A Future Job at TellTale?

[TheNuclearReactor]

YES. YOU READ RIGHT.


Seeing how the team at TTG performs, it seems like a lot of fun to work at TellTale.

So, if anyone knows...

How old do you have to be to get a job at TTG?

I'm 16, and I LOVE to write. I honestly think I might do good at making plotlines and such. And I never praise myself. Ever.


What kind of skills do all TTG workers need?



Basically, Does anyone have any good info on getting a job at TellTale? I would LOVE to work here.


And where is it located? [[office location-wise]]

/lives in AZ oTL

[Friar]

I think TTG is in calofornia somwhere. I would love to work at telltale, but i live in the Ul, so it would be pretty hard.

[doodo!]

Get together a pro folio I'm told that they really don't care about how fancey the college was or your grades, they just want to know you're creative but even more importantly that you're easy to work with and reliable.

That's what I hear.

[Ribs]

http://www.telltalegames.com/company/jobs/

Keep an eye out!

[nikasaur]

From what I've seen, writing positions in the game industry are preeeetty difficult to get, usually you have to work your way up!

We're in San Rafael, a bit north of San Francisco, and from what I've gathered, you should have a bit of college experience under your belt, then try for an internship or introductory position, like a tester.

Skills: Wear a lot of hats and be epic.

Mind you, it's not all as the blog posts say. We do have fun and I love my job VERY much, but it's also a job where you get what you put in. I've seen people work for 30 hours straight, I've seen people give up weekends. I am blessed to work with talented and dedicated people, and the extent of their love for their work should not be brushed off- it will be hard.
Check out that jobs page and good luck to you!

[Will]

Best suggestion for people who want to eventually design games: start designing now! Either learn flash or some free game engine online and start making your own games now. Having a portfolio full of stuff for people to play and look at is a great way to sell yourself.

It doesn't really matter if it doesn't look great, so long as your concept and/or story comes across. For instance, look up Narbacular Drop on youtube. A team of students made that for their senior project, Valve saw it and immediately hired them to make Portal. Admittedly, that was a full team of kids and they got their game in front of the right people, but it's a good example of a game developer seeing a diamond in the rough.

[BlankCanvasDJ]

(Makes a note to add "exceptionally good at wearing hats" onto his resume)

[Lena_P]

I own a lot hats, does that help?

[ShaggE]

My goal is to be a full-time games journalist, which is a notoriously hard career to get into. I've written for a couple of sites, and I've noticed that the more articles I put out, the bigger my opportunities become.

In other words, longevity seems to be what the industry looks for more than anything else. A lot of people get their "dream" job designing, writing, etc., realize that it's actual (grueling, at times) work as opposed to playing games all day, and leave.

Obviously quality matters, but you'll have better luck filling your portfolio with ten good examples than one fantastic one. (Of course, ten fantastic examples is even better, but you know what I mean.) People like the Counterstrike and Narbacular Drop teams are very much exceptions to the rule.

Also, hats. Doesn't do much good for us writers, but never underestimate the power of a delightful top hat.

[Hero1]

Having good contacts, is a good way to get into the videogames industry also.. Which is not the easiest thing and you need a lot of luck but worth knowing.. Also expect to be working 16-18 hour days..

[[TTG] Yare]

I hate to burst your bubble, but everybody wants to be a writer/designer in the game industry and there just aren't a lot of entry level jobs for that sort of thing. If you're serious, you have a much better chance of getting your foot in the door as a programmer or artist and then changing focus once you have some experience.

Also, avoid any colleges or majors that focus in video game specific stuff. Go to a normal school, get a normal degree, and make sure to work on game projects in your free time so you can build a portfolio.

[ShaggE]

Originally Posted by [TTG] Yare

Also, avoid any colleges or majors that focus in video game specific stuff.

Oh god, this. Those things aren't just scams, they are downright insulting. I'll never forget one that tried to butter up the deal by offering game demos. The same demos that can be nabbed anywhere for free.

I can't even begin to express my hatred for "game design courses". Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Use that in your resume, and even McDonald's will laugh at you.

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by ShaggE

Oh god, this. Those things aren't just scams, they are downright insulting. I'll never forget one that tried to butter up the deal by offering game demos. The same demos that can be nabbed anywhere for free.

I can't even begin to express my hatred for "game design courses". Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Use that in your resume, and even McDonald's will laugh at you.

But if you don't take a game design course, how will you ever learn how to tighten up the graphics on level 3? Or use that sound effect from the last level?

[Frogacuda]

We're in San Rafael, a bit north of San Francisco, and from what I've gathered, you should have a bit of college experience under your belt, then try for an internship or introductory position, like a tester.

I think it's pretty hard to work your way up as a tester. Maybe in a small company, but usually testers have a really high turnover and are pretty disposable/abusable creatures to the companies that employ them.

If you're determined to work as a writer (and this is coming from someone who works as a game journalist and has done writing for commercial game development), my advice is this: Get published. As much as possible and in the best publications.

That's the most important thing. Have your work out there, write for magazines, websites, etc. Have a long list of impressive credits. Your writing samples alone will not sell you. You need to have a proven track record of being able to work and meet deadlines, and produce superior work under pressure. It takes time to build yourself up to where you can get a really good gig. Start freelancing while you're still in school to get a head start on it, too.

A lot of writers think they're going to start off writing the story for a game or writing an epic novel or a feature-length screenplay and they don't understand that you have to start small. Short stories, articles, whatever. Make a name for yourself and people will give you the chance to do something more.

[ShaggE]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

But if you don't take a game design course, how will you ever learn how to tighten up the graphics on level 3? Or use that sound effect from the last level?

I had repressed those ads.

I still can't figure out how one could "tighten up graphics on level 3". Now, maybe it's because I understand what "engines" are, and I understand what "drawing" is, so I can't put myself in a non-gamer's shoes. But the leap in logic is just inconceivable. Even the magical button that inserts sound effects seems less fantastical.

Do they leap into the computer and tighten a few screws with a wrench? Is it another "magic button" scenario? Maybe they slowly rotate a half-finished model of a centaur around like in other graphic design ads. Whatever it is, I hope they pull it off before a cold-yet-sexy female voice uses outdated gaming puns like "game over". Oh god! I have to know! To Westwood, stat!

[Shwoo]

What about schools that offer games programming?

[Katsuro]

"Finished testing that game yet? I need another one designed!"
This is an actual representation of some publishers I think

[[TTG] Yare]

Originally Posted by Shwoo

What about schools that offer games programming?

Avoid them. You can learn enough to get into the game industry with a normal CS degree from any college, as long as you work on side projects. With a normal CS degree you also will have the "plan B" option of being a regular software engineer at a non-game company. It may not sound as fun or exciting, but it pays well.

There are an awful lot of kids out there right now with $100k in college loans, making $24k a year because they picked a degree that didn't match what the job market actually wants or has room for. Whatever you do, don't limit your career options by becoming super-focused.

[jannar85]

I'm working on a project, if anyone's interested. It will get you started, at least. I hope we'll get it out somewhere 2010 or early 2011.

[Will]

Originally Posted by Frogacuda

I think it's pretty hard to work your way up as a tester. Maybe in a small company, but usually testers have a really high turnover and are pretty disposable/abusable creatures to the companies that employ them.

I would agree that moving up in a big testing farm is hard to do. Working for EA or Sony or something, you don't get a lot of room for advancement. That said...

In our company the CEO, 3 producers, Monkey's lead content programmer, at least one of the writer/designer/directors, myself (sometime writer/designer on monkey) and probably quite a few others that I'm forgetting all started as testers.

Now most of those people started at Lucas in the in-house testing department and worked their way up through Lucas. But I think at just about any in-house dev studio, working up from testing is a very valid way to move up in the industry.