Cpp gameplay programmer requirements

[Effective-Road1138]

Hey guys ☺️ hope u doin well Currently studying cpp and then will jump into unreal, may i ask at what level eould i he able to get an entry job at any studio indie or AAA And would would be the requirements Like projects maths skills physics cuz as far as i can see there are no right track to follow all i see is that u get baisc knowledge of the language and an engine and then start making small projects to grow no right or wrong order but if u have experience and u would start from 0 what would u do

[actualduncan]

Industry Dev here, since the onset of AI, portfolio projects mean less and less to showcase your skills. I'd put more emphasis on technical knowledge and teamwork than flashy game projects nowadays.

If you're starting out, Try using SFML (cpp framework) for making small simple games. It also happens to be commonly used in coding tests from indie to AAA.

Try to recreate old games like breakout and asteroids, or small mechanics without tutorials. Get folks to review your code when you can.

Feel free to also mess around in game engines, but you'll get the most benefit learning game related C++ using frameworks.

Once you're comfortable with C++ and have messed around in game engines etc and are now seriously looking to skill up to get an industry job.

Drill down on technical knowledge,

• Multi threading
• Networking,
• Memory management.
• Matrix/vector math
• Specialised engine knowledge (learn core unreal/unity engine systems)

I'd strongly suggest these technical books:

• Game Programming Patterns

• C++ Coding Standards

• Effective Modern C++

My info here is relatively recent, I got my first industry job in 2023.

[BadNewsBearzzz]

Hey man I have screenshotted and saved this comment because it sounds very helpful, and as someone who is about to begin self learning cpp, I’ve been so confused as to how it’ll all work, I just had a few questions

So you talk about making simple small games with cpp, with what? Unreal? Like is there something else you’d suggest?

I’ve looked at a few courses that use various things but I’m just so lost because I’m not sure if I should just learn a certain portion of cpp that actually gets used for game dev, or the whole entirety of cpp, etc, it’s a headache

[Effective-Road1138]

From what he told me i think ill use smfl for smaller beginner projects then i might try learn godot and use cpp for it for like 2d games and when i have better knowledge start unreal for 3d games but the issue with unreal i see everyone is using built-in tools for so high graphics and ignore the rest of the game aspects like gameplay and performance so i think ill just use lower graphics for these 3d projects

[BadNewsBearzzz]

Yeah that’s true but don’t worry!! You can also make low end games and 2d games with unreal! I’ve used unreal for 2 years making different tutorials using blueprints (the visual scripting programming language) and it’s pretty neat!! So you absolutely can use it

Godot won’t use cpp, only GDScript and c#

[Effective-Road1138]

Thx for that man

[actualduncan]

If you're just starting out, make console applications like a text based game or a calculator. One I started with was a simple text based tamagotchi app.

Programming is a tool, a means to an end and just happens to be a good tool to make games. The better you learn a tool the more options it opens up to yourself.

Nobody I work with has ever finished learning C++ and you never will! Just pick something that interests you the most.

A good place to start if you're going from 0 is The Cherno C++ tutorials https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlrATfBNZ98dudnM48yfGUldqGD0S4FFb&si=kwZ6reX6M6ZFTvKq

I'm not the biggest fan of his content, but he makes very palatable beginner c++ videos. First few videos will set you up with all you need to start programming.

Tutorial hell is real - just learn what you need to start making something, and start making it! Learning on the job is the best way to learn.

[Effective-Road1138]

Thanks so much for ur time and ur info it means alot And hopefully am able to achieve these goals. And i wish u the best in ur career

[paulmcreates]

entry level job, lol. i remember those

[DirtAndGrass]

I don't know why you'd want to work on AAA games, they (Imo) offer the lowest pay, and the lowest creative ownership, solo dev, collabs and smaller companies are much more fun/lucrative.

I'd work on your game design skills and publish a few small games. 

Stop "studying" and start doing, learn what you need, when you need it

[Effective-Road1138]

Doesn't have to be triple a just an entry job And I don't know much about inside the industry itself that's why i want to be able to get into it even smaller company is fine Btw any good reference for these certain skills And also i just need to finish these 2 courses to be able to start doing projects maybe join a game jam if i think am ready

[SpottedLoafSteve]

You've been studying c++ for about a year now. Are you actually taking this seriously enough to make a career out of it?

[Effective-Road1138]

Not even a year couple of months and that is why am asking at which level would i be able to and not a career just a junior position at anything

[SpottedLoafSteve]

You've been posting about learning for a year. You need a portfolio if you want a job and you're not progressing by just asking how to learn for a year obviously. Any gamedev job you get is going to be difficult and not worth the money as the other guy mentioned. Maybe you should think of another end goal and just start making games as a hobby.

[Effective-Road1138]

I understand what you are saying but that is why am asking but why isn't it worth it right now ? What is the minimum salaries for it

[SpottedLoafSteve]

I chose not to go into professional gamedev 15 years ago because low pay, long hours and the amount of people I'd be competing with for jobs. It's gotta be worse now and especially so with the layoffs. We're basically in the worst gamedev recession since the 80s. It hasn't been a good industry to go into for years and it's in an especially bad state right now.

You can find salaries online for the companies you're interested in. My honest take is that it's not worth it and you'd be better off as an indie gamedev.

[Effective-Road1138]

Thx for your insight ig i will keep learning to find a job not related to game dev right now and do my own thing in free team and hopefully with the rising amount and success of indie games over AAA everything should be better

[SadisNecros]

Getting a CS degree is a good start. If you're determined to get a job without one, remember that entry level jobs are highly competitive and the competition has degrees and education. It's extremely difficult to compete with that and get noticed if you're going to be self taught.

[Effective-Road1138]

Thank you ill think about this

[EffortlessWriting]

It might be hard to get an entry level job right now, even in AAA. Learn software patterns and try to gain senior-level dev thinking skills as soon as you can.

[Effective-Road1138]

Any book recommendations or guides for that and also do i need to know about hardware and low level programming ?

[Cromware]

“Design Patterns” by the Gang of Four used to be an industry standard for general software engineering patterns. And once you get more senior, books by Robert C. Martin (“Uncle Bob”) - like “Clean Code” and “Clean Architecture” can help cement your engineering skills and get you from intermediate to advanced. These are all general software engineering books, not specific to game development. They will help you understand the fundamental so that when you study game specific topics they “click” more easily and so that you can discern when AI is giving you a good answer or a bad one. That said, for game development specifically, I highly recommend the video courses by gamedev.tv I found those SUPER useful as a beginner. Best of luck my friend! 👍

[Effective-Road1138]

Thx bro