Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Getting a game programming job - What new programmers work on

A common question I get asked, is what do new programmers (or interns) work on? It varies between companies, projects and the individual, but generally it tends to include things like the following:

  • Firefighting. Coping with the constant flow of random issues that come up. This is good for learning all the different parts of the code base.
  • User interface for the front end, in-game pause menu, and the in game HUD.
  • Fixing ‘TRC’ issues. Things like making sure that the game does the right thing when the controller is pulled out.
  • Creating localized versions of the game.
  • Supporting internal tools, such as a level editor.
  • Working on graphical effects and sound effects.
  • Teaming up with someone with more experience on some part of the game, like the player code or enemies, and helping out where needed.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It would be interesting to, at some point, describe pros and cons of such state of affairs.

In my experience, while solving isolated issues/tasks like gfx effects and tcr issues, giving junior programmers UI to work with is asking for trouble. UI (and gameplay for that matter), although 'seniors' prefer not to work on it, does require a lot of experience in both games and software engineering.