Video game programmer

Do you know what a video game programmer is or what he does exactly?
You surely know some popular names from the gamming industry and you may even be an experienced gamer, but if you want for example to become a video game programmer it would be wise first to find out some in-depth information.

With the increased complexity of many computer games these days, a video game programmer may be specialized in one area of game programming even though they are usually familiar with a lot more aspects of the job. The disciplines we are talking about that a video game programmer may specialize in are: game engine, artificial intelligence, sound, gameplay, scripting, user interfaces, networking or game tools. Let’s dive deeper now in a video game programmer’s world and find out what are all these disciplines about.

A video game programmer specialized in game engine creates the base engine layer of the game upon which all other layers lay on.

Artificial intelligence is a complex branch where a video game programmer develops the computer’s game characters by simulating their intelligence.

A sound programmer is a video game programmer who’s in charge with elaborated audio programming such as 3D positional sound.

The gameplay is the discipline responsible for the “feel” of the game. A video game programmer specialized in gameplay is usually involved in some other areas of the game like graphics or sound.

Scripting is a layer of separation between game engine and gameplay programming. In large games there can be more than one video game programmer doing this kind of implementation.

UI programmers are facing today the challenge given by very complex and accurate special effects and animations that are more often part of the games.

In the Internet era, it is redundant to explain what a network programmer does so we skip to the game tools programmer. This video game programmer is responsible for creating the tools needed in the game development.