So You Want to Make Video Games?
Most of the time, the dream of becoming one of those shady characters behind a game stems from childhood. When kids are talking about what they want to do when they grow up, chances are you will hear “I want to make video games”. Game designers, developers, writers and programmers will all have a passion for videogames and will tell you that it is their dream job, 100% of the time.
However it is not as simple as just making up your mind and deciding ‘hey presto’ I want to make video games. Unfortunately, for all the hopeful teens out there dreaming of being behind GTA V or on the Blizzard WOW tech team, the dream rarely becomes reality. This is because perseverance and inspiration are hard to come by. However, in this quick guide, I am going to give you a quick crash course on becoming part of a development team.
I am going to start from the ground up here; I am going to assume you like video games and want to be a developer but have no previous experience and not a clue where to start. The first thing that you must do is to gather your thoughts. What I mean by that is to think long and hard about what you are good at and about what you could contribute to a video game. For instance, you could be handy with a pencil, then perhaps character design or in-game architecture is your kind of area. But if you’re like me and couldn’t hold a pencil right if you had intricate diagrams, then perhaps programming is more your thing. This involves developing the game engine and ironing out the creases before it hits the shelves. However, me, personally, all that programming and attention to numeric detail would drive me crazy so the writing and storyline end of thing may suite yours truly a little better. Remember, it is down to you. In addition, there are dozens of other jobs on a development team such as publicity, managing and level creation for you to choose from.
Once you have your expertise gathered, start keeping a portfolio. So if you are good at drawing, perhaps a few dozen sketches would make a nice touch to an interview or if you are a writer, a storyline (no matter how small) would impress any game company.
Where to start on the quest to the job however, is a kettle of fish all together (I never got that saying either). This is the part where you cannot just think and ponder, you must work and persevere. For lack of a better way of expressing this, you will be the underdogs, the no-hopers, the doormats for the big developers. However, do not worry; every person on a development team was here once.
For entry into this field, there are numerous doors. A college degree will give you a running start. Computer science, English, game development and business studies are good areas to be aiming for, but that said, no company will hire you if you don’t have a good knowledge of games, regardless of how many certificates you have on your wall.
If you didn’t really listen to the career guidance staff at high school and regret it now for not trying at school, all hope is not lost. Game companies want someone with experience and talent. Become a part-time games tester. Many websites offer you the chance to test games for companies at home and be paid for it along the way. However, these jobs can be difficult to land so the other option is to write about games. A simple search on Google for “gaming journalists needed” or searching through job boards will give you dozens of websites in need of writers. Don’t expect to get paid much when starting off, but it’s good experience and many top gaming developers were spotted on such websites because of their critical eye and good ideas.
If you have experience in developing simple games, (these are many free programs for this or by using a map editor with a PC game) then I would suggest trying your hand at developing a game all by yourself. Now I do not mean a game for a PC or XBOX, but perhaps one for a cell phone. To get the kind of experience and know-how to do that (and get your name out there) chances are you will need a bit of third level education in the field. However, by doing this grueling task, you sow future job interviewers that you are motivated and love what you do.
As detailed above, you mat not have all that programming knowledge for actually making the games, but behind every game, you have a team of creative artists. It would not hurt to set up a simple website and create a graphic novel or online comic. If you’re a writer, write the script and do a few rough sketches and detail the page lay-out. Then hire a artist over the internet (just google ‘hire freelance comic book artists’ and you’ll be rewarded with hundreds of results) then upload it. And simply do the opposite if you’re an artist. It may even be a good idea to form a team out of friends to make one, if you all have the correct talents.
Persevere with this mundane work, it will pay off. Keep contacting game developers asking them if you could send in your porfolio or if they have any job openings. (Don’t be annoying however. A quick e-mail o phone call every six months is far better than a weekly submission of your life story).
If all else fails and you just can’t seem to break through the barrier, you could go it alone. That’s right, do it yourself. If you have the funds, or a very friendly bank manager, then you can hire people through the internet to freelance for you to make your game. You should try and do most of the work however, as to give you the experience. Come up with a concept, expand on it, get it all down and begin the process of hiring music people, programmers, designers, artists, writers and put it all together. Send copys to at least fifty game magazines, both online and paper publications to review it and cross your fingers. It could be small or big, you could make it free to download, you could sell it over the internet, or you could keep it all to your merry self. For this however, you will need a lot of time, money to support yourself and the business and a very forgiving group of friends and family.
That brings me to my final point, PLAY GAMES!!! Loads and Loads. When you kick back and decide to power up your console of choice, be it a PS3 or a humble PC, just cast a critical eye over every aspect of the game while still having fun of course(games are meant to be fun, not just a load of hard work).
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