Another excerpt/draft from a book I'm writing about video game development. Still figuring out the book, maybe focus on breaking into the industry. I'm hoping to wrap it up by end of summer. (we'll see how that goes...)
Aspiring musicians record and pass out demo recordings. Writers submit writing samples to editors and publishers. Applying for a web developer job? You'll have a list of websites you've worked on. When it comes to breaking into game development, having a portfolio of "game development" stuff is a huge +1 buff, so to speak. If you show up with mods that illustrate your skills at building levels, animating creatures, and hacking in new interfaces, then you've got a step up on your competition.
Mods (or modifications) are fan-made (though not always) changes to an existing game. Mods can be completely new games like in the case of
Counter Strike, a popular mod -- possibly the most popular mod of all time -- to Half Life. Changes can include new levels, weapons, items, quests or game modes. Some change a fundamental game system (ie, make the game more difficult or easy). I'm listing PC games; consoles offer some opportunity for modding (more on that later).
Numerous developers release tools for their games including Blizzard, id Software, Valve, Crytek, Bioware and the developer I work for,
Bethesda Game Studios. Look them up. Download the tools. Read their forums. Learn. Build. Create. If you build a mod that becomes popular, you should apply for a job asap. Developers will want to hire you because you have experience creating content with the tools the development team uses. The
GECK we released to the public is the exact same tool we used internally to create Fallout 3. The same goes for the
Elder Scrolls Construction Set and Oblivion. If you are truly passionate about making games, learning how to make mods should be fun, get your creative juices going.
Do you like
Starcraft 1/2
,
Morrowind
/
Oblivion
,
Half Life 1/2
,
Neverwinter Nights
,
Dragon Age
,
Fallout 3
, the Battlefield series,
Far Cry
,
Crysis
...the list goes on. These games all come with publicly released tools. Pick a game that you love. The more you love and have played a game, the more familiar you will be with how it's content and game systems work, and the faster you'll pick up the tools and get building. And the closer you'll be to breaking into the industry.
, I give it a big thumbs up. It is super quiet and the hard drive is plenty big (250 GB). I have NCAA 2011 and Red Dead Redemption installed to HD so that drive is not spinning while playing. The form factor is smaller and tighter than the original design. Built in wifi is a big win, too.
is number 18 on Major Nelson's Top 20 most played on Xbox Live.
from Amazon. I'm very interested in Ubisoft's Your Shape and Harmonix's Dance Central.
Interesting to see a 79 cent book as number 1 on the paid Kindle list.
- looks like a backlist title for the author. Very good reader reviews. And also got a starred review from Publishers Weekly when it originally came out:
