Any Bros In The Gaming Industry?

[IL TJ]

This question has been on my mind for a while... Perhaps someone from Treyarch lurks around these forums ;D

[guy]

Treyarch has stated they don't monitor any forums other than their own (which is currently quasi-broken).

Well, they have the Twittr feed...

[imrlybord7]

I hope to go into the game industry in 4 or 5 years.

inb4coolstorybro

inb4calloutforusinginb4

[Dissentia]

Meh, I'm a QA tester for 2K.

[imrlybord7]

What does that entail? And how did you get the position?

I hope you don't mind, but if you would let me do a bit of brainpicking every once in a while I would be extremely grateful.

[Contrary]

I sprite a little and have contributed very small amounts to indie game projects.



Little guy I made.

[n1gh7]

One day I wish to be able to work on balance for FPS games. It would make me so happy to have at least have one game that I think is perfectly balanced.

[ArtSorr0w]

I'm a QA Tester at Raven Software.

I got the job because I had previous experience in the game industry as an Artist. Turns out I like QA'ing much better. For the most part if you want to get into the game industry you have to either be really good at what you do, or know someone.

[battleaxerx]

I'd try QA, but I doubt I could compete with some of the 1337 kids that apply.

[glshane]

This is a tough field to get into, and often not rewarding once you do. People that "develop" games make very little money and work obscene hours. The way the industry is currently operating it's nearly impossible for independent developers to create their own games. Almost all money made in this HUGE industry goes to the "publishers" (like EA). It's no wonder that 95% of the games made are terrible.

This will change, because the money is there and because there are smart talented people working in the industry that really love it and want to change it. But at this time it's kind of like the golden studio days in Hollywood. It might take 30 more years before it's a viable career path for a young student.

[mw0swedeking]

Super Meat Boy

[ArtSorr0w]

Dec 18, 2010 20:15:38 GMT -5 battleaxerx said:

I'd try QA, but I doubt I could compete with some of the 1337 kids that apply.

I would take someone with intelligence over someone that plays well any day. You can teach someone to play the game, you can't teach them to be smart.

[Dissentia]

Dec 14, 2010 18:05:21 GMT -5 imrlybord7 said:

What does that entail? And how did you get the position?

I hope you don't mind, but if you would let me do a bit of brainpicking every once in a while I would be extremely grateful.

I don't mind at all, sorry I took so long to respond; I've been pretty busy. Most QA testing for games is basically looking for bugs on the specific build you are working on and then making sure they are fixed in later builds. Also, you are often given checklists to help you find bugs, and to ensure that things are in working order. Builds can come as frequently as 2 a day, and checklists can be massive. You generally work on site and are paid $10-12/hr. There is headroom for upward mobility, but only to a certain extent, the lead tester position is pretty much the ceiling. I got the job like any other, I relocated to an area that has lots of developers/publishers (SoCal) and I started sending out applications and resumes, and later doing interviews. When I interviewed for 2K, they asked what kind of games I would like to test, and an adamant "First Person Shooters" meant I didn't get a call back for 6 months, when there where some FPSs up for testing. The game I'm working on has been in development longer than any other game ever, shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Again, sorry for the late reply.

[imrlybord7]

Oh wow. I'm assuming there is an NDA you signed, but any chance it will have been worth the wait?

And thanks very much for the response. Don't worry about the delay, it was just a few days. I really want to become a creative director/lead designer, preferably at Ubisoft Montreal or Rockstar. If it doesn't work out (and I know full well that I would not land a position like that right out of college) I might just write my games as books and then see if my chances improve.

[aranshada]

So nobody wants to be an actual programmer...?

I feel so alone.

[n1gh7]

I would like to input the values for all the variables for the guns... actually, I would just like Den to do it.

[Contrary]

I've messed around with Game Maker and modded a little- but I'd rather be an artist of a dying medium.