Working With Paradox

[laenriel]

I’m a 19(f) y/o with a passion for finding passion. Lame, I know.

I want to admit up front, I have little experience working with computers. Unfortunately, living in an area with little to no internet access makes learning much more difficult. That never stopped me from learning what I could.
I don’t have even have enough experience to consider applying for a position. However, I have this voice in my head that brings me back to this website. I keep imagining what it would be like to work in a community such as this one. I’ve always wanted to do something that made other people happy, and satisfied with their experience. The problem is, I have no idea what I want for a career.
Since I was young, I set out to become a tattoo artist. Due to personal events at age 15, I lost my passion for everything. I no longer cared about my future, or goals, and just generally myself as a whole. I no longer have the same artist abilities due to having shaky hands. I’m too poor to figure out why this happens. It’s been 4 years, and I’m trying hard to find myself again. It’s been a very long time since I found something that makes me want to achieve higher goals.
Tonight, as I was getting ready for bed, I had a self-realization moment. Four years ago I never would have cared about bettering myself. I’m currently employed as a 2nd Assistant Manger for a local gas station. That doesn’t sound very impressive, and it probably isn’t.
However, I personally feel so proud so say that. I’ve only been employed at this business for five months. (I’m under 21, which matters when dealing with alcohol/cigarettes in the US.) There are others who could have been offered this position, and other company employees could have been considered as well. Yet, I was the one who received a promotion. I feel very grateful and appreciate the opportunity I’ve been given. I’m doing well, and I’m still learning new things every day. There’s always room for self-improvement, and I enjoy finding areas to work on. I’m even learning more about computers with this job.

Why am I posting all of this in a forum on a video game developers’ website? I want someone, ANYONE out there to see it. My entire reason for the site visit, read up on Bloodlines 2. As I mentioned I never had access to a computer much my entire life. I was fortunate enough to play Bloodlines a few times as a young child. The game released when I was 3. It’s been in my heart and head ever since. I never got to finish the game myself. I still have no idea how it ends. I barely understood how to read, let alone beat a video game.
When I read that you can apply for positions, my heart raced, then sank, all in the same beat. I’m in no position to apply for a job with this company. I’m just a passionate 19 year old that is very tired from working hard. I’m tired because i work very hard at what I do, but I also enjoy it. But I know this isn’t what I’m meant to do forever.
Reading through job opportunities with a company, who’s games have stuck with me, really made me see what there is out there. I hope one day I’ll have enough experience (and balls) to apply. For now, I just wanted to put this here, mainly for myself to look back on. Maybe one day I’ll be working at a similar company, and I could reflect one this part of my life. Being lost on what makes you passionate, really hurts the motivation to find any passion at all.



thanks for the amazing games, forums, and transparency with your fanbase.
and opening my eyes to what I’ve truly always been made to do. i’m not sure about specifics yet. but one day somehow, i’ll be working in video game development. that’s more than I knew yesterday, or in 4 very long years. (ps: please take your time with bloodlines 2. I would rather wait longer for a release, than never see a release at all.
-kat

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated to Paradox in any form. I'm just a fan - like you - who just happens to be a professional software developer (albeit not in gaming). I'll just give you some general information on how the business wosks so that these maybe help you to decide what professional career path you want to pursue.

In software development there are - very basically spoken - three very distinct jobs.

1. Design
2. Programming
3. Management

In design you think about how the game (or software in general) should look and feel. Level and character design, maybe music and sound effects. How should the various menus work (character sheets, for example)? And many other things. It's a very creative job and you don't need thaaaaat much knowledge in regards to computers. Game theory is a much more important thing to know here.

In programming you actually write the program code and tell the computer how to do all the stuff the designers came up with. It also can be a very creative job, but is far more technical. You have to learn one or more programming languages and more importantly how to properly use them. Some basic understanding of logic and mathematics is very helpful.

In management your job is to coordinate all members of the team so they all know what to do and when. It's about leading people and may also involve the financial aspect of any project. A technical understanding for what your team members actually do every day helps a lot, but is no requirement.

The bigger the team the more distinct these areas can get. In smaller teams on the other hand some people may have multiple "roles".

The times for getting a good job in professional software development without having learned any of these are - for the most part - over. So the first step for you would be to inform yourself some more about what you need to know in the area of your interest. Some "natural" talent is of course still very useful but with "I swear I'm really good at it" you only get so far...
Depending on your educational background you should consider going to college/university or try to get the education needed in other ways (I'm not sufficiently familiar with the US educational system to give any meaningful advice in that regard). Most people involved in professional software development have studied one field or another related to the three areas mentioned above.

 

[laenriel]

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated to Paradox in any form. I'm just a fan - like you - who just happens to be a professional software developer (albeit not in gaming). I'll just give you some general information on how the business wosks so that these maybe help you to decide what professional career path you want to pursue.

In software development there are - very basically spoken - three very distinct jobs.

1. Design
2. Programming
3. Management

In design you think about how the game (or software in general) should look and feel. Level and character design, maybe music and sound effects. How should the various menus work (character sheets, for example)? And many other things. It's a very creative job and you don't need thaaaaat much knowledge in regards to computers. Game theory is a much more important thing to know here.

In programming you actually write the program code and tell the computer how to do all the stuff the designers came up with. It also can be a very creative job, but is far more technical. You have to learn one or more programming languages and more importantly how to properly use them. Some basic understanding of logic and mathematics is very helpful.

In management your job is to coordinate all members of the team so they all know what to do and when. It's about leading people and may also involve the financial aspect of any project. A technical understanding for what your team members actually do every day helps a lot, but is no requirement.

The bigger the team the more distinct these areas can get. In smaller teams on the other hand some people may have multiple "roles".

The times for getting a good job in professional software development without having learned any of these are - for the most part - over. So the first step for you would be to inform yourself some more about what you need to know in the area of your interest. Some "natural" talent is of course still very useful but with "I swear I'm really good at it" you only get so far...
Depending on your educational background you should consider going to college/university or try to get the education needed in other ways (I'm not sufficiently familiar with the US educational system to give any meaningful advice in that regard). Most people involved in professional software development have studied one field or another related to the three areas mentioned above.

This was extremely helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of that. I’m genuinely excited to begin this journey of finding my career. From your description, management/design is something I would love to pursue. I’m hoping to gain experience, while I educate myself more on the specific details of the industry. I’m constantly working at my current job, so maybe after a year or two I can begin looking for an education that fits. college is extremely nerve wracking to think about at this point in my life. I know I’m not ready to take on the debt/time that comes with it. I barely have a car that makes it to work lol.
one day though, my name will be in the end credits of a game, with tons of others that feel the same way as I do.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply. You’ve helped me take one step closer to finding myself, and my career. I appreciate that.

 

[Idhrendur]

It's exciting to see that you're seeing a potential path for yourself! I'm also a professional software developer, though not involved with game development. I'm a little more familiar with the American education system, though as I'm sure you know its very different state to state. But a good way of easing into it is via community colleges or junior colleges. You can take a few classes at a time as you have time and energy. This can help ease you towards transferring towards a state school, which are typically the best value per dollar education wise. The community colleges will have advisors who can help you figure out which classes to take.

Sadly, I'm not sure which majors would be useful for a management/design path. You might check open positions at different game companies and see what educational experience they ask for. As well, building a portfolio of small games is probably good to do. They don't have to be computer games if access is a problem, they could be board games or card games. Or on the computer you can play with tabletop simulator, RPG maker, or Unity if you're feeling bold.

I'll also mention that your promotion speaks well of your character and work ethic. We sadly tend to disregard retail work, but doing it well says good things about you.

PS - When you do start furthering your education, avoid for-profit colleges. They're rich people's traps to screw over the rest of us for a few bucks and will happily screw you over.

 

[elektrizikekswerk]

This was extremely helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of that. I’m genuinely excited to begin this journey of finding my career. From your description, management/design is something I would love to pursue. I’m hoping to gain experience, while I educate myself more on the specific details of the industry. I’m constantly working at my current job, so maybe after a year or two I can begin looking for an education that fits. college is extremely nerve wracking to think about at this point in my life. I know I’m not ready to take on the debt/time that comes with it. I barely have a car that makes it to work lol.
one day though, my name will be in the end credits of a game, with tons of others that feel the same way as I do.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply. You’ve helped me take one step closer to finding myself, and my career. I appreciate that.

You are very much welcome.

one day though, my name will be in the end credits of a game, with tons of others that feel the same way as I do.

That is a very nice dream to have. I wish you the very best and all the joy, luck and success needed to make this come true.

Oh, and one very important note: As the current affairs around Activision/Blizzard show this industry can be very dirty (actually about any industry has its black sheeps). In case you'll find yourself in a similar situation like these women there, you should really, really just quit (and maybe try to take legal actions - but the most important thing is just to quit). It might throw you back in your career but it's not worth to waste your mental or physical health or even your life, no matter what other people might say. Of course I hope that you won't encounter such a situation. You know, I'm saying this just in case

 

[notNSANE]

couple tips:

1. You don't need to major in programming, design or management or anything similar to work in Paradox... There are many PDX employees that come from a huge variety of careers with several degrees of knowledge. Examples: History Major, Writing, they probably have or had someone with some degree of military experience and zero game knowledge, etc. Just try to think what you enjoy and what you can add to the very different teams PDX has.
2. On the same note, check the credits of the games you like and see what kind of jobs exist.
3. You can always try to apply for QA on any game company close to you. That will give you some much needed experience on about what's the industry about.

Good luck, and keep finding new stuff to do.