Questions regarding future career.

[Atheist]

Hello hello.

Im 18 and ive only got 1 more year to go in school. After school Im thinking of going to a game developing university not far from where i live. However..

*Would it be better to go to a university that teaches more...general programming? Is there a bigger chance for getting a job then?

*Does a game developer (or a programmer in general) earn a decent paycheck? I enjoy coding yes, but I want to have a job that can provide some cash

*What would YOU do?

Replies will make Athe happy!

[si_the_geek]

In terms of "General" vs "Game", you are more likely to get a job with "General", but with slightly less pay (and probably less fun, if you really want to do games).

In terms of Game jobs, the chances of getting one depends on the amount of companies near you (or you are willing to travel to), and the level/quality of competition. I would estimate that only about 1% (or less) of programming jobs are game related.

In terms of pay, either tend to be well paid compared to other jobs - but with outsourcing etc, this may change.


I wanted to do games, but ended up doing a "general" degree (after checking out the chances of game roles - you basically needed to know the staff already, or have written Quake by yourself).

After Uni, I got a "business" job straight away, and to be honest was never too bothered about not doing games - the work you do isnt much different.

[BillBoeBaggins]

While I do not work in the industry, I do have a close friend that does. Expect to work 12+ hours a day as a programmer if not more. So weigh that option as well. We make the same amount of money where I just do business reporting but he has to spend TWICE as much time at work then I do and is salaried. However he does have more enjoyment in his work. So I guess it balances out.

[Atheist]

hmm I see..
I dont necessarily have to make games. Its just that that uni is the one closest to where i live
And Ive heard that Digitall Illusions (makers of Battlefield 2 etc) are "recruiting" people from that university. But perhaps it would be a safer bet to go with "general" programming...

That 12+ hours kinda scares me off...Si, how are your working hours? Alot of work and no play?

Thanks

[BillBoeBaggins]

One last comment. If you have an interest in doing game programming, do it. Generally speaking you could always quit doing game dev and move to a regular business job. Harder the other way around.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Many programmers do the long hours because they enjoy the work. Not all, though. Personally, I'm a fish biologist who does some programming as part of his job....and does some on the side for fun. If you go with a more general degree, there are numerous industries out there that will hire just one or two programmers. We have just hired one to do something that was my third job. This person, who is an actual programer, and is called such, has just spent the last few days in Stanley Idaho learning how to count salmon redds, which means he was wandering around in one of the best wilderness areas in the country with a bunch of easy going folks, and partying in the evenings with a bunch of half-drunken easy goin folks. Next week he will be joining me on two trips to wrestle Chinook salmon in beautiful areas.

The point I am getting at is that there are some companies that are all about programming. At those places, you can expect to spend long hours....programming. For most of us here, that's not a bad thing. However, there are other companies that are all about other things. At THOSE places, you can expect to spend more reasonable hours programming, and might be able to do some fun stuff on the side for variety. Of course, in the case I'm talking about, we're state employees, so we don't exactly bring home the big bucks. On the other hand, when I bought my house, three years ago, this was a very cheap part of the country to live in. Not so much now, but my house and I appreciate.

[triggernum5]

That 12+ hours kinda scares me off...Si, how are your working hours? Alot of work and no play?

Its not that you HAVE to work 12 hours a day.. Programming allows you freedom in allocating your time.. Basically you can work any 120hrs/week you choose..

[RobDog888]

Its not that you HAVE to work 12 hours a day.. Programming allows you freedom in allocating your time.. Basically you can work any 120hrs/week you choose..

Now you tell me.

I agree that you must love what you do or else you wont be able to handle those times when you will have a deadline and budget to maintain and will be working off hours to stay on track.

Starting off in Game programming will have its advantages if you ever try to switch to general programming. It may be hard for you to be taken seriously especially since you are young to get into the field which ever you choose as experience and education are the key factors.

[penagate]

I have to say, do what you can to get into the industry. Do volunteer work experience or whatever it takes to get something programming related on your CV. Employers value industry experience just as much if not more than qualifications. And if you are fully qualified you will have the experience on your side and be more likely to be considered than a candidate fresh out of school/uni with no job experience.

If you feel like you would rather do game programming than regular "business" coding than go for it. Programming-wise you will learn the same techniques and probably with more of an emphasis on producing efficient code too. The most important attribute of a professional coder is versatility.

[si_the_geek]

That 12+ hours kinda scares me off...Si, how are your working hours? Alot of work and no play?

Even with big projects/tight deadlines, I have never actually worked over 10 hours a day (office rules restricted to that), and usually did 7 (what I was supposed to do).

For a couple of months I worked with a contracting company (in their offices) who were doing some programming work for us - they had a very strict maximum of 9 hours, which was all the office was open for each day (and you were only expected to do 7). If you were behind on a project they got you got more team members to help out.

The chances of being expected to do extra hours depends on various things, such as the role, company, location, deadlines, ...

[BillBoeBaggins]

Si_the_geek,

This is a personal question but has bearing on the topic, were you hourly or salaried. Most companies won't make an hourly (or contracted) person work more then a normal day (cause it aint free). My experience really comes from only one friend I have in the industry, and I think the time demands can come from if the game company is designing their own game (meaning they dictate the time/release schedule) or if another company contracts them out handing out your company a tight schedule of deadlines for different pieces. He works for a small shop where big companies contract them out to write their games for them. Oh, and was the shops you were working for game dev shops?

[si_the_geek]

I was salaried, but not for a game company (it was a manufacturing company). The staff at the contracting company I mentioned were also salaried.

No matter what type of company you work for, there will tend to be tough deadlines - the difference is how the particular company deals with it (extend the deadline to something more appropriate/get more staff on the project/...).

[techgnome]

You should also think about where your skills, talent, and passion lay. I tried doing gaming programming before, I'm not cut out for it. It didn't suit me. Now I do business development. With my analytical mind, and my ability to look at things from a new perspective (on the edge of the box, not quite out of it, and not quite in it either), I've found a segement where I am happy as a lark programming. Hours are good, pay is excellent (but could always be better), no dress code (other than one cannot show up in their birthday suit), and with the system we have, we haven't had to put in any over time since ....99.

Personaly you should look into what kind of programming you really want to do. Don't get into one just because it's convenient. Look around, see if there is any kind of interships that you can do to help test the waters. Maybe you'll like game programming, on the other hand, it maybe the worst thing you've ever done.

-tg

[Al42]

1) I've written games. Not the most fun I've ever had. But that's me.

2) Programming can be a 40 hour/week job (mine is) or a "cat-nap under your desk while the compiler runs" job (MS, when they were rushing to get Win95 out), or anything in between.

3) Pay depends on level of experience. Right out of school you won't get rich whether you write games or POS systems - as long as you're working for someone else. In fact, you won't get rich working for someone else no matter what line of work you're in. The guy you're working for will.

4) Learn programming, not languages, not games - the science of programming. Then you can write programs to do anything you know how to do. Accountants write the best accounting programs, fish biologists [I actually worked on a project with one once] write the best fish biology programs. Programmers just turn these English (or your language) "programs" into something a computer can run.