Hi, I'm currently in my second year at university on a games technology course, and am trying to get a placement in the games industry for a year. I was wondering what kind of projects could I attempt to put in a portfolio? I was thinking along the lines of a smallish game made using direct3D with network support? I'm looking for a programming role, is this the kind of direction to be heading for in a project for a portfolio?

Yes, a programmer portfolio should have programs you have written.

It is most important that whatever you submit is finished and polished. Even a polished tetris game is better than a half-completed 3D network game that you have to hesitate before submitting, or have to say "I know it isn't finished, but...".

For bigger projects, remember that it is generally okay to use existing third party libraries to speed up your development. Don't rewrite physics from scratch, use a physics engine. Don't rewrite networking from scratch, use a library. For complex audio, don't write async audio code from scratch, use a good library. Don't rewrite game scripting from scratch, use Lua or Python. Etc.

Quote: Original post by frob
For bigger projects, remember that it is generally okay to use existing third party libraries to speed up your development. Don't rewrite physics from scratch, use a physics engine. Don't rewrite networking from scratch, use a library. For complex audio, don't write async audio code from scratch, use a good library. Don't rewrite game scripting from scratch, use Lua or Python. Etc.

Agreed, getting stuff finished is what is important, not re-inventing the wheel.