Dream Job!

[Phoenix Dark]

NBA bench warmer

/thread

you get paid millions to sit on the bench. you travel all around the country/world. you can have all the pussy you want

[demi]

i got a raise recently and i dont consider what i do work, so it's pretty sweet

and i hate game development

[Ichirou]

Yeah, this sounds awesome.

Make this game, PR.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Yeah, this sounds awesome.

Make this game, PR.

It's the fist thing I want to do after I finish college. Even if I have to build it on some old ass engine until it gets picked up, I'm going to make it. AND, unlike those in the industry today, I have no plans on promising things I can't deliver on.

ParticleReality = Derek Smart Jr.

[Eric P]

Yeah, this sounds awesome.

Make this game, PR.

It's the fist thing I want to do after I finish college. Even if I have to build it on some old ass engine until it gets picked up, I'm going to make it. AND, unlike those in the industry today, I have no plans on promising things I can't deliver on.

ParticleReality = Derek Smart Jr.

derek smart delivered!

[Flannel Boy]

In all honesty, I'm really happy with my current job.  If teaching actually paid a decently, I would have no internal conflicts about a future career.

Teaching does pay decently.  In Canada, anyway.

Bonus: I'd get to live in Canada.

Our winters suck.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

PR's ideas aren't terrible. At least they're actual gameplay mechanics and scenarios, not dumb soap opera plotlines with 33 characters named after his friends. (This is meant as a compliment.)

However, it's important for him to learn sooner rather than later that the sort of extremely high level planning he's talking about is the sort of position/power you get after only a decade or so in the industry (if you're lucky). Your first job is going to be more along the lines of: model objects sold at stores in the mall, or make the sound effects each weapon makes when it impacts a zombie (regular and critical variants), or plan the crop system (how do you get seeds? how do you plant crops? what crops are available? what factors affect your crops? how can you, as a player, affect your crops? what benefits do crops give you? what are the downsides of spending your time growing crops instead of killing zombies? etc etc.)

If you want to get into the industry as a designer, join a mod making team TODAY and start making a game TODAY for any one of the major free engines available TODAY. If you do not do this TODAY, then you don't really want to get into the industry as a designer.

AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE, CUZ PATEL SAID SO!

[Powerslave]

Thanks for the ideas Particle. A few people I know who run a smalltime developer studio will love these.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Like books, ideas are cheap. Everybody has ideas. Everybody "could" write a novel, just as soon as they "have the time." What separates the doers from the dreamers is that the doers put their money where their mouth is, and the dreamers wonder why nobody will give them a 50 person team, 2 years, and $30 million dollars. They have this great idea!

[Madrun Badrun]

Sex-butler/philosopher.   


actually I don't care as long as people call me Dr. Philosopher Jeeves. 

[CajoleJuice]

Is that what you did, Patel?

[Phoenix Dark]

don't listen to patel, he's a librarian

[Howard Alan Treesong]

you don't need to know C++ unless you want to be a programmer

if you want to be a designer, you need to know high-level scripting (LUA, UnrealScript, Neverwinter Nights, hell ,make a ZZT module)

[Ichirou]

Like books, ideas are cheap. Everybody has ideas. Everybody "could" write a novel, just as soon as they "have the time." What separates the doers from the dreamers is that the doers put their money where their mouth is, and the dreamers wonder why nobody will give them a 50 person team, 2 years, and $30 million dollars. They have this great idea!

Daikatana was once just an idea.

[Cormacaroni]

I want to be one of those dudes who launches old trucks off aircraft carriers.

I can't see getting tired of that anytime soon. Think how pumped you'd be to get into work every day! Whhheeee! Wheeeee!

[Fresh Prince]

I'd like to own a microbrewery. Work 3 days a week and be reknown enough that people will pay high(er) price for it and then I'll drink the rest.

[Kyle]

being batman

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[tiesto]

.... and the first game would definitely be "Minge Shaver DS"

WORST GAME EVER!!!!!  :'(

[Tauntaun]

Hard Gay's personal assistant. FOOoooooooooo!

[tiesto]

you don't need to know C++ unless you want to be a programmer

if you want to be a designer, you need to know high-level scripting (LUA, UnrealScript, Neverwinter Nights, hell ,make a ZZT module)

ZZT

Only person I know from the ZZT days who is in the industry is Kohler. Although I would definitely say that ZZT and MegaZeux is where I had my first basic experience of object oriented programming, and now I am a SW engineer for a living.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

yeah, I wasn't being sarcastic--ZZT is good stuff and good game design practice. the point I was trying to make was, don't get caught up on graphics and programming--that's for artists and programmers. Designers need to worry about flags, branching, timers, and state dependencies.

[Oblivion]

you don't need to know C++ unless you want to be a programmer

if you want to be a designer, you need to know high-level scripting (LUA, UnrealScript, Neverwinter Nights, hell ,make a ZZT module)

Wait, why would a designer need to know scripting?

[demi]

you don't need to know C++ unless you want to be a programmer

if you want to be a designer, you need to know high-level scripting (LUA, UnrealScript, Neverwinter Nights, hell ,make a ZZT module)

Wait, why would a designer need to know scripting?

What do you think a Designer does?

[Oblivion]

Wait, maybe I'm confusing scripting with something else..

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Addendum: Scripting and Python. Everyone should know Python!

[whiteACID]

I want to be a Marine Biologist.

[Eric P]

i've actually given this some thought and i think i may want to be a journalist


not a games, music or movie journalist

but someone who writes for newspapers

[demi]

UT2k4

[Howard Alan Treesong]

If you want to make FPSes, Source engine or Unreal
If you want to make RPGs, Neverwinter Nights 2

[Howard Alan Treesong]

If you want to make FPSes, Source engine or Unreal
If you want to make RPGs, Neverwinter Nights 2

Source engine? Really? Isn't it like super fucking hard to do something as small as a floor?

Oh I'm sorry did someone tell you making games was easy?

[Candyflip]

I think I might want to learn C++ and such because it could always be useful. I'd like to focus on the more creative stuff be it could come in handy to do alot of the grunt work in programming.

Hah, I thought the same thing until I took a C++ class in 9th grade. Amazingly boring, and I spend a disproportionate amount of time on computers. It might be fun as a hobby or something but I couldn't imagine doing it as a career.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Perhaps you should start instead by modelling a door
and then letting yourself out by it

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Cohen, I don't think I've had my discussion with you about how there is NOTHING designers argue about more than doors. Doors are the most complicated object. Everyone can agree how a gun works! You point it at something and shoot it. But doors? Do they swing? In or out? Does it depend which side you open it from? Slide? Clip? Is there a sound? An animation? What about doorframes with no doors? Are doors even necessary?

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORS

[Howard Alan Treesong]

oh god what if you shoot a door!! does the door open? deform? break? can doors be made of different materials? can doors close? do players have to trigger doors closing or is it automatic?

D O O O O O O O O O R S

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Also, never put an elevator in your game

[CajoleJuice]

Portal has an elevator.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Portal doesn't have an elevator, it has a windowless box with automatic doors that are not controlled by the player.

An elevator lets the player call the elevator, choose multiple floors from within the elevator, open and close the elevator doors, interact with the elevator from OUTSIDE the elevator, etc etc.

[CajoleJuice]

Oh yea

[Howard Alan Treesong]

but you THOUGHT it was an elevator, didn't you

that's the magic of good game design

[CajoleJuice]

That is true. It's just a natural assumption.

Portal

VALVE

[Loki]

Op-ed writing.  But niche op-ed.  Not sure who'd read the shit I'd be interested in writing about, really.

Also, working with children in some capacity.  I'd love to work in or run a day care center; I love being around kids.  Unfortunately, I'll need to put food on the table for my future family someday, so neither of these are viable career choices. 

[Mandark]

i've actually given this some thought and i think i may want to be a journalist


not a games, music or movie journalist

but someone who writes for newspapers

One of my early career flirtations, which ended when I realized I couldn't make myself write inverted pyramid style all the time without eventually hating myself.

[Ichirou]

I was a journalism major.  I ran far, far away from that career.

[Boogie]

Op-ed writing.  But niche op-ed.  Not sure who'd read the shit I'd be interested in writing about, really.

Also, working with children in some capacity.  I'd love to work in or run a day care center; I love being around kids.  Unfortunately, I'll need to put food on the table for my future family someday, so neither of these are viable career choices. 

ooh, ya, I wanted to do the op-ed thing too.  But like you, the idea of feeding myself won out over journalism.

[Mandark]

Op-ed writing = "I'd like to be a dilettante who barely works, but gets to tell everyone why they're wrong about everything."



So yeah, dream job for me too.

[Loki]

Op-ed writing = "I'd like to be a dilettante who barely works, but gets to tell everyone why they're wrong about everything."

It's like you read my mind.

[demi]

Also, never put an elevator in your game

I'm going to make a game where everything is a door or elevator.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

awesome. you have now done more towards achieving your goal than 90% of people who "want to make games" someday

[demi]

Ive done it! Ive made my first, very basic Half Life 2 map. Took me forever to get hammer running, turns out I have to do it in EP1. Tomorrow I'm going to try do something bigger and learn how to have multiple textures on walls and shit.

If anyone wants to humor me and play my first map, I'll give a link to download it.

Sounds like someone has a future at THE GUILDHALL

(no srsly)

[tiesto]

My dream job was to develop and design games... but now I'm working on developing wargames/simulations for a defense contractor. So I kind of got close. I'll occasionally make ZZT, MegaZeux, or RPG Maker games in my spare time (I should post a link to a cool game I made recently, a traditional, Shadow Hearts influenced RPG involving drug trading, meth addiction, third world politics, Malthusian philosophy, and a bunch of other random crap, taking place in a surreal version of NYC), but making games is just really a (very time consuming) hobby of mine, I don't know if I could ever work in the games industry.