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Comment by jdlyga | Hacker News Reader

The trick is working for companies doing 3D application development that's not related to games. I've never had a job where management treated us like this in almost a decade so far.

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This is one thing I've never understood. For almost any skill set, there are multiple industries you could work in.

And furthermore, the industry with the worst treatment of employees is likely not the best paying (given that bad treatment tends to stem from popularity / availability of naive new employees).

So, if you don't like your work life... find a related industry!

Money and working conditions are factors in job satisfaction, but so is what you are doing. Some people really want to make games.

But that's a pretty terrible suggestion. It should not be required to change industries to be treated with basic human dignity.

Working conditions are a product of three variables:

Employee supply * employer demand * legal regulations

If supply and demand aren't going to change in your industry... expecting conditions to change is a long wait for a bus that's not coming.

That's great and all, but that's still extremely evil.

Unfortunately, it's pragmatic to prepare for companies to be evil.

Right, but, capitalism. The only ways to change the behaviour of companies is either legally mandating them to do something (which has a decent hit rate), or starving them of employees willing to put up with their shit.

Nothing else works. Evil would be the word we would use to describe a person behaving as amorally as companies are expected to behave.

Those are not the only two options.

It's pretty pragmatic advice- there are things that are entirely in your control, partially in your control, and not in your control at all. It's far easier to leave a sick system than to pour in energy to change it

I played a lot of computer games when I was younger, and I always had an interest / knack for programming... everyone always instantly asked "Oh, so are you going to make video games when you're older?"... they always seem perplexed when I said "No."

So I can see how there might be an overabundance of bright-eyed bushy-tailed young folk who want to go make video games...

Enterprise software isn't sexy but there's lots of demand, it pays well, and you can quickly earn a lot of respect by demonstrating that you have a head on your shoulders.

Or: make your own company. Campo Santo did!

I know people who are 3D artists getting into the game industry. They don't even necessarily care about the games that much, but love the art. They'd be thrilled to work in some other industry that provides the same type of work but wasn't games, but it doesn't seem like there's much demand outside of the gaming industry. Are there other industries that heavily exercise 3d modeling/art?

> Are there other industries that heavily exercise 3d modeling/art?

Industrial design and architecture come to mind.

Film, too, but that is still somewhat crunchy.

Virtual and augmented reality, as well.

Animation though this is often outsourced to studios in Korea like The Simpsons/Futurama from the start, Visual FX (VFX) might be a larger employer than animation, studios are spread around the world.

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