Game industry questionmarks

    Quote from 2d-chris

    Still the fact is - if your good at what you do, you will find work. If you are not good and have a qualification you will not. If your good and have a qualification you will. Yes i'm an optimist All you have to do is decide if you're willing to study for 3 years or go for it now I kind of miss not going to Uni/College just because of the social scene.

    Never underestimate modding, even if the mod dies chances are you will meet lots of interesting people many of who are in the industry or will be soon. I never did a game design degree but in most cases you don't get the same kind of FREE exposure. When it comes to the arts industries the age old "it's who you know not what you know" really is true ... at least when it comes to breaking in to the industry.

    Just to clarify my position, I do agree with your post. Modding still is one of the safest way to get in the industry when you're a designer. Art wise? Not so sure as there are plenty of great programs out there. My position regarding getting a degree is all about preparing your future. When you're 35-40 (or whatever) and you become tired of designing levels, that degree will help. Again if you're a designer, no program out there can help you more than modding experience would.

    "drunken rant"

    that's al very interesting info you guys put up here i've been reading a lot about how to get into the industry.

    i'm considering to attent a art school of some sort preferably a game design education.

    the thing i struggle the most with right now is what school/direction do i want to go?

    here in the netherlands there has been a insane growth of game design schools courses etc...

    some of them are pretty good but theres a LOT of crap education where they dont really prepare you well for the real thing so it can be pretty frustrating to find one you're really happy with

    i've been doing level design for about 7 years now just doing whatever i want to, lost interest more than once over the years and found myself pickin up the work again and again so i've become pretty sure that i really like to do this.

    never really finished anything though, working on my grale map for over 4 years sometimes makes me think i never will finish it but im getting closer haha

    learned a hell of a lot of things from it and eventhough i find learning programs like photoshop and 3dsmax really fun it really bothers me that i cant have direct feedback on something i create ofcourse i can get enough feedback throught the internet but dont think its anything compared to being in a real school where you work together with a lot of people and that makes me want to attent school again.

    im really curious about how others around here got to be where they are right now so looking forward to reading more here.

    "/drunken rant"

    I saw someone say "Learn some texturing" as a recommendation. How exactly does one do that? I was under the impression that while there's a lot of mechanical stuff, knowing how to shop, knowing about the formats and sizes and different layers and stuff, the core thing for making a texture is an artistic skill.

    Then develop a basic artistic skill for 2D Art? If you want to do level design you better understand why textures have the colors, shapes, layouts, etc they have anyhow. It is a small step up from that to creating your own textures. They don't have to be briliant, but basic knowledge really...

    Rockdude when I started there were no educations yet. The same goes for many people. We all got in through modding and just working really hard and getting lucky. Times have changed now though, so again, the question whether or not to attend a school is a rather complex one and depends on many things.

    I am partially Dutch, there are indeed many bad schools but also a couple of good ones apperantly. The one in Breda seems quite decent for example. I have been considering starting up my own level design education, not a full time one, but a one day in a week type of course. It would be quite costly though, to get the expenses covered, so I wonder how much someone would pay for such a very specialized course?

    ah thats pretty cool hourences.

    have been checking out a few schools already theres one in zwolle wich is the nearest for me but its not really a good one. have to check the one in breda though so tnx for the info

    also i've been looking around for private schools like qantm college in amsterdam but thats really costing because you cant get a scholarship for that here.

    Quote from Hourences

    I have been considering starting up my own level design education, not a full time one, but a one day in a week type of course. It would be quite costly though, to get the expenses covered, so I wonder how much someone would pay for such a very specialized course?

    i think that's a brilliant idea. you should try and contact a few universities and see whether they would be interested in creating a course for that sort of thing. otherwise i reckon it would be too costly for all parties involved.

    Hourences, in this day and age, why go to the trouble of setting up a course at a uni or something.

    Why not just press record and fraps your monitor and speak into your microphone or something and sell "episodes" for like 10$ each?

    Because for that you need flawless English. If its face to face theres more to it than just your English, plus, not living in the UK or the USA most of my students wouldnt be native english speakers anyhow. Now that would be different if I were to sell videos.

    I also think it is important to give face to face feedback on issues, and talk things through. It is about more than just explaining how to make a cube basically, and stuff never works out like you explain it. You can explain how to do this or that but the guy is likely going to experience something that wasnt planned nor mentioned in your video.

    And, there are quite a few videos and tutorials already. Specialized classes on the other hand...

    I have considered setting up a net education environment though and do full online courses, but Im not sure much interest there would be in that, and perhaps more importantly, if I would be able to handle the much larger workload that brings.

    It's still something I consider doing though. Plus its an idea I could really far by taking in additional people later on and all.

    And about teaming up with a uni: then you get the crap that the uni would like me to have at least a bachelor in whatever, or perhaps even a teachers degree. And I'd have to listen and convince people that know nothing of this all the time...

    You dont need an education to teach at uni anymore, the school can take you in on "special terms" for teaching a lesser course. (Its usually used for students teaching other students, but works for outsiders with no degrees who are specialists at their field as well). It doesnt apply to science subjects ofcourse, but for a level design course; sure.

    This is at least the way things work in norway.

    But if you really spend some time to plan out videos and make them lengthy and in detail, explaining basically everything you could most likely sell well. Even with a weird english accent, which probably wont be so bad once you redo the voice on the videos 10 times

    Quote from Hourences

    And about teaming up with a uni: then you get the crap that the uni would like me to have at least a bachelor in whatever, or perhaps even a teachers degree. And I'd have to listen and convince people that know nothing of this all the time...

    i don't know whether you've tried to pitch this to any universities yet, but i know the one i am at right now would welcome you with open arms. you've released books, you've got a strong portfolio and good work references. if that doesn't say anything about you skill level, then what does?

    if a university tells you you're lacking a degree or whatever, explain to them what it means to have hands on experience and how you can teach people for more practicality. while theory may be academic, it doesn't work well when you're sitting in a corporate environment. if they can't understand that, it's their loss. it's not like you're going to beg them to take you when there are thousands of universities in europe alone; and i am willing to bet there are more than one that would willingly accept a pitch or proposal.

    if you really want to do teach vis-a-vis, it's probably the most accessible solution.

    Heh, funny timing. Last week I did an interview for a danish radio station about being self taught with success, its being aired today actually.

    I don't really have anything special to add either. When I started mapping there weren't really any game related educations here in Denmark, so from the very beginning I kinda had the attitude that if I wanted a job in the industry I'd have to do it by myself, and while going to school I considered it a mere distraction and that the mapping I did in my spare time the real education. After I finished high school, I started working very focused on creating the best maps I had ever done, with the plan being sending them to Io Interactive, and basically aiming to get the job in the first go. Now Io were also kind enough to offer me a trainee position at first, because I had very limited 3ds max experience at the time, and if I had been aware of that being as large a driving force as it is then I'd definitely have started learning that earlier on, knowing as many engines and modelling packages as possible is never a bad thing, even if just on a basic level.

    Sadly, I think the current climate is pretty rough for people that don't have pinpoint accurate skills for the place they're applying to. I've definitely heard of, and seen fewer and fewer trainees being taking in, so that's also starting to become a less viable way of getting a job. But then again, it also varies from place to place.

    I do think that learning it on your own can still work, but you have to be very good and dedicated in this day and age. And if you aren't just naturally good, you really have to put in the time and just hone your skills. And although others in this thread have mentioned trying to learn various skills and be more of a jack of all trades, then I'd definitely start by focusing on level design/game design, and figure out exactly if that's what you're passionate about.

    Hope you figure it out

    Quote from Furyo

    When you're 35-40 (or whatever) and you become tired of designing levels, that degree will help. Again if you're a designer, no program out there can help you more than modding experience would.

    Yes but also don't forget that most people who stay in the industry for that long don't stay level designers for 20 years, they climb up the ladder and become managers, producers, etc.

    Quote from kleinluka

    Yes but also don't forget that most people who stay in the industry for that long don't stay level designers for 20 years, they climb up the ladder and become managers, producers, etc.

    They need degrees to do that, which reinforces my point that people should get an education

    Quote from Furyo

    Yes but also don't forget that most people who stay in the industry for that long don't stay level designers for 20 years, they climb up the ladder and become managers, producers, etc.

    They need degrees to do that, which reinforces my point that people should get an education

    Not necessarily, our producer is damn good and he ain't got a degree.

    Quote from Furyo

    Yes but also don't forget that most people who stay in the industry for that long don't stay level designers for 20 years, they climb up the ladder and become managers, producers, etc.

    They need degrees to do that, which reinforces my point that people should get an education

    At Ubisoft yes, but there are plenty of places and ways to become a manager in this industry without a degree. It largely depends on the type of company, their leadership, and the age of the industry in that particular area.

    Where do you live Sentura?

    Thats a cool course. It is exactly what I would want to do. Three months is just about perfect, and he asks a boatload of money for it. I wonder if anyone bites? Anyone happen to know anyone who attends it?

    You mean qantm? They are private, at least in Holland and charge 12000 euro or so a year.

    Sentura sure, some info is never bad. Tak!

    On a related note, I've been offered to do a presentation down in Florida at Full Sail, and I can't figure out whether I even have something of any interest to say and therefore whether I should accept. The presentation can be on whatever I want, and the crowd is going to be mostly artists and animators, both fields in which I wouldn't know where to start. Have you guys had similar experiences?

Participate now!

Don’t have an account yet? Register yourself now and be a part of our community!

Register Yourself Login