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After spending my entire childhood wanting to be a game programmer I had one short summer job at a big studio during my university years and was immediately put

After spending my entire childhood wanting to be a game programmer I had one short summer job at a big studio during my university years and was immediately put off by the terrible working conditions. Years later I heard that there were good studios which treat you right so I left my job in surgical simulation and finally started as a game developer. That was seven years ago. It's tough at times but I haven't ever regretted it. There are plenty of good employers out there, these days.

datalus 4y ago
Exact same experience, except I've never gone back to a career in game development... although I've considered it at various points in my software dev career.
- Agentlien 4y ago
  While software development in general is fun and continuously challenging there's a very special excitement to looking at what you're actually doing and going "holy shit, we make games!". I've had those moments when I'm in a meeting discussing design details and considerations when suddenly it just strikes me that we're sitting there discussing how to make a game more fun and that's part of our job. I'm also really happy when people ask me what I do for a living and I can link a flashy trailer instead of trying to describe some web backend thing for a service they never heard about. edit: probably the biggest advantage in game development is the unique atmosphere brought about by the shared deep passion for games throughout the company.
  - philliphaydon 4y ago
    Nice to know there's good places to work in the gaming industry. I think I'm scared due to the number of bad stories that popup now-n-then and the over-worked scenarios to meet deadlines. I think the problem now is I would like to build a game similar to UO but unless I did it myself I don't think it will ever happen. Kinda like the plot of Mythic Quest on Apple TV. He starts his own company to make the game of his vision.

datalus 4y ago

Exact same experience, except I've never gone back to a career in game development... although I've considered it at various points in my software dev career.

Agentlien 4y ago
While software development in general is fun and continuously challenging there's a very special excitement to looking at what you're actually doing and going "holy shit, we make games!". I've had those moments when I'm in a meeting discussing design details and considerations when suddenly it just strikes me that we're sitting there discussing how to make a game more fun and that's part of our job. I'm also really happy when people ask me what I do for a living and I can link a flashy trailer instead of trying to describe some web backend thing for a service they never heard about. edit: probably the biggest advantage in game development is the unique atmosphere brought about by the shared deep passion for games throughout the company.
- philliphaydon 4y ago
  Nice to know there's good places to work in the gaming industry. I think I'm scared due to the number of bad stories that popup now-n-then and the over-worked scenarios to meet deadlines. I think the problem now is I would like to build a game similar to UO but unless I did it myself I don't think it will ever happen. Kinda like the plot of Mythic Quest on Apple TV. He starts his own company to make the game of his vision.