One of those topics (advice)

[sarge mat]

Yea its one of those topics again where I ask about getting into the industry. Hope I can keep it short. So June next year I will be finished my HND (Media Production) and more or less out of college. So I sort of feel I should ask for a bit of advice now and make sure I am on the right track.

I think my mapping is progressing fine with me getting in a few hours most days and I appear to be improving at a good speed. I got lost with 3D Modelling and have since went back to the basics and spend a bit of time every day learning the basic stuff I need.

So I am wondering what my best course of action would be, try to do something else (job in other words) and spend more time mapping , look for internships, or dare I say it go to uni which I would rather not do, would be another three years in education.

I had also considered a three month modelling course at Escape studios in London which is very good I hear.

Anyway I won’t go on any more and hope that all makes sense.

Thanks

Mat

[Steppenwolf]

The job market doesn't look good right now especialy not for people without a lot of industry experience. Let's hope the situation gets better next year but you should be prepared to do something else in case you don't find a job.

Regarding stuff to learn i can only advice you to look into singleplayer scripting.

I'm regreting that i always treated it like a unloved step child before i joined the industry. It was hard for me to keep up with it when i was at Grin and i have the feeling that the lack of experience with it is in my way now for finding a new job. It's definately where i have my learn focus now.

[Hourences]

It is a bit of a difficult time yes. And yes I agree to also get into singleplay scripting. Lua, Kismet, Entity based, etc.

Actually in the first place figure out if you want to go more towards visuals or towards gameplay/scripting.

The escape course is 10 000 pound. May be very good, but that is a lot of money...

And just make cool levels. A lot. 24/7. Just map on until next year. Apply for jobs and see what gives. If that doesn't work out get a normal job or uni and map on for a while longer. Uni would be 3 years yes, but that gives you all the time to become good in this, and you can quit any time you want. If you do find a job half way through...

And having a higher degree may be nice if you ever want to move out to the USA or quit the games industry.

[sarge mat]

Thanks it's great to get some advice from people such as your selves. I am going to start into a bit of L4D mapping soon to swing a bit towards single player or more scripted multiplayer anyway as L4D is a bit of both.

The whole visual or gameplay thing is going to be something I will have to work out. I suppose its difficult to say because every where is different but does the visual side of things lean a lot more towards modelling the different props and part of the level in the work place?

[Sentura]

Regarding stuff to learn i can only advice you to look into singleplayer scripting.

I'm regreting that i always treated it like a unloved step child before i joined the industry. It was hard for me to keep up with it when i was at Grin and i have the feeling that the lack of experience with it is in my way now for finding a new job. It's definately where i have my learn focus now.

this is good news for me. it means my years spent coding aren't entirely for naught.

[Taylor]

Actually apply for jobs, and ignore the years of industry experience requirements unless they're something epic like 4-8. Don't sit on your hands thinking your portfolio isn't good enough.

Though I will second that learning lua is a boon as it's used for a lot these days. I believe NWN2 uses it (though don't quote me) so you might want to check that out for a 'real' implementation.

[madgernader]

What kind of stuff should someone do trying to go with the gameplay/scripting side?

My first thought would be doing stuff like interactive scenes where its not as visually pleasing but has alot backing it doing stuff like ai routines and weather/lighting, and that kind of behind the scenes scripting stuff... But thats just me trying to describe it in my head. I'm just starting college in a couple months so I got time to hope for a market turnaround but I definitely want to build up more skills in the mean time.

[FrieChamp]

What kind of stuff should someone do trying to go with the gameplay/scripting side?

Build a singleplayer mission from start to finish I'd say.

[Mazy]

What the others have already said more or less, although I'd say the emphasis on single player depends on where you wanna go. Its really good to have SP experience, in my opinion doing SP stuff is WAAAY harder than MP, but if you're eyeing out a gig on a MP game then that's obviously totally valid to have experience in, but having a fairly all round skill set is obviously more attractive to employers.

Regardless then just doing lots of different stuff and trying to do a really complete and varied portfolio yielded great results for me, so that's probably the best advice I can give. Goes without saying that its better to have a portfolio displaying 5 unique maps, rather than 5 different warehouse themed maps

[sarge mat]

Thanks guys. Going to work my ass off over the next year and see what happens then.

[dux]

While single player might be harder, don't overlook the fact that having a multiplayer map that PLAYS WELL is a massive plus. People like to see you can do more than just make a box with spawns and guns in it.

[sarge mat]

Thanks Dux.