Games design work experience.

[Hypey[UG]]

If this is in the wrong section please move it (:

Basically, this year whilst doing my gcse's we have the option to do work experience.
The only problem is, living in norfolk there arent many obvious choices for someone like me doing games design.

I was wondering if any of you guys know any game development studios in england that have a work experience scheme, be it in or out of the school term (I want to know what i'm pretty much investing my life into).

Any replies would be appreciated (:

[zombie@computer]

your school has no connections?

[Hypey[UG]]

They do but its the norfolk connexions.
Basically every time i go to them saying I want to do work experience in games development, they come back with me with a job at Game or Gamestation.

Big up the educational database

[Major Banter]

Living in Norfolk but being a midlands chap, I find the county shitty and boring. If you want to get some decent work experience you'll need to go pretty far afield and do some research yourself. I know some places like Wymondham High won't let you do that, but places that do let you such as Yarmouth have some pretty nasty travel fees to pay to get anywhere good. If you live in Norwich, ace. See if you can't call up some UK based developers such as Crytek UK, Codemasters or whatever and see what they say. It's always worth a try. You most likely won't find any in Norfolk, but Suffolk might just have some. Google it up.

Remember to check with the school if that's cool though. Travel might also be a bastard.

[Hypey[UG]]

Yeah I live in the suburbs of norwich which is pretty good for travel.
I've looked at several game developers but a) i cant find any around norfolk/suffolk, and b) I cant find any that do work experience schemes. You'd imagine they would advertise it a bit more if they do it.

[Gazaraz]

I've never really heard of anyone doing work experience at game companies, except for one guy he did his work experience for this really small development team who seem to just pick up work from other games like Project Gotham, Motorstorm etc. To be honest I considered work experience a bit of a waste of time as in GCSEs I worked on my dad's farm so I learnt nothing new and at A-level I worked at the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park authority where they wouldn't let me do anything . In the end I'd say just try and get something where you'll actually be able to do something rather than sitting around doing nothing (though being on the coast path, that was quite nice for me).

[Hypey[UG]]

I was actually thinking today. Instead of the main developers, would it be a better idea to go to a smaller dev team who worked on games like fable 2, Presuming they are willing to do so.
If anyone has any suggestions of smaller companies that could possibly accept a work experience application then please post on here (:

[Gazaraz]

Lionhead (developers for Fable 2) aren't that small I believe their part of Microsoft now. I wouldn't really recommend the place that I was talking about either 'cause firstly they don't appear to design just 3D modeling and those related areas, and secondly it's about 5-6 hour drive from Norfolk or at, least that's how long I remember it taking to get to Norfolk from Pembrokeshire. Also I remember e-mailing them a while back and they never replied

[Hypey[UG]]

I assumed on a tv show about fable 2 they were a close knit team but i guess I was wrong lol.
Are their any alternatives. The only other company I personally can think of that might do work experience schemes is codemasters.

[PaulH]

I'm pretty sure Codemasters doesn't do work experience, at least i've never seen anyone doing any here, i think most companies won't consider it unless it is part of a year of university (as a sandwich year), and even then i'm not sure which companies offer it, though my mate at uni did one at Sony for a year in London, could ask there. Also wouldn't hurt to ask Codies, i don't know what their reply would be.

[Major Banter]

You could blag him into your department surely Paul?

[B2019]

There arnt that many Game development companies around the UK...
And if there are, i highly doubt they will take in non university graduate students unless you have very good conections through family.

your best bet is to see if there is anything to do with 3d design or computer software. there should be some design agencies and studios or IT departments around your area. although they will not be the same as a game design studio, it will let you understand the office enviroment you would be spending the rest of your life in. so is some good experiance

i did my work experiance at the channel 4's new media department, they do stuff like the new websites and all of that. You will spend a week in an office on a computer doing basic stuff (although i got to go to loads of meeting with free food what was great hah). so look for something like that and it should help you understand the field of work you are thinking of getting into.

hope this helped

[PaulH]

You could blag him into your department surely Paul?

Hah, doesn't quite work that way i'm afraid

I think most games companies are reluctant to take on work experience candidates, especially for less than a year, as it would involve letting them in on company secrets and methods of production, which that person could easily abuse. Not saying anyone here would, but am looking at it from the company's point of view. Going down the graphic design route isnt a bad idea, i know a guy who did some graphic design work for a year as well as a games design degree, then he got onto my level design team at Codemasters, then switched to become a games designer.

I also struggled to find work experience related to gaming at school, i ended up at a website creation company for a couple of weeks, not really what i wanted. At the end of the day though, whilst it would be nice to find out how the industry works early on, its not essential. If you are dedicated to that career path just follow it through to university and then start looking for work placements in the middle of a course there.