Okay... :Grins: this is off topic but I need some info and I don't think people are over in the gaming forum often. And I know all you guys ;grins: Anyway... I've been in school for a bit.. the vast majority of that time as a literature major. But.. after deciding all I could do is teach and I'd kill the little monsters I changed majors to an associates in 3d animation. I want to go into 3d game design, maybe animation or movies... but I'd prefer going to work for a game company. What I'm wondering is what do I need to come to the table with? I'll be finishing my associates in a few years and would very much like to be done with school at that point. But as I'm just starting to look into all of this I really don't know what the market is like out there for employement. Any comments? Advice? Suggestions? :Grins: Thanks Anz

I think you'll find the gaming industry to be fraught with peril right now: all the Great White Hopes -- the Playstation 2, the XBox, the latest version of GameBoy -- weren't the huge megasellers the developers were hoping for, and that has the industry overall freaked at the moment. Everyone's looking for the next hot thing, and when it doesn't pan out, they get really scared. Accept the fact now that you'll probably wind up as a contract worker, going from job to job. And have a killer reel prepared: the competition is fierce and relentless, and unless you really stand out, you will be one of many who went that same route. If you're lucky, you'll find a shop that will take you as-is and teach you on their proprietary software, but those positions are becoming rarer and rarer. But wherever you are, you'll be working really long hours and wind up being underpaid for all your work, and you really must ask yourself: is this a passion? An escape? Or just a paycheque? If you think it's a road to monetary success, think again. You had better really love what you do before you venture into this field.

Do what you enjoy. Nobody knows what the job market will be like in a year or two.

If you have a really good idea for a game, do a reel with some scenes from the game. Be the next Grand Theft Auto 3 ( not necessarily another violent clone ) and they will buy you and the game.

Thanks for the info Virtual.. bad as it is :Grins: I guess what I'm asking is... what else should I learn? I'll have lightwave and photoshop down by the time I'm done and I'll probably reach myself some Maya and 3ds max. Contracting out sounds miserable though.... I was hoping to get on with a decent pc game company and just do it. The thing is.. it is a paycheck and I also enjoy it - more than anything else I can think of I'd be employable under, at least. Anz

Hey there Anzan...try these links.

The first one is Blizzard's site...you can also check other game developer's sites for their requirements.
Blizzard's Submission Requirements

Look for post by mythwarden further down...don't know what company he/she works for but this is what they require.
Forum thread

This site is a 3d Forum...CG Talk

This next one is mainly a forum for concept artists but I believe some of them have worked or work for a gaming company...they may be able to shed some light on some things for you as well...
TeamGT

I wish you all the luck in this endeavor. I'm a bit confused about your education. I have an Associates Degree in Graphic Arts. It took two years to get that degree. So why is your Associate's degree taking longer? Maybe you're going for a different degree?

Gaming industry eh? Well unless things have changed drastically in the past year (and this is quite possible), the game industry is probably the easiest place to get a job these days, if you have skills. About 90% of the jobs out there on the IT boards are for game design. I got so sick of people asking me if I were intrested in game design, I thought there wasn't anything else out there. However, the high demand for game designers, for some reason, hasn't jacked the salery up much. Alot of the jobs I saw for games wanted fantastic people to work for peanuts. VS is totally accurate there. Just my experience. :) ~EA

It's a 2 year 3d animation associates. I'm taking longer because I've been an English Major for the last 3 years. I've just started this. From all these links and comments though I'm getting a stronger and stronger feeling this isn't going to leave me ready for professional work. It bears thinking out. :Grins: I don't mind starting that low... I've always been apt at moving up. And I'm a single guy living alone without any real costs :grins: I can live ona little pretty easily for now. Just depends on where I get work. But it's a few years away... it gives me time to figure out how to approach it and if I want to get any more education. ;grins: Gaming just seems it'd be more fun... and a place I can learn more, maybe doing things in Hollywood later on. 3d animation just kind of came out as a "well.. I don't hate it, i wouldn't mind that being my career." But I do enjoy it... so thats the best I can hope for. Beats going to law school which is what I WAS going to go do. :grins: Anz

Anzan: Single guy, living alone...Go For It! I wish I had started doing this back when I was single, and could afford the long hours, and thin paychecks. ~EA

Yeah :Grins: it helps the situation not being attached. If I had a wife and kids to support I'd have had to go to law school... the thought of which was more or less responsible for me planning to go, actually. Felt if I had a family I have a responsibility to make more.. but I think once I get in.. I can make more. And I can hold off for a bit :Grins: or longer. I'm in no hurry. Anz

Not to be the soothsayer of doom, Anz, but just go into this with your eyes wide open. Hell, I work in the theatre, and it's grueling as all hell sometimes, not to mention impossible cut-throat. But I stay with it because I just can't imagine myself doing anything else but scene design for a living. And the fact that I'm not half-bad (no immodesty there -- I can't change the fuses on my truck sometimes, but I can make entire worlds for a hundred bucks in materials) has made me more or less "successful": not financially, not yet, but that's just a matter of time. But I stay with it because I honstly cannot see myself doing anything else for a living. And when you enter a field like this, you really have to ask yourself that question as well. It's the only way to survive.

I agree VS... Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I don't expect anything to be easy - and I'm alright with that. I can't say this is my lifelong ambition... Because it isn't... But I think for me, and maybe people like me, finding a 'job' that just isn't something we hate and loathe is as good as it gets. :Grins: One can't make a living being a philospher and I don't have anything terribly interesting to say as a writer :Grins: so I just want a job that interests me, excites me and allows me to follow those things I do love. :grins: So it goes. Anz

VS, your in theatre ? That's cool. I go to the local civic theatre from time to time, and it's always cool to see how inovative people can be with a (very)limited cash flow. Hats off to ya. :) ~EA

The gaming industry will always require mesh-makers, animators, and texture artists; some things simply cannot be scanned. And it's a good stepping stone on the way to a career in the Hollywood FX industry.

I've noticed a lot of mod developers in need of artists lately. The pay certainly won't be good; it'll probably be nonexistant, since many of these are a labor of love. But there's the possibility of getting in on the ground floor of a game mod that becomes insanely popular and is picked up by a major distributor (as happened with Team Fortress and Counterstrike).

Back it up with a business minor to cover your assets and enjoy life. Wish they had had personal computers when I went to collage, got tired of trying to program graphics on the abacus.