(Designed by Nur Syuhada -- characters and graphics are courtesy of Nintendo)
The importance of portfolio and positive personality
The two most important things fresh graduates who studied games should have are excellent PORTFOLIO and positive PERSONALITY. This actually echoed what I keep mentioning to my students and those working in game industry--a game speaks louder than words. BuZz differentiated three types of portfolios: game arts, game design and game programming. Students should identify their preference and passion in either one of those strands of the game industry during their formal education, and then focus on it. Students are encouraged to use Job Requirement specifications advertised by game studios as the guide to self-evaluate their knowledge and skills for the game industry. BuZz showed examples of portfolio contents for each of the strands, and listed the type of jobs available for students to pursue:Game Arts: (portfolio should contain 2D character design, 3D character models)
- Art Director
- Lead Artist
- Lead Technical Artist
- Concept / 2D / Pixel / GUI / Sprite Artist
- 3D Modeler / Animator
- Texture Artist
- Chief Technology Officer
- Lead Programmer
- Engine Programmer
- Tools Programmer
- Graphics / AI/ Physics/ Network/ GUI/ Sound Programmer
- Gameplay / Game Programmer
- Lead Game Designer
- Game Designer
- Story Writer
- Level Designer
- Game Scripter
- GUI / Interface Designer
- Game Tester
- QA Lead
- Assistant Producer
- Executive Producer
- Audio/ Sound Designer
- Community Manager
- Game Journalist
- Marketer
- Modder, etc.
Money Matters
In terms of salary in Malaysia, the current average monthly pay for diploma holders is between RM1,600 ad RM2,300; for Bachelor degree holders is between RM1,800 and RM2,500. Depending on the quality of portfolio, some really talented graduates may receive RM3,000 to RM4,500 per month. After 2 to 3 years working in the game industry, one should be getting RM3,000 to RM5,000 per month. But if the salary did not increase along the years, it could be due to the lack or absent of continuous professional skills or knowledge development. Those who have more than 5 years working experience should be able to determine what they deserve in terms of salary.UPSI's Current Position
After the programme, I took our guest speaker, Mr. BuZz both our campuses plus tasting Yik Mun Pau. He was impressed by what we have—the academics, the students and the physical buildings, which would be the determining factors for our success in nurturing high quality talents. So we are now in the right track of establishing friendly links with the local game industry.Useful resources for use in game courses and R&D
Meanwhile, for those who did not manage to attend the talk, I have taken some notes and added my comments upon the links given by Mr. BuZz, which could be used in P&P and R&D:1) Game Career Guide (www.gamecareerguide.com):
we should find a way to get our game design courses listed in this guide in the future. I will do it after the approval of our degree programme
2) Tom Sloper's Game Business Advise (www.sloperama.com)
We might refer to some of the materials from Tom in our P&P when the courses we teach in related to game business. But beware that some of the ideas are rather outdated!
3) BreakingIn: Preparing your career in games (http://archives.igda.org/breakingin/)
Containing useful interviews of potential bosses for our graduates.
4) IGDA Malaysian Chapter (www.igda.org.my)
Vacancy, seminar and social events info, posted by Malaysian game developers (www.igda.org.my)
5)Malaysia Game Developers Community (www.mgdc.com.my)
This is a good place for us to scout for the next guest speaker in the future.
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