Progging.

[richiz]

Well I'm currently a System Admin so occasionally I have to knock up a batch or VB script but all in all I don't find it very rewarding work.


Yes being an international student is absolutely heinous for pricing.


Kinda wish I'd gone to uni now (damn my family for being too poor ) as there are a lot of jobs in Charlottetown for a computer gaming company.


Guess I'll just have to get contacts when I'm good enough!


Ha, anyone know anybody that fancies hiring an unqualified programmer in the Toronto or Nova Scotia area this june?

 

[WizardStan]

Ha, anyone know anybody that fancies hiring an unqualified programmer in the Toronto or Nova Scotia area this june?

Yes, actually. Check your PMs

 

[Rygiz]

It's probably not much better cost wise, but have you considered NBCC or something? If you're really interested in going to school, and sooner than later. I'm just thinking it still might be cheaper to go to one of the provincial institutions than a private one, though I don't know a lot of the details. Like say... programming in Bathurst (not sure if/where there's an English version of that around), video game design in Miramichi for examples of provincial vs. The Center of Arts and Technology in Fredericton. Obviously, I'm from NB, and these are the examples I am familiar with but still in the region.


Oh, and I don't have any ideas of people around looking to hire total greenhorns at the moment.

 

[richiz]

It's probably not much better cost wise, but have you considered NBCC or something? If you're really interested in going to school, and sooner than later. I'm just thinking it still might be cheaper to go to one of the provincial institutions than a private one, though I don't know a lot of the details. Like say... programming in Bathurst (not sure if/where there's an English version of that around), video game design in Miramichi for examples of provincial vs. The Center of Arts and Technology in Fredericton. Obviously, I'm from NB, and these are the examples I am familiar with but still in the region.


Oh, and I don't have any ideas of people around looking to hire total greenhorns at the moment.

Thanks WizardStan I replied to your PM


Hey Rygiz


That might be an idea. I would need to be able to work and do my degree part time however. I've heard Canada is a bit of a nightmare for finding jobs from other brits.


On that advice I decided my best bet would be Toronto to pick up a job as fast as possible. (If I had my way I would probably have gone to Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island straight off the bat but I think I may need to put that on the back burner until I'm a Canadian citizen (5 years or so), Charlottetown looks beautiful ).


So I think I will probably look at doing a distance degree in Toronto. Would be quite cool to graduate from Toronto university too, I think. Although by that time I'll be close to 30! Lordy!


I was amazed at the name Miramichi by the way, sounds Japanese. Had a google of the city and looks quite nice though.

 

[craigix]

The first computer I owned booted up to BASIC. © 1982 Sinclair Research.

 

[Thorium]

Ha, anyone know anybody that fancies hiring an unqualified programmer in the Toronto or Nova Scotia area this june?

If you want to get into game developing you need to be very flexible. Dont first move somewhere and then search for a job. You have to first search a job and then move there. And you will most likley do that several times. Game development studios can close down very quickly and most developers work in many different studios in there career.


And you get very poorly paid. You get a fraction of what any other developer get. Game developers are very very poorly paid. Which is why i refused some job offers.


And there is the other way: Become a independet developer. There all the risk is at your side but you are free and can get much more money out of it.


As a little coder you see nothing of the millions of units that get selled of a big AAA game you worked on.


Indendent developing would be the only way for me to become a professional.

 

[milkshake]

anyone looking to hire an unqualified web developer in the south yorkshire area? (although I do have qualifications in graphic design and multimedia).

 

[ZXDunny]

The first computer I owned booted up to BASIC. © 1982 Sinclair Research.

My Pandora does that too now


Well, it doesn't boot into BASIC yet, but it's fun to see the © message on an 800x480 screen in the Sinclair font!


D.

 

[Rygiz]

Hey Rygiz


That might be an idea. I would need to be able to work and do my degree part time however. I've heard Canada is a bit of a nightmare for finding jobs from other brits.


[snip]


I was amazed at the name Miramichi by the way, sounds Japanese. Had a google of the city and looks quite nice though.

Yeah, I just figured I'd toss that info out there, it seems a lot of people don't even consider community colleges as options.


If I recall correctly, the name Miramichi is Mi'kmaq (native American).

 

[Stuckie]

I'm a game developer.. I have a BSc with Honours in Computer Games Development, but mostly I'm self taught from starting on a good 'ol Spectrum, moving up to an Atari ST ( yes, I went "that" route, you Commodore fans ) then on to PC


Fun thing is that during High School, instead of doing the actual Computing course, I went for Information Systems instead - why get a bit of paper that tells me I can do something I already know? Info Systems turned out to be _very_ useful as it's all database work.. normalizing ( simplifying ) them to aid in lookup times etc.. whereas Computing would've been pretty much what I knew at that point.


I also took part in Dare to be Digital in Summer 2008 which was really awesome.. nothing beats actually doing something to completion, and Dare was especially good as we got mentors from the industry on hand from art, design, audio and programming disciplines to aid us and for us to field questions on things. Then it ended with the three day Protoplay event in Edinburgh - dealing with the public in showing off our demo created over the past ten weeks! Amazing stuff


Been in the Games Industry for two years now, and it's certainly an amazing challenge, and though I possibly could get more pay in another discipline ( database programming, for instance ) - I'd be bored to tears!


But as the others have said.. that bit of paper can get you past the HR's blanket search, though if you land an interview with someone who knows what they're on about, and you know what you're on about, it's effectively a done deal. And completed demos are a huge advantage


I will also echo Thorium in look first for a game developer before moving... I travelled up and down ALL the UK for half a year for job interviews.. going from Edinburgh to Portsmouth and Brighton and everywhere in between ( I was in Dundee at this time, so got acquainted with the Caledonian Sleeper quite a lot ) .. it was an awesome experience being invited to so many game developers to see how they run and everything though, so I don't regret any of that.. just that it took about half a year to get the place I'm am now!


Right.. back to coding... midnight is a programmer's best time