SamusAranX

When you say it took you six months to break in, what did those six months include? Time since graduation , time since you started developing a portfolio/resume, or time since you started sending out resumes?

You said you started around 1993, so things are probably different now.

This reminded me of the Tabula Rasa debacle. Are you familiar with what happened?

We can hardly expect everyone to understand programming jokes!

I thought it was just a poor job of managing the project or something like that. Is that true, or are you just joking?

http://www.gamedev.net

Since you are interested in programming:

what do you start out with? Are you coding basic stuff in C?

Probably not C. People say not to start with C++, but a lot of beginners don't listen to that advice. I would start by making creative game concepts in 2D--using Java or C#.

Do you use a SDK or an established engine?

Microsoft offers the XNA toolset for getting started with games in C#. There is also allegro for Java (if I remember right). You could also just start with a basic 2D drawing library.

Personally, I started with VB and jumped to Java, then C++. I like to do a lot of the basic stuff myself, in order to learn what goes "under the hood," of course, I plan on doing tools/engine programming. I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking this path; it would depend on what you want to specialize in.

Also, meet with local indie dev groups. -Dishonored_Harvey

This. At my school we have a club called SIGGD (under ACM). I'm a co-lead engine programmer, and it has been a huge learning experience. It even landed me an IGDA scholarship.