Hello everyone,

I am seeking a mentor that can help me to develop my video game development skills and help me to be successful with your experience.

I am a computer science student at Rutgers University and am a Junior as well as a Straight A student. It has been my life's task to become a game developer / programmer as well as to just envelop my life in anything video game related. Since I was 3 years old, playing Atari, I knew that I had to make video games.

Over the past few years, I've experimented with OpenGL, Ogre3d, SFML, as far as graphics libraries are concerned. I have pretty solid skills with C++ and Java, and SQL and Oracle Servers, and starting programming at 10 years old. Lately I've been reading many different books. Some of these are on Algorithm Efficiency, Game Design, Game Engine Architecture, Immersion, Networking, Haptics, OpenGL, Ogre3d, SFML, and am trying to put this knowledge into practice. Other materials I've read are some of the GameDev magazines, and a lot on these forums.

My first Game Design Expo was in Phili at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center back in '09 or '10 I believe. My first video game published was called Urban Riot, and was a text based, browser based, online game back from '06 to '08 that had about 10,000 active users. Me and one buddy created it with PHP and SQL. It is no longer live.

By now I have a pretty solid overall picture of the game development process.

One of my hobbies is reading up on how to make my ideas and dreams into a reality, how to gain mastery in a skill, goal setting, etc. I would do anything to become a successful game developer.

Currently, what I think I want to do is to create a video game from scratch, or work from an existing engine to create something. However, I am not sure if this is the route I should go. I do not know if I should make an engine from scratch, work on a popular existing one, join someone else's game project, etc. I need help directing my talent and networking.

I am looking for someone who has experience in the video game industry. There are many of you on here that I believe would be able to help me. Some of you are obviously masters in your field, or close to it. I would love to get to know you personally and to be directed with my decisions and where I use my time. I guess my goal is to be able to be hired from some video game company by the time I graduate next year (if possible).

Thanks for your consideration.

J. Faraday

If you already have experience making online games -- why exactly do you need our help ?

The easiest way to advance your knowledge is to "go forth and practice" .

The 'fastest to develop' multiplayer game I can think of would be a 2D MUD were the players build up everything from scratch using raw materials ( Java ) .

(( If you really want to be a "rebel", try creating a 3D game using .BAT format ))

What you do, however, is your own choice.

Edit: Whatever you decide to do now, will probably end up becoming part of your resume whenever you graduate . So it would be wise to pick something that can be completed by the time you graduate AND showcase your coding skills .

Note: "Web Developers" are not in high demand in the US.