4th Year poses many challenges in the paths of many students. Exams loom over the not-so-distant horizon while one’s Final Year Project is the monkey on your back while you clamber your way to and from various classes. Perhaps the most difficult challenge students face is to obtain a good night’s sleep. I’m willing to bet most students aren’t getting their recommended dosage. In this magical place, the Land of Nod, there exists a most pleasant experience. You have probably already figured out I am, of course, referring to dreams.

Worry not, my slumber related mumbles will take a nap of their own for now. What I do dream about, however, is what/where/why I want to be down the line. It’s a line that forms the horizon of my life. That line is quickly approaching and the once blurry shapes are becoming clearer. So, if these shapes are possible career paths/choices, what path will I choose? It’s quite simple really… (maybe…)

My dream job isn’t any one position. Instead, what I long for is an experience. I want to work in a games company where the ethos they adhere to aligns with mine. I want to make games that I would want to play. Luckily for me, such companies exist. One such example is Bungie Studios, whose motto, coincidentally, is “We make games we want to play“. They have developed games that both innovate and entertain. These very same games (the most recent releases anyway) are the ones I play on a near daily basis. The ever expanding workforce that drives these studios are passionate, intelligent people who have realised that the more time and effort they invest, the better their games will be. That’s been the way my brain has been working (for the last few years anyway). I find the more I want to see something succeed, the more likely it is I will willingly invest many sleepless nights and crunch periods in order to make sure that something is a success.

Don’t just take my word for it! Bungie often interview employees (ie. the ‘Breaking In’ articles) from all disciplines about how they got their position within the company. The common denominator I see with many of these interviews is some form of degree in Computer Science or similar courses. A degree in  ‘Multimedia and Computer Games Development’ will be mine and I am confident that the broad views of both conventional computing industries and more game-specific ideologies will be adequate of the title  “Similar to Computer Science”!

In particular, I found the interview of Production Engineer, Tim Williams, really interesting. Most notably, his path from testing to his current post. This guy made a living testing games for Microsoft! The naive me of times gone by would have been sold right there but not the current me. After having spent 8 months working for Bank of Ireland Group subsidiary, New Assurance Ireland, as a Software Tester I learned all to well many important things about myself. I actually enjoy testing! At first I was doing relatively simple tests. It was really fun to perform seemingly mundane tasks and see what happened. Before I knew it, I was the one writing my own test plans! I enjoyed adapting to various systems and understanding how they worked primarily by seeing what did and didn’t work. I have no illusions as to how repetitive the testing process can be, especially in games.

So, that almost makes it seem that being a Games Tester may be my dream job. Is it? Maybe it is. I can’t be sure because my interests also branch into many other areas. Writing music, drawing art, developing small indie games and writing interesting gaming scenarios are all areas I’d love to increase my proficiency in too. For this very reason, I’d also relish the idea of working at Limerick’s own Open Emotion Studios. Not only do they follow a similar work ethic to Bungie (check out that bio!) but they also share humble beginnings as independent developers. What can I attribute to both companies? They both have people working for them who I would love to work with. These people are passionate. The passion of the handful of OES guys or the bus loads of Bungie employees can be seen both outside and inside of the work they do. It’s this love for the craft that I wish to immerse myself in. These are people I admire. I simply cannot choose one to list as that wouldn’t be fair on the passion shared by everyone else.

In conclusion: I want to be the sponge that absorbs the atmosphere of a fantastic working environment and, when strung out (like a sponge), exhibits work that reflects the passion that I too share for games.