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Game developers train hard so that others can play

By Jon Savelle
Special to The Seattle Times

ANNIE MARIE MUSSELMAN / SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE TIMES Lewis Mohr, a video-game programmer at ArenaNet in Bellevue, sits in front of several animations created at the company. Mohr decided at an early age that creating computer games was the job for him; he got his training at DigiPen Institute of Technology.

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What Mohr wanted to do was create computer games. He decided on it while a student at Bainbridge Island High School four years ago, so after graduating he went straight to DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond to learn game programming.

Now, a few months after earning his bachelor's degree in "real-time interactive simulation," as it is called, Mohr, 22, is working as a game programmer for ArenaNet, a game developer in Bellevue. It is his first job. And he's happy with his career choice.

"The majority of the curriculum at DigiPen is working on a game product," he said. "This is very similar to that, but now I don't have to worry about the other classes. Working with industry professionals is definitely very helpful."

DigiPen is one of just a few schools in the world that specialize in training game programmers. But as the industry grows and matures, the number of jobs increases and the number of applicants to DigiPen's bachelor's and master's programs grows as well.

Jason Chu, chief operating officer for DigiPen, said he expects 650 students to be enrolled in September. That is a far cry from the 30 students who started the school's first year in 1993, at its original location in Vancouver, B.C.

They got game jobs Where to get some skills: In the Northwest, training is available at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, which offers bachelor's and master's degrees. The school can be contacted by phone at 425-558-0299 or at www.digipen.edu. Where to get some jobs: Major employers include Microsoft and Nintendo, but the region also is home to about 45 smaller companies. Job listings and employers can be found on the Web at Seattle Sputnik, the local chapter of the International Game Developers Association, www.igda.org/seattle/index.htm. No statistics are available for local employment in the industry, but nationally about 100,000 people work in it. Where to get some dough: Salaries for game programmers range from $58,400 for a beginner to as much as $300,000 for an experienced producer of successful games. The industry average is $77,800, according to Game Developer magazine.

A few years later, with the help of Redmond-based Nintendo of America, DigiPen moved to Redmond and obtained accreditation from the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board. Enrollment has increased every year since.

It's not hard to see why. Chu said the average starting salary for a game developer is $58,400, with experienced programmers averaging $77,800 per year, according to Game Developer magazine's annual salary survey, published in February, which pegged the top of the salary range at $300,000.

Of course, just getting training does not guarantee that one will land a good job. But Chu said DigiPen's graduates have a placement rate of 80 to 90 percent.

"It depends on how good you become, how well you know the material, and how good the market is at that time," he said.

Mastering the material is no easy feat. Contrary to a popular misconception, game programmers don't spend their days playing games — they write computer code. And just to be accepted to DigiPen's four-year program, applicants must have at least a "B" average in school and have mastered algebra, trigonometry, geometry and pre-calculus.

Each must also present letters of recommendation from three teachers.

Then, once in the program, the students' hard work really begins. Chu said an academic year runs 11 months, from September through July. Students attend classes six days a week, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.

"People really have to be interested in this stuff to sustain (the effort)," Chu said.

Each school day is devoted to a single subject: math on Mondays, computer science on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, storyboards and documents on Thursdays, and game implementation on Fridays.

Saturday is an open lab day in which students work on such things as their projects and homework.

Despite the grueling schedule, students often are so gung-ho that they want even more work.

"Students would be working away, and it would come to be 10 at night," Chu said. "And they would say, 'Couldn't we just stay overnight?' "

Economics, biology classes

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All students take courses in a range of subjects related to game development. Among them are art, classical animation (hand-drawing of each frame), film, computer graphics, math, electrical engineering, physics, biology, English, economics, law and social sciences.

The coursework is closely related to jobs in the industry. ArenaNet, for example, posts detailed information about jobs on its Web site, www.arena.net, and it spells out what kind of training is required. The company hires game artists, "level" artists (who create game backgrounds and environments), server programmers and game programmers.

"Programmers should have extensive experience with C and C++ (computer languages)," the site states. "Other languages like Java Visual basic, HTML and ASP may be helpful, but games are still primarily coded in C/C++; make it your priority to be a wizard in those languages.

"Artists should have good pen-and-paper skills because visualization is an important skill for generating computer artwork. They should also have experience with Photoshop, 3D Studio Max, Maya, or other similar programs. Even lowly MS Paint is better than nothing!

"Musicians should have the ability to use a variety of sound tools to generate special effects and compose music digitally.

"Level designers should have extensive familiarity with art and design tools, particularly tools used to create game levels like Quake editors (and you thought you were just playing when you built that Quake level last weekend!)"

Viable future

Jeff Strain, one of the founders of ArenaNet, said that over the past decade game development has come into its own as a viable career pursuit.

"These days it is similar to saying, 'I want to make movies,' " he said.

Strain's company is rapidly growing, with 66 employees today compared with 10 in January 2003. All of those employees have a passion for playing games — not just programming them — and four-year degrees in related fields.

"There's not a lot of ways to get your foot in the door without formal education," Strain said. "We focus on finding a good mix of junior and senior talent; it's dangerous to focus on one side or the other."

Locally ArenaNet has hired programmers from DigiPen and artists from the Art Institute of Seattle. Strain said most senior-level people are hired from other parts of the country, and those applicants are looking for two things: a good working environment and a good product to work on.

"People work in this industry for a reason," he said. "They don't want to feel like they work in an insurance office, so you want to create an environment that fosters creativity.

"And the product itself — no one wants to work on a loser product. If you work on a triple-A product, you will have a very bright future."

Strain advised job seekers not to automatically jump at the first offer to come along.

Share the passion

"Don't try to get into the industry by working on a 'B' title," he said. "It is strictly a negative to work on a bad game. People should really make sure they are working at a company that shares their [passion]."

A good way to check out the industry is to attend a workshop at DigiPen, where weeklong immersion in game development helps many young people decide whether or not it's a career they want.

If it is, a substantial commitment of time and money is required. Chu said tuition at DigiPen costs $345 per credit, or about $14,000 per year. The summer workshops are a much cheaper way to try it out: $849 for high-school students, $600 for middle-schoolers.

On a recent tour of the school while workshops were in session, students of all levels, including those in the four-year program, were hard at work.

High-school senior Logan Greyczik, from Homer Glen, near Chicago, said he is considering a career in game programming.

"I really like it," he said of the workshop. "It's interesting and fun so far."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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