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BinaryDelt on 17 July 2013
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danasider said:
BinaryDelt said:

Thanks for creating this thread.  I was just looking into the PlayStation Mobile Developer Program today.  I'm 30 years old, have a Computer Science degree, work in IT, and really don't like what I do.  I love video games, and they're a huge reason I pursued a career in technology, but for whatever reason I let myself get sucked into corporate America, selling out at jobs I don't like to pay the bills.  Pick your excuse--the video game industry is too competitive, I didn't want to leave my family in the midwest to move to the West coast, etc--but I never pursued a career directly in video games.

Thankfully I'm still relatively young, have a background that can translate well to the gaming industry, and accessibility for Indie developers is higher than ever, meaning I don't have to quit my job and uproot my family to give it a shot.  My wife and I don't have any kids yet, so now's as good a time as any to start working on something on the side.

Strong advice to anyone just getting started in the "real world": Do what makes you happy.  Paychecks will come.  Some will be bigger than others, but if you're doing what you love, it won't matter as long as the bills are paid.

Now to come up with some ideas...

I'll probably go the corporate route when I graduate and work on my own stuff on the side.  I'm 28 and starting a new career, because I was unhappy where I was going before (nowhere).  Comp sci is my second degree and I've got school loans and bills to pay, so even though I plan on getting there someday, I'm going to have to take a job I can land ASAP.  Not to mention, my girlfriend wants me to get a job already (that's regular and offers benefits haha).  That and I am so green at game design and programming in general so I wouldn't cut it even if I went for it.

I'm currently working on a small text adventure in c++ to get my feet wet in both the programming and design, but I have a long way to go in the grand scheme of things.  For me, ideas are the easy part, it's the execution (99% of the work) that I'm working on, so I'm not even close to trying to get a PS4 kit.  At least you have a skillset developed so once you get that idea, you will be able to flesh it out that much easier.

Good luck on coming up with some ideas.

@ethomaz yeah I'm working on my programming skills on PC and I figured that's how it works, but thanks for the advice!

Very cool.  Congrats on having the courage to make a change in your career, I know that's not easy.  Good luck with your gaming projects and learning the ropes, trial and error is the way to learn!  I'm pretty sure the latest PlayStation dev kits and tools use C#, so you may want to familiarize yourself, though if you know C++ it's a pretty smooth transition.

Though I have a strong IT background, I don't have any experience in making games.  Feel free to PM me at any point, maybe we could exchange references on books or websites we've found helpful!