So let’s suppose the studio director came to you and said “if you could do anything for us as a software developer, what would it be?” How would you answer? Would you folks dive deeper into tools development? graphics programming? networking? gameplay? Perhaps something obscure that’s specific to the type of game/film development your studio does that i haven’t thought of?
If you could also describe the work and why you’d choose it that would be great too.
Either tools, generalist or graphics. But for me that raises the question whether a technical artist could not be an engineering job as we are taking more ownership on tools and graphics anyway.
I’d veer towards graphics programming for sure, as I have a bit of a background in it. However I’d miss the wide variety of stuff I get to work on as a Tech Artist.
As mentioned in a thread a few weeks ago, the “Tech Artist” title covers so many different roles and responsibilities. In a way, it’s one of the last truly generalist roles, in game development at least.
I’d be interested in stories of anyone who’s switched from Tech Art to a more specialized role in engineering.
probably move towards an architect role. I enjoy the the software design part and working with the big picture. This probably rules out much graphics programming though.