Jobs In The Game Industry: Programming
Posted November 13th 2011
Making a working game truly is a team-effort; if you don’t have the right people with the right variety of skills, you’ll never make a great game! We all know that the game industry knows quite a variety of disciplines; there are artists, programmers, managers, etc. Disciplines often come with their own software specializations and especially in the smaller companies people are often required to be responsible for multiple disciplines at once; the CEO might very well be the Lead Artist.
This article trilogy will show you some jobs within the three big branches of the game development ‘company-tree’; Management, Art and Programming. This week we’ll take a look at Programming!
At the top of the food chain is a function we already discussed in the management article:
Programming Director
- A programming director has a similar job to the senior art producer/art director/Lead Artist, except that he/she is responsible for all programming-related production instead of art.
- Experienced programmer in at least one and usually multiple programming disciplines.
,
In the following game artist-jobs there isn’t really much of a hierarchy, all these guys answer pretty much directly to the Programming Director.
,
AI Programmer
- AI programmers design and implement new features for the A(rtificial) I(ntelligence) systems in a game. AI Programmers also assist the design department in creating gameplay by creating and modifying NPC behavior.
- An AI programmer has a strong understanding of the ‘Code’ and works with codelanguages like C++. They often have backgrounds in Informatica or other areas where coding is important.
Game Programmer
- Is responsible for laying the foundation for an entire game world. Usually as part of team of designers and artists, a game programmer invents ways to break game features down into logical systems which are easy to develop and maintain.
- Same as an AI programmer, he/she has a strong understanding of the ‘Code’ and works with codelanguages like C++. Also often have backgrounds in Informatica or other areas where coding is important.
Tech Programmer
- A real grease monkey who works on the nuts and bolts of the game engine. A Tech Programmer analyzes complex requirements and programming structures and turns them into simple, effective designs with even better implementations.
- Has extensive knowledge about programming and the mathematics behind, for example 3D graphics. Also often has a background in Informatica or other areas where coding is important. These are usually the more seasoned programmers as truly extensive knowledge is required for this profession.
Animation Programmer
- An animation programmer develops advanced character animation systems for a game. He/She creates and maintains the systems animation artists works with.
- Has strong C/C++ programming skills and 3D mathematics. Backgrounds before specializing in animation systems are usually in mathematics, physics, coding and IT, but could even go as far as biology.
Graphics Programmer
- Designs and implements systems and tools to support rendering and tech needs and identifies and optimizes performance bottlenecks. ‘The mathematics behind the graphics’.
- A graphics programmer needs to be experienced in code language like C++ and programs like DirectX and OpenGL. A graphics programmer usually has specialized in graphics while studying more basic programming, a few might even have backgrounds as graphic artists.
About Jasper Vick
Jasper is an enthusiastic aspiring game artist interested in everything on games!
At the moment -through working with Games Of Experience- he is working on expanding his knowledge about the different disciplines, workflows and possibilities in game development and the industry itself. In his spare time he is also trying to work as much as possible on his game art portfolio.
View all posts by Jasper Vick →
