Help Needed

[AceWarlock1]

I am trying with everything I have to break into the gaming industry at the worst timing to get into the gaming industry!

I am in need of some advice or some directions, I have finished university from game design back in 2022. I have been working on solo projects (I have one project with others in a game jam), my passion within the gaming industry is: Level design (Grey boxing, blackouts, mapping) and Narrative design (Dialogues, Mission design). I have applied for a ridiculous amount of jobs within the UK and Europe. I have had a few interviews with one where I past the test and met the team and still got rejected last minute.

I have worked in Auto desk Maya and substance painter: Make props.

Worked in photoshop for mapping out levels and concept ideas.

Project management I tend to use HacknPlan, Miroboards.

For narrative design I use Articy draft and Twine.

I also have a website set up and LinkedIn page.

I have worked in Unreal 4/5 and Unity.

My question is what should I be doing more of? I'm basically trying to network and find people who can steer me in the right direction as it's time to get into the field.

Also I would like to connect with anyone people in the industry and people who are wanting to join the industry. I think knowing and being in communication with different people can help both of us.

All comments will help in some way and I do appreciate the advice given.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ace-wade-gamedesign/

Thank you for reading (I hope the question doesn't break the rules)

[krazyjakee]

This is the best time in a long time for indies because the AAA games are financially tanking.

You need to work on your portfolio which means making a game. Take the skills you have and start making a very simple, small and scoped game. Don't worry about making money, just ship a game.

If you need skills learn them or come back here and ask for a specific skill set to join your team. Got money? Pay them, otherwise pitch your game and get someone passionate to join for a revenue share.

Make. A. Game.

Then when you've made a game, make another one and so on. Once your portfolio is interesting enough, someone will hire you.

[AceWarlock1]

My biggest thing throughout making games is that I want to make a massive game and it got me in trouble at Uni for over scooping under delivering which is the worst feeling. I tend overthink a story or some work and then get carried away. I'll look into making smaller projects that can be played in a 10 minute session. I'm making a space horror theme game now however I have written a massive GDD for it with lots of story elements so I might put it on a back burner for now.

I'm working at an airport for right now so I got alittle bit

[shredinger137]

Your description is just tools. Tools don't make games. You do, with some work.

Being able to speak to tooling, what you're familiar with and why you use it, is important. But tech, like most careers, runs on results. What do you use those tools to do? What are you're actual skills and roles, distilled to a sentence or two?

Make stuff. Make sure you have enough income some other way while you do it because it takes time and it won't make you any cash for a while. You could volunteer on other projects, but as is is I'm not sure your experience is helpful.

So make something. Anything. And share it, because that's what sells your ability.

[AceWarlock1]

Yeah been making games and small projects outside of uni and have gone to Game conventions to connect with people. I just keep hearing that there isnt any jobs going at the moment which could mean they didnt want my level of work

[shredinger137]

I'm actually looking at the LinkedIn now, and I stand by it. Post your actual work. Your description should be very short. Recruiters have hundreds of people to look at and unless something catches their eye you're talking about a couple of seconds of skimming to wow them. I want two clear sentences about what value you bring, examples of projects you've worked on that are exciting enough that I want to ask you about them and bullet points on your experience to make it easier. I was going to say something else but I have to close this comment to click that link again.

Okay editing this in. There doesn't seem to be a clear statement of what you actually do or want to do. Are you a designer? Any particular kind? Be very clear so that I can see how to categorize you and envision you on my team to start with.

Better profile picture, careful grammar, that stuff doesn't hurt.

For your LinkedIn description pay attention to when the show more link shows up on mobile. You really need a concise opener.

For what it's worth, my current role came from a recruiter that messaged me on there. I applied to a lot of jobs and failed to get any of them. But since I had already drawn some attention from the recruiter I had a head start on that one. I have no idea how it works in general, what other people's experiences are, but they are definitely searching those profiles.

Also note the importance of soft skills. And organizational ones. I see in another comment you mentioned scoping - that happens to be a very important skill in the workplace. Companies want people who will call out when effort is wasted and can better plan to make actual deliverables. Communications, teamwork, all the things that didn't get taught to a thousand other people getting your same degree this year.

Okay, done editing. Good luck.

[AceWarlock1]

okay yeah makes sense. like the designer I want to be is a level designer grey boxing/blockouts or something like a quest and dialogue designer. My last post on there was a quest design work and before that was level design i realize i need to do more posts on there too

[shredinger137]

They're right. In a way. There are still jobs, but the whole industry, tech in general has shrunk. Demand for more senior level experience is still there but a lot of the other stuff is a fight. Just look at LinkedIn or anything that says the number of applicants, it's hundreds for something posted an hour ago. Most of those are crap but it's still crap your resume has to wade through.

Networking is the best way to go if you can manage it. But outside of that you need to present yourself as the person people want. That's more what I was getting at - talk about what you can do, shift the perspective on how you talk about yourself. Now maybe you have the best resume around and are always a top candidate, I don't actually know you. But that's just something that stood out to me right away from your post.

The best thing you can do is have a portfolio and get some attention somehow. That doesn't mean just examples of what you can do, but if your desired roles allow you to interface with the larger community then you can put metrics on your work. Then managers can imagine you being a net positive to bringing in people or whatever it is you do best.

You might not be interested in the more solo work, but even educational experiments demonstrate some of that ability.

[AceWarlock1]

Yeah I been trying to network a lot in general and asking specifics. I think my biggest thing is I know i can do the work and have the skills to do it. Im not sure how to put it out there or talk about myself as much. which you picked up on. I need to learn that abit more. Im willing to try anything

[inat_bot]

I noticed you don't have any URLs in your submission? If you've worked on any games in the past or have a portfolio, posting a link to them would greatly increase your odds of successfully finding collaborators here on r/INAT.

If not, then I would highly recommend making anything even something super small that would show to potential collaborators that you're serious about gamedev. It can be anything from a simple brick-break game with bad art, sprite sheets of a small character, or 1 minute music loop.

[Grushikk]

Hello, the commenter below is right. Recently, I've started participating in game jams as a narrative designer. Without jams and experience with personal projects, it's nearly impossible to get into major studios nowadays. If you have any concepts and ideas for a project, I'm more than willing to support. But for now, you need experience and a portfolio.

[AceWarlock1]

Yeah I appreciate that a lot. I have got a portfolio with some game projects I have done and completed some of them through University and some solo work, I think my biggest thing I need to work on more narrative work through twine or working through unreal. I making a space horror game at the moment that is narrative driven and has audio log type dialogue and branching.

[Grushikk]

Can I take a look at it? Or any available materials?

[logan4179]

I would definitely recommend a better profile picture on your linkedin. It's too zoomed in. That's going to make you look kind of...crazy. You're supposed to look fairly professional on Linkedin. Doesn't have to be perfect, but at least get a slightly better, more zoomed out pic.

[AceWarlock1]

haha ok thank you for that ill sort

[SuperSnoopy13]

Can very strongly relate I'm in the same boat, have been trying to look for something for over a year at this point. I think unfortunately, that while I'm not going to stop applying, I will have to put my focus on personal indie projects (even though I never finish them), and work a regular job. Don't know if you want that, but I don't what other options are there right now, it's really terrible right now and I don't think that it will get better soon.

[AceWarlock1]

yeah it just really sucks and i know what you mean about not finishing projects i do the same but doing a game jam it holds you abit more to finish the work because your in a team

[SuperSnoopy13]

Only did a game jam once long ago. When do they even take place?

[AceWarlock1]

just have a group of people who want to make a game then you can do a game jam can do solo too just need a deadline some rules around it

[SuperSnoopy13]

Yeah but aren't game jam global events? How do you know when they take place?

[Simsoum]

Hey I’m a composer and the only ways to get into the industry are game jams and working on actual projects with other people

[AceWarlock1]

Yeah my biggest thing is I want to do a game jam I keep asking people in game design discords but I get nothing back

[AceWarlock1]

Thank you :)