Open Question: What sort of education do you need to get into game programming?
Kevin Fishburne sent me a link to this “Ask Slashdot” installment, in which a user poses that very question.
The discussion that results is pretty informative; definitely worth a read. It covers a number of topics, including the various issues related to just how…enjoyable it is to work in the gaming industry these days, especially at some of the larger developers and publishers.
My thoughts: I’m a bit spoiled, given both my proximity to BioWare and the various opportunities I’ve had to interact with their developers and project leads. Rob Bartel, one of the project leaders on Neverwinter Nights, was in the choir that I sang in for a number of years; he was an arts graduate who enjoyed live acting (theatre) in his (minimal) spare time. I’ve never met Casey Hudson, the Mass Effect project lead, personally…but I know he graduated from the mechanical engineering programme at my alma mater; BioWare snapped him up to work on Knights of the Old Republic because he a) is a huge Star Wars geek and canonist, and b) built several Neverwinter Nights modules in his spare time.
So I can see and think of examples of guys who’ve broken in to the gaming industry who didn’t come through traditional programming-focused academic routes.
At the same time, two of the guys that I know from my own academic career in computer engineering also work at BioWare, one as an interface developer and one as a web designer for their social platform. Over the summer, the basement suite at my house was rented out to a young man from Winnipeg, a computer science student, who was on his second summer workterm at BioWare as a seasonal programmer. My cousin, a computer software engineer, works for EA in Montreal; he worked for them previously out of their Vancouver office (which produces many of the EA Sports games).
So I can see and think of examples of guys who’ve entered the gaming industry through the traditional programming-focused academic routes.
All of which goes to say, I suppose, that there’s no sure-fire way to break in to game development. In general, experience with various game/3D engines — Unity, Unreal, Torque, etc. — would probably be a benefit to you…but equally, so might being an avid player of tabletop wargames like Warhammer. Experience with programming is of course a must, if you want to get into games programming…but do you need to necessarily go to college or university to learn programming like that? You’ll get some fundamentals in the classroom, no doubt…but if you pick up Unity and crank out a neat little game that you sell for $10 and make a clean $10,000 off of, is someone like BioWare going to look at that your resumé and say “no, thanks, you don’t have a degree?”
I doubt it.
BioWare’s Design Department has always valued modding experience.
More than half of the Senior Designers here originate from the modding community. In fact, we still ask for Neverwinter Nights module submissions for many design job applications.
None of them have a ‘gaming degree’. Their educational background ranges from Hotel Manager to Computer Science Student to restaurant cook. What everyone shares is a passion for games.
While recently the influx of people with game specific degrees has increased, it is by no means required. I wouldn’t even go as far as saying it gives a significant edge. You might get an edge by going to Unversity of Alberta or SMU just because their internship programs might land you a job at BioWare.
I would recommend people to get a non game specific degree such as computer science or art. The industry is chronically unstable and changes quickly having the ability to do something that is not games is a great plus.
Hi Dom, and welcome (if I haven’t said as much to you already). I’m personally quite tickled pink that someone from BioWare is commenting here!
And thanks for your thoughts on the matter! It’s nice to hear someone from the industry chip in to affirm and/or correct my own random musings.
I still check out the BioWare job postings from time to time, though I am always hesitant to apply for fear of landing a job that doesn’t quite pay enough to get my family by. (That, and I lost my submission-worthy NWN module in a hard drive failure a year and a bit ago.) And I always chuckle, a bit, at the NWN requirement when I see it. Though really, given the ease with which NWN can be modded, I can see why BioWare would keep it in place; switching to a Dragon Age mod requirement would probably do no real good.
I don’t know if anyone will read this, but here it go…
The way people develop RPG games nowadays is similar to the way people play games. They have to be developed/played quickly, they have to display/see spectacular graphics and they are directed to/played by otakus or afictionados of art/drawing/cosplay/mangas. In particular, the developers tend to rely more on game-making engines, rather than “wasting time” reinventing the wheel to put their ideas into practice.
Years before, the stereotype of the developer/player of RPG games was those of the nerds, who used to spend a lot of time reading programming books and instruction booklets, playing pen-and-paper RPGs and taking high grades in Math and Physics.
Lots of things have changed. However, some have not. There are still code monkeys who implement realistic physics and graphics and otakus who like to read Tolkien’s books and write story scripts. Both approaches are valid.