Getting into the Games Industry
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
As an artist, I have been asked this question a lot. I have sent out a lot of emails advising young artists to this effect, but I have never published my thoughts. Some of this was referenced to me at one point or another, but most of it is collected from my own meandering experience.
Yeah, the game industry can be hard to get into but it is not impossible for those of us that are willing to work hard. Here is my exclusive advice on what steps you should be taking to make sure you have every advantage when it comes job-search time. I will dispense this advice now.
First, thanks for visiting my blog. it contains most of my best resources for my daily life as an artist. I will be referencing a lot of sites that I have linked here so bookmark it and come back often to keep up-to-date.
Second thing, don’t ever give up your traditional drawing skills. Modern animation uses computer software that expires every 2-3 years. Even digital painters have to learn new software every 4-5. Your traditional skills will be your stable talent for the next 50. Don’t shy away from new things, but a strong traditional background will showcase talent more than anything else. Work hard in any drawing courses you are taking. While these drawings may not always be the first thing to include in your demo reel, they will count when the time is right.
Third, if you want to get into gaming, then focus your personal art around games. Do mockups for games. Think of concepts for games and sketch them out. Check out Kenn Fejer’s site. Many of these are totally fictitious games, but they show creativity. You do not need any permission from anybody to begin making concepts for your own games be they 2d, 3d or otherwise. For example you could remake Mario 1 levels or build 3D characters that would fit in with the Half-Life crew. Imitate for a while. You are still learning to find your artistic niche so continue to play around with other master game artist’s styles and see what they do to get great. Bookmark pro’s websites. Read them, learn from them, and visit often.
Kenn Fejer Sprite artist
Adam Tierney Sprite Artist for Wayforward games
Cory Barlog Director of God of War 2
Specialize, but have knowledge of all processes. Near the beginning of my senior year I decided that I didn’t want to animate any more. I liked doing it, and I was ok, but when I was modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering I was having so much more fun and getting such better results. Once I went pro I specialized further and focused on environment and object modeling. Find your niche. Always be thinking of what parts of game development interest you most and begin tapering your research to focus on one aspect so you can become really skilled in that area.
Become a member at good web forums and participate! Read the “Breaking In” link from IGDA below. It will outline a lot of what I have already mentioned. Get a membership to Gamasutra and sign up for the free email updates. Their weekly news is great. Get registered at CGTalk and begin submitting images to get some outside feedback. This will help you get some better demo work sooner rather than in your final year.
But trust me on the drawing…