301 - thegamefreak0134 - Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:16 pm
Ahh... the joys of the old TI calcs. I had a good music composition program that I developed on mine. With the help of an assembly shell, it could even play back the notes through the link port. I got my first programing expirience on that, and still use it to test new concepts so I can see all the things happening in slow motion.
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#61472 - Ahmad - Sun Nov 20, 2005 4:32 pm
thanks every one this helps sort of.
#61503 - MrD - Mon Nov 21, 2005 12:24 am
Never ever stop.
Always think of stuff to do.
Keep a notepad next to your comp and scribble out ideas for games, engines, anything that comes to mind.
But don't forget... although I just said 'never ever stop', you should take a rest every now and then, or you'll be under attack by killer migraines.
If you're really wanting a job in the computer game industry, you'll need to pull a few special moves. If you get a bunch of folks together, and you make an engine, some assets, coupla nice tracks, tie it all together, you're still going to need to get your game 'out there', and that takes incredible amounts of bravado (usually totally unfounded, but nobody cares) and showmanship.
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#61658 - Dan_attacker - Tue Nov 22, 2005 10:46 am
I'm actually working on a RPG on the GBA right now. I only work on it now and then, but progress is moving steadily. I've got some stuff done like text engine, large maps, collision detection, and day/night transitions. But, I have to rework my isometric engine cause it seems too limited.
#61675 - Palamon - Tue Nov 22, 2005 3:58 pm
| MrD wrote: |
Always think of stuff to do.
Keep a notepad next to your comp and scribble out ideas for games, engines, anything that comes to mind.
|
I keep a notebook of my ideas as well. It's the only way I can get them out of my head so I can get to sleep at night :-P
Plus I can't even begin to tell you how many cool ideas I have forgotten because I didn't write it down, went to sleep and forgot most of the cool parts.
Also, by writting down all your ideas, it gives you something to go back to when your mind feels out of good ideas or if you want to just look at the crazy ideas you've had in the past, like playing with an old toy from your childhood.
#62172 - Touchstone - Mon Nov 28, 2005 1:40 am
The place where I currently work said, when I had come to work for them, that they are generally more interested in people who've written a complete puzzle game [although simple and with just a handfull of tracks) rather than people who've written a 3D engine.
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#62184 - tepples - Mon Nov 28, 2005 3:18 am
| Touchstone wrote: |
| The place where I currently work said, when I had come to work for them, that they are generally more interested in people who've written a complete puzzle game [although simple and with just a handfull of tracks) rather than people who've written a 3D engine. |
Too bad I know of no way of relocating to the UK, given my alleged fixation on puzzle games.
_________________
-- Where is he?
-- Who?
-- You know, the human.
-- I think he moved to Tilwick.
#62212 - keldon - Mon Nov 28, 2005 9:50 am
| tepples wrote: |
| Too bad I know of no way of relocating to the UK, given my alleged fixation on puzzle games. |
The human senses are hilarious. They make bitter real hard to smell, so awful to taste and yet so amusing to watch. I think that God on some level wanted to add to its pain by having everyone else laughing at you at the same time. He even makes our face send visual cues as to how much we aren't enjoying it - and they look funny too.