Getting into the games industry

[Louis Simpson]

Hi Guys,

I am looking to go to uni and study either a computer science degree or a computer games programming course. My dream is to become a games programmer and to be involved in producing great games.

I dont have much experience in the world of programming but i am very willing to learn and do anything that will boost my chances of getting my dream job in the games industry. The only real experience i have is modding games on the xbox and PC such as call of duty 5 zombies and fallout 3 on the PC. The mods were all downloaded and just installed into the data folders of the games and put on a usb, so nothing really that required much skill

So to my question, What would be the best university course for me to do either a general computer science degree or a computer games programming degree? and what is the best advice that any body can offer to me in trying to persue my career in the games industry?

One last question is there any one out there which could suggest any places in the UK which may be willing to offer me a year placement for my third year at university?:smilie:

All answers are very much appreciated

Thank you guys !!

 

[Andrew Sayers]

Welcome Louis Simpson

I am a programmer, but not in the games industry. I can't tell you much about universities and such, but here are some personal opinions about things you might like to try:

• I generally recommend the Extra Credits videos to anyone that will listen - they're a fascinating weekly look into the world of game design, and very accessible too. In fact, they even have an episode on this very question (part 1, part 2)
• This is a somewhat unorthodox argument, but if you're specifically interested in programming but have never written code before, try playing an ancient PC game The Four Crystals Of Trazere (also known as Legend). It's a piece of abandonware that's probably older than you are, but the magic system and many of the puzzles surreptitiously teach you the fundamentals of programming while you play. Oh and you can learn a lot about low-level development by hacking the saved game file
• Since we're talking about 90's games on the Frontier forums, I should mention that if you've played Frontier: First Encounters, you might be interested in the programming magic they used to cram a universe into a floppy disk
• Modern programming is a big career - maybe hacking bytes out of a saved game isn't your cup of tea. Take a look through Elite: Dangerous' design discussion archive, which is full of documents actual developers will base their code around. Reading through that might give you some clues as to what you're good at and where your interests will lie
• Finally, all this research is great but the only way to learn to code is to write code! If modding is your thing, the simplest thing you can do is look for bigger modding challenges

 

[MikeSnos]

Welcome Louis.

If you check out the Elite Dangerous Updates forum you'll see some threads entitled 'Meet the Team'. Some of the FD team members mention in their interviews how they got into the industry so it may be worth your while to read some of the interviews given.

Best of luck to you!