games developer??
- Thread starter floodster1
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To me, it just seems that going into game-making as a career, is more a labour of love, than anything else. The pay doesn't strike me as great. From reading earlier posts, the working conditions (ie. hours), don't look particularly attractive.
A talented programmer could probably get a much better a salary by putting his skills to work in a non-gaming environment.
A talented programmer could probably get a much better a salary by putting his skills to work in a non-gaming environment.
Very true, so many people wanting to do it they can pay silly wages. But then again some companies do pay extremely well. For me its about the art and the environment + the people I work with. I don't think I could go back to graphic design for example.
£20k - £25k. I know someone who recently started at codemasters on £25k. Plus you typically get health insurance and free gym. I was offered a scripting role at £20k so I would say that is at the lower end of what to expect.
The above is for AAA games though.
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Don't think it stands for anything, just a daft term for a big budget game.
Garee
Garee
Big Budget games like Halo, Gears of War etc
You're right in that it doesn't really have a strict definition but it is a rather common term.
Sorry I thought C# was C or C++ -.- Been a while!
Soldato
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I have to disagree with you on your first point here. The lecturers in my experience were for the most part very good. They would benefit from a seasoned industry professional though, yes.
I agree that a more traditional degree would be a better route to go down. A comp-science degree with maths or physics would be a good bet. Programming can be picked up in your own time. You'd also have to learn about relevant techniques used in computer games too.
Having said that though, the rate of employment for graduates of computer games technology is pretty high.
Man of Honour
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Thanks SPW. It wasn't specifically the games industry I was interested in, it was more the position and job. I'm aware of the film industry but I didn't realise there was similar positions in advertising and so forth that had relatively better pay? Movies appear from the outside to be much more competitive.
I've played my fair share, like most but I'm not much of a gamer so where the 'magic' is concerned, there wouldn't be much to lose, I don't imagine.
No problem. You'll of course be selling your soul working in advertising as a corporate shill with no regard for creativity though.
More seriously it is simply another option worth considering, it's possibly thought of as somewhat less desirable from a creative perspective hence the need for a higher salary to compensate - there's also that a good advertising campaign can be worth significant amounts to a company which leads to them being more willing to pay for quality.You may not rate it but in terms of how the industry views it I believe it is generally fairly highly regarded, which, in and of itself, is an incentive for anyone looking to get a job in the games industry - a self-fulfilling prophesy if you will as that is where talent will want to start often which means that they should keep the reputation... It'll struggle to remain so if it doesn't consistently turn out graduates of a high standard though and I've got to admit I don't know much/anything about the past couple of years output.
Out of my mates who started the course at the same time as I did (they graduated in 2005) I think about 60-70% are still in the games industry which seems a reasonably high percentage to me.
This. It will give you options later in life, failing that pure Computer Science.
I've always operated on the principle that if I love something as a hobby, then the last thing I want to do is make a career out of it.