Finding a job ...
Kevin Schraith
I am assuming this is a proper forum for this question, but if it isn't,
please direct me to the correct place. On to the actual question.
How exactly would one go about getting a job in the computer game
industry?
This is a very broad question, so I guess I'll qualify it. I am a
senior in Computer Science at the University of Illinois. I'm now feeling
the real world breathing down my neck, as graduation swiftly approaches. I
have been doing a lot of research into the more traditional forms of
computer science applications, but my instincts tell me that designing
business applications is not going to make me happy as a career. Part of
the reason for this feeling is two summers of internships at large, 3 letter
corporations which left me cold to the Big Biz culture. I would really like
to use my programming skills on an application which interests me, and
computer entertainment seems like the most likely field.
I don't know exactly what I am asking for here. I am assuming that there
are people reading this notesfile that actually support themselves by
programming games, and may be able to give me suggestions (or at least their
own experience as far as how they got into the field). It doesn't seem like
the kind of job you would just send a resume and cover letter out for, and I
certainly don't expect to see any game designing companies recruiting on
campus. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. will be greatly appreciated.
If any recruiters for computer entertainment companies are out there, a job
offer would be a good start :)
Thanks a bunch,
Kevin Schraith
ke...@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
Timothy Cain
> How exactly would one go about getting a job in the computer game
>industry?
Well, I'll tell you how I did it. This may not be typical, but I don't
know how others did it. This may be long-winded, so jump to the end
for the morals of the story if you want.
Ten years ago I was in high school in Virginia. I had learned quite a
bit of Basic and Pascal, but more importantly, I had learned all about
the graphics modes on the Atari 400/800. A small local company
advertised a job for someone who could write them a specialized
graphics interface program that woule make their Atari 800 a front-end
for a mainframe-based cable game company. I wrote it for them quickly
(2 weeks) and cheaply ($240, can you believe it?). They hired me a
month later, for the amazing (to a teen-ager) salary of $6/hour. :-)
Well, I worked there every summer for three years, into my college
years. They went bankrupt (not my fault obviously!), but not before
they put out Grand Slam Bridge for the IBM PC, in which I did some
minor C coding (in fact, I _learned_ C by doing that coding). I
graduated from college and went on to grad school in California. After
a few years and a Master's, I wanted to do more game work, so I
blanketed the West Coast game companies with my resume. My cover
letter said I was looking for a full-time position or contract work,
and that I had experience with a published computer game.
I got "Thanks but no thanks" letters from about 80% of the companies.
Some never even bothered to respond. But Interplay did, and I picked
up a contract from them in April. Six months later (ie. 2 weeks ago),
they published Bard's Tale Construction Set, my first baby, so to
speak. :-) In the process, I learned more about graphics, assembly
language, and game design that I think I _wanted_ to.
Whew! Some morals to my story include:
1) Be an expert at something. You need to know C by default, so learn
about graphics and assembly coding. Dr. Dobb's journal (especially
Michael Abrash's column) helps A LOT!
2) Don't be afraid to send out resumes cold. The worst they can do is
say "No thanks". Addresses are available from most advertisements.
I used Computer Gaming World as my source. It also lets you know
what the current "competition" is like.
3) Read the classifieds carefully. Just last Sunday the LA Times had a
3 line classified for an 8086 assembly language programmer for a
game company.
4) Write your resume and cover letter with computer games in mind. I
don't think Interplay cared one whit that I had a Master's degree
in Computer Science in AI. They cared that I knew C well and had
some experience with a PC game already.
5) Don't give up! You may need to do some other computer work for a
while, and your first job may not be doing a whole game yourself
or net you lots of money. But if you want to work in the game
industry and not in a 500 company, you need to be patient.
I hope this helps.
Tim.
--
Timothy D. Cain
Department of Information and Computer Science UC Irvine
ca...@ics.uci.edu (ARPA)
Timothy Cain
Something I forgot to mention in my previous post:
Non-programming experience can be _very_ relevant in getting a job
with a computer game company. During my initial interview at
Interplay, my producer wanted to know what computer games I had played
and how good I was. He was very happy to learn that I played and DM'ed
D&D too, since the Bard's Tale games were rpg-based. And, of all
things, having been a God on an LPMud helped too. I described building
my big Castle Fred, and he said something like "That's exactly the
kind of stuff we want in the Construction Set".
And my friends thought I spent too much time with those things. Go
figure. ;-)
Matt Telles
>Hello,
>
> I am assuming this is a proper forum for this question, but if it isn't,
>please direct me to the correct place. On to the actual question.
>
> How exactly would one go about getting a job in the computer game
>industry?
>
Well, it's like this. For this most part you don't. The game industry has
become about as saturated as any other computer area. However, before I dash
your hopes too much, let me offer some other information.
Over in misc.jobs.offered, Atari Games was looking for people, as were a few
other game companies. This might be a good place to start. Alternatively, go
to your public library and look up the names and addresses of companies that
write games (if you have the initiative to find them, they might be interested).
Good luck,
Matt.
--
==============================================================================
Matt Telles mat...@auto-trol.COM
{...}ncar!ico!auto-trol!mattel
Auto-trol Technology 12500 N Washington Denver, CO 80241-2404 (303)252-2874
James Hague
>
> How exactly would one go about getting a job in the computer game
>industry?
This is one of those fields in which you have to prove yourself,
at least somewhat, before you are taken seriously. It's like the
publishing industry. *Everyone* wants to write a novel or at
least get published in some way. But no publishing house in
their right mind is going to just send anyone a contract and
say go to it. Okay, it *is* possible, but highly unlikely.
You need to get something on your game writing resume first.
Write a game for SoftDisk, get something out as shareware.
You gotta start somewhere. There is a big difference between
approaching a company and saying "I've written these games"
versus "I'd like to write games." Or you could just try to
write something very professional on your own and use it
as a portfolio.
Of course, with games getting more and more complex, I would
think that some of the big software houses hire people for pure
programming, no hand in the design, functions. I don't know
anything else about this, though.
Just some thoughts.
--
James Hague
exu...@exu.ericsson.se
DE Robertson james an 301-740-9172
>In <1991Nov19.1...@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> ke...@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Kevin Schraith) writes:
>> How exactly would one go about getting a job in the computer game
>>industry?
Here in Baltimore, I have seen MicroProse advertising for programmers in
the Sunday classified section. They seem willing to take resumes from
people with C/80x86 programming skills from what their ads say.
-Jim Robertson
Kerry E. Wilkinson
MicroProse Games
180 Lakefront Dr.
Hunt Valley, MD 21030
P.S. You may want to tell them in your cover letter that you were given the
address by me, Kerry Wilkinson (programmer M.P.Games Technologies, formerly
MicroProse Games). Good Luck.
Tom Czarnik
Come to the Computer Game Developer's Conference! The 1992 Conference
will be held April 25-28 @ the DoubleTree Hotel, Santa Clara, CA.
Advertisments galore! Offers in the hallways! A fellow was offerred
a job at Park Place Productions (ABC Monday Nite F-Ball, John Madden
F-Ball Sega & Ms-dos) for contract work on Bo Jackson. He turned it
down to finish up his degree.
Last year's lectures, roundtables, and debates (especially Chris
Roberts vs. Chris Crawford on design) were good.
Wannabees are welcome! Please understand this is NOT a convention!
For information watch this space or write:
DEVCON
Suite 289
5339 Prospect Road
San Jose, CA 95129-5020
Tom
--
Inet: pro...@netcom.com
UUCP: apple!netcom.com!profile