I was wondering, when applying for a job at a game developing company. They obviously would require you to give them a resume, however I was wondering if you wanted to give them examples of your work that are burned to a cd would you include the source code of the projects. Also would they prefer to see completed games you have made like if you made a simple engine, or do they prefer to see like a basic demonstration of a specific task. Just wondering, what they would prefer. coder requires 0xf00d before continue().
Killer Eagle Software

It would vary depending on who is looking at your work, I think. It's a matter of personal taste. Showing them a completed game would show them what your compositions look like. Simple demos show them the kinds of things you are practicing with.

I say the more the better, just present it in a way that makes it easy for them to sift through it - to know everything that's on the CD at a glance, and be able to go straight to it without any trouble.

My guess would be put completed games at the top of the list, and demos and samples last. And put the source code for each piece of work inside the same folder as its exe (or as a subfolder named 'source' inside of it, which would look nicer I think).


[edited by - Waverider on July 19, 2003 8:06:36 PM]

Waverider''s point about presentation is a very good one. Take the time to make up a fronta page/menu for the CD that allows people to boot up each demo quickly and then exit back to it when completed. That shows attention to detail on top of whatever coding abilities you show with your demo.

As for full game VS demo - it depends on what the demom is and what position you are going for. If, for example, you are applying for a post as an AI coder then a good AI demo would be more relevant than a completed puzzle game.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant

Expanding on the good advice alredy given...

Try to think about it from the perspective of the guy at the other end who has maybe 100 CVs and demos to go through, and maybe also work on production stuff for existing teams. He''s a busy man.

For that reason your demo need to make his life as simple as it can, that means clear presentation, no complicated configuration and so on.

That will probably affect what you show in your demos too. If your most impressive stuff is something like graphics effects, you don''t want the person reviewing it to have to play a game for 20 minutes before they see those effects. Assume that the person at the other end won''t play it for more than 10.

If you have a few things to show, in many cases it might be better to show each in a separate demo, each showing one or two things well. For example (as mentioned) a really simple game showing your AI stuff, another demo showing your advanced graphics stuff, another showing some physics etc.

Trying to put everything into a single full game that''s only going to be looked at for a maximum of 10 minutes risks overstretching yourself, not showing each of your abilities at its best and having presentation that looks cluttered/OTT.
Your screen being filled with 1000 different particle effects might take the reviewers attention away from the fact you''ve actually done some nice skinning or AI or physics etc.

BTW: even if you specialise in something like AI and show a 2D path finding demo or 2D game for example, they will still want to see something in 3D to be assured you know at least the basics.


A vacancy has usually been advertised for one of a few reasons:
1) a programmer has left a team and the company needs someone with roughly the same skills to take over their work.

2) a new team is being formed to work on a particular game and each new member is being recruited for a very specific role.

3) a project is in trouble for whatever reason and someone has assumed that throwing more staff at it will help bring it back on track.

Unless you''re working on mobile/handheld games, you''ll be working in a team, and usually expected to specialise. That''s another reason a few demos that each show a few particular areas well can be good. They can focus on the demo that shows the specialism they''re looking for, other people on the team will be doing the other areas anyway.


I would include the source code to at least some of the projects. It gives the guy at the other end a clue about your programming habits, techniques you use, coding style etc.

Source code also gives the guy at the other end some good stuff to ask you in the interview. "So why did you choose RK4 as the integrator in your physics demo ?" etc


Oh yeah, even if you haven''t included all the source code on your CD, make sure you make it 100% crystal clear which parts were written by you and which were middleware, downloaded from other places etc. Don''t try to hide anything you didn''t write, you WILL get asked.

It won''t be frowned upon if you have used middleware (ODE for your physics for example):

1) It still requires general knowledge of the area to be able to use someone elses code.

2) The ability to integrate someone elses code into your own is actually GOOD skill to show since it''s exactly what you''ll be doing in a commercial situation (i.e. working and sharing code with a team, using an engine written by someone else, using middleware for things etc).

--
Simon O''Connor
ex -Creative Asylum
Programmer &
Microsoft MVP

Couldn''t you ask them?