ok, i know that this is a very odd question, but i have been wondering, how smart do you really have to be to make it in the games industry? By make it, i mean get a programming job in a professional game developing company. In a recent Gamepro article, one guy working for acclaim or somethin said a good basis to go by is that you should be able to score a 750 on the math for the GRE''s...well i haven''t taken teh GRE''s. I can score an 800 on the SAT math, and prob 800 on the SAT II math. As of right now (I''m a junior in highschool), for the math league contests, I average about the same as the scores of the highest scoring person in the average school. these are for schools participating in the math league, so basically the average decent highschool. (heres what the contests look like http://www.mathleague.com/contests/HS_Contests_1988-89.pdf , i average about 5.2 questions right) I know that john carmack, sweeney(whatever his name is), john romero and those guys are like super smart. Are lead programmers usually at or near the same level as these guys?? I know this is a weird question, but i''m considering being a game programmer later in my life, and i need a basis as to what the likelihood of me actually getting a respectable job would be.

I know guys who scored 800 on the math SAT who couldn''t make it as a game programmer to save their lives. I know others who scored much lower who are ace game programmers.

How well you score on a test isn''t that much of an indicator, nor, above some fuzzy minimal level, is how smart you are.

How well can you program? How fast? How''s your grasp of software architecture? How stable is your code? How many ways can you think of to approach a difficult problem? How willing and able are you to stick with the same project for a few years? How well can you read and comment on someone else''s code? How creative are you? How good are you at bringing out creativity in others and making room for it? How well can you communicate your ideas to non-programmers, and constructively criticize others'' ideas?

Now, how well you say you can do in each of these areas has a lot less weight than how well you can demonstrate it to others via what you do (and what you''ve done).

You''ve got plenty of time ahead of you to work on each of these areas. Getting into a college or university with both a solid CS program and one that encourages/forces you to take classes in art, anthropology, music, sociology, english, phys ed, theatre, etc., will make you a much better programmer. Do well there, create your own games as a student, and rope in others to work with you. All of that is much, much more important than just being "smart." This industry (and programming in general) is full of really smart people; that alone won''t get you very far.

ok, thanks for the help archetypist

I have a followud question.

So, how hard is it for a person who will graduate with a 3.65+ GPA in Computer Science with a focus on Cognitive Science, have a minor in english and possibly a minor in math, loves to program especially games, has read almost every directX book on the market, has taken formal classes on the use of OpenGL, is constantly reading to learn about video game programming topics, has a LICENSED version of a quite well used 3D Studio Max 3.1 and a licensed seat of Visual Studio 6, simply loves to program almost anything as well as model and animate with 3D Studio and who has an affinity for realy long questions (kiddign) going to find getting a job working for a video game development company?

I also work on my own development projects in my spare time which has been quite limited recenetly due to a Programming Languages class I am taking and and have held the position of office manager/graphics artist at a local promotional products business near where I live. Did I mention my dream job is to work in some capacity of games. Programming, modeling, animating, design, testing I like it all.

I know it''s kind of an informan resume here but recent talk about how difficult it is for some college graduates to secure a job seems to be having people worry a bit.

I''m not exactly looking for work yet as I still have a 2 semesters of college left. After that however I''m willing to pack up ye ole wife and travel to Wherevervill as long as the prospects of work are bright.

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but the question seemed kind of relevant.

Couple other questions. While I''ve read tons of books on DX and GL I have yet to read Realtime Rendering and it is likely my next B&N purchase. It seems to be a good general case algorithm that is not API specific, and I know a lot of you have read it. Not to ask if it is a good read or not because I already know it will be but the question is, how good is the information in it. In a sense that, does it have information that cannot easily be found in other places?

Thanks,

Will

this is a good question, i''d be interested in the answer..anyone??

You need to have really good demos to show what you can do. Your GPA won't have as much weight as a sample of your programming abilities. This is just how it is in the games industry. It's not the same as in the business world, because there are too many people who want to work in it. In the business world companies are willing to take people who have no experience based on their GPA and train them (because this is cheaper than hiring experienced professionals, which in some cases are overkill for the job), but in the games industry there are so many qualified skilled programmers who want to work for relatively cheap that nobody will hire someone who has to be trained on the job before they're useful.

[edited by - FenixDown on October 27, 2002 8:38:43 PM]

Yeah, I''ve heard as much.

I suppose at worst case I can potentially land a "well" paying job based on my gpa and keep game programming in the sidelines on my spare time until I can manage a foot in the door to begin my true career.

Just please oh please don''t let me be forced to do database work (gag)

Glad I still got a year of college to finish which hopefully will afford me enough spare time to put together some nice demos. I already have some stuff done in the modeling/animation department with 3D Studio and I have tons of old programs laying around completed as assignments. But I need to put together an actual game for a demo to show all prospective employers.

Webby

FWIW, my degree is in cognitive science, though of a considerably older vintage than yours (1985) . It''s helped me get jobs in the medical software industry, but mostly gets odd looks in the games industry. Which is pretty strange in itself when you consider how many theatre majors are doing art and philosophy majors are programming. The psych/anthro/AI/neuro background in that degree has definitely helped me a lot in UI and design work though.

The above posters who said that you should have a strong demo showing off your abilities -- programming, art, or design, choose one or else you won''t fit into most game company slots.

I have known regular ol'' people without demos to be hired as entry-level programmers by the larger game companies, so it does happen. Not often though; not nearly as often as in other parts of the software industry.

Good luck!

I wouldn''t bother working as a game programmer for any of the big companies. Its a sweat shop job with no job security and low pay (in comparison to the business world).

I program games for fun and soon I hope to start selling my work through shareware. Don''t be conned by the game industry hype.