Hello Everyone,
Seeing behind the scenes of many games got me really interested in the process of making games. The amount of work, dedication and effort that goes into making a gaming simply wowed me. And there is a particular game development studio that won my heart, Naughty Dog.
So, as a kid with great aspirations I began pursuing them. I started learning Unreal Engine 4. But while working on it, I started viewing the job requirements for working in ND. But no where was it mentioned that UE4 will help. It was all about OpenGL and Direct X and C++. Luckily in my college where I am studying they do teach C++. So i started diving into OGL.
Well OGL learning process is going slow but steady.
Now have given all the background, I would like to know what skills I should aquire to land a job in ND. Is it working on OGL, or making my own engine, or making games in UE.
Now there are specific regions one should focus on, like if you are interested in graphics then ogl, if ai then ai. But I have seen people over there being recruited with a very large skillset. Moreover I feel interested in Gameplay, AI and Graphics.
So knowing C++ and OGL according to their jobs page enough. And not necessarily ND, it is a very big and successful complany. What about some other small or large company.
Thank you for reading this. Hopefully someone can just mentor me a bit.
While I cant speak from personal experience in the gaming industry itself, what I will tell you is the gaming industry seems to work similarly to web design and other creative arts. Most of those positions recommend bringing a portfolio of work to showcase your talents. Its all well and good a person might know 15 programming languages but if you cant actually use them successfully in a project your skills are wasted. I think this industry is no different. I would start by making small projects that showcase what your good at, weather that be AI, Graphics Design, Level Design, Animation, etc. After gathering small portfolio of quality work then I would start to seek out perhaps some smaller developers. Not saying that you couldn’t land a spot at ND, but best to start small and work up just like any other job.
Hell I would even look at the unreal marketplace and see if you can make something worth selling. Saying you created something that is being used by thousands of people would be a neat selling point for yourself.
Also I wouldn’t worry too much about not knowing the specific game engine or style they work in, most companies if you show your a solid candidate will work around and with your skill set to match what they need, not the other way around.
Well thanks for the response. Your response does help me sort my head space a lot. I would start working on a particular skill set and then try apply at places of interest.
Thanks a lot.