Eng to IT/game or industrial design?
 

Hi there I am age 19 now, was previously from ITE(aerospace) and now having my first year in poly (Mechatronics). Because of family financial difficulties, I have to pick engineering. Well aerospace is a very promising industry, can secure me at least a comfortable lifestyle, but recently I found out that engineering is pretty dead to me. I prefer jobs that enable me to create or design either an animation or product which is cool IMO. Not wearing coverall and stuff dealing with wires, reading manual and following the instruction. I prefer some challenge!


Initially, I wanted to went on to game and development after my secondary school days(normal Technical), but the course offered by ITE is higher nitec(i can only take Nitec courses).

What I plan was to finish my Mechatronics course and work/part time study for either IT/ game development industry or the industrial design industry which I am deciding right now...

Can anyone advise me on which industry I can pick that can secure me a comfortable life for my family in future?

Also are there even a chance of me switching to IT/game development or production design industry?

I am an optimistism, so nothing is hard. Don't tell me that IT and design industry have long working hours bla bla bla... cause I am someone that passion can overcome everything! =)

Thank you for reading my whiny essay, Do hope for some valuable advise here rather than flaming =)
Cheers!
cyber!

aerospace is promising? how many aerospace companies can u choose from and think you can get in?

which games company in sg is flourishing? i can think of EA for now. Read their career site requirements. Minimum degree in computing, mus learn how to create games in c++.

if you are hardworking, go grab a games development book from a library, create your own game and show to your employers. chances of being hired is much more than just certifications.

the most practical solution is to look for their entry requirements and work towards it.

Why not?
 

Hi there,

I studied electrical engineering and right now, I'm an engineer on something that is different from what I studied in school. Studying aerospace does not mean that you will end up in the aerospace industry. Not at all. In fact, you will learn analytical and problem solving skills that are essential in all engineering fields.

With the skills you learn and a passion for game development, and if you're quite a smart person, you should be able to do it.

Hi there, thanks for the advise! I am actually expecting more people pulling me down from going into game industry! May I know what kind of engineering your working as now?

Yes! I have learnt alot of skills during my time in ITE that will benefit me in future! But the question is, there are any ways for me to do the career switch? its kinda hard! maybe I be looking into product design then.

I am just pondering why you didn't take up Diploma in Aeronautical eng or Aerospace Eng, since your alrdy have NITEC in Aerospace...

For product design, you can look at TaFTC (Textile & Fashion Industry Training Centre)
taftc.org/

or it really depends which field of product design you are looking at...

For gaming and animation development, you can check out Artfusion, Digi-pen, these are well-known digital art/gaming/animation schools.
But if you are looking at career, then you will seriously need to look abroad like US, S Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan.
Because most of the online games you see right now are from these few countries...

Hi there!

Always good to meet another (soon-to-be) game designer.

To enter the game design industry, I strongly suggest the following:

(1) Understand which area of gaming you want to focus on. For example, casual gaming (such as Angry Birds) requires quite a different skill set than traditional video games (such as Dragon Age or Fallout).

The main difference lies in developing game mechanics as opposed to game narratives. For example, games like Tetris or Bejewelled are about the game mechanics. On the other hand, a game like Dead Space is about story, character, and atmosphere (the game's "mechanics" need to "disappear").

(2) To learn how to make game *mechanics*, you will need (besides visiting sites like Kongregate.com) to play a lot of analogue games (e.g. tabletop war games, Eurogames, CCGs, pen and paper RPGs).

These "offline" games force you to manually crunch numbers, so you will understand concepts of game balance. They also force you to think of game flow in terms of turns, phases, and probability.

(3) To learn how to do story and character, take up script writing or digital art. You don't have to become a super expert, but you must at least understand the basics. You should also get a sense of the "market rate" to charge for scripting or artwork.

Imaginary Friends Studio, for example, charges up to $600 per image. But local freelancers I've worked with only charge around $150 - $200 for some character art. Even if you don't intend to be an artist, you must have a sense of who to call and how much to budget when you're doing your design brief.

Otherwise will look like clown in the meeting room.

(4) Learn Flash. Program a few games and put them up for people to play. Apart from providing feedback, you will need it for your portfolio. Even one Flash game is better than saying "Just trust me" at the interview.


(5) Read a lot of e-zines and magazines to know what's popular. You also need to know about the cons (conventions) and attend when you can. There are a lot of cons that are WAY more important than E3!

Good luck! Maybe we'll meet someday! :)

Because when I am in NITEC i found out that aerospace is not what I want. ^^

Thanks for all that info, I would definitely want to know u too =)

Personally, I'll recommend industrial design. I believe nafa/lasalle offers courses which would fit you.

If you want to go into game industry, very least get a degree, and definitely no-no to distance learning degrees.

You've probably read this thread:
https://forums.salary.sg/education-pe...ead-first.html

I have been pessimistic about this industry (in Singapore) and will continue to be so I won't say anything....

Game development in Singapore is still in a very infant stage, which could be one of the reasons why people don't think it is a good industry to go into.

But of course, the big pie is overseas in countries where they are constantly dishing out console games, pc games and online games. and some of these companies will spend top dollars to get the best people to work for them...

That's what the gahment said about life science 10 years ago.
So has this infant started growing or not? The milk powder is very expensive you know.

Yes it has grown... on the business side... and definitely no if you are looking from the consumer-point of view

What has grown is the biomedical manufacturing side, which hires factory-worker employees.

The smart scholar-type students who have been "marketed" (euphemism) to take up life sciences in the past decade have no future in such factories. Many will end up in sales or unrelated industries.

This story has a familiar ring - 2 decades ago, we had a "booming" semi-con industry. It also hired factory-worker employees, though at much higher remuneration level if you compare by relative purchasing power then & now.

Don't really know if you are serious.

I'm a hiring manager for games related projects and was myself a game developer who was mainly involved in server back-end and AI.

For a good lead developer with 2 to 3 credited games of reasonable standard, the salary can hit lower range of 5 digits. However, most newbies start off as a junior programmer who get paid around $2K or there-about. A lot of low value jobs are also being outsourced to overseas.

For graphic artist, let me just say that it is not easy to find work for games development company. A lot of modeling and design work is being outsourced to overseas, which is cheaper. The locals are mainly skilled artist who QCs the finished artwork and do some touch up and minor modification when requested. Not really for fresh graduates.

The talented and highly specialized would have joined the animation industry which, I understand, is subsidized by the government. Without subsidies, I highly doubt these companies will still be staying in Singapore. Also, most of these companies will in-source a lot of their staff to Singapore, given that their salary is subsidized. Local hires generally do not get the same package as their own staff.


Good Luck.

I am now looking at the game programming side, since I decided to switch my course to Computer engineering now. I am sure that the economy would change after I graduated and finished my army. ^^ Thanks for all the advices guys... But I am still open up for more advise on these industry ^^

good to have someone who is in this industry to give his side of the story ^.^ good post

wow. full marks for your positivity.