So you want to be a rock star

We all dream of it

Almost every gamer would like to make games one day, under the right circumstances. Many aren’t sure about the image that being a game developer would give them, others are worried about finances, and then there are those who doubt their abilities. Even when somebody decides they want to be a game developer, often they look at the massive list of required credentials for a position and give up.

After all, when almost every developer lists some sort of prior game development experience as a bonus or even necessity, it is a bit hard to feel confident about your odds of success. Particularly given the current state of the economy where there are plenty of former developers without jobs. How do you stand out, how do you improve your odds of success? Marc Mencher, a developer himself, puts his spin on the subject in his book Get in the Game!

The dream job

Halfway through the book, Marc delivers the most important words that the typical person needs to hear before trying to get a job in the industry: “If getting a dream job were easy, everyone would have one. You don’t accept defeat when playing your favorite game; you keep at it until you reach the next level. The same should hold true for you and your job quest.”

In fact, this seems to be the basic problem with the book. It is not organized in a fashion which would make it easy to read from cover to cover. Rather, it’s a cross between an advanced math or physics text and an informational source book. As with a textbook, the themes within the chapters are organized, but there is no ‘flow’ through the book, as there might be with a skill-training text such as How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins.

In a way, this is a glaring weakness with the book. It advertises itself as a step-by-step guide, but it’s not a guide that teaches someone how to work with simply 3D-rendering tools or shows a programmer how Microsoft’s .NET functions, and what he can do with it. In another fashion, this is an advantage. For those who are already sure what they want to do, it becomes a resource book where they can look up their career and some things they need to do.