If you wish to become a games programmer, the most important requirements are qualifications in relevant subjects, especially Computing, Maths and Physics. A-Levels, HND's or equivalent qualifications are the bare minimum. I would also recommend doing either a Degree in Computing or a joint Degree in Computing with Maths, Physics, Electronics etc.

Since the industry is developing and evolving rapidly, I wouldn't worry about learning any specific SDK (Software Development Kit) or packages just yet.

As for programming languages, I'd recommend learning C before C++, a lot of the features of C++ are too excessive and cumbersome for games programming. Some general knowledge of assembly language would also be useful. DirectX is probably the best SDK since it's available for PC's and will evolve over time as you gain your qualifications. Knowledge of any specific modelling package is unnecessary for a programmer, although some limited general knowledge of them can be useful.

• For your demo we basically want to see a game that demonstrates the area of gameplay that you want to work on, or as many areas as you see relevant. In the past the more complete a game has been, the more it has impressed us.
• Since all our games are 3D then the ability to understand 3D game programming has to be demonstrated.
• No remakes of simple puzzle games like Tetris, Bejewelled etc. unless they are really special and only then you'll be judged only on what you've added to the basic game.
• Don't be afraid to use someone else's 3D engine to save time. You'll be judged based on your game programming skills not your engine writing skills.
• Don't spend more time on the frontend than the game unless you are looking for a frontend job.
• Why not try making a simple 3D space shoot-em-up, a basic first person shooter, or perhaps a 3D puzzle game?

Interview with Paul Kerby, Lead Programmer

How long have you been at Bizarre, and what do you do?

I've been at Bizarre Creations for nearly four years now and I have worked on Project Gotham Racing 2 and PGR3. I mainly work on the game side of the project (the UI, Game-logic, Localisation etc)

What did you do before joining Bizarre?

I used to work for Rage Software in Birmingham writing football games on various consoles, these included UEFA Striker and Microsoft International Football 2000. I mainly worked on game logic, frontends, localisation, AI and various other things like designing and writing the training modes.

Before that I went to University in Stafford and just spent a lot of time writing games with my mate Mike and trying to avoid lectures in formal notation in Z and various other useless things. ;)

What made you want to work in the games industry?

When I was ten my parents bought me a second hand Dragon32 and a book entitled 60 Great Games to type in. I really got into typing them in and then changing them to do other things, it was pretty much then I decided I wanted to write games for a living.

What experience/qualifications did you have before you joined Bizarre?

I've got GCSE's, A Levels and a degree, but most importantly I used to write a lot of games and demos in my spare time - although an education is still important kids. I also play a lot of games at home (to the despair of my wife Adele) and always keep up to date with gaming news.

Describe your working day...

At the moment it's fairly relaxed, PGR3 is now finished and we're just tidying up a few loose ends and starting to plan for future projects. For the past few weeks I've actually been able to leave on time! However, about 4 months ago it was complete mayhem in the office and a lot of long hours - although it was worth it to see PGR3 on the shelves and read the many nice things that people have said about the game.

What the best thing about working at Bizarre?

The people at Bizarre Creations are great, everyone is really into their games and all we want to do is make the best games we can. Oh and also tormenting 'The Boy' on a daily basis.

And the worst?

Speedo shorts.

What's the rest of the Gotham team like to work with?

As they're going to read this I'd have to say they are a cracking bunch and lads and lasses! :) In truth though, they are really cool - everybody is really focused and they all want to make sure their work (and the game as a whole) is the best they can make it.

Any tips for young programmers?

First off all, learn C and C++, these are the languages we use to write games. Buy a good book and start off simple (you won't be able to write Doom 3 straight away), then as you grow more confident try more and more ambitious projects. Ask your friends and family if they need anything written for them - it's a very useful lesson being able to follow a design and it also helps your problem solving abilities - as you can't just say "Oh I won't do that because I don't know how to".

Then and most importantly, actually write games in your spare time! The amount of times we've seen CVs with a re-hashed Direct X demos attached to them is staggering. If you want to write games for a living then you're going to get noticed a lot more by actually writing them. They don't have to be amazing works of art with up-to-date graphics - just take a simple idea and make it yours. A good example of this is 'Geometry Wars 1 and 2' (the secret games in PGR2 and PGR3). If a fun simple game like this is sent in with a CV then people will notice you, but if you just send in a rotating bump mapped cube or a terrain demo then you will get lost in the pile. Also try to finish your games, add levels, sound, a front-end, a high score table etc - this shows you can see a project through (which, as you can imagine, is also very useful).