For our first industry visit as part of our Professional Contexts workshops we were visited by Jamie Blacknell, an alumni who graduated in 2021 and made the game Portage as part of his final year project. One year after graduating he was hired as a junior Unity developer working with both engine tools, game code and animation, but then moved to a more senior role for the company GameCity wherein he manages other devs, so naturally I was eager to pick up any information that could help organise the development of my project in Semester 2.

Indie Dev vs. Senior Dev

As a junior developer Jamie was the only in-house dev working on the project he was hired for, so he had to take on extra responsibilities, but this was a valuable learning experience where he could pick up skills like video and audio editing as well as work with tools like Substance Designer.

University experience was invaluable for this as it encourages being proactive with research, playtesting and prototyping, as well as encouraging trying new skills and improving communication in groups.

Since then he has picked up the skills of working with larger teams as well as the ability to specialise into specific skillsets.

Communication

Communication is vital in a larger company as well as within our smaller groups as one needs to know how to explain concepts to team members who may have different specialisations and levels of understanding. For example, talking to your specific team’s lead would be easiest where one can be direct using technical language, but explaining to someone in management may require one to “translate” the problem into plain English, focusing on reasonable time scales to get things done rather than the actual steps of the task.

Portfolios

We were also given some advice on crafting our own portfolios as creating one separate to our university work would be vital after we graduate. This included advice about keeping up a LinkedIn, Artstation and Github account, but having a website to direct people to is also incredibly helpful.

Networking

• In the face of AI it is more important than ever.
• Speak to real people
• Take part in game jams/challenges
• Join discord servers
• Be an active member
• Connect to people big in the industry
• Learn the artists in the media you like

Developer Portfolio

• GitHub is vital
  • Showcases your code
  • Easy to update
  • Look at other repos
• Make sure your documentation is clear
• Make sure your portfolio & projects are easily accessible!
  • Important for interviews
  • Be ready to explain code (don’t use AI slop)
  • Utilise itch.io or Steam
• Websites or blogs are great for adding personal touche
• e.g. dev logs, code snippets for readability
• Show good code practices
  • Understand OOP, SOLID
  • Unit Testing
  • Version Control
  • Debugging
  • Ensure maintainability

3D Artist Portfolio

• Advice by Adam Mould (artstation)
• Artstation
  • Excellent for showcasing projects
  • Be seen by and be among other artists
    • A lot of very competent competition
  • Ideally a pro account allows for unlimited uploads
• Showcase artistic ability
  • Showing ideas through sketches
  • Moodboards
  • Show you can take a concept and follow through
• Showcase working from reference
• Show key modelling concepts
• Show experience in all the software/tools you use.
• Show an understanding in art and design as a whole.
• Showcase wireframes and UV layouts
• Share poly counts, texture sizes, texel density
• Understand optimisation like LODs and Mipmap textures
• Showcase different texture maps
• Trim sheets, decal sheets
• Understand texture baking.
• Try to showcase work in-engine with different lighting configurations
  • Try showing in Unity URP, HDRP, Unreal
• Detail is important but don’t add for the sake of it.
  • don’t just add random decals/stamps
• Use research to help you make decisions
  • Think about “context” of the model
  • Can showcase in portfolio
• Avoid including work you’re not interested in
  • Don’t try and “fill up”
• Present professionally, and in theme
• Show inspiration but don’t plagiarise.
• Interviewers want to see your passion.
• Software to learn:
  • Autodesk
  • ZBrush
  • Substance
  • Photoshop

Courses

• Plenty of high-quality courses on Udemy, Gumroad, Artstation
  • However these can be expensive.
• YouTube can have good quality information but has a chance of being low-quality.

Soft Skills

• Soft skills are as important or sometimes more important than technical ability.
• Aspects of employability:
  • Good comms
  • Willing to try
  • Push yourself out of your comfort zone
  • Show dedication
  • Know how to collab
  • Take direction/crit well
  • Show improvement
  • Listen!
• Less desirable:
  • Poor time management
  • Lack of drive
  • Defensiveness
  • Unprofessional
  • Talking like on social media
• Interviews
  • Be on time
  • Dress appropriately
  • Come prepared w/ previous work
  • Be engaged (eye contact)

Conclusion

• Competitive industry, need to stand out
• Deadlines can be tough
• Scope creep