[game_edu] question from the community

[Nathan Runge]

Good day Ryan,

There have been some great opinions expressed already by some no-doubt
intelligent individuals. I would simply wish to offer my perspective
as someone who was recently a student, and is currently a professional
developer running his own business. I feel I have some insight more
specifically tailored to students on the Autism Spectrum as my brother, one
would wrongly say "suffers", from Aspergers and I myself am ambiguously "on
the spectrum".

Firstly, I don't think one can really say there is a "correct" area of study
that one could reasonably recommend. It will vary depending on the student's
abilities, interests and goals. Certainly there is no position within the
game-development industry that an Autistic student could not undertake, and
many in which they may excel. Each field entails its own challenges and
opportunities. I would like to stress that, in providing my opinion, I make
no assumptions about the individuals involved. Autistic individuals are as
varied in their abilities and personalities as any other group, but I will
address some generalities that might be of either benefit or detriment in
particular fields.

*Career Pathway Generalities*
The most obvious advice I could offer anyone looking to enter the game
development industry is only do so if you're really driven and excited by
developing games. If the word weren't so often abused, I would say
"passionate". Basically, the industry is tough. There are many cases of poor
work conditions and, in places, gaining entrance can be extremely difficult.
Following that thought, specialise in what you are passionate about. If
you're a capable programmer but you really want to be an artist then that is
what you should pursue. Don't be afraid to leverage your programming ability
to your advantage, but if you spend the next ten years coding Facebook games
and wishing you were modeling next-gen console characters, it will destroy
you and you would be better paid coding business software. I feel this
advice is even more relevant to those on the Autism spectrum whose interests
tend to be very focused and, in many cases, they excel in those specific
fields.

Regarding study, Jim Parker has recommended a Masters level education. While
I'm inclined to disagree, further education never hurts in gaining a good
position. Inside the U.S., from what I have heard, a Bachelor degree, or at
the very least a Diploma, is somewhat of a necessity at many companies. In
Australia, a degree acts mostly as a tie-breaker, with experience and
portfolio coming first even in management, for better or worse. It would be
my recommendation to pursue a Bachelor level degree, not necessarily because
of the education you'll receive, but because of the networking and
development opportunities that would not otherwise be available. Be careful,
however, when choosing an institution and course. The quality varies in more
industry-tailored courses quite dramatically. In judging a course, look
firstly for professional experience amongst the academic staff involved.

Finally, as has been said, a portfolio is the most important thing. Start
early and update often. Present your best work and, if appropriate, include
a blog so that your peers might get to know you a little better and you
might be more than a simple resume.

*Role: Engineering*
Programming, despite what some would say, is still the most essential role
in game development. I hate saying that as I am a designer. The fact
remains, however, that you can make any game you want* with enough time and
a single programmer. You can't do that with an artist, designer, producer,
audio technicial, etc. Basically, as a programmer, you spend a little time
coding some sweet gameplay features, and then a lot of time trying to make
them work. You'll also have to occasionally "guesstimate" (that being to
make something up, but to do so authoritatively) time-frames and tell
designers and artists that twenty million particles just isn't feasible. The
important attributes I look for in a programmer are problem-solving (lateral
thinking is a bonus), patience, planning and a strong sense of where pieces
fit into the larger picture. If your students enjoy solving complex problems
and the thrill of making something work, then this might be something they
enjoy.

If you're looking for employment in this speciality a degree is often
necessary, although this can be over-come with a particularly impressive
portfolio. Experience and ability to work with a number of languages would
be considered beneficial, although when one has mastered a high-level,
object-oriented language, one can translate the majority of the skills
reasonably easily to other object-oriented languages. I would recommend
students look at taking IT/Computer Studies courses or, if possible,
Software Design/Development courses in High-School if possible. These
provide a solid early foundation, but exploring on one's own is almost
essential. I would recommend starting with either Python, which is an easier
step but won't fully prepare students for more modern languages, or C# which
is powerful but quite abstracted and simple to learn. If students feel
particularly confident, they could jump straight into C++ which required
students to handle much lower-level functionality, but will serve them well
in the industry. In tertiary education, computer science is a more general
path that will open up many options for your students. If possible, they
will wish to undertake a set of classes tailored to game development, as
there are features of game-programming that occur rarely elsewhere.
Alternatively, a more game-development related course is an option. If the
course is a solid one, it will kick-start the student's knowledge of
game-development-specific techniques and may introduce industry contacts.
This sort of qualification does not provide many other pathways, however.

This is a field in which Autistic individuals will find few additional
challenges. As with all fields in the industry, communication and social
interaction are important, but this communication will consume less time and
be more keenly related to specific and immediate problems and outcomes.
Despite popular thought, this role is not necessarily less creative than
other roles, but is instead a very specialised creativity similar in nature
to real-world engineering and architecture. The role also involves a great
deal of lateral thinking, problem solving and iterative improvement towards
'perfection', behaviours that appeal to many Autistic individuals.

Some opportunities that students might want to examine early, include:
Dreamspark <https://www.dreamspark.com/Default.aspx>;
Kodu<http://fuse.microsoft.com/project/kodu.aspx>;
(aimed at a young audience, but a reasonable education tool) and C#
and XNA<http://create.msdn.com/en-US/>

*Role: Design*
Everyone wants to be a game designer. It is an extremely competitive field.
As a game designer, one envisions, designs and documents the concepts and
details of games. From the high-level notion of "First-Person RPG set in a
post apocalyptic future" down to the details of the firing delay on a single
weapon in a multiplayer
shooter<http://doublebuffered.com/2010/03/14/gdc-2010-design-in-detail-changing-the-time-between-shots-for-the-sniper-rifle-from-0-5-to-0-7-seconds-for-halo-3/>,
these are the domain of designers. There are numerous positions of varying
scope and seniority within the field, but there are common qualities between
all. As a "designer" you'll spend much of your time communicating details to
other team members, overcoming problems, balancing, documenting and, in many
roles, creating game assets utilising proprietary or licensed middleware.
There are innumerable qualities that make a good designer, but the ones I
look for include a strong imagination, excellent written and oral
communication skills, a strong knowledge of all fields of game development
and a solid understanding of systems, psychology and, if possible literature
and art. You could consider designers as Author-Directors. They need to be
able to communicate and organise a team, the more they know of which, they
more effective they will be. They are also authors, in that they must
understand the audience, and the psychology of play. The more a designers
knows and has experienced, the better. If your students seek to create
(systems, worlds, people), enjoy the nuances of communication and people and
enjoy writing, then this might be a suitable career goal.

The sole significant factor in landing a design job, at least as far as I
have seen, is portfolio. A degree can be useful, but is not a significant
factor in most cases. Rarely does a new entrant land a 'Game Design' role,
often other fields act as stepping stones. A good first-step, however, is
'level design', if one can find such a job at entry-level. Level designers
work with specialised software to create game-spaces and implement
game-features utilising scripting. Experience with these technologies would
be an advantage. I find it difficult to recommend an early-step for your
students if they wish to pursue this field. If, indeed, they have already
been making games I would encourage them to continue. Otherwise, I would
encourage them to undertake higher-level English, if possible, and consider
studying history and art, in addition to software-development related
courses. English and History will improve their understanding of people, in
addition to communication skills. Art and software-development will provide
perspective on all aspects of development. I would also suggest they
consider game-modification projects, and experimenting with level design
tools and scripting languages such as Python <http://www.python.org/>
or Lua<http://www.lua.org/>.
In tertiary study, should your students wish to pursue it, I might recommend
a course tailored to game design and development. Otherwise, a Bachelor of
Arts may be the best way to gain a wider-knowledge base and improve writing
and communication skills.

Some Autistic individuals may struggle in this field, as it relies heavily
on ongoing social interaction and communication. That said, should your
students not stuggle with these matters or if they are strongly motivated by
the potential returns, there is no reason they could not succeed and,
indeed, excel in what is an extremely creative field.

Some programs and opportunities that your students may wish to consider for
this field include: Unity <http://unity3d.com/>; UDK
<http://www.udk.com/>; Imagine
Cup <http://www.microsoft.com/australia/imaginecup/Default.aspx>; and making
physical, social, card and board games.

*Role: Art*
Art is an interesting field in game development. It varies significantly
from concept art to sprites, 3D modeling and animation and numerous other
positions of varying responsibilities. The level of 'artistic input' varies
just as much. Depending on the position in question, an individual may spend
the majority of the time rapidly visualising numerous concepts, meticulously
arranging pixels into low-fidelity assets, crafting
virtual-three-dimensional objects or arranging and animating skeletal
structures for objects. In many cases, artists will be responsible for
numerous aspects including, potentiall, two and three dimensional art or a
combination of modeling and animating. Attributes I look for when hiring
artists include the quality and style of their work, a good eye for colour,
composition and perspective, balance of mood and detail in their work, a
strong, visual imagination and excellent listening skills. Artists need to
be team-players as they will most often be producting work to the
specification of designers.

Once again, the most important tool for landing a job is a portfolio.
Different from engineers and designers, however, an artist's portfolio
should include many examples of their work, and the number and quality of
the projects on which they have worked is secondary to the quality of the
work itself. A degree can be useful in developing the artists abilities and
does indicate a commitment to their art. Early on there is no better advice
I can offer than to draw. Draw constantly. I would recommend your students
study art at school, it offers a good grounding in traditional arts and,
while limiting, it introduces new ways of considering and presenting visual
material. If your school offers "visual design" or similar courses, I could
also recommend these. Beginning to use professional-grade tools early, such
as Photoshop, Maya and/or 3D Studio Max (though I believe these are/have
been merged into one product?) will be of great benefit. Photoshop is
*the*program for 2D art, but it can
be expensive even for
students<http://www.adobe.com/ap/education/solutions/students/studentteacheredition/?sdid=FLFNY&&skwcid=TC|22732|photoshop||S|b|8478769504>.
In tertiary study, some game-specific courses offer excellent, tailored
education in important techniques such as low-polygon modeling and character
animation. Otherwise, a tradition art course's merits can't be ignored.

Autistic students should encounter no unexpected difficulties in this field,
beyond that their work will often be defined by others. This can be
difficult if the one giving direction is perceived as underqualified or
wrong, but the process is a necessary one for a cohesive product. Concept
art is not useful if it does not present the correct concept. That is not to
say, however, that artists are without input. Often they will be given vague
direction and may pursue many options.

Some opportunities to consider include: Free 3D Studio Max and Maya for
students <http://students.autodesk.com/>;
DreamSpark<https://www.dreamspark.com/Default.aspx>(
Expression <https://www.dreamspark.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductId=31>)
Competitions
at ConceptArt.org <http://conceptart.org/forums/> and similar sites.

*Roles: Other*
There are a number of other important roles in game development. These
include 'Production', 'Quality Assurance', 'Audio' and business management
roles. If, after reading this mighty email to this point, you would wish
information on these I can continue writing. I feel I have written
sufficiently for the moment, however.

In brief summary, Production roles amount or project oversight and the
maintenance of the schedule, budget and quality of the project. A strong
knowledge of the development process and business realities, in addition to
excellent communication and people-management skills are important. Quality
Assurance roles involve testing the game for bugs, design errors,
deficiencies and areas that could use improvement, depending on the
company's definition. Most commonly QA employees check for bugs that crash
the game or cause game-derailing problems such as players being permanently
stuck or objectives not properly concluding. Important attributes include
patience, problem-solving skills, a methodical manner and excellent, concise
communication skills. An understanding of programming is beneficial and, in
some cases, required. Audio roles, as one might expect, create and/or manage
the audio for a game. I can address basics, but confess I know too little of
the role to speak authoritively on the matter and, as such, will remain
silent. Business roles are, really, like any other business role and I am
sure don't need extended explanations.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_edu/attachments/20110629/dec862e0/attachment.htm>