Looking for advice from people in the gaming industry!

SanguineAngel

Hi all,

Now I know that there are a few people in the games industry who frequent these boards so thought this might be a good place to ask around. I am in need of official opinion! Especially from those in the UK.

I have been presented with an opportunity to enter into a training programme entitled Train 2 Game. This is endorsed by "Tiga" and supported by OPM recruitment.

What i need to know:

Is TIGA well know, well respected and a significant body within the industry? The claim has been made that they are a/the governing body within the UK, but I could use some official opinion.

Have you heard of "Train2Game"? If so, how much to you value the course and those who have qualified? If not, would a diploma from TIGA get your attention?

Have you heard of OPM Recruitment? They are supposedly the UK's official industry recruitment company. Are they well though of? Their role in the course is supposedly to arrange for interviews for qualified students once the course has been passed.



Any help any of you guys can provide would be much appreciated!!

Thanks in advance.

Kalkino

Perhaps you could try the NUS - the National Union of Students - they might have some sort of opinion on the programme (especially if bad things have been said)

takyris

I'm in Canada, so take that with a grain of salt.

That said, I've never heard of it, and I take most general game-design courses as suspect. Do you have a link or anything?

SanguineAngel

Hi guys,

Thanks for the input. Yah I have some links:

http://www.train2game.com/

http://www.opmjobs.com/index.php

http://www.tiga.org/

Any help or advice is appreciated.

S-Starwind

I received an email detailing their setup a couple of months ago. I hadn't heard of them before so I wasnt sure why I was sent it. I wasnt too sure what to make of them either. Perhaps just a group that specialises in marketing game industry study courses? I did try to search for info but couldnt really find any opinions on them.

Monolithic_Dome

I'm not in the industry, but I went to a University that has a substantial game-dev program, and as such I have some friends who are in the industry.

This is bullshit.

Their "Games Designer" course seems designed specifically as bait to the 16-year-old "durr, I wana make vidja games" crowd.

Example

"So, if I'm not a programmer, if I can't draw and don't know anything about 3D modeling and if I can't write the music, what can I do?”.
The answer is: you create! You are the source that gives all other team members the bases to the process of creating a game.

"Designer" is not an entry-level position in the video game industry. Designers work a long time at programming/art and combine that experience with business acumen to do their jobs.
Plus, think about the numbers. For your "average" game (to the extent that there ever is one), you've got 1-2 "designers", 10-20 programmers, and 40-50 artists, along with various other support staff. Also, those designers are credited as "executive producer" or somesuch, IE "person with lots of experience who we trust to run shit"

And on an even higher level, the idea that you could get into the video games industry (which is incredibly competitive) with a correspondence course has "too good to be true" written all the fuck over it.

There are legit companies/universities offering education in vidjamagames-related fields. If their advert is any indication, these folks aren't one of them.

NotYou

Never heard of it. I would never suggest a school with a "game design" major. Based on their site, I would not go there.

Tell us specifically what field you want to be a part of in games, and then we'll know better what your best options are. A programmer and a game artist would not take the same courses. Or go to the same schools in most cases if we're looking at the best schools. Game designers... the guy above me said it just fine, it's bullshit. You can get an entry level, level design job, and work your way up to game design, but most courses that offer game design degrees are crap.

Darkewolfe

Poke around on their forums. Total scam.

http://www.forum.train2game.com/showthread.php?t=107

Kalkino

Possibly do a search on "Clive Robert", he claims to be a shareholder and possibly a company officer. If he has been associated with anything shady then it might come up

CelestialBadger

I have vaguely heard of TIGA and OGM recruitment, but I don't think they are all that major or influential.

If you want to get into games - study Computer Science at degree level! Companies are always looking out for eager young programmers. Or if an artist, get a kick-ass portfolio. Or, if you want to get into design or production, get a job as QA and fight your way up.

As Monolithic_Dome said, there are very few designers compared to other roles in the game industry. They also don't get paid awesomely well, and if they choose to change careers, it is not as easy as for artists, programmers, or managers who have transferable skills. It's not a career to go into on a whim.

Monolithic_Dome

To add something constructive, here are the "ways in" to the games industry as I know them:

-Artist. For most games this means experience in 3D modeling, texturing, lighting, animation, etc. You want a fantastic portfolio, good fundamentals in art/design, and lots of experience with the industry's tools (mainly Maya and 3DSMax).

-Programming. You want a degree in CS, lots of math background (especially linear algebra and discrete math), experience with 3D graphics programming, experience with C++, and a portfolio of solid, complex games that you created.

-Level Design. Biggest thing is to be really good at making levels, which means you want to know Hammer/Ued/Quark and similar tools like the back of your hand. You're probably going to want to have some decent art and programming (at least Lua scripting) chops as well. Best case scenario is you have a complete "mod" to show off, especially if it's something that people actually like to play.

-QA, various other support staff. Games companies need people to test their game, work on their website, etc. Not usually an "in" to the development team, but there are paths like QA -> Lead QA -> Project Manager. Also, the entry level QA job really really sucks.


Also, I think a good thing to ask yourself before you commit to working in the games industry is this. If you spend your first 12-18 months working on Barbie Horse Adventures (probably working too-long hours and getting paid too little for your skillset), is it still your dream job?

VeritasVR

Personally, I would never want an entertainment area to become my work area. If I made video games into work, how would I get enjoyment out of them when I use them for entertainment?

Of course, that's assuming that your work area in video games isn't enjoyable to begin with. I make this assumption because it's a lot more common than not. Go into a field or something that doesn't pigeon-hole you into a niche industry. An industry with limited opportunities that everyone wants to go into for the same reason.

Scrublet

Monolithic_Dome wrote: »

-Programming. You want a degree in CS, lots of math background (especially linear algebra and discrete math), experience with 3D graphics programming, experience with C++, and a portfolio of solid, complex games that you created.

-Level Design. Biggest thing is to be really good at making levels, which means you want to know Hammer/Ued/Quark and similar tools like the back of your hand. You're probably going to want to have some decent art and programming (at least Lua scripting) chops as well. Best case scenario is you have a complete "mod" to show off, especially if it's something that people actually like to play.

I'm not in the game industry, but I've seen tons of materials online, interviews with people at Valve/Blizzard/etc., emphasizing these points. This program you've found is complete bullshit, like all those other mail-in degree programs in other fields. Get a real degree. However, I keep on hearing that on top of the degree, actual game work is really important. Once I looked at Blizzard job openings (I have no desire to design games, I was just curious) and they seemed to indicate that you should have past work to submit for the job. In other words, if you want to do game design at the "in" companies right now, you should probably enjoy it enough to be doing it as a hobby. You don't have to invent Portal or anything (but it got THOSE people jobs ) but having some stuff to show you're not just a gamer who wants to make money playing games would be good.

Technicality

This is true. If you don't have evidence that you enjoy doing this sort of thing in your spare time, you aren't going to be taken seriously.

The games industry is full of people who put up with a job that can be a real pain in the ass because they love making games. If you've never made anything for fun you are looking for a job in the wrong place.

Getting a degree (I did Elec Engineering) gave me time to make some stuff, and learn some new things, but it didn't help me get a job directly. The same is true of everyone I know in the industry.

vonPoonBurGer

Scrublet wrote: »

You don't have to invent Portal or anything (but it got THOSE people jobs ) but having some stuff to show you're not just a gamer who wants to make money playing games would be good.

One quick note, Portal was not a student or indie project, it was the first commercial title created by a group of DigiPen graduates. They were gettin' real paid by Valve when they made it, they had a full budget and access to all of the tools that any developer at Valve would have. Portal should not be your reference point for comparisons if you're a student or indie developer. It's simply not realistic to expect solo or small-group projects with little or no funding to produce something of that caliber, except perhaps over a very long development timeline.

Instead, OP should be looking at Narbacular Drop, which is the student project that convinced Valve to hire the people who made Portal. The art isn't as slick or as polished as Portal, and it was released with a limited set of levels, but there was enough there to convince Valve that this group of DigiPen students had a both relatively unique concept (user-controlled portals as a gameplay element in a 3D puzzle game) and the necessary technical and design skills to bring that from the concept stage to a playable game.

Dog

Don't forget the other jobs when it comes to the gaming industry. Sure, companies want designers, coders and QA monkeys; but they also need Recruiters, HR/Trainers, Advertising/Marketing, Legal, Facilities Managers, CM/PR, IT professionals and of course skilled managers :P

Whenever someone says they want to get into the games industry they never mention those, but out of the dozen or so people I know working in that field most of them got into it from one of those positions, not the other way around.

donaldwang

null wrote:

Don't forget the other jobs when it comes to the gaming industry. Sure, companies want designers, coders and QA monkeys; but they also need Recruiters, HR/Trainers, Advertising/Marketing, Legal, Facilities Managers, CM/PR, IT professionals and of course skilled managers :P

Whenever someone says they want to get into the games industry they never mention those, but out of the dozen or so people I know working in that field most of them got into it from one of those positions, not the other way around.

The biggest problem with game development and the reason why its such a bitch of an industry to break into is because it requires a very specific combination of personality characteristics that are invariably mutually exclusive. Basically, you have to combine a sense of playfulness/fun/having a good time/lets do this, its so cool with a very technical understanding and ability to work long hours on something that is frustrating, diverse and difficult.

In a nutshell, games are fun. Making games is not.

saltiness

Zombie thread.