#game programmer

Cathryn Mataga

Gender: Transgender woman

Sexuality: N/A

DOB: N/A

Ethnicity: White

Occupation: Game programmer, entrepreneur 

For Gaming Students: Unity Scripting API - MonoBehaviour Essentials in Depth Explanation

Been a bit of a weird “Vacation” which is realistically now just Unemployment.

Graduating at the end of the month makes this a bit more official I suppose, but it’s more or less right now. Additionally, I need to transfer all my work to another non-Student repository profile because once I’m no longer a student I lose the login email and Private Repo access of GitHub.

Still working on my prototype game. Making more official design documentation to add to my portfolio. Researching the techniques I’m using to create the features I want the game to have. Adding polish to features that already exist and don’t plan on being changed.

It’s tough because everything needs to be considered and flexible from the get go so I won’t have to go back and refactor functionality. Movement is the most important because everything relies so heavily on it and polishing the controls and combat to be tight is important to the core gameplay.

I’m actually adapting a lot of the features and functionality I designed for my previous game that went on hold because I couldn’t create 3D models and animations very well. That isn’t as much of an issue here and I love the ideas. When I go back and re-read the design documentation I always have a HUGE smile on my face because of how good the ideas are.

More on that prototype will come closer to the release. I’ll publish the design documentation as well so people can use it for reference when making their own.

Last, I’ve been applying for Games Development jobs and I have to say... It’s WAY harder than I thought. So many specifics in skill set and experience requirements without any detail to what you’ll ACTUALLY be doing. That’s not the worst from a rational perspective, because I understand companies want to keep their work close to their chest and detailing  projects under hiring might reveal what they’re doing before they’re ready. I mean, sure, I’d be happy with any professional Game Development job that allows me to learn more in the industry, but I also have specific skills and paths I’d like to follow and learn better for my career. I’m good at User Interface Design and User Experience analysis and testing, I’d like to keep on that path, but there aren’t a lot of opportunities for User Interface designers who aren’t artists. User Experience seems to be covered by another member of the team as well in a lot of cases.

/shrug