There's
a funny thing about computer games: a common reaction to playing them
is to want to make them yourself. That's exactly how I felt playing my
first computer game. Five minutes into it I thought to myself, "I have
GOT to know how to make these!" I don't know of any other medium that
creates that feeling so strongly. As a kid, I watched TV without wanting
to make TV shows; I saw movies without wanting to make movies; I listened
to music without wanting to make music. I did want to write books after
having read books; but of course kids are always being encouraged to write
creatively. Nobody encouraged me to make computer games. It was just something
I knew I had to do.
I get a lot of letters from people wanting to break into the industry.
Many of these people are high school or college-age, and are fascinated
by computer games in exactly the same way I was. I always write back to
them with advice and encouragement, but I've written the same letter so
many times that I realized the best thing to do was to put it in a column
that will live on the web. That way I can just point future correspondents
to Gamasutra. By the way, one thing I'm not going to cover is how to start
your own development or publishing business. That's the subject of a book,
not a column. This is about how to get a job making games.
If You're in Elementary or Junior High School
Please don't
worry too much about it right now. The best thing you can do for yourself
is to get a solid education. If you concentrate your whole life on learning
how to make computer games at this age, you'll end up good for only one
thing, and by that time, you might not even want to do it any more. Now
is the time to generalize, not to specialize.
However, there are a couple of things you can do to start yourself on
the right road. Take algebra and geometry, and if your school offers classes
in using or programming computers, take them too. Even if you don't want
to become a programmer in the long run, it's very helpful to have a general
understanding of what programmers do. If you get any chances to work with
computer art programs or electronic music tools, take them as well. Get
familiar and comfortable with computers. Learn to type well - if you can
type fast and accurately, it will save you a lot of time in the future.
If You're in High School
The days
when you didn't need a college degree to get a job in the game industry
are about gone, I'm afraid. Some years ago it was possible to get a job
purely on the strength of some programming you had done in high school,
but now that companies are big enough to have Human Resources departments,
entry-level résumés that come in without college degrees on them are likely
to end up in the trash. Take the classes that you need to get into college
- preferably a four-year college.
In addition, take any classes that seem as if they would be relevant.
Art, programming, animation, creative writing, even photography or filmmaking
are all skills that can come in handy. Remember, the game industry is
an entertainment industry. Learn to use the tools of entertainment.
If You're in College
At this
point you need to start thinking about what talents and skills you can
bring to the computer game industry. What do you like? What are you good
at? Can you draw, paint, program, write stories, or compose music? Now
is the time to sharpen those skills, both by studying the masters of the
past and by practicing yourself.
Although it sounds corny, I strongly suggest that you get a well-rounded
liberal education. Bruce Sterling, the science fiction author, once said
that well-rounded people were smooth and dull and it was better to be
a thoroughly spiky person who stuck in people's throats like a pufferfish.
This is good advice to an independent artist, but it isn't good advice
to somebody who's looking for a job. Most people don't want to be programmers
or artists all their lives - the stress eventually burns them out (as
it did me). To move on to game production and design, you need to be a
well-educated individual who has something to offer her company besides
programming or art skills. Be sure to take some anthropology, history,
and literature classes. The Star Wars saga didn't suddenly jump into George
Lucas' mind; it came about - and was so successful - because he understood
the power of mythic themes: the heroic young man on a journey to confront
his hidden past. Lucas had that understanding because his education went
beyond just using a camera and editing film.
Study The Games!
Regardless
of what age you are, you should play as many computer games as you can
afford. Form a collective with your friends to buy them and swap them
around. Play different kinds: graphic adventures, shooters, military simulations,
sports games, puzzle games, kids' games, "games for girls," and so on.
Don't just play them for fun, think about them seriously and look at how
they work. Most games have an internal economy - some value changes over
time, and without it, you lose (or die). In Monopoly, for example,
it's money. In a game like Doom, it's ammunition, armor points,
and hit points. How do resources flow into the game? How do they flow
out? How much is luck and how much is skill? How is the game balanced?
If they have "easy" and "hard" modes, play them in both and take careful
note of what things are changed.
Also, look at the user interfaces: the way the keyboard, mouse, and joystick
are used; the way the screen is laid out; the progression of menus. Are
they logical and convenient? Do you find yourself wishing for a special
key or button that the game doesn't supply? What is the "camera's" perspective:
first person, like Doom or Quake? Observer from behind,
like in Tomb Raider? A freely-moving aerial perspective, as in
Dungeon Keeper? An isometric perspective as in Starcraft? Can you
change camera angles (as in Madden NFL Football) and if so, how
does the game's playability change when you do? All these things go into
the analysis of a game's design.
There's No Such Thing As A Game Designer
OK, that's
an overstatement. But with one or two extremely rare exceptions, there's
no such thing as a full-time game designer. Trip Hawkins, the founder
of Electronic Arts and 3DO, used to say that there would never be a job
titled "game designer" as his company, because everyone on the project
contributed to the design of a game, and it was unfair to give one person
all the credit (or the most enjoyable work).
There's another, more practical reason for this. The initial design of
a game normally takes from one to three months, depending on its size
and complexity. During the rest of the production cycle there are always
more design decisions to be made, but not enough to devote one person
to it full time. Usually the game's designer starts doing other administrative
or production work once development gets under way. A company can't afford
to have a person on the payroll who does nothing but design all year round.
The rare exception is someone like Sid Meier, who's so famous as a designer
that he gets his name on the front of the box. But Sid has been around
a long time, his games are phenomenally successful, and he has more than
paid his dues. Don't think you're going to get an entry-level position
in the industry as a game designer. Unless you start your own company
- and can afford to pay yourself to do nothing but design - it's just
not going to happen.
Game Testing Isn't As Much Fun As You Think
Game testing
sounds like one of those dream jobs, like being a chauffeur for a guy
who owns a Porsche (and, inexplicably, doesn't want to drive it himself).
Getting paid to play games! Who could ask for anything better?
Unfortunately, testing games for bugs isn't much like playing games for
fun. When you test a game, you have to test every single feature in every
possible combination (or at least, as many as you reasonably can). You
can't play competitively; you can't play to win; you have to play according
to a test plan which tells you what to do. Hour after hour, day after
day, for weeks and weeks and weeks. Testing a game is like eating nothing
but hot fudge sundaes, all day, every day. You may like them at the beginning,
but you'll probably hate them at the end.
If you're testing a simulation of a real-life game, you also have to test
every conceivable condition to make sure it matches what the real game
does. In a football game, on a kickoff, what happens if the ball goes
out of bounds? What happens if it rolls out of the end zone? If it's touched
by the kicking team first? If it's touched by the receiving team? If they
call for a fair catch? If they call for a fair catch and drop it? If they
call for a fair catch and the receiver gets hit by a defender? The possibilities
are nearly endless.
The job takes a lot of patience and self-discipline. It also takes a keen
eye for observation. You need to be aware of exactly what you were doing
at the time a bug occurred, and to have the verbal skill to describe it
clearly and accurately. Not everybody can do this. You have to be more
than a gamer; you have to be a gamer who can read a programmer's mind,
a programmer that you'll probably never meet.
A lot of high school students wonder if it's possible to get a job testing
during the summer. In my experience this doesn't happen very often. Most
of the interns I've met have been college-age. I don't know whether it's
a maturity thing, or it has to do with child labor laws, or what, but
I think it's unlikely.