Game Development Community

Crossroads...

by Brendan "Bdn" Hampton · in Jobs · 09/01/2003 (8:50 am) · 4 replies

(Hopefully this is the right forum to post this in, seemed right)
Im 17, I would like to do something in games as a career.
(Iam a hardcore gamer.. Dunno if that counts..hehe)

I currently have no skills that are outstanding.. But Im not sure what I should go into learn. I can either go on & learn C++ (Which im doing a little of right now & I Have always had a passion to program games), Or I can go on to be a 3d modeler.. Taking into account Im no artist & can't draw to save my life..thats for sure.

Sorry for this little dribbel session.. Just wondering if other ppl have gone through the same sort of decision.. & what they ended up doing.
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Brad Metcalf
#1
09/01/2003 (9:09 am)
I went a head and learned how to program. I didnt post strange posts like this.

But only do this if your dead sure you want to do it. Only people that have an interest will do a lot with programming skills.

Also start small. You cant make a Quake, EverQuest, or anything like that for a while. Start out with checkers, tic tac toe, astroids, ect.

Steve Fletcher
#2
09/01/2003 (7:02 pm)
Ah, heck, try it out even if you're not sure. You mentioned that you're a hardcore gamer, so you have one of the requirements for making games already.

Just don't do something dumb like putting all your life savings into making games when you aren't sure you know how to do it.

Take a class in programming at a community college or something to see if you enjoy it. If so, go to college for computer science. However, you must be perfectly happy being a regular programmer instead of a game programmer because that's probably what will happen.

And I must warn you that programming is in a kind of recession right now.

So you might want to focus on art, but I know nothing about that. Since you said you have no artist ability, that might be a bad idea though.

However, even if you don't join the game industry, you can still make games in your free time.

A word of advice though: if you decide to make a game, help someone else make their game first. Try to find someone more experienced to work with.

[editted for spelling]

Torque Owner Addie Wagenknecht
#3
10/20/2003 (9:53 am)
Art and programming are equally hard fields to get into- esp. in this economic downfall and esp in the PNW where programmers are a dime a dozen.
I have found that knowing both is a very important assiset and can usually get you more jobs in the beginning

Torque Owner Jeremy Alessi
#4
10/20/2003 (10:27 am)
Go around online and check out the various engines and programming languages for games. You'll also find various links for art programs. Check them all out and begin making game demos. Once you made a few demos then make a whole game. Once you've made a game or 10 then attempt to get a game published. Here are some links from this site.

http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=category&qid=80

http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=category&qid=49

http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=category&qid=48

After you've begun making the demos/games you'll realize what part of game development you like most. Then you could persue the indy dream if you want or join up with a company.