There are way too many developers, not enough designers: Serious Sam has picked up a lot of buzz, but I still can''t get excited by Yet-Another-Run-N-Gun.

When interviewing, a University degree tells me you stick it out. Yeah, it''s a bunch of BS, but you finished that project. You made it through the rough stuff.

Teamwork skills are important. My job may be to keep you guys working together, but the less I have to do that, the more other stuff I can get done too.

What are you doing now? Did you just finish college and you think you''ve finished learning? Everything is always growing and changing. Hopefully, you''re doing something with the latest graphics engine, learning networking, collision detection theory, are any of a hundred other topics needed in games.

Oh, and $75,000+mucho benefits, Web Dev/Lead. (Yes, those of us still standing get paid well -- lost a bunch of ''taught myself in high-school'' co-workers over the last year).

Salary is dependant on alot of factors. Some of which are Degree''s, Experiance, Location, and others are dependant on how well you negotiate a salary for yourself. You can get a general idea of what a good salary for a game programmer/artist/designer by looking through www.dice.com and other industry sites. After getting the list you can use a Salary Calculator to compare that salary to where you currently live. As far as stating what people currently make for a salary it''s usualy frowned apon and can cause problems with co-workers so most smart people keep their mouth shut about it. Do your reasearch and you''ll get a pretty good aproximation about how much you can earn.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster

And I also have a garage-type project on my own that I really enjoy, plus I am learning gamedev stuff I like so much, plus I am improving my engeneering skills (writing specs, flows, maintaining schedules) that will help me at any programming job, all this in stress-and-deadline-free environment of my bedroom. So right now I feel I have the best of both worlds. No credits for me in the title screen, but hey, at least I feel happy every day when I sit in my BMW

-- XXX

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I should add that when we employed that young genius I did feel largely guilty at pulling him away from this sort of background. I knew that his life would change forever, and whilst he was within the corporate machines that many dev houses are nowadays he probably wouldn''t work on anything that he really wanted to and would never feel like a hobbyist again.

As for wages...there are some very valid points that have been raised. I have been reasonably satisfied with my own wages of recent years. I do not have a enough for a Ferrari though - not many programmers ever get those sort of wages and those that do have a flash car tend to live with their parents still. I have occasionally worked for peanuts however and really been exploited on several occassions. I''ve just been putting some stuff together for E3 and if you divided my wage up by the hours I''ve worked then the hourly rate is very very small and flipping burgers can appear to be a more attractive lifestyle.

Many people think what I do for a living is cool. I like it a lot, but wouldn''t recommend it to anyone and at times I strongly want out myself. It has it''s rewards and job satisfaction but it has to rank with Doctor and Lawyers on the hours you need to put in. Some people have made comments about getting a ''cool game job'' on this thread. Hmmm...

The reality is that I envy many other people. I would love to take a year or two out and get back to hobbyist routes. To me, Serious Sam is where it''s at. Sure, they didn''t do anything that we haven''t seen before, but thats a bunch of people programming what they want and having a good time for it.

Just food for thought. It isn''t just how much you make, but also where you make it at. There a number of game companies in Silicon Valley, but the cost of living is extreme to say the least. You would be lucky to find a decent house for $300,000 in San Jose. When we were looking for a house in Chicago we got approved for up to $350K on an income of $180K. That would buy a fairly nice house in Chicago, but not much in San Jose. In comparision we bought a 3,000 sq ft house on five acres in Knoxville for $150K which $350K wouldn''t have bought us in Chicago. The living room alone is the size of the entire ground floor of the house we had in Chicago for the same price.

There are also issues of security considering that many game companies squeeze by from advance to advance. Although the game industry has evolved a good deal it is still very much a labor of love. If it is money you are after then I would say look elsewhere. There is certainly good money to be made, but that is like saying if you become a famous actor you can make a lot of money as an actor. You are going to have to be both highly motivated and highly talented as well as making good choices in where you apply that effort and skill.

I noticed that some of you guys earn big $$$
I have more than 2 years of professional experience in C/C++ programming, have a B.Sc (comp Science) degree and earn $20K.
And I''m working for a large company as well.

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Original post by Xtreme

I noticed that some of you guys earn big $$$
I have more than 2 years of professional experience in C/C++ programming, have a B.Sc (comp Science) degree and earn $20K.
And I''m working for a large company as well.

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yeah, but that is in australia... we have some really bad graduate pay rates. Like half elsewhere. I am doing some pratical work for my australian degree in germany at the moment, and the pay rates are far better here. Shame about the weather ;-)

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Original post by LilBudyWizer
You would be lucky to find a decent house for $300,000 in San Jose.

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You''re low-balling a bit there. The median price for a home in San Diego (where I live) is $285k. The median in San Jose is $450k. Half a million will get you a 2-bedroom home in San jose, maybe. I have many friends living there, some currently house-hunting, so I know how it goes. A year ago, I helped a friend move into a studio apartment--500 or 600 sq ft--in San Jose. The rent was $1200/mo. Prices have gone up since then.

well I can''t say anything about San Jose, but I know prices in the bay area and tri-valley are fairly rediculous. We''re talking about $700k for less than 1500SqFt in San Francisco. In the valley it''s not so bad, especially if you take the train for an hour to work. My girlfriend and I are looking at $350k for 3000+SqFt.

I''m a regular software engineer and do indy games on the side because I don''t like the metality of ''the big companies'' anymore. Companies like Id that used be really cool and all for the game are now in it SOLELY for the money. I''m 25 years old, two years out of trade school/tech college, and very, very close to a six figure salary. I''m not about to go work at EA or Id just to get my paychecks chopped in half so they can make a damn percentage.

There''s far too many game programmers (fun coders) cropping up lately. Just like web developers a year ago, fun coders are now a dime a dozen. I would advise an up and coming fun coder to get a ''regular'' programming job and code games on the side. Remember this: no one ever got rich working for The Man.

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www.haterade.com

So ahh how bad would you hate me if I told you $500k, in mid-Michigan, buys you a a 2,000sqft house, on a lake, and sea-plane. That two-hour drive becomes a half-hour flight (And forget that train, you''ll never get there unless it''s one of those French or Japanese bullet trains)

...
- ludemann8
That''s $20k Aussie bucks, not US gbills, which at today''s rate puts you at $38.5k USD. And I bet you live in or near Brisbane (every Aussie coder I "know" comes from there).

Magmai Kai Holmlor
- The disgruntled & disillusioned

Magmai, just curious in what city you work in Michigan. I''m a programmer in Ann Arbor making just a little over 50k a year with 2 years experience and no degree. You a contractor or perm?


- Houdini