icould - Careers Advice, Choices & Ideas

Are you considering a career in video gaming? Laura Weir, the HR Manager for Jagex and Fiona French, Course Leader for BSc Computer Games at London Metropolitan University, were both on hand and answered all of your questions.

This was a fantastic opportunity to get the inside track on an industry which is predicting growth, in spite of the recession.

And here are your questions and answers:

Careers in Computer Gaming Questions

• What sort of things make employers pay more attention to you?

Fiona: Make sure you write an individual application to each company, address the correct person and demonstrate clearly and succinctly your skills and enthusiasm for the job. You should target your job application – this means doing some research into the company so you can write a letter that sounds as if you know something about your employer, rather than sending a generic CV and portfolio to everyone.

We are constantly told by employers (from a range of industries) that they want graduates who are responsible, mature and have good communication and team-working skills. What do they really mean?

When you are employed, you have to turn up on time and meet deadlines – so you have to be able to manage your time effectively. It may seem obvious, but “good communication skills” means being able to write clearly, as well as speaking with confidence; and it means being able to read and digest written information, as well as being willing to listen to other people.

Our most successful students not only have good degrees, they also have a positive and enthusiastic attitude to life, which comes across when they speak to other people (for example in interviews). They are highly motivated, independent and ambitious. In most cases, they started to do relevant part-time work or internships prior to graduating. Often, they identified topics they planned to pursue after college, and started to learn independently.

The ability and willingness to solve problems and learn new things is vital in any digital industry, where technical innovations occur every day. Being able to demonstrate such an attitude will impress your future employers.

• I’m in college and do a lot of creative writing. My goal is to eventually write dialogue and storylines for video games but I am unsure about how to break into the industry. What do you suggest?

Fiona: Try and find actors to read your scripts and give you some feedback. They could be drama students, or if you’re lucky, a local theatre group may offer this facility to new writers.

You could have a look at some of the machinima (3D animations rendered via game engines) that have been developed, and perhaps try creating one yourself. The graphical quality is poor, but the best ones have great scripts and voice-actors.

I expect you know that script-writing for video games is not necessarily linear. If the player is exploring a new world, they may encounter characters and conduct a conversation, or then again, they might skip this stage. Even when dialogues provide vital information that progresses the game, they can often be accessed in random order. Characters that appear to exhibit some artificial intelligence are quite interesting – you might have to develop a series of prompts and responses that depend on a complex set of circumstances.

You could look at each of these game-specific scenarios and think about how you might approach the problem. Your character-arcs are going to be very important, so be sure to develop them well.

Laura: Be judged. Create entries for competitions or simply on big websites where people publish short stories. Get feedback!

Write fan fiction based on popular games OR write a short story about someone else’s idea. The idea of limiting your creativity to fit into a certain design is great experience.

Start script writing. Don’t just do short stories. Dialogue design is a vital skill. Short stories are a great place to start but really are only used as a style guide when it comes to writing words for games. I find that trying to write a one act play or something like that is actually better experience for writing for games than short stories.

Create an independent game and publish on a free games site. Games companies always listen more to a candidate if they can see their work live.

• How do I find out about jobs in the industry? Where do I begin to look? And more importantly how do I stand out?

Fiona: My best advice is to start to do independent research to find out which companies make the kinds of games you like, then find out which companies specialise in using the kinds of skills you are developing.

Browse the games production company websites to see their vacancies section, and check out what skills are requested in the job specifications. Some companies also offer internships and placements, although there is a lot of competition for these. For example, see Rare: http://www.rare.co.uk/ and Kuju: http://www.kuju.com/careers.php . Blitz: http://www.blitzgames.com/ offer Open Days for students every year, where you can go and meet key personnel, show your work and ask questions. Obviously, if you have attended such an event as a student, you are in a better position to target your application to the company when you graduate.

Games companies often have stands at big events, and you may be able to talk to recruitment personnel and show your portfolio. It may be worth trying to go to the free Expo that is part of the annual Develop Conference: http://www.develop-conference.com/ or visiting games careers fairs when they occur in your area. Check out London Games Festival: http://www.londongamesfestival.co.uk/ and GameCity: http://gamecity.org/about in Nottingham.

There are also some recruitment agencies that specialise in games industry jobs – Datascope: http://www.datascope.co.uk/ and Aardvark Swift: http://www.aswift.com/html/index.jsp spring to mind. Their websites include useful advice sections.

Laura: Skillset provide good information about job roles within the industry www.skillset.org, take a look to understand more about what different types of jobs there are and what they involve. Build your knowledge of Games Studios, each one will have their own website which will give information about careers and opportunities, a lot even give you hints and tips about successful applications www.jagex.com/corporate/jobs . You could contact the trade association www.tiga.org.uk for information on Games Studios and jobs. There are also lots of Jobs board on the web that you can browse.

The most important advice we can give is to get your work into the public domain, we spend a lot of time trawling the web to find individuals’ work to try and spot talent that we would like at our studio. It isn’t all about you looking for us, we also look for you!

• What software and equipment do I need to know my way around in order to succeed as a music composer for video games?

Laura: Audio developers are expected to have a very good working knowledge of a wide variety of Music Technology programs and equipment, including the popular sequencers and DAW’s (Digital Audio Workstations), wave editors, plugins etc. Skills with MIDI instruments and most types of popular studio hardware is often required; advanced use of synthesizers, samplers and effects units usually need to be demonstrated.

Companies will often use proprietary and custom software to implement the audio into their games, so a good knowledge of programming is an advantage. Experience with audio middleware solutions and/or a game editor program is also a plus. Along with this traditional studio techniques such as tracking/recording, microphone placement and usage are often utilized dependant on the exact role within the department.

• I want to start Game Designing but not sure in which area. I have no programming experience and I am terrible at drawing so if an experienced individual could just give me some guidance I would appreciate it.

Fiona: In BSc Computer Games (design pathway), we start students off on this route by discussing different game dynamics (essence of the game) and mechanics (how to play). They work in teams on specific game design briefs, but the output is all paper-based, so no need for programming skills. An ability to represent something literal on a piece of paper, or to make diagrams is useful. The games are always tested – this stage is fundamental and students learn a lot when other people start to try out their ideas.

Essentially, game design is an exercise in logic; computer game design is a type of software engineering.

My advice is to read widely on the subject. Trigger Happy (2004) by Steven Poole: http://stevenpoole.net/blog/trigger-happier/ and The Art of Computer Game Design (1982) by Chris Crawford:
http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html are both available online. Gamasutra: http://gamasutra.com/ has a range of articles and it is free to join. Try some of the exercises set out in text books, such as Challenges for Game Designers (2009) by Braithewaite and Schreiber.

Another useful step would be to try your hand at modding – redesigning part of an existing game. Choose a game you enjoy, then try to build your own level or quest by using the game editor (if one exists). If you try your mod out with friends and it is good, you may have the option of uploading it to a community forum, thereby publicising your design. The ability to create a good mod shows that you have an understanding of what makes interesting gameplay.

You would also benefit from getting some work experience testing games (QA), as this will increase your critical awareness and give you an insight into the design process at the critical stages of development.

Laura: What all company’s look for when trying to fill a game designer position is a proven track record of designing games. Now this seems like a chicken and the egg scenario; “How can I design games without being employed as a Game designer?” The simple answer is “Design some games”. You don’t have to make a computer game to be a game designer. Try making a board game or a card game. All games are simply a set of rules governing how the game works. Computer games do this with mathematics and algorithms, but you can do this with a simple pen and notepad. In essence what a game designer does is generate the rules by which the game will be played and anyone is capable of doing that, no special skill required. Having said this, graduate game designer positions are extremely rare in the industry, I advise you to foster another skill that could be useful to the production of games, or at the very least something that a games company in general could use. This isn’t as hard as it sounds as games companies tend to require a diverse skill set from their employees, just like every other type of company.

• I am currently studying an Art foundation course at university in the UK. After completing my foundation course I have narrowed down my degree options to Game Design. However, after much research into the industry I have come across a mixed bag of responses on how beneficial this degree is to be employed by a Games firm. I have seen numerous statements saying that a general Art degree such as Fine Art is of more use. I would have thought doing Games Design shows the Employer a greater level of dedication and having a greater understanding of the skills needed at a professional level. I am extremely passionate about art and I love spending my spare time playing games, I feel that I have the drive to achieve my goals of working in the industry as a games artist – more specifically a 3d modeler and concept artist. What do you guys recommend for me to do Degree wise?

Fiona: People often get “game art” and “game design” confused, because of the association between art and graphic design.

Game art refers to (i) concept artwork, which requires excellent drawing/painting; (ii) 3D modeling; (iii) and animation, which requires the ability to evoke emotion through movement. Game design, on the other hand, refers to the ability to develop the theoretical concept and logic of the game.

There are many art and animation degrees that will give you the opportunity to develop your skills, but a degree in Game Design is likely to focus on other aspects, even if some 3D work is included in the syllabus.

On the other hand, it may be interesting and useful to get some insight into other aspects of the game development process, but this would mean that you will have to be very independent with regard to developing your own artwork portfolio for employers.

Laura: A degree will not automatically guarantee a job in the games industry. From my point of view, it does show passion for games and also will certify a certain level of ability to pick up theories and deploy them in different tasks. It is important for you to try to narrow down what you really want to do. Concept artists seldom do modeling as well as concepting (maybe in smaller games studios).

Modelers sometimes texture their models as well as building them. Whenever you have found out what you want to do from a broad perspective, try to narrow it down a little more; do you want to be a general/ hard surface/environment or character artist.

Overall the main thing is to get right is your final show reel. To me – the show reel means a lot and I would be likely to pick someone with a slightly lower distinction and better show reel than somebody with a First and a poor show reel.

• I was looking around at some game developer websites when I noticed that a lot of them are looking for animators and such on a consistent basis. Most of them require that you have experience with Maya, 3ds, or other comparable software. Autodesk is ridiculously expensive and doesn’t fit my budget in the least. Are there cheaper versions of Maya or Autodesk that I could get a hold of, and where can I find them? Or is there “comparable software” that is either cheap or free and would be accepted by most companies?

Laura: There is a free version of various mod tools out there, for example XSI; http://www.moddb.com/downloads/xsi-mod-tool-601

Also Blender is an alternative – although it is not generally recognized by the largest games studios as comparable to the three largest software – that said, it is the result that counts.

http://www.blender.org/

Make sure not to focus on learning the software – but to learn the principles instead e.g. of modeling -they transfer between different software and all you will have to do when switching is to learn the new keyboard shortcuts.

There is a “˜Public Learning Edition’ of Maya here which has all the features but is watermarked and not for commercial use:

http://www.softlist.net/program/maya_ple-download.html

You can get the free version of Gmax (essentially a stripped down version of 3dsMax with no rendering or high spec features). This might be a touch out of date compared to the latest build though – but would be a solid basis for learning the tools.

http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

I’m looking for someone who can model or animate well in any program, rather than someone who’s an absolute whizz and specialises in just one. If someone shows me great looking meshes in Rhino 3d I’m still going to consider them seriously. Good artists can always re-train in which software they use so candidates shouldn’t get too worried about a particular package.

Is the game industry, as sexy and enticing as it appears to be from the outside or is it really no different from any other industry?

Fiona: Games and films and television have a broad appeal because the products are so well-known.

The reality is that the games industry requires a lot of very hard work from a lot of highly skilled personnel. Games often need to be released for particular marketing deadlines (such as Christmas) and the staff are required to commit to long hours in order to finish the product. This is known as “crunch time”.

However, rumour suggests that as the bosses get older and find themselves reluctant to work all weekend or all night, so the working environment may be gradually improving for everyone.

Laura: The Games Industry is serious business so in many respects it is like any other. As an industry it is incredibly fast paced due to its progress being based on technology. Here at Jagex we pride ourselves as industry leaders in the technology we develop to distribute our browser based games, as a result opportunities to work here are very sought after, this makes for a very competitive environment where jobs are concerned. The same will apply to other Games Studios, all with their own niches and therefore requirements for talent. We employ intelligent people; a big attraction to working at Jagex is working with other smart people, having the opportunity to learn through the challenges they face and the problems that need solving. We put a lot of work into maintaining the right culture so all this is possible, as a result our working environment and perks are fun, quirky and stimulating. So from the challenges staff are set, the peers they work with, and the culture that holds it all together you could say it is incredibly exciting!

• How much do designers get involved with balance of a game? For example a project that you were working on was released, after release since a game can’t be perfect, how much designers are involved into balance? What should be changed in the next patches and who has the final decision about the list of changes?

Laura: The designers are responsible for the balancing within the game in its entirety. If a game is released with an unbalanced mechanism, the designer is at fault. I also dispute that a game can’t be perfect upon release. It can, it’s just difficult and often time consuming to get it there. The designer will use lots of different opinions in the decision making process; QA, their junior designers, potentially using focus groups or beta testing, to give them the information they need to make a balancing decision, but the decision and the responsibility is ultimately theirs.

• Composing music vs. Designing Audio – What is the difference? I’m used to thinking of music in notes and theory, so how does that apply to designing audio?

Laura: Dependant on the type of role, you may be required to compose music or design audio, or both. Music for games covers a wide spectrum and might include large orchestral compositions, modern genre themes, jingles and motifs. So you will be required to have a wide repertoire of styles and inspirations to draw from in your music production. You may have constraints on the size of your musical tracks and work to specific criteria so experience of working with the different file audio types and formats will be an advantage. Proficiency in your particular musical instrument is a big advantage although composing will primarily be done using DAW’s and may include both MIDI and audio data, nevertheless any musical skills you might have can normally be drawn upon.

Sound design is the production of effects and atmospheres used in games and require different skills to that of composing, although many composers will have a natural ear for producing interesting sounds in their compositions. This is where knowledge of Music Technology – Synthesis, sampling and the use of effect units will apply.

Sound design often includes implementing your designed sound effects into the game engine as well as creating them, therefore experience in using game editors, and/or experience in basic programming are all advantages here.

• I’m in my final year of University studying BSc Computer Games Development, my question has sort of been answered by my own lecturers, but it’d be nice to see what others have to say on it. Basically, I just want to know what kind of things jump out at a potential employer when you receive a portfolio of work for a developer job. What specifically do you look for? A specialisation of sorts, such as a particular area of AI or graphics? A variety of different games and style of games? Clean, commented, legible, and efficient code? Something else? Or all of these? Also, even though a developer doesn’t need to be able to create good art, do games with good graphics make you think “This is good” or do you just look at how the game works? Meaning, if someone’s graphics are just coloured blocks for instance, is that likely to make your initial impression negative?

Fiona: Games developers who want to work on console games need to be able to program well in C++. There is also a lot of work for AS3 programmers developing casual and online games in the digital media industry, and plenty of work for people who can develop mobile applications.

You need to have some completed projects – for example, a small game; a fancy shader; an AI demo. Your code should be well-commented and clear and bug-free. You need to understand about optimisation for different platforms, even if you haven’t tried developing games for them all. You should have an online portfolio where potential employers can view your work. You can specialise later.

I would encourage programmers to create games with amazing physics executed with blocks and spheres, rather than waste their time wrestling with Maya models or downloaded samples. However, if you can work with another student who can produce the artwork for your game, then that demonstrates your team-working capability.

Laura: This completely depends on the area you’re looking to get into or the position you’re applying for. But you can use some common sense when understanding what the position is likely to require. As a piece of advice, always tailor your CV to the role you’re trying to get. From a coding perspective, what we look for is hobby coders, candidates who have spent a lot of time making games for themselves. This means they’ve experienced all aspects of the coding process for making a game. We like highly efficient, reliable, easily maintainable code and we examine the code of any project we get in a portfolio. We also make all our prospective candidates go through a series of assessments so quite often it’s how they perform on the day, rather than what their portfolio of games is like that really makes the difference. As for graphics, a coder that can do graphics is useful certainly, but I’d always employ the better coder first and foremost. My advice is make games in your spare time, as many as you can in as many different genres as you can.

• I’m in the process of doing My Scottish highers (maths, english, physics, Information systems and music). My greatest hobbies are music, sport and computers. I have experimented with a few “Game makers” and enjoyed it but want to learn more about it. I would like to go into the gaming industry but I really don’t know where to start. So what should I start doing to get me into this industry? Also how long does it take to gain a decent salary in the business? and how easy is employment in today’s economical struggles?

Fiona: Perhaps you should download and try out the various free game and software development kits that are available for hobbyists, such as: Unity, UDK (Unreal) and XNA Game Studio. Some require more knowledge of programming than others, but the Internet is full of forums and tutorials. If you like playing with those, consider a degree in games programming that focuses on C++. If you change your mind about entering the games industry, you’ll still have a highly valued qualification.

Alternatively, music technology could be an interesting degree choice for you.

I always recommend that people make time for higher education, because of the key skills you gain and the people you meet. In the three years you spend at university, you have time to explore your options. It is also true that our best students have often been those who have had work experience before studying or who have come back after undertaking a work placement module. As a result of this, we offer short internships to all our final year students, working with Gamelab London: http://www.gamelablondon.com on various client-facing projects.

With regard to the current economic climate, it looks as though there will always be plenty of contract work for independent programmers and artists, but game companies are likely to reduce their core staff to a minimum to avoid extra expenses in times when work is thin on the ground.

Laura: You need to think about what your strengths are, but also what your passion is. Getting a job in the Games Industry is very much a reality even in a weaker economic environment if you can demonstrate both potential and aspiration. Take a read of the other answers given to get an insight into what we look for in an individual and what you should start doing. In terms of salary, as with any job role, if you act on your potential, build your skills and overachieve you will be rewarded for this.