As a Build Engineer my job can be kind of tough to explain. I don't work on gameplay, I'm not an artist or a designer...And most people don't really know what the concept of a "build" is if they don't already work with them (especially since even within the field there are so many different kinds of builds and definitions for builds). So when people are like "So...what does a build engineer do exactly?" you kind of end up having to explain to them first what a build is and what it's used for (trying not to get carried away with different kinds of builds) and then explain what you do in the context of that.

I usually start off saying something like: "I work on and manage the team's continuous integration and autotesting systems that produce different kinds of game builds that the rest of the team then works with or that we send to third parties or certification."

Then they're like "What does that mean? What's a build?"

And to try to find the simplest explanation for it I say something like "It is this...package of the game. Kind of like when you install the game on your PC, you are installing a 'build' of it."

And then it turns into a whole discussion...I still haven't found a good way of one-lining it.

How about "I manage bringing together all the work from everyone else on the team and bundling it together so that it works as a single program for the end user rather than random bits and pieces."?

As a Build Engineer my job can be kind of tough to explain. I don't work on gameplay, I'm not an artist or a designer...And most people don't really know what the concept of a "build" is if they don't already work with them (especially since even within the field there are so many different kinds of builds and definitions for builds). So when people are like "So...what does a build engineer do exactly?" you kind of end up having to explain to them first what a build is and what it's used for (trying not to get carried away with different kinds of builds) and then explain what you do in the context of that.

I usually start off saying something like: "I work on and manage the team's continuous integration and autotesting systems that produce different kinds of game builds that the rest of the team then works with or that we send to third parties or certification."

Then they're like "What does that mean? What's a build?"

And to try to find the simplest explanation for it I say something like "It is this...package of the game. Kind of like when you install the game on your PC, you are installing a 'build' of it."

And then it turns into a whole discussion...I still haven't found a good way of one-lining it.

How about "I manage bringing together all the work from everyone else on the team and bundling it together so that it works as a single program for the end user rather than random bits and pieces."?

That's a great way to at least begin roughly putting it! The actual work involves things outside of that as well, like tools dev and autotesting work, but the above is really the main thing I guess.

That's a great way to at least begin roughly putting it! The actual work involves things outside of that as well, like tools dev and autotesting work, but the above is really the main thing I guess.

Nobody else really cares about what the actual work involves. Sure there will be some people that do, but they'll ask enough questions to eventually satisfy themselves. In general, descriptions like Luckless' are all you'll ever need.

Thanks for replying. I've been covermounting sublicensor agent for over 10 years now. Then Steam came in, and GoG after that.

If you want the names of companies, I'm not allowed to do that- NDA's.

I have my vision of the game we're developing with my team. Next game is in my head- kind of The Last of us but for PC as well as Xboxes and PS's.

But totally different in some way...based on parallel Universes and what we believe The Creator(s) is/are.

Frequently:

A: I write games
Q: Why don't you write an iPhone game and make millions of pounds?
A: I never thought of that. Excellent idea, thanks. I'm sure it's that simple.

Just telling people I'm a tech manager for a mobile game studio and before that just a mobile/social game programmer always seemed to be enough to keep the conversation going without any odd pauses. Just give people a simple answer and ask them a question to get them to talk about themselves usually makes them forget/not care what you did for a living anyway.

What is this topic about? Constant quarrels?

As a Build Engineer my job can be kind of tough to explain. I don't work on gameplay, I'm not an artist or a designer...And most people don't really know what the concept of a "build" is if they don't already work with them (especially since even within the field there are so many different kinds of builds and definitions for builds). So when people are like "So...what does a build engineer do exactly?" you kind of end up having to explain to them first what a build is and what it's used for (trying not to get carried away with different kinds of builds) and then explain what you do in the context of that.

I usually start off saying something like: "I work on and manage the team's continuous integration and autotesting systems that produce different kinds of game builds that the rest of the team then works with or that we send to third parties or certification."

Then they're like "What does that mean? What's a build?"

And to try to find the simplest explanation for it I say something like "It is this...package of the game. Kind of like when you install the game on your PC, you are installing a 'build' of it."

And then it turns into a whole discussion...I still haven't found a good way of one-lining it.

How about "I manage bringing together all the work from everyone else on the team and bundling it together so that it works as a single program for the end user rather than random bits and pieces."?

bullseye:)

What is this topic about? Constant quarrels?

It's about when someone asks at a party what you do for a living and the answer you give. You know, that thing that happens right before the person you're talking to excuses themselves to go find the food table, or the washroom, or watch a mime or something.