Home › View all posts by Jason W. Bay › Page 9

Author: Jason W. Bay

Jason W. Bay is a three-decade game industry professional, credited on dozens of video games since 1995. He's held diverse roles in the game industry including Tester, Game Designer, Technical Director, Product Manager, and Director of Studio Operations, and has been a featured speaker at international game developer conferences. He's currently a Senior Product Manager at Amazon Game Studios in Seattle, WA.

By Posted in Careers, Podcast No Comments

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Derek, who asks “I’m interested in both game programming and general game design, my talents lying mostly with programming. Do game programmers often get much input in the game design outside of simply how the game functions? I assume this would largely depend on the size of the team. But I’m just wondering if it’s likely I’ll get to participate in both areas.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How team size influences programmer input to game design
  • Why your choice of subject matter expertise affects your design influence
  • The #1 most impactful way to ensure you get your say in a game’s design

Read more »

Tagged with: , ,

By Posted in Careers, Podcast 3 Comments

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Dylan, who asks “I want to use Game Designer as a career path and I was wondering if being a game programmer would help with that?”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why programming is at the heart of every game project
  • 3 reasons why programming will help your game design career
  • How to stand out from the crowd when you apply for your first game design job

Read more »

Tagged with: , ,

By Posted in Tools 30 Comments
With books, you're less likely to drop your phone in the toilet.
With books, you’re less likely to drop your phone in the toilet.
Image: Indi Samarajiva/Flickr

It’s easy to get started with game development, thanks to a variety of pre-made game engines that help you create basic games quickly. But to make anything substantial – not to mention anything unique or ground-breaking – you’ll need to invest time and effort into your programming skills.

For learning a deep topic like game programming, nothing beats a book. You can throw it in your bag and read it anywhere – on the bus, at school, on your lunch break, on the toil… well, you get the idea.

The game programming books listed below are some of the best available, and they come highly recommended by professional game programmers like Brandon Fogerty, David Galloway, Dan Posluns, Brian Gish, and Yours Truly – me. Start at the top, and build your coding chops as you work through the list.

Note: For younger children, see the list of coding books for kids.
Read more »

Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted in Podcast, Tools 1 Comment

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Danielle, who asks “I’m looking to go into Game Design. Do you have a suggestion for the best laptop to use? What are some of the requirements a Game Designer would want in a computer?”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why your choice of computer depends on your software
  • How to find out what type computer is needed for each game engine
  • How to make an informed choice for the best performance while you design games

Read more »

Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted in Applying, Podcast 2 Comments

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Mihai, who asks “I have a question regarding game art colleges. I’ve watched Marc Brunet and other artist’s videos and they strongly advised us not to attend any colleges as long as our portfolio is as strong as the Industry demands. Would you recommend attending a game art college if I already have a game studio quality portfolio?”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Whether you can get a job as a game artist without a degree
  • Why an art degree doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a job… or that you’ll be a good artist
  • How to get real, candid feedback on your art skills

Read more »

Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted in Applying, Schools 4 Comments
How can a game internship solve the dreaded "chicken and egg" problem for students?

At this very moment, many students are knee-deep in their search for their first job at a video game studio. But if you’re one of those job-seekers, you’ve likely smashed head-first into a very tricky problem: How can you get a job that requires “prior experience,” and how can you get experience if nobody will hire you? That’s where video game internships come to the rescue.

Read more »
Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted in Podcast No Comments

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Andrew, who asks “Hello, I’m in 8th grade and I was wondering if USC was a good school to go to for video game design. I have heard good things about it.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why “the best” school may not be the best for you
  • The 4 key questions to ask yourself about each school you consider
  • A little-known way to find out how successful a school’s students really are

Read more »

By Posted in Careers, Podcast No Comments

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Robert, who asks “I’m in high school and I was wanting to know how long you have to be in college to become a Lead Game Designer? So I was wondering if you could give me information on this career and the path to take.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why you’ll get conflicting opinions on this question
  • Which fields were studied by today’s top game designers
  • How long you should go to school for game design degrees

Read more »

Tagged with: ,

By Posted in Careers 2 Comments

This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.

Profile photo of artist Darran Hurlbut, video game character modeler
“Be inspired, believe in yourself. There’s a lot to learn to impress yourself, and even more to impress others.”

Darran Hurlbut has been making art for as long as he can remember – but his first job as a Video Game Artist was purely accidental.

That was in 1995, and he’s never looked back. His decades-long career in games has included many roles including Concept Artist, Environment Artist, and Character Modeler. We’re speaking with him today about his primary job as a Video Game Character Modeler – how he got the job, what it takes to succeed, and how you could start your own career as a character modeler in video games.Read more »

Tagged with: , ,

By Posted in Careers, Podcast No Comments

In this episode of Game Industry Career Guide Podcast, I answer a question from Hy N., who asked “I am good in math, I love coding, and I have a strong passion for gaming. So I think being a game programmer fits the best for me. I want to know, What are the disadvantages? I found out that programmers have to sit in front of a computer all day, that really scares me. Any advice for me?”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How “knowledge work” is fundamentally different from other jobs
  • Why game programming is a bit less… social than other game jobs
  • How to tell whether you’ll be cool with game programming, or whether it will drive you crazy

Read more »

Tagged with: , , ,