s
A few questions for a videogame programmer...
What is your current profession?
What did you want to be when you were in high school?
What kind of student were you?
What tips would you give to a high school student hoping to go into game programming?
What did you major in, and at what college?
What is something unexpected that you found out about your profession?
What language should I try and learn, if I want to go into game programming?
Thank you so much in advance for answering my questions, I'm really interested in this field, and would love to learn more about it!
Sage Lee
#computer-games
#video-games #video-game-design #computer-software #game-development #game-design
3 answers
Ed Magnin
Ed’s Answer
What is your current profession?
game developer (producer)
What did you want to be when you were in high school?
theatrical lighting for stage plays
What kind of student were you?
good student, math nerd
What tips would you give to a high school student hoping to go into game programming?
be good in math
What did you major in, and at what college?
at the time I majored in theatre (drama) but that was before there was a video game industry. Pong was invented after I graduated.
What is something unexpected that you found out about your profession?
It was largely merit based. It didn't matter as much whether your last boss hated you, and wouldn't give you a recommendation. The work you've done on prior games often speaks for itself. It has become more team focused, so you do have to get along with others.
What language should I try and learn, if I want to go into game programming?
We use variations of C (C++, C#, and Objective C), but it really depends on the type of hardware you're developing the game for. C is a good language to start with. Keep in mind this is a field where you will keep having to learn new things. You can't stop learning when you start working or you won't survive. There will always be newer platforms, languages, and even methods of programming to learn.
Best wishes!
Cuong Nguyen
Cuong’s Answer
Hey Sage,
What is your current profession?
I am currently a freelance designer. Basically, I do contract work for either in graphics, motion graphics, and web design.
What did you want to be when you were in high school?
Animator or Game Designer. I always had conflicts in both but luckily, both of these have skills that correlates with my current profession. So, it isn't too far off.
What kind of student were you?
A quick learner and quick to pick up software when I want to learn it, being discipline to learn the programs rather use motivation. But I had a mind of an artist, I always had to be inspired to do the work.
What tips would you give to a high school student hoping to go into game programming?
Either take a programming or design course that could related to game design. But you don't have to learn from a teacher, you could learn the game programming with your own discipline. Look up game engines, such as Unity 3D, Unreal Engine, or GameMaker. These are the top-notch game engines programs, very industry.
What did you major in, and at what college?
I used to be Nursing (due to parents), then Computer Science, and then lastly, I was a Graphic/Web Design. Throughout college, you would try to brush off what you want to learn and try to learn another path. I wanted to see that but in the end, I couldn't let it go my creative side. And just graduated in San Francisco.
What is something unexpected that you found out about your profession?
Trials and errors for me. I always wanted to be game designer but my current and best skill right now is in designing, either be web or graphic design. It doesn't matter where you work, it's how you get along with your co-workers, working with them can make you grow in your profession and for yourself.
What language should I try and learn, if I want to go into game programming?
The most common game programming languages are C# and C++, I had use Unity 3D to create a game of my own, I mainly wrote in C#. It was a language I was able to pick up quickly.
Morgan Baker
Morgan’s Answer
I'm currently working as a Software Developer at a federal contracting company. I'm also working on a couple of game projects on the side.
What did you want to be when you were in high school?
I wasn't completely sure what I wanted to be. I was fascinated by computers, and also wanted to entertain others. So I took the leap and jumped into the programming class at my high school.
What kind of student were you?
I'm somewhat a procrastinator. Doing assignments in college was wait until the 11th hour, and then immediately work into the wee hours. I did okay in school, but I was more interested in emerging technologies and what my professors were researching than teaching.
What tips would you give to a high school student hoping to go into game programming?
If there's a programming class in your school, take it. It's easily the best way to jump into a language and programming in general. That's not to say that teaching yourself isn't a good way to learn. Heck, most of the job is learning on your own.
As for what to learn now, pick a game engine and look it up on youtube (Unreal, Unity, and GameMaker are good ones to start with). Also, don't just watch the videos and think you'll be fine. Do the exercises with the video, or take notes on key points. Or if you learn better by reading than watching videos, go to the learning portions of the engine websites (I've linked them at the bottom of this post) and read up.
What did you major in, and at what college?
I recently got my B.S. in Computer Science from Marist College. However, just because you have a piece of paper saying you've specialized in one thing doesn't mean you can't specialize in another. ("Jack of all trades, master of none, but better than a master of one")
What is something unexpected that you found out about your profession?
Lots of people you'll meet will have something to say about your work. Sometimes, it's not the best feedback, and sometimes you meet people who won't sugarcoat things. Keep these people close. While good feedback is always a good motivator, you want feedback to help you grow as a designer and programmer.
What language should I try and learn, if I want to go into game programming?
Try and learn an object-oriented language, like C# or C++. If you're looking into making games for the web, you can make a fully functioning game using HTML and JavaScript. Mobile games use a mix of Java (Android) or Swift (Apple).
But if you want to be able to target as many platforms as possible, a game engine like Unity or Unreal is your best bet.
This was probably a longer answer than you were expecting, but I hope I answered some of your questions. Have fun! (The learning links are in the to-do list