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Hey guys!
So im a sophomore in college studying Computer Science, and im hoping to end up with a career in game design someday. They are just starting up a Game Design Department here at NYU and im trying to get into that as soon as they figure out their major/minor programs.
So, right now im looking to see if I can land some internships as either a game programming/design intern or as a QA tester. I've already applied to the following companies:
Microsoft
Blizzard
THQ
Insomniaq
EA Games
But i'm still looking for more. I was wondering if anyone knows of any openings for the summer?
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I'm a game designer myself, but don't know of any openings in particular -- I suggest cold-mailing a bunch of companies. Most companies (especially smaller ones) will take the time to check it out. You'd be doing yourself a favor to shy away from the mega-companies, and instead work yourself into a low to mid-size company. You'll get much more quality experience that actually matters, and have a much greater chance of breaking in. If you've got what it takes, you'll get a LOT of responses. Use www.gamedevmap.com to find companies you're interested in.
Additional suggestions:
Get a portfolio website/blog, update it often.
Make games now -- With a team or by yourself. (Sounds obvious, but many don't do this.)
Don't plan on being a full-fledged designer until you're in the industry for few years.
Good luck.
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I heard EA's headquarters in LA is crazy. I think it has a gym and pool or something crazy like that...and a really nice cafeteria.
I dunno. It's right next to LMU's campus as well. I saw the EA building from the outside when I went to chill with a friend from LMU. haha.
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On February 12 2009 17:09 Mikilatov wrote:I'm a game designer myself, but don't know of any openings in particular -- I suggest cold-mailing a bunch of companies. Most companies (especially smaller ones) will take the time to check it out. You'd be doing yourself a favor to shy away from the mega-companies, and instead work yourself into a low to mid-size company. You'll get much more quality experience that actually matters, and have a much greater chance of breaking in. If you've got what it takes, you'll get a LOT of responses. Use www.gamedevmap.com to find companies you're interested in. Additional suggestions: Get a portfolio website/blog, update it often. Make games now -- With a team or by yourself. (Sounds obvious, but many don't do this.) Don't plan on being a full-fledged designer until you're in the industry for few years. Good luck.
Wow thanks for the advice.
BTW, I've heard that its both hard and easy to switch to game design once your a programmer. I've heard that companies dont like losing a programmer so they force them to keep their position, while i've also heard that once you have programming experience its easy to switch to design. Do you know which one is true Mikilatov?
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On February 12 2009 17:27 PH wrote:
I heard EA's headquarters in LA is crazy. I think it has a gym and pool or something crazy like that...and a really nice cafeteria.
I dunno. It's right next to LMU's campus as well. I saw the EA building from the outside when I went to chill with a friend from LMU. haha.
Yeah, many of the large publishers and bigger companies have some SERIOUSLY pimped out buildings.
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On February 13 2009 02:31 HyoSang wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2009 17:09 Mikilatov wrote:I'm a game designer myself, but don't know of any openings in particular -- I suggest cold-mailing a bunch of companies. Most companies (especially smaller ones) will take the time to check it out. You'd be doing yourself a favor to shy away from the mega-companies, and instead work yourself into a low to mid-size company. You'll get much more quality experience that actually matters, and have a much greater chance of breaking in. If you've got what it takes, you'll get a LOT of responses. Use www.gamedevmap.com to find companies you're interested in. Additional suggestions: Get a portfolio website/blog, update it often. Make games now -- With a team or by yourself. (Sounds obvious, but many don't do this.) Don't plan on being a full-fledged designer until you're in the industry for few years. Good luck. Wow thanks for the advice. BTW, I've heard that its both hard and easy to switch to game design once your a programmer. I've heard that companies dont like losing a programmer so they force them to keep their position, while i've also heard that once you have programming experience its easy to switch to design. Do you know which one is true Mikilatov?
Switching to design from anything is difficult. Design in general is difficult to get into. Most people who switch into design are actually DOWNGRADING in terms of career. However, this is changing somewhat in that design is becoming more prominant... But competition is too.
Basically, (in general) in order to get into design, you have to have a decent amount of industry experience in another area, or work your way up through a small-mid size company. On the plus side, once you have -any- design experience, your options go up 10,000%. The problem is getting that little bit.
Most who go into programming tend to stay in programming, because it pays so well. Way better than design, that's for damn sure. Switching from programming to design within the same company may be difficult. It's much more common for someone to come from the art/leveldesign department, but still not impossible. As long as you show an aptitude for it, and have some tangible projects of your own to show off, you can land a design position from programming.
The key thing is to continually work on your design skills and personal projects. You're not going to get a design position based on programming experience if you don't have any design projects to show off. This should be easier for you than most, however, considering you'll have the skillset (programming) to create projects of your own, in your spare time.
And I can't stress it enough, get a portfolio website and start making games, rightnow! Your games don't have to be huge and flashy, either. Interesting design always prevails.
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On February 13 2009 02:31 HyoSang wrote:Show nested quote +On February 12 2009 17:09 Mikilatov wrote:I'm a game designer myself, but don't know of any openings in particular -- I suggest cold-mailing a bunch of companies. Most companies (especially smaller ones) will take the time to check it out. You'd be doing yourself a favor to shy away from the mega-companies, and instead work yourself into a low to mid-size company. You'll get much more quality experience that actually matters, and have a much greater chance of breaking in. If you've got what it takes, you'll get a LOT of responses. Use www.gamedevmap.com to find companies you're interested in. Additional suggestions: Get a portfolio website/blog, update it often. Make games now -- With a team or by yourself. (Sounds obvious, but many don't do this.) Don't plan on being a full-fledged designer until you're in the industry for few years. Good luck. Wow thanks for the advice. BTW, I've heard that its both hard and easy to switch to game design once your a programmer. I've heard that companies dont like losing a programmer so they force them to keep their position, while i've also heard that once you have programming experience its easy to switch to design. Do you know which one is true Mikilatov?
You might be able to find a Design position that involves some programming for example a little scripting on the side.
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On February 13 2009 13:03 Abydos1 wrote:Show nested quote +On February 13 2009 02:31 HyoSang wrote:On February 12 2009 17:09 Mikilatov wrote:I'm a game designer myself, but don't know of any openings in particular -- I suggest cold-mailing a bunch of companies. Most companies (especially smaller ones) will take the time to check it out. You'd be doing yourself a favor to shy away from the mega-companies, and instead work yourself into a low to mid-size company. You'll get much more quality experience that actually matters, and have a much greater chance of breaking in. If you've got what it takes, you'll get a LOT of responses. Use www.gamedevmap.com to find companies you're interested in. Additional suggestions: Get a portfolio website/blog, update it often. Make games now -- With a team or by yourself. (Sounds obvious, but many don't do this.) Don't plan on being a full-fledged designer until you're in the industry for few years. Good luck. Wow thanks for the advice. BTW, I've heard that its both hard and easy to switch to game design once your a programmer. I've heard that companies dont like losing a programmer so they force them to keep their position, while i've also heard that once you have programming experience its easy to switch to design. Do you know which one is true Mikilatov? You might be able to find a Design position that involves some programming for example a little scripting on the side.
This generally falls under the parameters of level design. If you want a level design job, you should work on such things and have a few VERY impressive levels to show off to potential employers. Preferably on your portfolio website. Demonstratable Maya experience, and experience in 3D editors (Unreal3ED, Fallout 3's GECK, or something similar) will be required. Learning LUA, or other scripting will also probably be required.
Also, since games are getting so large today, dedicated gameplay scripters are often designated to projects SEPERATE from level designers just for this purpose. This could be a worthy avenue into design, for you'd be working very close with level designers and other designers as well.
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I've recieved a couple PM's about this, asking what exactly I meant by 'working on design skills' so I figured I'd post again for anyone else who was wondering.
Prettymuch what I mean by this is that you should work on whatever skills you wish to get a job doing. If you want to be a level designer, design levels, if you want to be a programmer, program some games, if you want to be a designer, design some games.
The best way to get into the door at any game company is to show them what you can do, and the only way to do that is through a portfolio. As I've stated a few times already, online portfolios are the way to go.
For design in particular, this means you probably should create some interesting complete designs. Design documents for full-fledged games, flash games, collaborate on mod teams, create your own mods/levels/games, pen+paper games, board games, card games, anything! A game is a game is a game. If it's fun, it's a game.
It also helps to learn design theory and really get into the nitty gritty of the art of game design. Remember, good design can compensate for your lack of manpower, funding, and even art. Your game doesn't have to be pretty, or have an epic story, it has to have fun, engaging gameplay. If you can't design a fun game without expert programmers and an art team, you're not a designer.
After all that, if you have what it takes, you may be able to land a job as a tester or intern at a company, and work your way from there...
I've been working on a list of quality independent games, so I might as well post it here on TL when I'm done. I think I'll be done with it within 24 hours or so.... I'll be sure to PM all of you who expressed your interest in game design in this thread and those of you who PM'ed me when I get it done. They should be a real inspiration to you, and hopefully help you better understand the art of game design.
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sloperama.com (required reading)
gamedev.net
gamedevmap.com
igda.org/Forums/
The game industry is not easy work. I don't know how many times I can repeat this. Game testing is HARD. You have to do a lot of work for little to no pay/benefits. If you're awesome, you can rise the ranks. If not, you'll get replaced.
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On February 13 2009 22:53 Fzero wrote:
sloperama.com (required reading)
gamedev.net
gamedevmap.com
igda.org/Forums/
The game industry is not easy work. I don't know how many times I can repeat this. Game testing is HARD. You have to do a lot of work for little to no pay/benefits. If you're awesome, you can rise the ranks. If not, you'll get replaced.
Totally true, and great links - I can't believe I forgot to recommend Sloper's site. For anyone who uses that, be aware, it is slightly... Old-age, but the guy definitely knows his stuff, so take what he says with a mindset open to a changing atmosphere. Hell, the game industry is quite different now than it was even just a few years ago.
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i am a second year in college for video game design and i am looking for a online internship
you may e-mail me for contact info or more info
User was banned for this post.
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EPT
