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Author Topic: Video Game Design  (Read 2456 times)

Sappho

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Re: Video Game Design
« Reply #15 on: April 07, 2015, 02:18:42 pm »

When I interviewed the CEO/founder of KEEN Software House (makers of Space Engineers) for my magazine, this was one of the questions I asked him. He told me that what really matters is that you get really good at making games. He said that in his experience, it makes no difference whether you get that skill from a school or by teaching yourself, but that you must get really, really good at it before you consider making it a profession. He said he got good at it by practicing and doing nothing but designing and coding things for years. He got most of his experience in a software company (not games), always waiting for the day when he felt he had the skills (and enough money) to get started. He suggested that you should focus either on code or on some specific design skill (3d modeling, graphic design, etc.) - and that the programming will make it easier to find work than the design will. He advised against trying to do both sides of it on your own, though he admitted you can get a lot of experience very quickly by trying to make games entirely on your own (making both the code and the art).

Many years ago I also had the chance to chat with the team who made another game (I think it was Asheron's Call - it was something I had never played but I went to a convention with someone). This was before I went to college, and I was considering going into games somehow. He told me that when someone applies to work with him, all he wants to see is a game demo. He doesn't care about a degree. If you can show him a game that you've made yourself and it impresses him, you've got a chance. To him, a degree means you finished a program in school, not that you're good at making games.

So I pass that on to you. : ) According to the only game designers I've talked to about this, school is generally not necessary - BUT it can be a simple and focused way to get good at programming or digital art, so it's not necessarily a bad decision if you want to get a degree.

miauw62

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Re: Video Game Design
« Reply #16 on: April 07, 2015, 02:22:15 pm »

I'm a maintainer for SS13, and it has learned me a lot about game design. Seriously, find an open source game you like and start contributing to it. It's been a huge education to me, even if a bunch of stuff probably isn't that ideal for "real" coding.

Also helps with dealing with other people's code, which is pretty important too.
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Magistrum

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Re: Video Game Design
« Reply #17 on: April 07, 2015, 09:51:17 pm »

Also helps with dealing with other people's code, which is pretty important too.

This.

Knowing how to deal with people's code, and making your own code readable too, is very, very important for working in groups.(I was just about to strangle a coworker because he would make his code a huge spaghetti and ctrl-c ctrl-v instead of organizing functions and subroutines... Argh!)
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Tylui

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Re: Video Game Design
« Reply #18 on: April 12, 2015, 11:48:15 am »

Also helps with dealing with other people's code, which is pretty important too.

This.

Knowing how to deal with people's code, and making your own code readable too, is very, very important for working in groups.(I was just about to strangle a coworker because he would make his code a huge spaghetti and ctrl-c ctrl-v instead of organizing functions and subroutines... Argh!)

Yep, or modding games. I learned a ton by forking Pixel Dungeon and doing a stupid mod lobby thing. I've since realized I like C# much better than Java, and I'm stuck in the awkward position of deciding whether to scrap or maintain...

(hahaha just one coworker? pobrecito, try an entire codebase of 300 websites all spaghettified with classic asp and no version control besides hoping for old backups. I love my job!)
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Magistrum

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Re: Video Game Design
« Reply #19 on: April 12, 2015, 02:30:07 pm »

(hahaha just one coworker? pobrecito, try an entire codebase of 300 websites all spaghettified with classic asp and no version control besides hoping for old backups. I love my job!)
Now that's just being mean, how much time they leaved that hanging before giving it to you? Are you supposed to update that anytime soon? I'm happy for not being in your skin.
Yeah, everyone is cool and all, will leave comments at key-points, a small .txt with the public functions and their arguments...
But not Marcos, Marcos know better than that. I think I take at least four times more debugging his trash than I would for anything else. He just has a thing against me or something, I always have to correct something he "missed" or just left made by half and then go like "Fix that, it's your job!"
I'l strangle him, but not now... Hehehe... I'm new here, he has almost an year here... I an just the newcomer who assembles the main code, but soon... I'll get him, just he wait.
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