Re: The entry competence level for graphics programmers
Oystein Eftevaag <[email protected]> Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:38:15 -0400
| Newsgroups | gmane.games.devel.sweng |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --===============0731872953== Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------010109050909050203070604" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------010109050909050203070604 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Also something to consider: Most larger-scale games these days use Flash for their in-game GUIs (see Scaleform), so there's opportunities there as well. On 9/20/2011 2:18 PM, Tommy Brett wrote: > An interesting and informative angle, I did pitch the idea of doing > some games to my current employer but they're largely inexperienced > with developing games, and aren't really willing to take the risk. > Perhaps flash games programming would be the way to get my foot in the > door. > > On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 2:10 PM, Gregory Junker <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > One option you may have, with 5 years as a Flash developer, is to > gain industry experience with a Flash games developer. Since you > mentioned that you can't afford a salary decrease, then you > probably can't afford an unstable situation either (which is what > most small independent studios will be, and the ones most likely > to hire anyone who sounds like they might know something about > games). > > So have you looked at Zynga? > > http://www.zynga.com/jobs/ > > A surprising number of people I have worked with in the past in > various studios have landed there, and it's quite stable. Spend > some time at Zynga, get some industry experience on your resume, > and work on your "areas for improvement" in your spare time like > you are now. > > One thing to bear in mind, is that any studio who is looking for a > graphics programmer above junior/entry level, is likely doing so > because their current graphics programmer, who is almost certainly > rather senior, is leaving, and they need someone to replace > him/her. Therefore, you may need to set your sights either a bit > lower, or on a different target...or choose a different strategy. > It's much easier to get into a games studio as a gameplay > programmer than it is a graphics programmer, and working somewhere > like Zynga can get you demonstrable industry gameplay experience. > The hardest part about getting into games, is actually getting > into games; once in, you're in. > > Greg > > *From:*[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > [mailto:[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>] *On Behalf > Of *Tommy Brett > > > *Sent:* Tuesday, September 20, 2011 7:33 AM > *To:* [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > *Subject:* [Sweng-Gamedev] The entry competence level for graphics > programmers > > Hello ladies and gents, > > I graduated 5 years ago with the intention of becoming a game > developer, my career got sidetracked and although this sidetrack > led to an ultimately comfortable existence and a lot of life > lessons learned, I'm now at the point where my career as a Flash / > Flex developer is stagnating. It may also be coming to a forced > end as more and more of my employer's clients move away from Flash > each month. I've been keeping up with the times, and doing a lot > of graphics programming on the side using nVidia's CG shader > programming language and OpenGL. > > I'm looking for a little insight into what skill level you expect > entry level, and reasonably competent graphics programmers (i.e. > qualifying as something above 'junior' in their job title, even if > that's just the omission of the word) to be at, and the difference > between the two. By skill level, I mean knowledge base, for > example implementing certain shader routines (e.g. normal mapping) > and grasp of mathematics. Before I enter the job search proper, I > want to make absolutely sure that my skills are in fact up to par > as I understand that graphics programming positions in particular > are highly competitive. For example, I know that one area I lack > skill in is using shader functions built for DirectX 10 and above > - by virtue of me still using an XP machine (GPU is DX10 capable > though, reeeally need to upgrade), and I suspect that not > being knowledgeable about, say, tessellation using the GPU would > swiftly kill any application I would make for a graphics > programmer role that paid more than free lunches. > > On the other hand, this may not be the case, which is why I'm > sending this out to you better informed guys for a little feedback. > > - Tommy > > > _______________________________________________ > Sweng-Gamedev mailing list > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > http://lists.midnightryder.com/listinfo.cgi/sweng-gamedev-midnightryder.com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Sweng-Gamedev mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.midnightryder.com/listinfo.cgi/sweng-gamedev-midnightryder.com --------------010109050909050203070604 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <html> <head> <meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Also something to consider: Most larger-scale games these days use Flash for their in-game GUIs (see Scaleform), so there's opportunities there as well.<br> <br> On 9/20/2011 2:18 PM, Tommy Brett wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:CA+ejsGCyJu8wtm-r0A-mOnZTvDQW_MnZ76o6d6LV7yQCeOChKg@mail.gmail.com" type="cite">An interesting and informative angle, I did pitch the idea of doing some games to my current employer but they're largely inexperienced with developing games, and aren't really willing to take the risk. Perhaps flash games programming would be the way to get my foot in the door.<br> <br> <div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 2:10 PM, Gregory Junker <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>></span> wrote:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"> <div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D">One option you may have, with 5 years as a Flash developer, is to gain industry experience with a Flash games developer. Since you mentioned that you can’t afford a salary decrease, then you probably can’t afford an unstable situation either (which is what most small independent studios will be, and the ones most likely to hire anyone who sounds like they might know something about games). </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D">So have you looked at Zynga? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D"><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.zynga.com/jobs/" target="_blank">http://www.zynga.com/jobs/</a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D">A surprising number of people I have worked with in the past in various studios have landed there, and it’s quite stable. Spend some time at Zynga, get some industry experience on your resume, and work on your “areas for improvement” in your spare time like you are now. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D">One thing to bear in mind, is that any studio who is looking for a graphics programmer above junior/entry level, is likely doing so because their current graphics programmer, who is almost certainly rather senior, is leaving, and they need someone to replace him/her. Therefore, you may need to set your sights either a bit lower, or on a different target…or choose a different strategy. It’s much easier to get into a games studio as a gameplay programmer than it is a graphics programmer, and working somewhere like Zynga can get you demonstrable industry gameplay experience. The hardest part about getting into games, is actually getting into games; once in, you’re in.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D">Greg</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#1F497D"> </span></p> <div style="border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt"> <div> <div style="border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a> [mailto:<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Tommy Brett</span></p> <div class="im"><br> <b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, September 20, 2011 7:33 AM<br> <b>To:</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a><br> </div> <b>Subject:</b> [Sweng-Gamedev] The entry competence level for graphics programmers <p> </p> </div> </div> <div> <div class="h5"> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hello ladies and gents,</p> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"> I graduated 5 years ago with the intention of becoming a game developer, my career got sidetracked and although this sidetrack led to an ultimately comfortable existence and a lot of life lessons learned, I'm now at the point where my career as a Flash / Flex developer is stagnating. It may also be coming to a forced end as more and more of my employer's clients move away from Flash each month. I've been keeping up with the times, and doing a lot of graphics programming on the side using nVidia's CG shader programming language and OpenGL. </p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal">I'm looking for a little insight into what skill level you expect entry level, and reasonably competent graphics programmers (i.e. qualifying as something above 'junior' in their job title, even if that's just the omission of the word) to be at, and the difference between the two. By skill level, I mean knowledge base, for example implementing certain shader routines (e.g. normal mapping) and grasp of mathematics. Before I enter the job search proper, I want to make absolutely sure that my skills are in fact up to par as I understand that graphics programming positions in particular are highly competitive. For example, I know that one area I lack skill in is using shader functions built for DirectX 10 and above - by virtue of me still using an XP machine (GPU is DX10 capable though, reeeally need to upgrade), and I suspect that not being knowledgeable about, say, tessellation using the GPU would swiftly kill any application I would make for a graphics programmer role that paid more than free lunches. </p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal">On the other hand, this may not be the case, which is why I'm sending this out to you better informed guys for a little feedback.</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal">- Tommy</p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> </div> <div> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <br> _______________________________________________<br> Sweng-Gamedev mailing list<br> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><br> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://lists.midnightryder.com/listinfo.cgi/sweng-gamedev-midnightryder.com" target="_blank">http://lists.midnightryder.com/listinfo.cgi/sweng-gamedev-midnightryder.com</a><br> <br> </blockquote> </div> <br> <br> <fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset> <br> <pre wrap="">_______________________________________________ Sweng-Gamedev mailing list <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.midnightryder.com/listinfo.cgi/sweng-gamedev-midnightryder.com">http://lists.midnightryder.com/listinfo.cgi/sweng-gamedev-midnightryder.com</a> </pre> </blockquote> <br> </body> </html> --------------010109050909050203070604-- --===============0731872953== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline _______________________________________________ Sweng-Gamedev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.midnightryder.com/listinfo.cgi/sweng-gamedev-midnightryder.com --===============0731872953==--