[digitalism]

Hey all. I was just wondering about game development industry, such as what positions (art/coding etc.) are there availible and what software do people in those positions use. I love digital art more then anything in the world as well as coding and i'm thinking about learning 3d modeling/animation (let me have info on this please; such as books/urls etc.) and at the same time going to an institute to learn programing. Any comments/suggestions are really appreciated!!! Thanks for your time.

[aquamire]

Go here http://www.gdmag.com
It's an extremely good magazine aimed towards current developers, written by developers. I get it free. They make money off the advertisements in the magazine, but dont worry.. the advertisments are all geared towards game development, and some are actually advertisements from the game companies themselves, such as Blizzard, saying they're looking for new employee's.

While a lot of the stuff in this magazine is pretty far above my head, it does offer a very good indepth view of the professional game development scene.


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/Aq
[email protected]

[waylon]

Well, the jobs available are about what you'd usually expect (art, coding, music, and various executive positions.) Games are complicated enough nowadays that you can specialize a bit and only work on a specific portion of a project (for instance, one person will make 3D models, another will texture them.) Same goes for programming, certain sections of the code will be developed primarily by specific people - one person might be in charge of the network engine. But everyone will work on a little bit of everything. Texture artists will need to know how to model. Modelers will need to be able to texture their objects in a crunch. And, no matter what kind of art you do, a strong traditional art background will help immensely.

As for software... I think the big ones now are Max and Photoshop for art, and Visual Studio for programming. Different development houses WILL use different tools though, so don't base your entire resume off of "I know how to use max!" But good art (or programming) skills are MUCH more important than being able to use a speicific program well.

If you're really interested in learning more about the gaming industry, I suggest you visit http://www.gamasutra.com on a regular basis. They post 4 or 5 articles every week on various aspects of the industry, lots of how-to's, etc. You can learn a lot. Read everything. And be sure to go through their archives a bit too.

Hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask! I'm sure there are any number of people on here who can help.

[waylon]

Oh, hey... now that I've read aquamarine's post...

Yes, Game Developer is an excellent magazine too. Some (but not all) of the articles from Game Developer show up at gamasutra a few months later (they're the same people.) If you can afford it, get it!

[29A]

I'd say... make up your mind...

concentrate on coding OR art... most of the industry is extremly focus on the one person do one thing approach... it's great if you know a litte of the other since you'll be easy to talk with for the other group, but as I said, FOCUS and be great at one and mediocre at the other... unless you have spare time or the talent to do both really good...

you can change your mind later if you want...

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.sig
I'm not defect!

[Brain]

I found a really good book to read on the gaming industry was Game Design: Secrets of the Sages which comes with Game Programming Starter Kit 3.0. Got it as a pressie off my brother, and although I haven't tackled the programming part of the kit, I've read through the book heapsa times. Definately worth a read if you can get your hands on it.

I agree with 29A. If you love graphics, focus on graphics. But don't just do graphics. If you can get a good understanding of programming (C/C++) you'll be more employable. I've been talking with local developers (local being Brisbane area) and they've told me there's an over-abundance of artisans, and programmers are getting hard to find. So if you go for programming, it shouldn't be too hard to find a job within the industry if you rule at it. But if you're a graphics freak with a dark side of programming that could be used for game related stuff, not only will you be more employable, but you'll understand what everyone else is doing, which is a priority in teamwork.

In short, if you're gonna be working with games on the art side, at least have a fair knowledge of programming. You'll assist in making better games because of it.

Cheers!

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Brain
http://brain.gamekey.com/

[CyberArtist]

Asking what kind of software is used by the game development industry is like asking what software the film industry uses... anything you can buy, and some you can't.

As far as 2d artwork goes, for the most part it's what ever you want to use, as long as the work is good, and you can whip out the textures with good speed. I know some guys who do most of the texture work by hand with natural media, scan it, and make it tileable, add details, etc. Other people use photos and alter them a bunch. Some just dabble in painter. Most use any and all methods available to them.

For 3d modelling people use Lightwave, 3dStudio, Maya, Softimage, etc. etc. etc. Some companies write exporters for specific 3d modelling packages so you're forced to do the final modelling and animation work in that package (though modelling in another and then moving the data to the other for final touch up and exportation is not unheard of). Other companies write their own import programs, be it a simple .dxf importer or a full on animation, UV map and bone setup program that imports file formats from every known modelling program.

Programming is the same way. I don't think you want me listing that stuff.

Level design is a biggy too. Depending on the graphics engine used, people either use 3d modelling programs, or internally writen programs made specifically for the engine in use. Some companies live in a middle ground where they build the levels in 3d programs, then have a program to place entities, and do lighting with.

If you can do more than one job, you're more valuable. Companies love people who will model, texture, and animate a model themselves, or level designers who can do their own textures, lighting, item placement. Programmers who dabble in sound creation or story writing.

Larger companies like EA or Rare tend to be more focused, with many hands touching any one peice of content. It's kind of an artistic version of the assembly line. Has it's problems at times, but you'll often get more diverse work, and can often be faster if managed well.

Smaller companies like id have people doing more by themselves. One guy does as much of the work as he can. Artistically, this often means more of a defined style, keeping things more consistant instead of a hosh-posh of random art.

I, personally, try and learn as much about all parts of what goes in to a game as I can, from programming to artwork to the overall design. The more you know about everything, the easier you are to work with since you have some understanding of what other team members have to do, and a better understanding of what is possible with your software on today's hardware. But, definatly, don't try and learn to program AND learn art, do one or the other, and simply stay knowledgable about the other.



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-CyberA(rtist) aka Ben Golus

Cyber...

[digitalism]

thanks all