Games Industry Programming

Thaddaeus FrogleyLead Programmer

Who Am I?

•1st computer: ZX81 (aged 7)

•No degree

•1st programming job building database front ends in VB for B2B firm

•Learnt C and got a games job 6 months later

Who Am I?

•17 Years in the Industry

•Mythos Games, Creature Labs, King of the Jungle, Rockstar, Climax

Make Amazing Things

Office Life

Typical Day

•Stand Up Meeting

•Programming

•Peer Reviews

•Collaborate with Designers and Artists

•Track your progress against a plan

Real Programming

•You actually have to think

•What you can work out is often more important than what you already know

•Constant learning

•Rarely boring

•Unsolved problems

Real Programming

•Efficiency matters

•Processor time

•Developer time

•Memory, network and disk usage

•Practical solutions to impossible problems

Skills

•Programming: C/C++, HLSL, “scripting”

•Debugging

•Math and Logic

Skills

•Communication: Listen, Explain

•Social: Take direction, Accept criticism

•Attention to detail

Specialisations

•Graphics, Audio,

•Animation, Physics, Gameplay/AI,

•UI, Tools,

•Networking

•... and more!

Tips

•Programming Practice

•Real Hobby Projects

Questions

•Ask now

•Or later

•Or on twitter:@codemonkey_uk@ClimaxJobs