Last night I went out and bought Unreal Tournament 3 for PC. I used to have the game for PS3 but sold it because I really didn't play it after I beat the single player (multiplayer was hardly rewarding). But, with the PC version, I get all the development tools as well so I can make my own levels and script my own stuff (very cool). Plus, considering Best Buy has the game for $30, total steal.
Thinking about the project I was starting, I wasn't really excited by the kind of game it was turning into. Plus, I plan on applying to many game companies in a few months and I realized the majority of those developers made FPS games. I know I probably won't get a job at Epic (*cry*) but that bums me out because there are 2 game styles I've ALWAYS been interested in building, first-person shooters and dark, bleak, over-the-shoulder camera shooters, both game styles Epic has more than excelled in.
In any case, I'm going to work with the editor as much as I can for the next few months so I can place more things into my portfolio. Why use an engine like this and not focus on programming? I think from the demo's and full Pong game I've built it shows I'm more than dedicated to programming and development and the Unreal 3 editor gives me a starting point to implement new things while keeping a great looking product. That was kind of cryptic, let me break it down. I've programmed that DirectX demo which could easily turn into a FPS right? And yes, there are many more algorithms I could add to improve features, but there's a point where you need to start populating your demo/game with content (textures, models, shaders). All of the assets were extremely simple to do for Pong because it was all 2D and quite single-colored but 3D adds a whole new level of art assets.
So lets say I go into Bungie for an interview and have this portfolio filled with simple programmed tech demos, a Pong RPG game, and a bunch of Unreal mods. How does that show my skill level? The idea isn't that I'm working in the Unreal editor, it's the idea that the editor is merely a tool to express my game development creativity.
Oh, and it'll give me a little better chance to work at Epic :-)
Print | posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008 9:12 AM