Some of our best developers working here came from our modding community. They step into their jobs already understanding our tools, processes and pipelines.

So your first step (or one of many possible first steps!) to breaking into the game industry is to make mods. We’re not the only developers who release tools for their games, but assuming you want to make big crazy RPGs like we do, you’re best bet is making mods for our games.

If you are thinking of trying your hand at making mods for Oblivion (or Morrowind), now is a good a time as any. Why? Since Oblivion shipped over a year ago, an enormous amount of documentation, tools and mods have sprung forth along with an amazing modding community to help you learn.

Easy four step process. Ready? Here we go.
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Breaking and Entering, Community, Construction Set, Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls | 10 Comments »

We had a request that we talk a bit about getting into the industry on the PR/Marketing side, and since it’s a question that I get asked quite a bit, I thought I’d take a shot at it.

First, let me suggest a career as a pinata. The pay is probably a little better, the day-to-day routine is roughly the same (I found the pinata gig slightly less painful, with fewer bruises, but your results may vary), and there’s candy. So, it has a lot going for it and I urge you to look into it. If, however, you find the idea of working with games is even better than being filled with candy, I’ll offer what insights I can.

As I tell everyone who has emailed me on this, there isn’t any one way to get into this business, regardless of what it is you want to do…programmer, designer, pr manager, whatever. Seneca, a Roman Philosopher, once said that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. So getting into games is a lot about luck, but you can learn to make your own luck. Put yourself in a position to be at the right place at the right time and have the kind of skills someone is looking to hire (like me, since I’m still hiring).

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Breaking and Entering | 4 Comments »

Hi. I hope you enjoyed the one about schooling and game development. Today, I jotted down some thoughts about being a designer. By no means comprehensive, but just some things to think about.

So you want to be a designer. The best way to become a designer is to be a programmer or artist first. We’ve even hired designers who were in QA, too. It’s a potluck. You can’t get in unless you bring something to the table. Once you get into the party, you can work your way over. Designers can be broken up into a few different categories - and keep in mind, these roles are split/combined in different ways and called different things depending on where you work in the industry.

This is a VERY general outline and I’m sure there are people out there who can define these much better than I have, but here is my take.

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Breaking and Entering | 15 Comments »

Welcome to The Sausage Factory, a new series on breaking into the games industry. These are, of course, purely my opinion. You may have a different one, but hey, that’s what is great about America, am I right?

Getting Schooled

I often get asked, Hey! You make video games right? You know, I love games. I play them all the time! My parents can’t believe how much I play them. Its my dream to make them someday. Do you hire high school kids as interns? What college should I go to? A regular college/university? A specialty school all about video games?

My answer is always the same: not Duke. I hate Duke. (Haha. I kid, I kid.) Then I tell them to get Mr. Howard his tall sugar free vanilla latte stat.

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Breaking and Entering | 11 Comments »