Emperor

Introduction

Hey guys first let me give you a little introduction. My name is Chris, I'm 21 years old and I live in Oregon. I've been a hardcore gamer since the age of 2 and an avid computer user since the age of 14. Growing up I always loved to do creative things like drawing and writing, and I've always loved creating levels for any/every game that had a level editor. I knew at an early age I wanted to create games, and at the age of 19 I enrolled at Southern Oregon University pursuing a computer science degree in the software programming option.

During the last two years of my enrollment in college I began questioning if I really wanted to become a game programmer. However, I now realize the main reasons I began to question this is because all the classes I had taken were very early in the morning (I'm a night person) so I would end up missing class a lot and end up getting a bad grade. Also, the programming classes were all just learning the fundamentals of Java, MySQL, C and Unix by creating random, boring programs. However, I recently took a class called "Introduction to Game Programming" which lifted my spirits as I loved the class and even worked on the game that I turned in for my final for a month or so afterwards(until my HD crashed).

So now that I've bored you to tears, let me explain why I'm making a topic. Since I have only roughly two more years left before I graduate with my Bachelors in Computer Science, I've began doing some serious research regarding programming jobs, salaries, locations etc. I began looking at Gamasutra.com which has an up-to-date list of available jobs in different game companies and I began to get a little worried. It seems most game companies looking for programmers require previous experience with professionally programming games. So to anyone on these forums who is a professional game programmer, has experience in the field or just has some knowledge about the industry I would really appreciate answers to the following questions and any other information/feedback you can give me.


With your replies, please give information regarding your experience with game programming and/or the industry thank you very much.

Questions

1. Is a Bachelors degree in Computer Science all I should bother getting to pursue a position of game programmer?

2. As stated previously it seems many game companies only hire programmers that have previous experience in the industry programming games. Is it very difficult to find entry-level game programming positions?

3. Do game companies typically offer internships? If so, could you offer some examples?

4. I've heard California is the best state for game programmers to look for a job, is this true?

5. Do most game companies require their programmers to have knowledge in multiple languages? Or are strong C++/Java skills sufficient?

6. Do you think it's unwise to set my goals exclusively on becoming a game programmer? Should I leave myself open to becoming a software programmer for a non-game company/the government and if so what additions should I make to my preparation?

7. Can any professional game programmers give me any advice on how to maximize my success of becoming employed as a game programmer post-graduation?

8. How is the lifestyle when you're a professional game programmer? Do you enjoy the work? Why or why not? (You can answer for someone else if you know someone).

9. With resumes, do you provide a demo disc with games/game related things you've created? Would you recommend I begin working seriously on some smaller games to show on a demo disc?

10. Is there any other information you think I need to know as someone who will be graduating in two years with a bachelors in Computer Science aspiring to be a game programmer?

Whoever takes the time to read through this post and answer all the questions has my deepest thanks. If you have a website, I will put a link to yours on my website in thanks.