Return of the Blog and to the Industry

Wow – long time, no see since I moved to Wisconsin.  Let’s blow some dust off of this!

To business: any good game dev knows that this week is host to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.  For the third year in a row, I’ll be returning as a Conference Associate to help serve the attendees of GDC, taking the opportunity to work with the best group of people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know: my fellow CAs.

Goals for this trip:

1. Ensure that no-attendee feels unattended.
2. Catch-up with the friends and professional associates that will be attending GDC.
3. Prove my technical strengths in design, development, quality, and team-based game projects.

Lofty goals?  Not so – how these will be met:

1. Be more than a passive observer or a ‘yes-man’; actively find those at GDC and do those things that will make this Conference a fantastic experience (just like the other five GDC-related events I’ve volunteered at).
2. Simple – display the friendliness, helpfulness, and entertainment prowess that is my charisma.  (Oh, and play a few games, too!)
3. Network with the fantastic CA family to see what their teams are looking for (development, design, personality, etc.), explore the Expo floor for those companies whose products I enjoy and could see myself making, and introducing my skillset at the many after-hours professional gatherings.

Going forward, this blog will get more attention.  Several mods and projects have been completed since the last post with new ones underway, so stay tuned for a look into how I work to make better games.

Best,

Jimmy

What I Learned - 22

This post is covering 2 weeks - moving to Madison, WI to start work with Epic (no, not Epic Games) takes a toll!

As we move into the new year, What I Learned may change or even go away.  Don't worry - if it gets replaced, it will be with updates on my monthly game projects that'll start on January 1st!

With that, read on and enjoy.

What I Learned - 12/15 to 12/28

1. Suggesting that a job applicant play the games of the company they are applying to  is pretty smart to help drive up user numbers.
1. KIXEYE Submission Confrimation Email
2. 
2. A writer is, has to be, the most flexible person on a development team.
1. Jason Blair; Game Writing: 11 Things I've Learned
3. (Reminder:) Making things RIGHT NOW is the best way to learn and show skills needed in creating games, with or without a college degree.
1. Brian Albert; How Not to Become a Game Developer, Game Informer #247 pg. 27
2. 
4. Being nationally accredited (like the infamous Westwood College), rather than being regionally accredited, offers very few other schools that credits may be transfered to.
1. Brian Albert; How Not to Become a Game Developer, Game Informer #247 pg. 27

What I Learned - 21

Apologies for making this late!  However, there's some big news at the bottom of the article...

What I Learned - 12/8 to 12/14

1. Getting an interviewer to agree that a question applies to a position is an effective technique.
1. Success Patterns LLC; Word-for-Word Job Interview Answers to Use to Get Hired
2. No valid reason exists to not use version control when programming.
1. Edward Guiness; Ace the Programming Interview: 160 Questions and Answers for Success, pg. 358
2. 
3. Hard-coding numbers without an explanation is, well, just wrong.
1. Edward Guiness; Ace the Programming Interview: 160 Questions and Answers for Success, pg. 367
4. Hash tables are a saving grace for many programming projects with elements of uncertainty.
1. Edward Guiness; Ace the Programming Interview: 160 Questions and Answers for Success
5. Games cost 30 times more to make now than they did during the Playstation era.
1. J. F. Sargent, Dave Williams; 5 Reasons the Video Game Industry is About to Crash
6. Making a game just about destroying a city with great graphics and physics would be kinda cool.
1. J. F. Sargent, Dave Williams; 5 Reasons the Video Game Industry is About to Crash
2. Who hasn't destroyed a SIM City or blown something up for the heck of it?
7. Hashtables are great in programming, but Dictionaries are even better!
1. Sam Allen; C# Dictionary

Moving to Wisconsin!  There's been an absolutely fantastic offer that, well, would be foolish to refuse.  It's at Epic, the nation's top electronic health records company with one of the best employee bases of any organization.  There's no telling what will come in the next few weeks, but please stay tuned!