game as final year project.

[codetoeternity]

hello dear members, i am a student of bachelors degree in computer science and finally i have to choose and develop a project as my final project. i am planning to replicate a game, like jetpack joyride (as i am seeking a career in game programming). i think i have three options.
1) learn vc++ (i have good c++ skills though) directx api and develop the game using it.
2) use c# and sharpdx to develop the game (will have to learn sharpdx).
3) use a game engine like udk or unity and develop the game using it (will have to learn the engine and its language)

i personally wanna go with the first option, but i just want to have expert's advice here, which one will be better on my resume? and which one will be the proper direction for a game programming career?
thanks in advance :)

[ddanbe]

Don't no much about game programming, but if I would try to make one I would have a look at xna
Hope it helps a bit.

[eltonpiko]

I would personally go with unity as it much simpler and the engine is very simple to learn and have lots of great features and tools to make development faster. Unity can now package your game to android and ios for free. Unity engine support java script and c# as scripting language. Since you have good c++ skills developing your game in c# with unity should be a breeze. Hope this help.

[codetoeternity]

@eltonpiko: it did help for sure, and im thankful for that, but will unity be a good choice for career aswell? i mean if i go with unity, and leave directx or opengl, will i still be safe in a game programming career?

[eltonpiko]

Well career wise it depends on where you want work. As not all firm use the same engine, but most will have a favorite or preferred engine to speed up development process, (Most big firm use commercial engines which you might not get a chance to use till you work there) .

But as for unity it’s a good place to start for a first time experience with a gaming engine. You can also try cry engine 3 which is currently free for you to use for non-commercial projects.

But I would advise that you also get some experience with DirectX and openGL so you not limit yourself / career path to a specific engine and all.

Hope that help

[eltonpiko]

Also check this Directx 11 with unity Click Here

[codetoeternity]

thanks. it was really helpful, do u think if i replicate jetpack joyride, i'll be able to finish it in 1 year? i mean that includes learning and development, im just trying to get an idea of how big of a project it might be, also that if i develop it using directx (not any engine) will it help me in getting a job after all?

[eltonpiko]

Once you know you way around the unity interface everything should be quite easy as on unity website there tons of tutorials and you can also ask the very active community if you happen to get stuck. The jetpack joy ride is very basic to get you going you should be able to complete this in a month or two.

But if you will be doing your own assets and extending it far from when the tutorial ends then that depends.

You should also try the stealth project which is far more interesting than jetpack joyride. Click Here

You can also try to replicate these projects using DirectX outside the engine and see how it goes then you’ll know which path you want to take for your career. Any extra knowledge and experience that you bring to the table will give you a better chance of landing your dream job.

[jwenting]

For any potential future employer what you know as a rank rookie is far less important than that you show enthousiasm and an ability and willingness to learn and do basically anything.

You're not expected to know anything yet, and will most likely spend the first several months at least learning skills, getting coffee for team mates, and analysing bug reports.

In the short time frame of a graduation project, forget about writing your own game engine from scratch, especially if you're doing it solo rather than as part of a large and experienced team, and especially as you apparently don't even know the programming language you want to use yet.
Choose something a lot less ambitious, and using an existing engine would be that.
Of course you'd need to include a detailed analysis of various engines and the criteria you used to arrive at which to use for your implementation as part of your thesis. Anything less would (or at least should, if you have a decent teacher grading you) lead to serious deductions on your final score, no matter how good your implementation will turn out to be (in fact that implementation is or should be the least of the items scored on).