Inspiration

GameDev.net recently linked to this Game Career Guide interview with Jean-Francois Lévesque, describing his path toward becoming a Game Developer at Ubisoft Montreal in Canada. This post is one of a few leading to my recent fervor to work harder to break into the field. As I read the interview, I kept saying to myself "check, check, got that... I can totally DO THIS!!!"

I'd like to summarize what I believe were his most important insights and define where I am with each:

• Learn the English language. -> Check!
• Have a plan. Read as much as you can on game development and work on your own games/projects in your spare time. -> Check!
• Have at least one complete personal project to show to potential employers. -> I'm still working on this one.
• Use personal projects to test different rendering techniques and programming methods. Continue learning and be competent enough to explain design decisions. -> I'm working on this one too.
• Expect rejection in the beginning. It may take a couple times, more college courses, or simply meeting the right people to succeed. -> This might be tough!
• Be willing to step up and ask for more challenges/responsibilities once you do get hired. -> This is me!
• If you start getting in over your head once you land the job, seek help and learn from your co-workers. -> No problem.
• Be prepared for a personal component AND technical test at your interview. Be passionate about what you do! -> I plan to keep learning as much as I can to improve my technical competency, but I know I can easily show my desire to work on games!
• Have a personal website so employers can learn more about you. -> Check!
• Start networking! Attend job fairs and gaming conferences, participate in video game-related forums, and do everything you can to make new contacts in the field. -> I need to work on this one.

Clearly I have my work cut out for me, but I definitely believe it is possible. I plan to keep checking this list to see how I'm progressing. In the meantime, for those of you with game development experience, what pointers might YOU add to this list??? I know this blog is new and won't have many readers yet, but please add your comments even if this post is a couple years old by the time you find it!