I worked for Codemasters in the late 90s when I was 18-19. I was trying to get out of menial work while teaching myself to code, and got a temp job as a games t

I worked for Codemasters in the late 90s when I was 18-19. I was trying to get out of menial work while teaching myself to code, and got a temp job as a games tester. I was "commuting" from one Warwickshire village to Southam, about 20-25 miles away. To get to work I had to get a lift to a bus stop 4 miles away, where I'd catch a coach at about 7am that went cross country to Bristol. It would drop me off in Southam, then I'd walk for about half an hour to get to the Codemasters offices which were in remote converted farm buildings outside town. On my first day I met a guy in Southam who said he worked there so I followed him. We had gone through several muddy fields before I saw that he was wearing wellington boots for the journey. I got to work covered in mud! Luckily nobody seemed to care or notice. To get home, I'd get a ride back into Southam from a colleague, and wait in a pub for a couple of hours before catching the same coach I came in on. At that point I'd be in another town four miles from home. Then I'd go to a pub where my friends hung out and get a ride back with them. I'd get home about midnight. I worked out I was losing money by working there, but I was desperate to get into the games industry and out of working class menial labour, so I carried on until my temp contract ran out. If I was more savvy I would have been able to finagle myself a permanent position, but honestly I was a pretty depressed, naïve kid at the time, and didn't really know what I was doing career wise. Later I had a week long interview at another studio, Attention To Detail (who made Rollcage for the PS1) who were similarly remote. The other big game developer in the region was Blitz Games which was at least in Leamington Spa. I only had to get 2 buses to get to my interview there.