This is a repo with a synopsis of different engineering positions and their job requirements that I am making so that I can help others and myself keep up to date with the industry.
This is obviously not a full or comprehensive list, and things are always changing. This is meant ot be a basic list and description of what positions are available for engineers in game development, and what some of their job descriptions would be. Each one of these positions will also vary greatly depending on what studio is being considered.
Develop and maintain core engine systems/features such as AI, resource management, multithreading, and scripting. Some more examples of things you could possibly be responsible for include memory management, loading, streaming, physics, audio, animation, etc.
- Very strong C/C++
- Understanding of asynchronous programming techniques
- Typically a BS in Computer Science or equivalent
- Strong 3D math skills
- Experience with multi-threaded programming
- Understanding of graphics with DirectX, OpenGL, or something similar
- Lessons from the Core Engine Architecture of Destiny by Chris Butcher (GDC 2015)
- Multithreading the Entire Destiny Engine by Barry Genova (GDC 2015)
- So many other things
Design, implement, and maintain the tools technology across the engine. Collaborate with artists, programmers and designers to improve on their workflow and overcome challenges that they are facing.
(Varies a lot depending on the studio)
- C# (Windows Forms common)
- C++
- Web technologies like Javascript/CSS can be useful
- Scripting (Python, Lua, etc)
- Experience with UI/UX
- SQL data bases could be useful as well
- Experience with automation
- GDC 2018 Tools Talks
- The Toolsmiths
This position can mean a lot of things, and will vary greatly with each studio and the types of games that they make. This position is a blend of automation, development, and administration.
- AWS Experience
- Scripting (Python, Bash, React are good ones)
- C# can be a good one
- Docker experience is good
- SQL and other database things
- Jenkins
- Knowledge about continuous integration, testing and deployment
- NodeJS
Graphics engineers develop and maintain rendering systems and pipelines. They often work closely with technical artists to make sure that the content creation workflow is effective. As well as developing the rendering pipeline, graphics engineers often need to spend a lot of time optimizing the graphics performance.
- Expert in C++ programming (data-oriented design is good as well as Object Oriented)
- Extensive knowledge of real-time graphics and API's (DirectX, OpenGL, etc)
- Strong 3D math skills
- Shader languages like HLSL, GLSL, OpenGL ES3.0, etc