Game development jobs

[K.I.L.E.R]

Basically I'm doing a computer science course and next year my friends and I will be doing an industrial project.
The problem is that I don't agree with creating a timetable manager.

My skills are aimed at computer graphics.
My friends believe that I would be "useful anywhere" and so basically we decided to have a meeting at 10am on Monday about deciding what to do.
So far my ideas have been shot down and labelled too difficult and unrealistic.

Proposals:
Game.
Carbon dating involving an image of a rock and then measure how decayed it is by processing the image of the rock.
Sattelite topography.

When I get into an argument with them it usually ends up with me explaining to them that if I'm going to have any chance of becoming a full fledged game developer that I'm going to have to do something far more complex than a timetable because an employer wouldn't even look at it seriously considering I would be applying for a position of 3D software developer.

What do you guys think?

 

[Jabbah]

Uni projects arent usually of that much interest in my experience. They are mildly interesting at best. Dont forget this is a group project and your success will depend on the success of the team as a whole. If they do not share your enthusiasm for 3D graphics and game development then it would probably not be a good idea to push them into it as the resulting project would probably not be too successful. You shold probably be aiming to do something achievable and in which you can display good teamworking and project management skills.

If you go for a game developer job they will be much more impressed with a few demos you have done in your own time rather than something that had to be done for a uni project.

Other than that can you change / form new groups? Maybe if you find like minded people you can do something more 3D related.

 

[Ali]

The point of the project isnt about the actual coding, its about exposing you to project development. Buy a book on PRINCE2 or SDLC and read up BEFORE starting.

My project was a remote control and monitor device for cars/holiday houses/ boats that used SMS messages to transfer commands and state changes (16 bit assembly to an Atmel uProcessor). Has nothing what so ever to do with what Im doing now, but we project managed it really well.

ITs also useful to expose people to team development, and using tools like Subversion etc. You dont normally get that in a 1 person team.

When you are interviewing, you cant really say 'look at this cool project I did with another group of people' because the interviewer cant tell what parts you did, and what parts your team mates did. Small demos are what you need for that.

Ali

 

[suryad]

I like the carbon dating and the satellite topography idea. Damn US universities suck! I wanted to do projects like that but at UC Davis they dont have anything like that. They turned my love for programming into poison. I am scarred for life.

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

So demos like the ones Humus had made?
Demos about that size would suffice assuming they demonstrate your knowledge in certain areas?

So you guys think I should suck it up?

 

[drpepper]

So demos like the ones Humus had made?
Demos about that size would suffice assuming they demonstrate your knowledge in certain areas?

So you guys think I should suck it up?

I doubt your prospective employer would pull up a project you done at University. I say suck it up and do the timetable manager. And don't just do it. Make the best manager you can do, and get that A. That would look a lot more attractive on you than a project that only you could do out of your groupl.

GL.

 

[Killer-Kris]

Having just completed a senior project last year were I got lucky and got to do an interesting project, I can definitely say that it wouldn't have been worth it just go with the flow and get an easy project.

I'm not sure how you are as a person, but personally if I'm not interested in a project, I tend to not take a leadership role, and when I'm later asked about it I also don't sell it as enthusiastically.

Having both taken a leadership role and being very enthusiastic about the work have definitely helped me get into the position I'm in now; more so than anything else.