[gameprogrammer] Re: programming

Hey Marc!

IMO just like anything else, if you have a passion for making video
games, and you work hard to learn as much as you can, and it's what
you really want to do, you can become a game programmer easily :P

I myself am a professional game programmer and got there by just
taking a few programming classes in HS and a little bit of college (no
degree).

What got me in was I did a TON of game programming on my own since
junior high, and while i never finished a game really, but was always
working on something new, learning some new technique or trying
something I had never tried before.

Books are your friend!  Find books on interesting things (like
specific types of games you might want to make, or artificial
intelligence etc) and learn as much as you possibly can, and write
code using what you've learned so you have hands on knowledge about
it.

There are a ton of pitfalls and traps you can hit in writing games,
and through blood, sweat, tears and reading good books you'll learn
the tricks to avoid them and get good over time.

You may have to start in the industry as a tester or as an intern or
something like that, but getting your foot in the door is the hardest
part and once you do that, things are a lot easier.

Or another way is to get a job programming in another industry, and
after you get professional programming experience on your resume, try
to make the jump into game programming (thats what i did and it worked
well!)

My advice:
*Make lots of different kinds of games and get as much experience as
possible with as many things as you can.
*Try collaborating with others on games such as artists and other programmers.
*Also keep your code around (and binaries) so you can show it off to
prospective employers if they want to see your work in action or see
your source code.
*Get lots of books about game programming and learn from them!
*Go to college.  It's possible not to but it's easier if you do.  Go
to a game programming school if you want to, digipen in washington
state seems to be really good.
*Don't give up, you can do it if you try! (:


On 4/16/08, max joncas <the_cook073@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hey, I know im sorry i have no answers to your problem, but u might have one
> for me, I'm 15 and I'd like to become a video game programer.Any hints,
> studies, anything that could help me. Needed qualities and stuff.
>
> Please answer back, thank you
>
> Marc
>
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