Scott Bilas

Dungeon Siege

Current project:
Dungeon Siege. I build back-end systems, such as scripting, file and resource stores, the game object database, save game, etc. I also work on other random stuff like multiplayer, localization, and taco acquisition.

Academic Info

College: Iowa State University
Degree: Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering

Were there any particular projects or areas of study that you pursued?
Not really, I was trying to get into the field as fast as possible. I did spend considerable time unsuccessfully attempting to beat Doom on Nightmare mode, however.

Did you do any internships?
Yes, at the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation. I wrote software that would control robotic arms and eddy current scanners, and eventually turn it all into a squiggly line on a chart with lots of pretty colors. That was a great experience, as I got to see the research community first-hand. In thirty years, I plan to grow a big hippie beard, return to research, and make some more squiggly lines.

Career Info

Tell us about your first job in the industry. How did you get the job? What was it like? What were your responsibilities?
My first job was at Edmark making a 3D front-end menu to one of their educational titles (think Doom + swingin' polyhedra). I did some other odd stuff there as well that I can't remember, including some Mac portability work which was pretty fun. I was your typical junior guy who thought he knew everything and had a lot to learn about being a pro. Luckily, I got smacked down hard and came to my senses. Edmark was an important experience for me.

What jobs have you held in the games industry thus far? Briefly describe the career path you took to get where you are today.
Edmark: grunt. iCat: architect and project lead. Sierra: architect and technical lead. Gas Powered Games: grunt/architect.

Advice

What fields of study, specific courses, or life experiences would you recommend to students interested in your field?
Fields of study are mostly irrelevant, though I highly recommend history and sociology courses. Oh, wait, and CompSci as well, so you know the vocabulary. But life experiences are the most critical, of course. Go to school, live in a cruddy dorm, do labs with bad partners that don't care. Be around people as much as possible, ride the bus, get out of your damn car, avoid insulating yourself from the world outside your world. Go snowboarding with friends often, whatever it takes to break free. Engineering is at least as much about working with people as it is about building systems, so get started learning how to interact with people as soon as possible.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you before you got into the games industry? Is there anything you would have done differently?
Yeah, I wish someone had said "network" a little louder. Making contacts and friends in the industry is very important. There is nothing I would have done differently, though. Every experience, good or bad, is ultimately beneficial. I think the lousy experiences are the most valuable. Hold onto your failures and learn from them. Be patient with others. This is Human Existence 101 stuff but many people don't understand these are important things in a work environment, especially one as highly compressed as a game development shop.

As games increase in complexity, what are the various kinds of jobs that you foresee development companies needing in the next five years?
Database engineers, mostly. And more systems architects. As an industry, we brute-force way too many things, and we're past the point where throwing money at a problem will make it go away. We have to work much smarter than we have been, so we can build these more complex systems more efficiently, without it taking any more effort.

Do you have any other advice or recommendations to share with students who are interested in doing what you do?
Students: you have more to learn than you could possibly imagine. Be patient. Keep your eyes open, pay attention to everything, learn whatever you can about all things.