Hello all,

I'd like to ask your opinion on something. It's about a change of career I've been recently pondering quite a bit.

I'm currently working as a software developer, building line-of-business software, have been doing this for 5+ years. Before getting into business software, I did dream of becoming a game programmer (graphics programming in particular I found very fascinating).

But I dropped that dream, seeing as how big of an effort it would take to work in graphics programming (especially on the geometry, trigonometry and algebra side of things). I did build some very basic graphics apps using XNA, so that's pretty much what I was basing that conclusion on.

Anyways, as I said, I've recently been pondering trying to get back to that initial dream. Mainly because I just don't find any satisfaction in the domain I'm applying my software skills. I like the technology side of things very much (web and desktop apps), but the business domain is just awful. Which is where game programming would come in. I'm a huge fan of pc/console games, so the domain would be right up my alley. And even the fear I had years ago about all the required math, seems to be easier than just slaving away on business apps.

As far as age is concerned, I'm around 30 years old, seeing as age does make a difference in this field. And performing this career change would require quite a bit of learning on my part, especially when it comes to the math part (I would evaluate myself as basic in knowledge, since I did take plenty of math courses back in college, but I haven't touched those things in quite a bit).

And I'm well aware it would basically require me starting almost from stratch, as a junior graphics/game programmer. And I'd probably also need to move to another country, as mine isn't exactly the most filled with job opportunities of this kind.

I'm also aware of the ruthlessness and dog-eat-dog world out there, especially in some game development companies. I'm not exactly naive about this all being sunshine and butterflies. I'm aware salary-wise it probably won't be as good as business apps, at least for some time, until I get enough experience. I'm also well aware that chances are I'm not going to be working on the most awesome games, at least not for a long time. But I think even those types of no-so-awesome projects would still beat business apps when it comes to how interesting they can be.

But even considering all of this, I'm still pondering if I should do this. I think that considering we only get one life, we should strive to do what we like. At least I should find out if I really like working in game development.

And coming to an end with this story, I realize that pragmatically all points say I should just stay on my ass, and keep doing what I'm doing, but I think if I wait any longer, it'll just be harder and harder to do. And finally I'll never get the answer to the 'what if' question.

So, I've thought about a possible way of doing this. I could try working part time in my current field, and start seeing what exactly I'm getting myself into. And then make a decision from there. I hope that in about 3-5 years I should have either gained enough experience through personal projects to either know if it's worth going for, or just backing off.

So, what do you guys think?

I think you're already a software developer, so you can already write code, so you should just apply for programming positions in game development companies if that's what you want to do. People get hired from outside the industry all the time.

I made a career change from game developer to enterprisey software developer. So I did the opposite, for reasons that you already knew.

I still move making games. I can't ignore the creative side of that, and I miss it, but I can't live through the guerilling hours anymore.

At least in the enterprise software development, the scope of your app is more finite. "Does it send email?" Yes. Problem solved.

In game development: "I don't like the speed of the character jumping, can you tweak that a little bit." "Oh the characters stands funny. We should do this animation that triggers at some random interval.." Your requirement can be as many as there are people out there.

So, what do you guys think?

I think you should try making a game on your own and see if you like it. That would also give you the beginnings of a portfolio, which would help you get hired.

BTW, I moved this to the Game Industry Job Advice board. You should probably check out the FAQs here.

Yes this is deffinatly the way to go. If you are considering a career in games then start making games. There are several benefits from this:

1. You build up your portfolio
2. You get to see if you really like making games (If you get bored of working on your own game then imagine what it must be like working on the next iOS F2P Kardashian game).
3. You could possibly launch your entire games career from working on your own game and then never have to worry about looking for a job
   

As for your other worries about it being hard to transition into games. This is simply a myth. Sure all the jobs say 2 years experience working on a published title but, in reality they are just looking for somebody who has experience programming, writes good code and can get shit done. Working in games is no harder or easier than writing or maintaining business applications it is simply domain knowledge that differs and this can be picked up on the job as it usually differs from company to company.

Thanks everyone for the input.

So, what do you guys think?

I think you should try making a game on your own and see if you like it. That would also give you the beginnings of a portfolio, which would help you get hired.

BTW, I moved this to the Game Industry Job Advice board. You should probably check out the FAQs here.

Yes this is deffinatly the way to go. If you are considering a career in games then start making games. There are several benefits from this:

1. You build up your portfolio
2. You get to see if you really like making games (If you get bored of working on your own game then imagine what it must be like working on the next iOS F2P Kardashian game).
3. You could possibly launch your entire games career from working on your own game and then never have to worry about looking for a job
   

As for your other worries about it being hard to transition into games. This is simply a myth. Sure all the jobs say 2 years experience working on a published title but, in reality they are just looking for somebody who has experience programming, writes good code and can get shit done. Working in games is no harder or easier than writing or maintaining business applications it is simply domain knowledge that differs and this can be picked up on the job as it usually differs from company to company.

True, both domains have their own domain knowledge requirements, but I feel game programming, especially graphics, has a lot more. Especially technical. Especially in math. You hardly need anything beyond basic arithmatic and algebra for business apps.

I've heard it recommended that some programmers initially move into tooling, and then move into the domain they initially wanted. But isn't this risky? Won't you get labelled as a tools guys, and they'll have difficulty letting you move to a different field, since they know you do a good job in tooling?

Also, another thing I'm wondering about the need for graphics programmers. How much has this changed with the advent of plenty of free graphics engines, like Unreal and Cryengine? Has there been a considerable drop in need for graphics programmers?