Mark Craig, Founder of Lucid Games: Code Monkey

Mark Craig, Founder of Lucid Games came to my University to give a talk on programming to us this week. After discussing the knowledge and skills needed to become a programmer in the Games Industry, he also gave us an overview of the different aspects of coding, and which language is most commonly used for what.

As an aspiring level designer, I paid particular attention to what he looks for in a level designers ability to code. Mark explicitly stated that he would not hire a level designer if they don’t know how to code in Lua, which has set me on a journey to learn Lua. He also expressed the importance of level designers knowing their engines to a much detail as they possibly can, including knowledge of basic C# and JavaScript, which are both heavily used in Unreal Engine 4 and Unity.

It was interesting to learn about all the different languages of code that should be known by other disciplines besides programming. For example, artists should know Python for coding shaders and plug-ins for Maya. Agreeing with Mark’s views on everyone knowing code, Chris Hecker, writer for Game Developer magazine, writes about the importance of a designer knowing code so that they can effectively communicate with programmers; “game designers must be able to think and solve problems algorithmically.” With better communication between a development team, games can be developed much quicker, with the team hopefully having a more joyful experience as there will be less unsatisfactory code made.

To close out his talk, Mark told us about the interview process, and what we should take for each role. Also mentioned were tests given before employment. However, these were primarily given out to programmers, and even if you fail to get the majority correct, you can still be hired if you show that you are capable of learning. Lightening the mood, he also told some funny anecdotes about times when he has been interviewing possible employees himself.

References:

Hecker, C. (2013). Yes, you should understand code - even if you're not a programmer. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/200155/Yes_you_should_understand_code__even_if_youre_not_a_programmer.php. Last accessed 10th May 2015.