John Paul Ownby: Is the game industry right for you?

                For the early parts of John-Paul Ownby’s life he thought he was going to be a musician. He has played piano for most of his life. Ownby was told that he was great and should pursue this career path. When he was deciding what he wanted his major to be in college, he decided that music was the clear choice. A few years later, he works in the game industry. He works at Disney at Avalanche Software.

                The point of that was to give an example that you may not end up working where you expect to work. And to illustrate that just because you like something goes not mean you are fit to make that something your profession. When perusing his musical career, Ownby did not like to practice playing the piano for more than two hours. This was a clear sign that music was not the career path for him. So just because you like to play games goes not mean you should get into the game industry.

                If you do decide that the game industry is for you, you first must know some of the negatives. Crunch is a very prominent thing in the game industry. You will work long hour regularly and it may burn you out. Having a career in the game industry is not a very secure thing, companies go under often. This field is very competitive, so just know that you are replaceable. You will get paid well, but you could get paid better elsewhere. And In these sense you could get a better job elsewhere. Other tech companies will pay you better, provide better security, and are less competitive. If those negatives do not scare you then let’s check on some of the positives.

                The main reason to join the game industry is because it is creatively fulfilling. Making games is one of the most creatively fulfilling jobs out there because there is so much that goes into making games. When making games there are an always new things to be learning. If you like solving problems and doing things that have not been done before then maybe making games it for you. 

Joe Barnes - What he looks for in a new hire

Joe Barnes has been in the game industry for 22 years. He was worked on games that have come out on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. Barnes enjoys working on low level engine programming. When Barnes is looking for a new employee here are things he looks for in them.

First thing he looks for is if the person has strong C++ skills. If you are going to be an engine programmer you are going to use C++ as your primary language. So having strong C++ skills and being comfortable with the language will do you well. Barnes also likes to know that you are interested in the language because having an interest in C++ will lead to learning quicker. Understanding the ramifications of code you write is also a big deal because you knowing what your code is doing extremely important. You will be working in a team, so knowing how your code can and may affect the project as a whole will save the team lots of time from debugging.

Next thing Barnes looks for is if the potential employee is a team player. Making games is a team effort, so enjoying who you work with is key. Especially when you are working 60+ hour work weeks, you will hope the people you work with are likable. Being a team player also means being able to ask for help and working well with others. As the new guy you will want to ask to help constantly, so you understand what is going on in this company’s code base. You do not want to waste time trying to figure out something when somebody else already knows the answer. 

Some questions you may be asked in the interview process are what is the difference between const char * p and char * const p. Also seeing if you are able to reverse a string in place. And being able to tell what is wrong with this method, Vector Cast( Vector Direction).