Help me please. game industry?

Question

i am a 16 year old girl and going to beauty school but recently ive been thinknig bout being a game devolper.. you know the people that make the games. do they make alot of money? can anyone please give me some info. How much do they make a year? Are there any schools in the Philly area?

thanks =)

also if you want oppions.. do you think i should be a hairdresser or game developer... why/why not?

thanks again =] ** 10 POINTS FOR BEST ANSWERR***

Answer 1

I think either hairdresser or game developer would be a good career... you could even do both. If you are in beauty school I think you should go ahead and finish your degree.

I know some people who develop games. They seem to enjoy it and do make a living at it. You can work harder to make more money, or take it easy and receive a lower income. You will have to be self motivated though and willing to work long hours alone.

Being a hairdresser generally provides a stable income and you will find work easily. Most hairdressers I know are not super happy with their jobs, but others are.

I think you should finish your beauty school degree then look into becoming a game developer. Maybe even be a hairdresser to pay your way through school.

Answer 2

Well it all depends on where your talents lie.

Also, what you mean by Developer, a writer for the plot of a games story or what?

If you think that you'd prefer to do something in the games industry then that is probably what you should try to do, but maybe finish beauty school first so if it doesn't work out you have something to fall back on.

Answer 3

Being a game developer is a lot of fun, but I can’t imagine a career further away from it than hair dresser, lol.  That said, we *totally* need more girls like you in the industry, to offset all the geeky boys.  ;)

As far as what it’s like and how much you make, it depends on the area of development that you choose to go into.  Game developers are very specialized these days.  There are four basic areas of the development team: design, programming, art, and level building, which are supported by production, Quality Assurance, customer service, sound design, marketing, business development, etc.  Designers write up the details of every tiny aspect of the game and come up with the math to support it.  Programmers take the written details from the designers and implement it using programming languages like C++ and/or in-house tools.  Artists create the 3D art, animations, textures, etc for everything in the game.  And level builders take assets created by the artists and create the physical layout of the world.  Producers manage the entire project and keep everyone on schedule and on budget.  Quality Assurance tests the game for bugs, and reports those back to development.

Professional game developers typically make a comfortable wage, but it's not amazing.  There's a game industry salary survey from 2006 here: http://gamecareerguide.com/features/266/... that will give you a better idea of what each job is like, and how much they make.  In an expensive state like California, you’ll get paid a bit more than the averages there, and this survey is two years old now.

As far as college, you’ll need to get your high school diploma or GED first, of course. ;)  For art and level building, the Art Institute in Philly has a pretty good reputation (the Art Director on my current project graduated from there), but any four year college with a degree in 3D art and animation will prepare you well.  For programming, go to any good four year college and major in Computer Science, and take several classes in essay and tech writing along with your major.

For game design, there isn't really a school or major that's better than any other.  A lot of schools will try to tell you they have game design majors, and that's flat out false.  They're either 100% art and no design whatsoever (as is the case with "Game Art and Design" at the Art Institute, which is great for art and level building, but not for design), or they won't prepare you any better than a "normal" college would.  The only exceptions to this are the Masters program at Carnegie Mellon, and possibly USC's undergrad program.  True game design is accomplished almost entirely with writing and math, and involves no art or programming.



If you're interested in design, go to any good 4 year college and major in whatever you want.  Just pick a major that you enjoy and that will allow you graduate as quickly as possible.  Along with your major take math up through Calculus 1, and at least two courses in Statistics, two courses in writing, one Computer Science course, and one art course.  Math and writing are the main tools of a designer, and the CS and art courses will help you work with your programmer and artist colleagues later on.  Fill up the rest of your course requirement with a wide liberal arts education -- history, literature, mythology, sociology, psychology, etc, are all useful in game design.

One thing to keep in mind while you’re looking at colleges is that it’s a lot easier to find a job in the industry after college if you already live near several game studios.  Most game companies will not pay for relocation for an entry level job, and some won't even interview you if you don't live in the area.  There's a map here: http://gamedevmap.com/ that lists every game studio by city.  Try to find a college in a city with at least 10 game companies.  If at all possible, go to school near a city with a lot of game studios, like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, etc.

One other thing I would recommend, if you’re considering getting into game development of any kind, is to join the Women In Game Development mailing list, here: http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listin...  The list is very welcoming towards students, and the women there can help you as you try to decide if this is the path for you.

Good luck!