Very cool! Thanks Cuppa, you're the man! er.. um.. woman! 
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Very cool! Thanks Cuppa, you're the man! er.. um.. woman!
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Neither! - she da CUPPA!
Yii...
Indeed.
As I'll be graduating soon, I'm now working out where I want to go with my career.
NCsoft is certainly one company I would like to work for, and this guide helps cement that conviction.
My Motto: "Debt is merely another Goal."
"Wow Abalest--you manage to start a discussion even when you ain't given a topic" -Ghostman
Abalests on Infinity:
Miss Fulcrum
Dark Soul Golem
Power Drain
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The axiom goes, writers write.
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Hard to over-emphasize this point. If you don't enjoy creating games (or components of games, such as short fiction) so much that you're doing it already on your own time, you probably won't think much of it as a job.
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Oooh... You guys have any openings? Perhaps one of those entry level positions. I am an artist, but I can't meet the "industry standard" thing. Sort of ran out of money for college before I reached that point.
To bad my mom still doesn't realize we can't afford college anymore. I will have to convince her first then see if I have any real skills I can use for a halfway decent job. I am sort of only good at art. 
Nice guide. From someone working in the industry as well (QA 
), I really feel that one aspect of the video game industry that should really be stressed should be crunch time
Crunch time is the last weeks/days before the scheduled release of a game. During Crunch time, you can expect to work long LONG LONG LONG hours. Did I mention that you WILL work LONG hours??? I really can't stress that enough.
At my job when crunch time started, we started doing a lot more overtime. In my experience, I was probably doing an additional extra 20 hours of over time on top of my regular 40 hour a week schedule.
As the days got closer and closer to the shelf date, our overtime hours increased as well. By the time we were down to the wire with 2 or less days left till we have to submit, I was working as much as 20 hours a days (no joke). Paychecks were pretty big since I was on hourly, but so were my headaches and hallucionations :P
But ya, I really just wanted to stress that crunch time/overtime is a really really really big aspect in working in the industry, just be prepared for it.
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Quality Assurance - QA. Like Vyvyanne says, making games better one bug at a time. You start in this field as a pool tester checking bugs. You get a sheet of paper that lists a million things to check and try. It can be rather tedious. As you gain experience you can move up to be a sr. tester, a QACC (Vyvyanne, Valdermic), and eventually, a lead for a game. Attention to detail, unconventional thinking, and patience are required in ample amounts. See also, overtime.
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I would also like to further add to this. While it may be an entry level position, Quality assurance (Game tester) is still a very very important role in the video game industry.
Every other position in the industry (designer, programmer, artists, etc...) has their specific role and task to take care of. However, we as quality assurance testers have to be sure that everyone's work is bug free. You have to make sure all the art is correct, a specific event is working as designed, the game doesn't crash doing certain things, etc... So while they work on one specific tasks, QA is double checking EVERYONE's work to make sure that their specfic task/work was done correctly. We have to keep pumping out bugs for every specfic department working on the game to keep them busy 
In addition, working in QA is not just 'playing video games', its actually alot more then that. I remember when I first got my job as a QA tester, I was thinking "WOW! I get paid XX.XX dollars to play video games!!!!!!!!!!!!!" But its actually a little more in depth then that. You have to do a lot of things that normal people playing a video game wouldn't normally do.
For example, you gotta make sure that all the art/physical bounds for the game is done correctly. Can you imagine spending 8-10 hours a day taking your CoH character into Striga Isle walking around (not playing or fighting, just doing an art check) and making sure you scour every possible inch of that area making sure that there are no holes in the floor that you could fall through? Doing an art check on areas alone could take several weeks just for one area.
The above example was just one example. There are sooooooooooo many other possible things to check:
- Checking in game menus (trying out every single option in the menus to see if they work right. Does the game crash if I turn on language filters, then turn them back on?)
- Checking triggered events (what will happen if I arresst ____, click the glowie, exit the map, re-renter it, and use my temp power on that lieu there?)
- Checking general physics (Hey look, I just jumped off this building and my character keeps bouncing around!)
There are so many aspects of the video game that must be througholy checked that doesn't involve actually playing it. Normal people playing the game wouldn't normally do stuff like this, that is why QA is there to make sure that all the loose ends are tied up.
Just wanted to add my 2 cents :P
I'm sure Manticore would be the man to PM this to, but before that I'll put it out here.
Whats the best way to break into the writing thing? I love to come up with stories. I'm writing a novel, I write D&D adventures that could be computer games they're so detailed, and everyday I just seem to come up with more and more ideas.
I would love to have Manticore's job, but how does one get to that level? Where do you start at in a company? Or do I just hope that I can get my book published and become famous enough that you guys will beg me to come write for you? heh.
I'm a lawyer. I have shorts. I like to wear them.
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Oooh... You guys have any openings? Perhaps one of those entry level positions. I am an artist, but I can't meet the "industry standard" thing. Sort of ran out of money for college before I reached that point.
To bad my mom still doesn't realize we can't afford college anymore. I will have to convince her first then see if I have any real skills I can use for a halfway decent job. I am sort of only good at art.
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Sounds like me... Well I never had any money to go to college with and have been learning all this time. My Reccomendation is to learn to be a Texture Artist, that's what I plan to do since I'd rather color than "Pencil and Ink". Plus seems like the easiest Entry level position. Though for Cryptic, I used to check their homepage (which is different than NCSoft's) and I never saw anything for Artists. Infact given what they've said about new costumes, it sounds like they either get all the Artwork done at NCSoft Headquarters by a larger Art Studio that does all their work for All their games from Lineage to Guildwars and everything in between. ...Either that or they farm it out to China, Singapoore, Japan, whatever to get it on the Cheap...which would be Outsourcing and we know that would be very very naughty of them even if more than half of their market is in Asia. ...So I don't believe there's anyway to work exclusively for Cryptic as an Artist, they only seem to have in-house Coders, Designers, Writers, LevelDesigners, and QA. Everything else from Sound to Legal Dept. seems to be done by NCSoft itself.
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I'm sure Manticore would be the man to PM this to, but before that I'll put it out here.
Whats the best way to break into the writing thing? I love to come up with stories. I'm writing a novel, I write D&D adventures that could be computer games they're so detailed, and everyday I just seem to come up with more and more ideas.
I would love to have Manticore's job, but how does one get to that level? Where do you start at in a company? Or do I just hope that I can get my book published and become famous enough that you guys will beg me to come write for you? heh.
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Can I suggest that you make copies of your writtings (games) seal a copy into two seperate packages. Mail the first to youself and never open it. Mail the second to NCsoft (or other developer along with some contact information.
Now, why did you main one set to youself? Because companies aren't always ethical (not saying NCsoft isn't) and if they use your ideas without permission you'll have proof to litigate with.
Get it out there. Get started, and just try. Expect 99 failures for every one success, but it's only 99 stamps. :-)
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Oooh... You guys have any openings? Perhaps one of those entry level positions. I am an artist, but I can't meet the "industry standard" thing. Sort of ran out of money for college before I reached that point.
To bad my mom still doesn't realize we can't afford college anymore. I will have to convince her first then see if I have any real skills I can use for a halfway decent job. I am sort of only good at art.
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Sounds like me... Well I never had any money to go to college with and have been learning all this time. My Reccomendation is to learn to be a Texture Artist, that's what I plan to do since I'd rather color than "Pencil and Ink". Plus seems like the easiest Entry level position. Though for Cryptic, I used to check their homepage (which is different than NCSoft's) and I never saw anything for Artists. Infact given what they've said about new costumes, it sounds like they either get all the Artwork done at NCSoft Headquarters by a larger Art Studio that does all their work for All their games from Lineage to Guildwars and everything in between. ...Either that or they farm it out to China, Singapoore, Japan, whatever to get it on the Cheap...which would be Outsourcing and we know that would be very very naughty of them even if more than half of their market is in Asia. ...So I don't believe there's anyway to work exclusively for Cryptic as an Artist, they only seem to have in-house Coders, Designers, Writers, LevelDesigners, and QA. Everything else from Sound to Legal Dept. seems to be done by NCSoft itself.
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AFAIK Crypic does all in house art. In fact, I'm pretty sure I know one of the guys doing texture art for them. Lost his cell number though... damn.
http://crypticstudios.com/jobs.php
Well.... Shame on ME for not checking it this month
No openings for a Pixel Monkey? I'm shocked 
...SHOCKED I SAY.
In either case, it's nothing that a humble student without Mucho-Deneiro or a pirated copy 3dsMAX/Maya could hope to get in the next year. Sorry Kitty 
Very awesome guide Cuppa, helps me a ton seeing as I'm a sophmore in High School right now and want to get into the game business some way or another. I figure I'll have my best chance either in the Business or Writing fields, so this guide helps me a ton. By the way, any openings at Cryptic for writers in the future? Because writing for Coh/Cov would be like a dream come true!
Champion-
Flaming Intern/Tanker(main)
The Ice Albatross/Blaster
Apollonius/Controller
Valtrix/Defender
All the tank sets in the Intern variety
Burning Intern/Brute(CoV Main)
And the list goes on...
^_^ I've ALWAYS wanted to be a GM!
Does the great Cuppa have any more info on the lesser-taken route?
I've just gotten the opprotunity to go back to college....
I know what I'm goin into :P
All I gotta say is, WHOA.
Thanks Cuppa. Even if one is not looking for work in the computer game industry, this guide gives every one of us a little better understanding of just how much work goes into producing a quality game.
We game players just plop down our $50 (or whatever), pay our $15 per month and just enjoy the game, never realizing just how much work goes in to making this happen.
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Finally, I will tell each of you the same thing I have told every single person who has asked me this question. The axiom goes, writers write. If you really ARE a writer, you will write if all you have is a hunk of charcoal and a tablet. Writers care less about money, fame, and being a writer than they do about actually writing. This is no less true about game makers. Game makers build worlds and make games even if the only people who ever play them are their friends and all they have is a deck of cards.
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Thank you for this post. While I'm not looking to work in the game industry, I found this really engaging and interesting.
The above quote is so true. I'm actually working on getting two degrees so that I can get a paycheck, so that I don't have to worry about my writing paying the bills.
I would just like to add that this game has inspired me to enter the gaming industry.
I'm currently a Junior in High School, and I had no idea what I wanted to do. After playing CoH, and seeing how cool and fun the Devs are, I have decided I'm gonna enter game design. That piece was very informative, Cuppa.
From what I read, there's any number of things I'd like. Being a programmer would be cool, I'm taking a C++ course right now. Being a QA tester wouls also be cool, I like thinking outside the box. And who's never wanted to be a GM? Really fun job in that. However, I like the idea of being a project manager (Much like Jack). Pulling all the strings and watching the final game fall together after a lot of hard work just seems to me like it would be the coolest thing in the world.
Thanks again for the info! I'll send the Cryptic Crew free copies of the first game I help make as a thank-you gift when I enter the industry
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Quality Assurance - QA. Like Vyvyanne says, making games better one bug at a time. You start in this field as a pool tester checking bugs. You get a sheet of paper that lists a million things to check and try. It can be rather tedious. As you gain experience you can move up to be a sr. tester, a QACC (Vyvyanne, Valdermic), and eventually, a lead for a game. Attention to detail, unconventional thinking, and patience are required in ample amounts. See also, overtime.
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I would also like to further add to this. While it may be an entry level position, Quality assurance (Game tester) is still a very very important role in the video game industry.
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I have far more experience in other industries, so I'll speak about QA in more general terms.
There are two aspects to what people refer to QA. The first is really Quality Control: testing. This is an important step, but really the smallest piece of the puzzle. This is a gret place for a person to get their foot in. It's an incredible learning experience, or at least can be if you make it so. Treat it as a springboard, learn all you can about all aspects of development. A strong testing background will make you a much better developer. You learn to avoid mistakes by thinking beyond the coding, to the test and use of the system.
That bring up the more important, yet often overlooked aspect, true Quality Assurance. QA isn't about finding bugs. QA is about preventing bugs. A good QA Engineer will likely have started off as a tester, then do a long stint in development, then become a QA Engineer.
A QA ENgineer will work with the up-front product development, reviewing designs, being involved in planning, working to ensure bugs are either caught very early in the process (good) or never introduced in the first place (better). a QA Engineer often has to be more talented than the developers--they need to think in broader terms across a wider spectrum of problems. It can be challenging work.
This was good guide Cuppa, its always good to have things reinforced for me so I don't think it will be too easy. I have been looking to get into the gaming industry as a programmer since I was 12 and first got Asheron's Call. Over the past 6 years I have seen so many companies that I would love to work for, but I realize from reading tons of things about the industry that just getting a job is going to be nigh-impossible, let alone getting one as a programmer. I would love to get one out of the gate from college, but I know that my inherent skill probably wont be that amazing, and I simply wont have the experience required, so I will probably have to start in one of the easier jobs to aquire (maybe GM?). I actually bought Visual C++ 6.0 when I was 13, and I have had it installed on my computer ever since, but I wasn't able to do hardly anything with it until I finally was able to take a C++ class (which wasn't that great truthfully, most of our teachers are incompetent, although mine was one of the better for programming). Anyways, it was enough to get started, but now I am so busy with school or just too tired and lazy to really work on it a lot, so I haven't progressed any. I think in college when I have time I will start trying my hand at some mods and map creations and such. I will get there though, whatever it takes.
Nice "guide" Cuppa Interesting to see more than the "streamline" jobs that people seem to only show
As one of those that has been in the game industry since 1982 I find CuppaJo's advice to be very sound.
Taking a design from the first stages of inspiration to the final product is a major undertaking that is one of hardest and challenging jobs you will every take on. And you can't do it alone, you will work with at couple of dozen people on a small project (i.e. my latest effort Gary Grigsby's World at War) to massive teams on large scale projects such as role-playing games and MMORPGs (i.e City of Heroes).
Cuppa, you really should consider taking this post and giving it to gamasutra, as the existing articles there aren't quite as plain talk.
Besides, we like our devs to noticed by others, and appreciated as we appreciate them.
Inspired by all of your questions about working in the game industry, I thought I would put together a guide of sorts to working in the industry.
In the non-entertainment field these are called project managers or product managers. There are levels to this. If you can't stand stress, do not choose this path. Most producers have less hair than anyone I know from pulling it out all the time.
First, let me direct you to a link elsewhere on the boards that includes an interview with a game developer at NCsoft - Christoper Straz. Click Here!
So you want to work in the Video Game Industry huh? Do you really? Because it is not the easiest industry to get into, the hours can be long, and the pay can be less than optimal. Sure, there are stories of those who just "fell" into the industry, but many others worked long and hard to get here, just like any other entertainment based profession.
What do you want to do exactly? Do you know enough about how games are made to even be able to answer that question intelligently? Let's shed some light on the subject.
Industry Jobs - Not just developers!
Just like every other industry, the game industry has a large group of people who handle the business side of things and help keep companies going. Human resources, executives, accounting, sales, marketing, public relations, IT, and administration are some examples of "non-development" type jobs that are available.
Just because you want to work in the industry doesn't mean you need to give up your old line of work. While you may not be "developing" games, it can be a great way to transition into the industry and get a taste of the opportunities. The culture of game companies is generally very laid back, fun, geeky, and accepting of all kinds of people. Imagine being a lawyer and being able to wear shorts to work. The environment alone can be reason enough for someone to keep their current job description but move to the game industry. That, and the free games.
There are also support jobs. Customer support, tech support, billing support, and GameMaster (GM) are other jobs that can be options to break into the industry. Many of these positions are "entry-level" and require as little as a high-school diploma, a love for gaming, and some customer service experience. Yours truly started in tech support since I had previous experience working in tech.
There is also online/creative support. We have people that design the game boxes, T-shirts, posters, Web graphics, build web pages, throw contests, write for the web, run in-game events, moderate message boards, and help the devs and community understand each other.
Finally, there is a large demand in MMOs for network professionals to design and maintain large networks of hundreds of thousands of players and there are publishing coordinators that make sure patches get from the designers, through QA, and out to you.
But Cuppa, I want to MAKE games!!
Great. Which part? Game development takes a team of specialized professionals. Artists, musicians, designers, coders, and writers just to name a few.
Programmers - You should be an experienced C++ programmer to think about going this route. If you are trying to break into the industry I would suggest working on some open source or freelance game projects so that you have a few games that you helped code to submit. Mods are also good.
Quality Assurance - QA. Like Vyvyanne says, making games better one bug at a time. You start in this field as a pool tester checking bugs. You get a sheet of paper that lists a million things to check and try. It can be rather tedious. As you gain experience you can move up to be a sr. tester, a QACC (Vyvyanne, Valdermic), and eventually, a lead for a game. Attention to detail, unconventional thinking, and patience are required in ample amounts. See also, overtime.
Artists - You have to not only love to make art and be great at it, but you have to be able to use (at a professional level) industry standard software for 3-D art and animation such as Maya and 3D Studio Max. Again, working on open source or freelance game projects is a great way to get experience and network with other game creators. You can get into concept art (more pencil and paper), environment (landscapes, buildings), modeling (characters, objects - computer based) - this is where you take the concept artists drawings and make them happen on the computer), animator (take the modeled objects and bring them to life), texture artist (incredibly detailed, the skin of a model), FX artist (takes all those neat physics engines and has them fit game actions - ex. blood spatter, explosions).
Musicians - A job of not only composition, creation and technical skill, you have to be more like a movie sound person in that you have experience with Foley and voice acting. One of the most challenging musical jobs you can have. Are you expecting me to say you should work on some open source or freelance projects here? Good. You should.
Producers - Where would we be without producers? Nowhere. I mean that. You have to have someone to coordinate all of these separate parts and make everything come together and out the door. Someone has to talk with the publisher.
Design
I made you read this far to get to this point for a reason. It is not easy to be a designer. Everyone, and I mean everyone, wants to be a designer. Of course, this means that designer jobs are valued commodities and very hard to get - unless you have buckets of cash and are willing to start a design house yourself.
As with other positions, there are different types of designers.
UI designers - User Interface/Heads-Up Displays. You need to know how people interact with things on a screen, a mouse, kbd, joystick. Where do people look for things? Quality of Life issues - menu ease. Think about it - ever played a game and wanted to throw the controller because you couldn't control your character or navigate a menu? Yeah - bad UI. This person is the one who is always simplifying things or making them easier (thanks for the third menu tray!). A good education of ergonomics, and lots of game play help here. You know what I am going to say about open source / freelance projects.
Writers - "Cuppa, that's not a designer" Yes, actually, they are. More accurately called "Story Designers," these people help take the original concept of a game and distill that all the way down to mission text. Often seen at NCsoft walking around asking things to themselves like "How would a grok speak? What would they say? How do they spend their day?" It's the little things that are the bulk, but also the overall story must be compelling. Manticore does this. There is more story there than you realize. You should be a fiction writer for this position.
Systems Engineers / tools design - Lower level coding (closer to the hardware level), networking issues, game engines, hardware compatibility. Go to University for this one kids. Then help make open source engines. C, assembly language. Python. I bet doing this for an open source project would help.
Level Designer - This is the person in charge of fun. You spend the majority of your gaming life in a level/mission somewhere. You have to work with the story designer to define the point of the mission and where the mission takes place. Once you have a goal and a setting you design the level. You work with the artists and do level layout and art. Define challenges. How many baddies? What difficulty? You think about every type of character that goes through it. Mods/open source projects are good ways to do this in your spare time to see if it fits and learn about creating fun for players. You do this before you can be a...
Game Designer - Not just one person usually. You may have a lead designer that makes/takes the concept and works with the other developers to create the game play systems (influence/XP/ATs/Balance).
Not all developers get to come up with the concepts. Some are handed concepts and then make the game. You should have a background in level design and understand games fluently. Know what fun is. This would be a good time to mention open source/freelance projects if I haven't already. In this case, you want to start the project and get people to help you with it.
Resources
I am a very big proponent of research. In the Internet age, there is no reason not to be able to learn as much as you want about anything. There are a few links below to help get you started, but the bottom line is - read, research, play games, critically evaluate every game you play - what's good, what's bad, what you would like to change, what really really stands out, why you keep playing. Then pick a direction and work on a project. You meet people and impress people this way. Action speaks louder than words.
Finally, I will tell each of you the same thing I have told every single person who has asked me this question. The axiom goes, writers write. If you really ARE a writer, you will write if all you have is a hunk of charcoal and a tablet. Writers care less about money, fame, and being a writer than they do about actually writing. This is no less true about game makers. Game makers build worlds and make games even if the only people who ever play them are their friends and all they have is a deck of cards.
Check out the Tabula Rasa website for some great info on what the devs do and how they got in the industry. www.playtr.com
www.gamasutra.com
www.igda.org
www.gamedev.net
Your local bookstore should also have a few books in the computer section on game design and getting into the industry.