GameDev Talk

Getting into the Industry

Samantha Difeo & Michael Sukkarieh

Timeline

• Game development related courses at McGill
• Where to get experience
• Resume tips & tricks
• Game dev vs big tech interviews
• Interview questions and tips

What is GameDev McGill?

• GameDev McGill is the game development club at McGill
• We host McGame Jam, a 48-hour hackathon where you make a game based on a theme
• Members have access to equipment and resources to help make games
• Sponsored by Ubisoft and EA
• Check us out on our public Facebook: GameDev McGill page & gamedevmcgill.ca

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Introduction

Samantha Difeo

• U3 Mathematics and Computer Science with a focus in Computer Games
• Lead Programmer of GameDev McGill
• Game industry experience
• Gameplay Programmer Intern @ Square Enix Montreal

Specialized McGill Classes

• Comp 557: Fundamentals of Computer Graphics
• ESCE 446/546: Image Synthesis
• Comp 521: Modern Computer Games
• Comp 361: Software Engineer Project
• Comp 322: Introduction to C++

Aside: some of the information is opinionated and bias, but I try to add as many facts as possible. McGill is also not the only school around, check out other courses in Concordia and elsewhere (if you speak French).

Comp 557 / ESCE 446/546 : Graphics Courses

• Either Fundamentals of Computer Graphics or Image Synthesis
• Very specialized for those interested in Graphics
• 557 is fundamentals, including the graphics pipeline
• Not practical knowledge => will not get you a job in graphics, but helps for grad school and understanding the basics
• 446 goes over modern photo realistic rendering technology
• A lot of theory, but also has a lot of very practical assignments
• Once the class is finished, you will have built a ray tracer

Comp 521: Modern Computer Games

Overview:

• Goes over common concepts in game programming with applied assignments in Unity and C#
• Great section on Game AI
• algorithms and tools such as A* path finding & behavior trees
• Tad bit of design and narration

Comments:

• More for grad students than for industry
• Learn the basics to Unity before taking the class
• Assignments are great! (add to your resume)
• Does not mention industry standards often
• especially does not reference newer games or latest tech
• Does NOT go into detail on multiplayer

Assignment 2: Fall 2019

Comp 361: Software Engineer Project

Overview:

• Usually taught by Professor Kienzle, a year long project course
• Teams of ~6 programmers create either a 2D or 3D game based off of a board game

Comments:

• First semester is only UML diagrams
• It is a lot of work in the second semester
• You will do networking! It looks great on resumes
• … but you will not be taught networking, so hits like a tank
• Nice finished side project, highly recommend taking it

Comp 322: Introduction to C++

Overview:

• Teaches C++ assuming a little Java and/or C knowledge, but goes over OOP and pointers slowly

Comments:

• If you have Chad, he is super nice
• Bird class, no final, 1 credit, less intensive version of Comp 202, but for C++
• Best to learn C++ on your own
• Although Unreal Engine’s C++ is a struggle, there is not much documentation
• Does not mention Vectors nor networking uses or game development

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Or learn online:

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/introduction-to-c-programming-language/�https://www.learncpp.com/

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General helpful McGill classes

• Comp 303: Software Design
• Math 133: Linear Algebra and Geometry

Comp 303: Software Design

Overview:

• Learn best practices and important design decisions as a developer. This includes correct syntax, encapsulation, design patterns, etc

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Comments

• A requirement for computer science
• I advise taking it as early as you can!
• It helps you improve your coding for all classes / parts of computer science
• The last material is design patterns, these are common interview questions

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Cannot take it yet? Read all of this:

https://gameprogrammingpatterns.com/contents.html

Math 133:

Linear Algebra

and Geometry

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Jorge Rodriguez - Math for Game Developers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKCF8A3XGxQ&list=PLW3Zl3wyJwWOpdhYedlD-yCB7WQoHf-My

Comments:

• Math 232 is proof heavy. It is usually students first experience with a tough math class
• For game development:
• Change of basis formula (232)
• Vector & Matrix math (133)

Linear Algebra Example

Pos: (0,1.5,0)

Pos: (6,2,-0.5)

Linear Algebra Example:

Ray Sphere Intersection

Ray:

x = x₀ + at

y = y₀ + bt

z = z₀ + ct

Sphere:

(x-x₁)² + (y-y₁)² + (z-z₁)² = r²

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Solve for t:

1. t ∉ R ⇒ no intersection [√(b² - 4ac)]
2. Plug t into the ray equations above

Substitute in the ray equations for x,y,z

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⇒ (x₀ + at - x₁)² + (y₀ + bt - y₁)² + (z₀ + ct - z₁)² = r²

Direction vector (a,b,c)

Origin (x₀,y₀,z₀)

Center (x₁,y₁z₁)

Radius r

General Information to Learn

Things to know

• Basics of threading, basics of networking, design patterns, high school level physics, linear algebra, raycasting, collision detection, OOP, concept of components & actors/game objects, character movement, etc

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Things not to worry about

• Probability, statistics, calculus, numerical analysis
• You are not expected to know a ton about AI as an intern, but it helps
• NP-Complete/Dynamic/Recursive sort of questions

Where to get experience

School Experience

Game Jams

• Many coming up!
• They usually help assign teams if you do not have one
• GameDev McGill has our yearly McGame Jam (just happened though)
• The club also has monthly game jams!

Side Project

• Focus on something you want to learn, not a general project.
• Tips: Keep it in scope, ie NO RPGs, ignore multiplayer unless that is your focus, simple art, and puzzle games are super hard to make

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Art

• Start creating 3D assets!
• focus on a specialty, not a general overview. (ex: character/animation, OR environment art OR VFX)

Design

• Hardest of the bunch to dive into, we have no classes on it. See Concordia's new design class made in partner with Ubisoft.

Ubisoft Game Lab Competition

Community Experience

• Pixelles (a women in game dev group)
• Mentorship programs, socials, GDC benefits
• TAG (Concordia game research club)
• Flop (Game Developers club in Montreal)
• Non-school related game jams
• Open Source Projects
• ex: Blender is open sourced
• Networking events
• Facebook events
1. Gameplay space testing
2. Gamedev meet ups in Montreal
• GDC in California ($$)

Gameplay Space

Resume tips & tricks

Resume Tips & Tricks

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• Put all the keywords you know somewhere
• Algorithms, graphics pipeline, C++, Unity experience, etc etc
• Tailor a resume/CV to the job
• Keep a separate Tech vs GameDev resume
• Check their job postings
• For example Blizzard required Python for gameplay programming (??), so if you know Python add it, even if its a common game dev language

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Resume Tips & Tricks

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• Projects Section:
• Have more than one side project? => put projects first on resume
• Github, itch.io, linkedin
• Describe in 1-2 sentences each side project
• Not “we did a game in 48-hours”, but “I worked on lighting, level design, etc”
• Make sure everything linked is appropriate

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Interview process

Introduction

• Michael Sukkarieh, U4 Software Engineering
• Previous work experience
• Graphics Programmer Intern @ Ubisoft
• Software Engineer Intern @ Google
• Rendering Engineer Intern @ EA
• Companies I’ve interviewed for:
• Apple, Microsoft, Google, NVIDIA, Activision, Riot Games, Eidos, Ubisoft, EA, Beenox

Big Tech vs Game Dev Definitions

• “Big Tech” is a nickname for all of the major software companies (Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, etc)
• “Big 4”: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook
• “FAANG”: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google
• “Game Dev” are all the major AAA game studios (Ubisoft, EA, Eidos, Bethesda, Activision, Riot Games, Rockstar Games, etc)

Big Tech vs Game Dev Interviews

• These two categories of companies have different interview practices, so it’s important to know the difference when preparing
• Big Tech tends to focus on general CS knowledge, while Game Dev tends to focus on specialized domain knowledge
• Most positions open at Big Tech are for general software engineering positions, and a lot of the times you don’t know which team you’ll be on
• Game Dev teams tend to be divided into specialized positions, and you will most likely know exactly which team you’re applying for at the start

Big Tech Interviews

• Test general CS knowledge
• Data structures (arrays, strings, stacks, hashmaps, etc)
• Best class for this would be COMP 250 (maybe even 251)
• However, class knowledge alone is not enough (will talk more about this later)
• Usually involve writing a function which uses some data structure to solve some problem
• Ex. implement a queue with 2 stacks, reverse a linked list, etc
• Only way to get better at this is to solve problems
• May involve an online test or an in-person test where you need to write code on the whiteboard

Big Tech Interviews - Resources

• My biggest recommendation: LeetCode
• LeetCode is an website which includes hundreds of example problems for you to practice on
• From my experience, the types of problems on LeetCode were very similar to the problems I’ve been asked in real interviews
• Other resources: HackerRank (website), Cracking the Coding Interview (Book)
• Try your best to solve as many problems as you can
• Don’t look at the answer until you’ve been stuck for a very long time, and if you look at the answer make sure to revisit the problem later to ensure you understood it
• Make sure you do questions on various different topics

Game Dev Interviews

• Tend to test specific domain knowledge
• Common programming positions:
• Graphics Programmer
• Physics Programmer
• Gameplay Programmer
• Network Programmer
• Online Programmer (different than Network Programmer)
• Tool Programmer
• etc
• When applying to a Game Dev studio, you will most likely be applying to a specific position and they will ask you questions specific to that position

Resume and Projects

• If you’ve been given an interview for a game dev position, you most likely have experience in that domain
• Ensure that you can talk about every detail on your resume in technical depth
• Almost every Game Dev company I have interviewed for has asked me specific questions about things on my resume (sometimes that’s the whole interview)
• Before walking into an interview, ensure that you can describe every project on your resume from start to finish
• As a result, do not put anything on your resume that you are not comfortable talking about or that you didn’t really do
• It might help you get an interview, but you will be grilled about it during the interview

C++ / Low Level Questions

• With some exceptions, most of the work you will be doing will be in C++
• Game Dev in general tends to have fairly low level challenges, so you may be asked about this
• If you don’t know C++ but got the interview, they probably won’t ask you specific C++ questions but might still ask general low level questions
• Also if you don’t know C++, learn C++
• C++ specific concepts to know
• How are virtual functions implemented?
• Why is it important to declare destructor as virtual?
• What is the difference between a ref and a pointer?
• What is the main difference between calling a function with a parameter that’s a reference and between one that isn’t?
• What is const-correctness?

C++ / Low Level Questions

• General Low Level Concepts
• What is a pointer? What is happening when I dereference a pointer?
• What is the size of a pointer?
• What’s the difference between allocating something on the heap and the stack? Which one takes more time?
• What’s the purpose of a cache?
• Useful classes:
• ECSE 324 / COMP 273
• Operating Systems

Math Questions

• Math is an important concept in Game Dev
• More likely to be asked these kinds of questions for a graphics position, but might still get asked basic questions for other positions
• Understand linear algebra fundamentals
• Dot product
• Cross product
• Basic geometric shapes (ray, plane, sphere, etc)
• More math is needed if you’re applying for a graphics position
• 3d math related to projection/transformation
• Graphics pipeline

Timeline for Applying

• Applying at the right time is important
• BigTech:
• Most Big Tech companies begin looking for summer interns in September/October
• Process is very long and has multiple stages (may take 1-3 months from applying to get offer)
• Game Dev:
• Most local game studios begin looking for summer interns in January/February
• Usually less bureaucratic, and you will be interviewing with your future boss

4 months ++

Get experience

(see experience slides)

2 months ++

Draft a resume

Start networking

1 week

Get your resume reviewed!

1 week

APPLY!

10+ applications

Check out those linkedin contacts you made while networking

???

Profit

Questions?