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    • That's one of the most interesting interview techniques I've heard described before. It reminds me a lot of thesis defenses. Usually the candidate gets asked softball questions at first (mostly to warm up as everyone assumes the candidate can answer those questions). As it goes on, the questions get deeper and more thorough with the added bonus of the questions being changed mid-answer. Although sometimes there's the rapid fire questions in different sub-fields to force you into quick gear shifting. To be honest I love these types of grillings--they can be a lot of fun. Like you said, it's the absolute best way to truly gauge your competence and deftness at something and see where your biggest shortcomings are.

      Originally posted by rezination
      As another example of what I mean, let's look at the last GDC. I issued a challenge to the community to come up with a full-on game that they felt was complete. I would offer a professional critique and recommend those that were really good to the gods of hiring here at EA. This is something I would have KILLED for when I was just starting out. I would have stayed up for days on end (consequences be damned!) just to finish and polish it. Hell, even if it were just the critique... that's what I really wanted.

      So when GDC came around, how many people met that challenge? Only one. Regardless of skill, I would rather hire that one engineer who demonstrated an ability to finish a project and talk about it then an army of people who have never finished anything. It's important to note that this isn't new. This sort of response is pretty typical whenever I issue similar challenges. Actually, the fact that one person pushed through and asked for the critique was very surprising.

      Funny story (well, not really "funny"): I had a completed game by GDC last year. I was planning to ask you for a critique, but I changed my mind last minute. Primary reason being that I decided my entire code base was garbage and not worth a critique--I really needed to start the entire thing over from scratch. It was full of bad ideas and hack jobs. I got plenty of feedback from other sources about my resume, background, and skill-set to make me realize I really wasn't ready for this industry. Hence, the goal is on hold while I build up my skills in the meantime. At some point I might detail out the story if it's a successful one ;)
    • Originally posted by geshi
      Funny story (well, not really "funny"): I had a completed game by GDC last year. I was planning to ask you for a critique, but I changed my mind last minute. Primary reason being that I decided my entire code base was garbage and not worth a critique--I really needed to start the entire thing over from scratch. It was full of bad ideas and hack jobs. I got plenty of feedback from other sources about my resume, background, and skill-set to make me realize I really wasn't ready for this industry. Hence, the goal is on hold while I build up my skills in the meantime. At some point I might detail out the story if it's a successful one ;)


      There's a story I always tell my students about that. Several years ago I saw a talk by Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of some of my favorite films (My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, etc.) One of the questions posed to him was "how do become a better animator?" He thought for a minute, grunted slightly, and responded. "Draw from life and find someone who will give you direct and honest feedback." This applies to everything in life that requires skill. You have to actually do meaningful practice (not play) and you have to find someone who will give you direct feedback.

      You can sit there and build game after game and you will definitely improve, but getting a direct & honest critique from someone much more experienced will completely change your game. You've probably heard from people that they learned more in their first year on the job then anywhere else. One of the biggest reasons for this is that they were given very direct feedback about their work.

      I assigned my students a project that they have to get done in a few weeks. I told them that their homework was a playable demo, but that I wouldn't be grading it at all. I would give them critiques, but no grade. The grade doesn't come until the project is complete. I'm curious how many are going to turn it in (class is tonight).

      Never turn down honest feedback of your craft. Ever. Get as much as you possibly can. Get it from different people (as long as they're experienced). Get it from people you admire.

      -Rez
    • We have a code review system which is provided by Assembla for our classes team project, however I have had trouble convincing people how important peer review is, most want to stay comfortable believing everything they produce is top notch, rather than have someone tell them they could improve in an area.

      There is only one student that really embraces it and he and I critique each other on a daily basis usually, and even that one person is enough to improve in my weak areas.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
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      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz
    • WTF Rez, you got to see a talk by Miyazaki? I'm incredibly jealous ;).

      That's a very important lesson, and I should be better about it. My problem is primarily the opposite of what mholley just described: I usually consider my work to be utter garbage and unreviewable.

      Never turn down honest feedback of your craft. Ever. Get as much as you possibly can. Get it from different people (as long as they're experienced). Get it from people you admire.

      However I think this is important to hear for exactly my problem. I shouldn't decide against feedback because I believe my work is garbage and not worth anyone else's time. I should believe my work is garbage and beg for feedback anyway.
    • That's completely correct. It's really the only way to get better. How can you know what you're doing wrong? You don't have the expertise, so you can only guess unless someone looks at your code and sees the same mistakes we all made when we were younger.

      It is NEVER too early to get code reviews. I give them on day 1 to students who have never written a line of code. Of course, the nature of those reviews is very different, but the purpose is the same.

      -Rez
    • Its too bad the coding world doesn't use a pen pal system, where you have one person guaranteed to give and receive feedback from you.
      PC - Custom Built
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 3770 3.4Ghz
      GPU: ATI Radeon HD 7959 3GB
      RAM: 16GB

      Laptop - Alienware M17x
      CPU: 3rd Gen. Intel i7 - Ivy Bridge
      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M - 2GB GDDR5
      RAM: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 @ 1600mhz