2D Game Graphic Designer Interview Preparation Guide

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To reduce game lag you can either lower the performance setting for the game or by upgrading certain parts on your computer.

The advantage of using packed buffers is that it is more efficient for the GPU to render, since all of the information needed to render is located within the same block of memory. The drawback of packed buffer is that it would be difficult and slower to update if you are using dynamic data.

When the screen size changes the “onsurfacechange” occurs, and this can happen when the device orientation changes.

This question gives you an opportunity to observe a designer’s thought process first-hand and see how well they understand your company or product.

FPS means frames per second, which tells about how much information is used to store and display motion video. Each frame is a still image, and the illusion of motion is created by displaying these frames in quick succession.

The most important thing here is to answer relatively quickly, and back it up. One of the fallouts of this question is age. Answering "Robotron!" to a 20-something interviewer might lead to a feeling of disconnect. But sometimes that can be good. It means you have to really explain why it's the best game of all time. Can you verbally and accurately describe a game to another person who has never played it? You'll rack up some communication points if you can.

What you shouldn't say is whatever the latest hot game is, or blatantly pick one that the company made (unless it's true and your enthusiasm is bubbling over). Be honest. Don't be too eccentric and niche, and be ready to defend your decision.

In online gaming, the delay between the action of players and the response time of the server is known as ‘Lag’.

In Cloud gaming, the game is hosted on a game server in a data center, and the user is only running a client locally which forwards game controller actions upstream to the game server.

A good designer should always be looking for feedback and opportunities to iterate. They should care about metrics like conversion rates, click-throughs, and user feedback even if they aren’t measured by them.

To prevent and detect the software for cheating in online games, a computer program is designed known as ‘PunkBuster’. It scans the memory contents of the local machine and prevents other software’s from doing malfunctioning. In most modern games PunkBuster is used to keep out hackers or cheaters online.

At smaller studios, this is the 64 million dollar question. My advice is to be 100 percent honest. If you won't crunch, say so now. It may well put you out of the running for a job, but ultimately that's a good thing. No, really, it is! If the company works a lot of overtime and you don't want to do it, then taking the job is going to be punishing for everyone.

Having said that, the last thing any interviewer wants to hear is, "I won't do it" because that predicates a perceived lack of involvement and passion (not that passion should equal overtime, but the perception of refusing to do something before you're even in the circumstances could be the difference between getting a job offer and having the company pass you up).

Phrase your answer in such a way that you don't sound confrontational with the interviewer. She doesn't want to get into an argument; she just wants to know where you stand. Understand that this question is meant to gauge, roughly, how you might fit into the company culture.

You can create a Vertex Buffer Object in three simple steps

a) Generate a new buffer object with glGenBuffers()

b) Bind the buffer object with glBindBuffer ()

c) Copy the vertex data to the buffer object

Nobody likes it, but sometimes designers are asked to create something without a lot of context. A good designer can roll with the punches and find answers to their questions whether there’s a detailed creative brief or not.

If you plan to work for a video game company, you'd better be playing games -- and you'd better be able to demonstrate that.

It's good form to mention some games that are in the same genre as the games made at that company. It's even better if you mention playing some of the games that were actually made there. Again though, don't go over the top.

At the very least, play the demo of anything they've produced. You need to be knowledgeable about the genre, what you enjoy about it, and how the development of these games is affected by the genre (as much as you can be). So research the company before the interview.

How you answer this question can be a deal breaker or a deal maker for hiring managers. They want to hire people who are demonstrably passionate about the games their company makes. Saying, "I have a level 70 mage in World of Warcraft and a level 40 druid in EverQuest," to Blizzard makes the point that you are immersed in its product genre.

Demonstrating some knowledge about older games also shows you're grounded in game history, which is never a bad thing. The wider your knowledge base, the more you can forestall going down blind alleys in terms of implementation and design, which benefits everyone, and that's exactly what a company is looking for in its employees.

Some of the HTML 5 framework game engines are

a) Construct 2

b) Turbulence

c) CAAT

d) Phaser etc.

This is a good opportunity to see whether a designer is abreast of current design trends and a good fit for your specific business needs. They should be able to articulate what makes a brand stand out, graphically speaking, whether that brand is directly related to your business or if it shares similar attributes.

Every designer should be prepared to showcase their best work. Make sure you ask them to explain the problem each piece was meant to solve and how they accomplished that.

Vertex Buffer Object is a method for uploading vertex data to the video device for non-immediate mode rendering. Vertex Buffer Object is an OpenGL feature.

The main features of AndEngine includes:

a) Android-Optimized

b) Android 1.6 Compatability

c) SplitScreen

d) Network Multiplayer

e) Live-Wallpapers

f) MultiTouch

g) Physics-Engine

a) Game developer are more comfortable with C++ language as it is used for years

b) SDKs for various platforms are C++ centric

c) C++ gives more control than C and Java

You want to make sure you’re selecting someone who can solve design problems, not create them. Great designers aren’t precious about their work, and mature designers appreciate and incorporate constructive feedback.

Personally, I love this question because it reveals if a prospective candidate has a plan at all or is just drifting from job to job as so many are wont to do. There's nothing wrong per se with people who drift along the currents, it's just that those with a plan (or at least a desire to move in a particular direction) are generally much more interesting people. Plus, they are almost always inherently more predictable, which is always a benefit for employers.

Having a desire to move forward helps everyone. It helps you measure your progress, and it gives the company a plan to help you get there.

Of course, it does depend on you knowing what you want. Most people tend to know what they don't want, but not necessarily what they do want, which is a problem -- particularly if you express that in an interview. Interviewers would rather have a list of things you want to attain rather than things you don't.

One optimal answer is, "Still working for you making games," but it smacks of sucking up, so I'd recommend saying something a little more generic: "Still looking for a challenge and putting in that extra effort to make great games."

The best response I've ever heard to that question was, "I want your job!" and the individual who said it to me indeed has my old job! But be wary of sounding confrontational.

You'd be surprised how often this question comes up, even if you aren't interviewing for a design position. Everyone wants a developer who has design sensibilities because it inevitably means she or he will be more involved and engaged in whatever is going on.

Knowing ahead of time how you might answer this question means you'll come off sounding like you've actually thought about a game in development terms. Game studios are looking for people who think as they play -- about what they're playing, how it's done, what could have been improved, and most importantly, what they can rip off.

One downside to adopting this mentality is that it becomes harder to enjoy a game for what it is, but that's an occupational hazard in all jobs.

Believe it or not, you can answer this question in an entirely positive way. However, if you decide instead to criticize a design or implementation decision in a game, be sure you have a solution to the problem too. It's not enough to moan about the final strider battle in Half-Life 2: Episode 2; you have to have an idea of how it could have been made more enjoyable, perhaps through easier car control, or not destroying all the supply stations so quickly.

If you decide to bash a game that the company where you're interviewing developed (and that takes courage; some companies will applaud you while others will diss you for not drinking the Kool-Aid), then ensure that what you're criticizing isn't something subjective but something that everyone has had a pop at. Be ready to back up the criticism with proof that it's an agreed-upon flaw, not just you being nit-picky.

“OnsurfaceCreated” is called every time the drawing surface is created. This can happen when the application starts or when it becomes active after being sent to the background or when the orientation changes. After a context loss, all these events are triggered, so every asset will be lost and have to be recreated. All assets and application objects should be recreated at this place.

The animation thread class updates the DrawablePanel for game logic and forces a redraw of the panel. It holds a reference to the Drawable Panel.