Hey guys. I am new to the forums. I am currently a junior in a east Texas high school. My grades are decent and my GPA is a 3.14. Hopefully by my senior year that will go up ( to maybe a 3.5 ). For the longest time I knew that what I wanted my career to be when I grew up had to have two things: a demand for creativity and a fun and relaxed work environment. The answer was simple: the video game industry. Now I am no artist ( though I am good with graphic design programs ) so I do not plan on being a concept artist or anything like that. I also do not enjoy English ( well, not the parts when I have to analyze some dead guys writing ). What I plan on doing is starting off as a programer. Currently, I am taking computer science ( we learn java ). Next year I plan on taking AP computer science. When I graduate I plan on going to a local college to get my basics done ( it is FAR more cheaper this way ) then I plan on going to UT North Texas at Denton or Angelo State in San Angelo. Right now I am more towards ASU due to cost but I am sure I get into both ( I get automatic admission ). Either way I plan on majoring in computer science with a emphasis on game development. This way I can ensure a job even in the event that I can't get into the game industry( which hopefully won't happen ). And no, I do not care for a masters in CS. That just takes more time and I have no patience. I want to get into the industry as soon as I can.

So as part of the game industry, what do you guys think? Am I on the right track? If your not in the industry, what are doing to get into the industry?

On a side note HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

Hey! Welcome, and good luck with your endeavour :)

During your studies, definetly start on some small, yet "serious" game, Solo or perhaps with some friends and see how you like it. If you're really good & lucky, you might even pull of a Minecraft.

To be entirely honest though, have a backup plan. Game Programming for big companies isn't as glorious and fun as it seems. I've got a few friends working for the big names with 2 or 3 letters and they have told me the same thing: The priority lies in meeting a deadline. They "hate" it so much, that they wouldn't even think about game programming in their free time. To them, what started out as a hobby and dream job has turned into nothing more than a paycheck.

If you want to have fun in Game Programming, you should probably join a smaller or Indie company. The problem obviously is the pay. Small teams come and go, you won't have the security of a big company.

Buuut that's still a while ahead. :D


I actually started out quite similar. Game Programming was a big hobby of mine during School and always had the dream of becoming a Dev. I finished school, joined a small, tiny, start-up company working on a shooter. (This was during the Counter-Strike peak-Time, everyone wanted shooters) It was fun, We were just 2 coders, so there was always something to do. As it was a start up, Payment wasn't high, as a matter of fact, it stopped after a few months. But I still kept working on the project. As I was still living at home, and didn't really care much about money, this didn't bother me. But the others left one after another. Eventually the whole thing got cancelled and we sold all the Code & Art to another company.

Not the brightest story to tell, but this is how it goes. Luckily, I always had a backup plan, and it's working out great. I still spend alot of free time doing Game Programming and it's more fun than ever :)

unless you are a crack consultant
game programming is a lowly paid highly skilled job

better to earn lots of money writing business software
and write games on your own time

a nice situation is to be a consultant to large companies
where you work over the internet

then you can do your work in 2 hours ... because you are smart *-)
and spend the next 6 hours writing games

and business software (web, sql, winforms, services) is so easy you don't have to use your brain

The game industry is fun...but hardly relaxing. Creativity wise? Most likely you won't really have much of your own creativity, you'd be most likely making what people already tell you to make. However, when you go up in rank and job station, more and more creative control will fall on you.

It is hardly ever relaxing though. Prepare for 18 hour work days, tight deadlines, frustration, (lot's of it), things breaking apart, not working, etc.

Big misconception is that the game industry is a lot like playing a video game. When I went to college for my game art and design bachelor's most people went in with an attitude that if you like to play games and can either program or draw you should go make video games. By the end of the first year, a good third of the students in my department dropped out.