Zaph,
Since your a working member of the community care to share any wisdoms about the real world? [:D]
Always great to find out where people started, how they got where they are, what duties your current position involves....
"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002
The industry is rapidly changing. The only recommendation is learn as much about everything - hardware, optimization, 3D, AI, etc. as possible. There are a ton of brilliant people in the industry, but many old farts who haven't kept up with the times and are becoming less in demand.
Oh yes, if you do next-gen work, you have to know your maths and physics....
I know Zaph is on holidays after working 1.8 years on Grand Prix Challenge, but I'm also eager to hear how he got started/about his work etc!.. (I'd also like to hear what he has to say about the 'old farts' remark too. hehe. I would've thought it'd be the other way around. Having that much experience surely accounts to a lot)
quote:Originally posted by Souri
I know Zaph is on holidays after working 1.8 years on Grand Prix Challenge, but I'm also eager to hear how he got started/about his work etc!.. (I'd also like to hear what he has to say about the 'old farts' remark too. hehe. I would've thought it'd be the other way around. Having that much experience surely accounts to a lot)
I'm back :-) after a lazy 10-weeks of holidays :-)
What was the question again ?!
How I got started:
I wrote my first games back in high-school on the TI-99/4A and got some published in a book in 1982/83. I then went to Uni, got a real job, saved the world, and *then* discovered that you could actually get a job programming games!
In 1995 I started at Beam Software (aka Melbourne House, aka Infogrames Melbourne House) and have been there ever since.
I started as a senior programmer, then progressed to Lead Programmer, then to TDG (Technology Development Group) Lead, and now I'm a Producer (yes, I went over to the dark side!). For those that are interested here is the amount of time spent programming each position (I'm making the numbers up)
Programmer - 70-80%
Senior Programmer - 60-70%
Lead Programmer - 10-30%
Producer - 0%
quote:The industry is rapidly changing. The only recommendation is learn as much about everything - hardware, optimization, 3D, AI, etc. as possible. There are a ton of brilliant people in the industry, but many old farts who haven't kept up with the times and are becoming less in demand.
ok, I think I disagree with this.
If you want to be a lead programmer then this is probably true, you need a good grounding in every field. However we are becoming more and more specialised these days - you couldn't create Grand Prix Challenge with a team of general-knowledge programmers, you need specialists who know their area inside-out - and we are moving more and more in that direction as teams get larger and specialisation is even more important. The same is becoming true of artists too
Old farts are always in demand... the technology behind games is important but the hardest thing to find in this industry is experience in game-making - not the coders who know what a quaternion is and how to program the different units on a PS2 (although we need them too) - any decent programmer can have a shot at learning that, but someone with 5-10 years of experience making games knows much more than programming.
Having said that, old farts need to stay up with the times... many techniques have gone the way of the dodo as hardware changes and new features in games have new requirements (an obvious example is the 2d-3d switch over the last 7-8 years).
Zaph
quote:Originally posted by Daemin
Hrm, I would've figured being the lead programmer would result in about 30-50% coding?Also what other qualifications do you need (or experiences) to become one of those "Lead" guys?
Nope - it's definately nowhere near 50% for a true lead.
We're talking leading a team of 10-20 programmers, so much of your time is taken up just organising those guys, helping them out, talking with management, etc
A Lead Programmer needs many things - a few are:
- Great people skills, they need to be able to organise and rally a team to do the job. This is not-negotiable as far as I am concerned. I consider a Lead Programmer as a leader above a programmer.
- Great programming skills (even if they dont get to use them as much)
- Great understanding of games and their game in particular, as well as all the things that go wrong in making a game.
- Knowledge of all areas of a game (but only enough to converse with management, spot problems, and to be able to ask the right questions of other programmers)
There's much much more too, thats just a sample of the kinds of things we look for.
Actually I'm a Holidaying member of the community at the moment!
I'll do a proper reply to this tomorrow.
If anyone really needs to know what I've worked in a hurry [:D] then wander over to my website: http://www.torps.com and click on 'My Games' to see the list.