Introducing the Games Game - January 2003

Each month, industry veteran Tom Sloper provides career guidance to game biz wannabes, newbies, and junior professionals with the goal of helping them break into the industry, and stay in. Submit a question to Tom for developer-oriented advice in this column (IGDA members only).

Trust Your Passions (January 2003)

Dear Tom:

I'm a Junior, studying Computer Science. I have been doing my best to prepare myself for the games industry, writing reviews of games for websites and programming simple games. Right now I'm working on a standard Breakout clone. Being a full-time student takes all of my time (45-60 hours/week), and it has been a real struggle to make time to try to build my skills and a portfolio on the side.

I feel like my only chance of getting a job after graduation is by building a game that demonstrates a lot of game-programming knowledge. It's like there aren't really any 'entry-level' positions; that every starting position requires experience. Is there any way for me to just finish up my degree, get a job based mainly on my CS degree, and build my skills on the job?

Dan Roy

Dear Dan,

It's interesting that you are both programming your own game, and writing reviews of existing games, showcasing two different talents: programming, and writing. These two activities both demonstrate your passion for games. But it sounds like you are finding the programming to be a case of "biting off more than you can chew," especially given that you are also applying yourself to your required studies. It sounds like you think you have to program your own game in order to get a game job after college. It also sounds like you would like assurances that there is an easier way - that you can get a game job without going through all that work. I'm just reading between the lines. Please forgive me if my reading is incorrect.

Anything worth doing is hard to do. The best motivation for programming your own game is a passion for games, a passion for learning how they're made, a passion for seeing your own labors turn into something tangible. The motivation you cited, on the other hand, is "this is what I have to do in order to get where I want to go." It's not surprising that this isn't exactly an inspiring motivation.
There are indeed entry-level programming positions that don't require extensive game industry experience. When you graduate college, if you have both a CS degree and a portfolio of published reviews, you should have little difficulty finding a job in the game industry. If you can also manage to build a game demo by the time you graduate, even better. Game companies jump at driven junior candidates. Or, you can wait and create your independent stuff after graduation. If you're truly passionate about creating games, you'll find a way.

45-60 hours a week is precisely how many hours you'll be working once you get into the thick of things at a game company. 45 hours isn't bad - it leaves you with plenty of free time to engage in hobbies and other relaxing activities. 60 hours doesn't leave you as much free time, but you'll still find time to do something you're passionate about.

Lastly, it sounds like you are basing a lot of your future planning on your "feelings." I'm not Obi-Wan Kenobi; "trust your feelings" isn't my guiding light. Trust less in your doubts and "feelings," trust more in the facts and your passions, and you can't go wrong.

Tom Sloper's game biz career began over twenty years ago at Western Technologies, where he designed LCD games and the Vectrex games "Spike" and "Bedlam". There followed stints at Sega Enterprises, Rudell Design, Atari Corporation, and Activision. In 12 years at Activision, Tom produced 36 unique game titles (plus innumerable ports and localizations), designed four games, and won five awards. Tom worked for several months in Activision's Japan operation, in Tokyo. He is perhaps best known for designing, managing and producing Activision's "Shanghai" line. He is currently consulting, writing, speaking, teaching, and developing original games. Find out more at Sloperama.

© 2002 Tom Sloper. All rights reserved.