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What qualifications/experience do I need to become a Software Engineer?
These days you probably need to be educated to degree level or above, though Rare has never insisted on specific qualifications. Most of our applicants have completed a Computer Science/Software Engineering degree to 2:1 or above; many also have a Masters or PhD.
It takes years to fully appreciate the concepts and techniques involved in games development so taking an interest in programming outside education is a good start. Many of our programmers started programming in BASIC and Pascal from an early age. Of course it also helps if you are passionate about games. |
Are there any courses/Universities that you would recommend?
There are many good Computer Science courses available. One aspect to look for in a course would be C/C++ as the main language.
There are many specific Computer Games courses available these days too. At Rare, people specialise in specific areas e.g. programming or graphics, so we have found in the past that for our purposes some of these have been too general, focusing on too many disciplines. However, these types of courses do now seem to be leaning more towards single disciplines and are more relevant. Whilst a general appreciation for all aspects of games development is needed, it is important to specialise in a particular area, so play to your strengths here. |
What do I need to provide as a code example?
The code examples we receive are varied, some are final year projects and some are small games developed at home. The code should show a strong understanding of C/C++ or assembler (as required) and be a good representation of your code layout, structure and style. If you are producing a graphics demo then we would expect DirectX or OpenGL. Code examples could include small functions, such as a smart sorting algorithm, or demonstrate maths and physics knowledge by modelling rigid body shapes and their dynamics. Games programming offers so many varied problems, engineers tend to specialise in one area, low level 3D, physics, gameplay, audio etc., so it would be better if your code example represented your particular area of interest. It will not be compiled and does not need to be thousands of lines, two or three hundred will be fine. |
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