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real game developers and testers speak out
aspekx
Member UncommonPosts: 2,167
this may be old news for some of you, but i found it fascinating reading. and for those of you considering a career in game development, read these first:
"There are at least two kinds of games.
One could be called finite, the other infinite.
A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
Comments
Usually people who are play testers aren't people who went to school to study compsci / art / whatever and then later got a job in game development. Usually they aren't even people who know how to code. They are just friends of friends who have been hired to look for bugs.
So what does being a play tester have to do with being a game dev?
Because this is a comic exactly for people like you who think they know what they are talking about.
Are you saying that the majority of programmers in big companies spend time doing tedious and menial crap looking for bugs in their games? No. Of course they do play testing, they have to see what the game they are making looks like, but they don't have time to go for the really in depth testing. That's why they hire their friends to do it. They can do it cheaply and their friends will willingly do it, because, hey, "I get to work for video games!"
Anyway, what are your credentials to say I'm wrong?
Like you? Because hes right. - Kinda..
I have a degree in chemestry stuff (Whatever its called in English), yet I was accepted by EA to be a game tester/Translator, I was offered full compensation for my relocation to Spain. (I applied for fun so didnt go)
In fact, they didnt even ask me about my current job or education. They probably hire people who never went to school.
Didnt read the article so maybe my post makes no sense. -.- Maybe it does.
Being a game developer is one thing, but becoming one is something completely different. Many developers will tell you that one of the ways to get into the industry is to become a tester and go from there.
You don't just finish school and go develop games, there's a process and one of the available steps in that process is being a tester.
So, David Jafee maybe isn't a tester now, but he sure as hell was when he started.
The industry is mostly closed off to newcomers unless you have connections or an outstanding profile. If you don't have connections then applying for something like game tester is just a way to get your foot in the game industry. It's a means to an end, but not a requirement. They aren't essential skills in game development, although this varies depending on what exactly you are working on the game.
But as I said, they are mostly outsiders who handle the actual in depth game testing. Programmers, artists and everyone else involved in building games work tight hours already as it is. Lots and lots of crunching when it comes to game development. This doesn't leave them time to go through each and every nook and cranny in their coding.
These companies need to stop allowing the same people into beta testing their games. These totally addicted losers jump from beta to beta with the same mentality, probably why all MMORPG's are WOW clones.
sorry but this is a completely stupid statement.
he's not talking about beta testers..for one..but even so....Beta testers, and ALL game testers, are NOT THERE TO CHANGE DIRECTION OF A GAME..they are there to (GET THIS) TEST the game and look for BUGS...They have NO SAY in a games gameplay direction...
again..stupid statement...because who they use in testing (be it beta or otherwise) has NO BEARING on the gameplay/mechanics of said game.
but thanks for playing
My luck, I'd sign on to do testing and get assigned to some golf game project, or a kid's game... little Willy's choo-choo adventure. That'd be worse than working for a living.
Correct.
There are way too many people who get into beta and think they are now getting to determine what gets into the game. It's totally stupid but just consider the source.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Many year's ago I worked for a company called Digital Anvil, this the company who made Freelancer and Brute Force, they were later bought out by Microsoft. This was partly because Chris Roberts used a lot of money to make the Wing Commander movie and took to much time to finish Freelancer and Brute Force. However this has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
Now at the time that I worked at Digital Anvil you could get on as a Tester with out any sort of degree; this was the case with most game company. Now unless you had some sort of skill such as Art Design, Sound Design, or Programming etc, you probably would never move beyond being a tester. However you could have stayed as a tester and jumped from developer to developer.
Now on the flip side of that if you were skilled in Art Design, Sound Design or Programming you could move up out of testing with out a degree. There were a few guys who who were programmers or artist and what not who never even went to collage, they started out as testers and worked there way up the ladder.
However the industry has change and there a lot more people out there with degree that want to break in to the industry. These folks have degree and there more then willing to start out as a tester and work there way up the ladder. Now what this means is that unless you know some one that can get you hired on your not gone get hired on as tester unless you have a degree...or at least working on getting a degree.
Also personality is very very important for game developers. When you go in for interview they are going to look at who you are as much as the look at your experince and education. They are going to want to make sure who ever they hire on will mesh with the other employee.
Developers work long hours at times, especially during crunch time. These guys will pull 16+ hours over several days in order to make a deadline. At these times people patience can get rather testie and it's important that every one get along well so that at those times there not ripping each other throats out.
The bottom line is that now days your not gone go far in the game industry with out a degree unless you have some skill and know the right people. If you have no education your chances of getting hired on are slim to none. Actually your better off trying to get hired on as GM with company like Blizzard or NCsoft. If you stay on long enough you might be able to get hired on with other company as a tester with out a degree and that is a big might.
There just to many people out there that have degree and are willing to start at the bottom and work there way up the ladder. So best bet is to go back to school.