"words of advice for young people" 2

A tribe-friend asked me for some advice about getting into games. Here is that information in recycled form:

First off, a non-negotiable attribute has to be artistic ability as well as basic computer skills. It is a simple matter to teach an artist how to use a reasonably complex graphic application and development pipeline; it is nearly impossible to teach an engineer how to draw if they're not interested in it.

So prior to applying anywhere, the potential employee should be well versed in Windows use (Sadly, I've never seen a Mac or *NIX development house in nearly 10 years in this field; the *NIX situation may change, though).

The standard paint application is Photoshop, though the primary focus is on results. If the applicant is skilled with a different application, such as gIMP or Painter or what have you, it isn't a strike against them.

There is not yet a standard 3D application, though 3DStudio Max is close to being it. However, Alias' Maya has offered a staggeringly cheap price point (~US$2000), which is about 1/2 what Max is, Maya is much more flexible and powerful, and easier for coders to deal with; Maya may make a move for dominance over then next few years. Most importantly, Maya offers PLE: Personal Learning Edition for free on the internet (~150MB d/l), or a $5-10 CD by snailmail. It watermarks every image and rendering, but is otherwise a completely functional version of the application. Anyone with a computer that has been made in the last 5 years can run it (Windows or Mac OS X).

Because of this, anybody who is actually motivated to get into games is expected to have some knowledge of 3D applications, and representative work in their portfolio.

Generally speaking, a good-sized team will have its art duties divided into three groups: character modeling, background modeling, and animation. Frequently the animators will model their own creatures, though, to make sure the rigging/boning is correct for their animation style. Background building has commonly been the least desired, and least respected portion of the process, but that's changing as people realize that it's the portion of the game that the player ends up staring at the most, and around which most of their art expectations are based.

If the applicant knows the aspect on which they want to focus, they can orient their portfolios around that. Focusing on strengths is critical to set a body of work apart from the other people applying. So if the person is good at animating, but not so hot at basic design/drawing skills, they should focus an showing animation with the app-provided Character Studio models, or something they've found online. Showing a bunch of half-assed textures when they really want to animate, or a bunch of badly animated motion sequences when they want to build ships or towers is generally a waste of time for the applicant, and can negatively influence the initial portfolio review.

Lastly, it helps but is not completely critical to have a keen interest in games.

In a follow-up, I mentioned something like as long as we can forestall the outsourcing of US game-artist jobs to Korea for a few more years, I'll be happy (well, happier than if outsourcing happens sooner). this tribe-friend thought this was a joke, but I'm entirely serious. I'm less worried about massive amounts of programming and sysadmin work going to India than I am about Korea eating up a bunch of game development.

My Korea statement was no more of a joke than outsourcing phone centers to India. In fact Japanese animation studios have used cheap cell-animation studios for their 'tweening for animated TV series for years. I think a number of US shows, such at Batman: The Animated Series also used Korean studios.

Attending Tokyo Game Show and Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) every year, I've seen that Korea has risen from being a wannabe joke to a contender in a very short period of time. They are most hampered by their lack of Japanese console hardware, due to postwar import restrictions on Japanese goods. That is a major reason that PC games are substantially more popular than console there.

So, no. No joke.

You also asked about the chances of being hired as a gaijin working in a Japanese game company. I have no idea how I lucked into this position. My Japanese skills were very marginal when I was hired, and are only vaguely passable now, after 2.5 years of 50-80 hour weeks in a Japanese-language-only office. It would have improved faster if I'd been able to make time for actual studying, rather than learning by osmosis, but there it is.

Anyway, if you're only casually interested in game development, you will probably be able to get involved with the mod community, and do it in your spare time, and do regular coding along your field of expertise (security, I assume) for your day job, once your tour is done. However, if you're serious about getting in, I'm sure you can make it if you apply yourself.