I graduated this past May with a degree in computer science. I'm currently employed, but would like to transition into the gaming industry. Thus, it's time for me to start building a portfolio.

My portfolio right now has nada, zip, zilch. I haven't had the opportunity to work on any game-related projects. I also don't know exactly what is expected of a programming portfolio.

I checked this forum's FAQ first but didn't see any specific articles about programming portfolios. Anyone got a good link that talks about what developers are looking for from a portfolio, tips to building one, etc.?

Aside from that, I have some specific questions:

1. I've seen gameplay videos suggested for portfolios. Does this apply for programmers too? Don't they want to see examples of your coding ability? I feel like a gameplay video tells more about the project than what you, specifically, accomplished--unless you coded the entire thing without a team.

2. Since code is so proprietary, is the only way to get some "code" into my portfolio to take on a small-scale solo project? (Or should I not worry about putting code itself into my portfolio at all?)

For those interested, I found the following article very informative:

http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/655/how_to_make_a_game_programming_.php

But it seems like I'm expected to throw together a bunch of small, one-person projects for this. I have to admit I'm really turned off by the idea. I would much rather work in a team on large-scale projects. Hence my question about proprietary code.

I don't feel like making Super Mario or Frogger clones... but whatever.

Quote: 1. I've seen gameplay videos suggested for portfolios. Does this apply for programmers too?
2. Since code is so proprietary, is the only way to get some "code" into my portfolio to take on a small-scale solo project?

1. No.
2. No.

Portfolio aside, have you done any personal game development, either in college or before that? I would make at least one game before you decide to make that transition, as games are a lot of work, and a lot of people come in expecting fun and excitement but burn out in just a few years. It's worth it if you're wired for it, but if you aren't, you could just end up very miserable.

Back to the portfolio question, I switched from a web development position to game development with a portfolio containing just a handful of personal game projects. I wouldn't say that was the be all end all of how I did it, but I think it helped. Even having a single finished game puts you ahead of 99% of the other applicants, including a lot of the senior developers who can't show any code because everything they've done was for another employer.

Also, it's important that everything in your portfolio be as clean and professional as you can make it, because if your code is sloppy, poorly thought out or unorganized it will hurt you instead of help.

For programmers a portfolio is far less important than the resume or CV.

It doesn't matter how impressive your demos are if they are never looked at. Your resume or CV is the most critical item.


The big stack of applications gets chopped down to a very small stack without ever looking at their web pages. Most get thrown to the 'no hire' pile after just a few seconds. Still in school? Job hopping? No focus? Not targeting what we wanted? No hire. Even after a harsh filtering there are more than enough to interview.


The very small stack gets reviewed and interview candidates selected, generally without opening a web browser to their portfolio. Sometimes someone might open it up, but only if something on paper looks particularly interesting. In that case, only if it demonstrates an excellent fit, we may call them in to interview first.

During an interview if the candidate mentions their online portfolio it will get looked at.

1. Videos won't help when applying for code positions. We'd like to see code, within context though so see next point...

2. It depends what position you're applying for, some general coding and networking position won't be expected to show a bunch of graphics demos for example. Whatever you're demo make sure its from the best examples you've written, go over the code a few times to polish and remove all of the bits that you wrote in a hurry the first time. We've seen little gfx demos and small games, a simplistic 3D racing game for example.

So it just depends on what kind of position you want to apply for.

Andy

There's nothing stopping you from working on a team project; a quick browse through the Help Wanted forum should find you all kinds of projects looking for programmers. As long as you keep realistic expectations of the kinds of results you're liable to get from largely inexperienced hobbyists working on side projects, you can net some pretty good experience (and portfolio-stuffers) from such projects.

Alternately, you could start a team yourself, which gives you a bit more quality control and a better shot at producing code you can show off in a portfolio.


Generally, though, NineYearCycle has a great point: you need code that shows off your skills in a particular area. It's extremely hard to tell if someone is a good programmer by looking at their code in general; it's much easier to recognize competency in a specific small area. It also takes much less code. For instance, you can show off your networking code abilities with a simple realtime networked demo of some sort; even a basic 2D game will more than suffice as long as the networking code is solid. By contrast, how do you go from hundreds of thousands of lines of business logic to the conclusion that one is a solid programmer?

Pick a specialty, if you haven't already, and focus on that for your portfolio. Incidentally, this also makes it much easier to drop into an existing team for a side project, since you can offer specific skills and avoid getting roped into areas you don't want to be involved in.

Quote: Original post by mithryanna
I don't feel like making Super Mario or Frogger clones... but whatever.

That means that doing them will be good training for all the boring stuff, small games and other assorted bits you will have to do when you first get into the industry.