General question on starting out and joining a team Thread

Just so it's clear ahead of time, I've read ShortCutMan's guide, and tried to look around for some answers before posting. Gimmie a chance here.

I'm currently attending college (so I don't a have a lot of extra time to work on mods), but I want to start working on some sort of mod, to get some experience with the Source Engine, learn how to get along with a team, how to implement user feedback, and the like. I have exactly zero experience with the Source Engine, although I've experimented with Hammer a bit. My question is this, do I need to spend time trying to create a mod by myself to show prospective mod job seekers my talents, or should I try jumping into a team right away, and learning on the job?

I think joining a team would be a much better option in this case if you want to see how modding works with team or in general. If you just want to build up a portfolio start making custom skins or maps for existing mod or game (CS:Source for example). It may be hard to find a proper team with 0 skills so feel free to continue experimenting and looking for the skill that suits you best. Worst thing would be to start a mod with absolutely no experience with engine or any job for you besides the legendary "idea guy".

if you have 0 skills, no decent team will want you, and you won't be useful in a team either. What you will most likely get yourself into is a fail team. That's facts. But lets think positive, what you need is a skill, just one to start with, something you like and something you have fun with.

Yes, learning a skill will require time, and working in a mod will require time, you don't need to be in a mod to learn, you just need dedication. Google and Youtube will start the lead to tutorials that will help you on the road to success, good luck.

Like me. I recently started with SourceDK and I learn quite fast. I think it is a good way to get the basics and a bit more just to try around yourself. Like my 3D Max knowledge, it is 100% self learned and i feel quite good.

If you want someone to share thoughts and ideas. Then we maybe can help out each other. Maybe you have found out something i haven't and vice-versa.
I got started mods/maps for HL2Epi2 and Alien Swarm.

If you think you have little time while you're in college wait until you're working . You can easily learn modeling and mapping while successfully attending college. I have never had that much time again in my life. Sad fact.

Find some tutorials. Noesis offers some and I guess you can find tons of resources for Source, considering its unbreakable popularity. Follow everything you see until you find your way of doing things. Don't start guessing functions of the software - it will take forever to unlearn mistakes you make at the beginning. There is always an easy and a hard way to everything; keep on being productive and you'll find a good project in half a year or so.

Edited by: SinKing

SinKing wrote: If you think you have little time while you're in college wait until you're working . You can easily learn modeling and mapping while successfully attending college. I have never had that much time again in my life. Sad fact.

Find some tutorials. Noesis offers some and I guess you can find tons of resources for Source, considering its unbreakable popularity. Follow everything you see until you find your way of doing things. Don't start guessing functions of the software - it will take forever to unlearn mistakes you make at the beginning. There is always an easy and a hard way to everything; keep on being productive and you'll find a good project in half a year or so.

I can also say that there is an abundance of time in college you can have to learn modding. The problem is, you will have to sacrifice some of the MASSIVE social time you have while dorming. There is always something to do on campus and its always alot of fun, this is what cuts my modding time to a minimum, but you should be able to find a healthy balance.

Having a social life is for chumps. Fact.

I don't agree on that AJ...
It is not necessary but a great plus...

Edited by: linuxnofear

linuxnofear wrote: I don't agree on that AJ...
It is not necessary but a great plus...

SinKing wrote: keep on being productive and you'll find a good project in half a year or so.

I'll be honest here. I'm mostly looking to pick up on modding because it will look nice on my resume: this spring, as part of my college's program, I'll be out working for three months, preferably for a company in the video game industry (it's my long term job goal anyway, so why not now?). Other students in the program have had lots of success getting in, but I want to be really sure. It's not that I'm not interested in mapping and coding, it's great, but I was hoping to hear more replies like, "Hey, we'd love to have you join us for xyz small project". Even if it was a "fail team" I guess I wouldn't mind too much, just as long as I can get some experience before it's too late. I know, I know. "You should have thought of this 6 months ago, duh!". Fair enough, but I didn't.

Thanks for the help.

Wazkatango, you missed the point here - why do you want to join a team?. You can learn and do your own stuff, go model a weapon of some sorts and import it to source or udk or whichever engine you want, you do not need a team for that...

I just wanted to know which is a better idea. I CAN work by myself, I just thought working on a team would be what interviewers would be looking for more.

Try releasing some content to websites like fpsbanana and get some feedback. This does two things, you learn the tools and gain experiance and you also have content to show teams that are hiring good luck

I don't have much experience with the hiring process, but I'm pretty sure they are looking for evidence that you have useful skills to offer. You can put together a better portfolio on short notice by yourself than you ever will with a team. Team experience would be a nice bonus, but on short notice I'd skip it to focus on making something you can point at and say "I did that".