User interface developer to digital games developer
A user interface developer already meets 71% of what the digital games developer role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.
40.6/ 100
1 How much of what a digital games developer is expected to do is already part of a user interface developer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the digital games developer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A digital games developer role treats 11 of its required skills as things a user interface developer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- ICT debugging tools
- analyse software specifications
- computer programming
- debug software
- develop software prototype
- integrated development environment software
What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 63 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A digital games developer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a user interface developer background worth leading with.
- already held Xcode information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held use concurrent programming working with computers
- already held use functional programming working with computers
- already held KDevelop information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held use logic programming working with computers
- already held use object-oriented programming working with computers
All 63 carried skills, including the 11 the digital games developer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 19 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn 3D lighting required
- still to learn 3D texturing required
- still to learn digital game genres required
- optional, not held interactive media optional
- still to learn apply 3D imaging techniques required
- still to learn develop digital content required
- optional, not held develop virtual game engine optional
- optional, not held integrate system components optional
- still to learn computer graphics required
- optional, not held Internet of Things optional
- optional, not held Joomla optional
- optional, not held object-oriented modelling optional
- optional, not held software anomalies optional
- still to learn render 3D images required
- optional, not held adapt to changes in technological development plans optional
- optional, not held develop creative ideas optional
- still to learn execute analytical mathematical calculations required
- optional, not held trigonometry optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a digital games developer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 63 skills that carry over
- already held ICT debugging tools knowledge
- already held analyse software specifications skill
- already held computer programming knowledge
- already held debug software skill
- already held develop software prototype skill
- already held integrated development environment software knowledge
- already held interpret technical texts skill
- already held tools for software configuration management knowledge
- already held use software design patterns skill
- already held use software libraries skill
- already held utilise computer-aided software engineering tools skill
- already held ABAP knowledge
- already held AJAX knowledge
- already held APL knowledge
- already held ASP.NET knowledge
- already held Ansible knowledge
- already held Apache Maven knowledge
- already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
- already held C# knowledge
- already held C++ knowledge
- already held COBOL knowledge
- already held Common Lisp knowledge
- already held Eclipse (integrated development environment software) knowledge
- already held Groovy knowledge
- already held Haskell knowledge
- already held Java (computer programming) knowledge
- already held JavaScript knowledge
- already held Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
- already held KDevelop knowledge
- already held Lisp knowledge
- already held MATLAB knowledge
- already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
- already held Objective-C knowledge
- already held OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
- already held PHP knowledge
- already held Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Perl knowledge
- already held Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Puppet (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
- already held Python (computer programming) knowledge
- already held R knowledge
- already held Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
- already held SAP R3 knowledge
- already held SAS language knowledge
- already held STAF knowledge
- already held Salt (tools for software configuration management) knowledge
- already held Scala knowledge
- already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
- already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
- already held TypeScript knowledge
- already held VBScript knowledge
- already held Visual Basic knowledge
- already held World Wide Web Consortium standards knowledge
- already held Xcode knowledge
- already held augmented reality knowledge
- already held create flowchart diagram skill
- already held design user interface skill
- already held use automatic programming skill
- already held use concurrent programming skill
- already held use functional programming skill
- already held use logic programming skill
- already held use object-oriented programming skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held assist multimedia operator optional
11 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held Internet of Things optional
- optional, not held Joomla optional
- optional, not held adapt to changes in technological development plans optional
- optional, not held assist multimedia operator optional
- optional, not held develop virtual game engine optional
- optional, not held integrate system components optional
- optional, not held object-oriented modelling optional
- optional, not held software anomalies optional
- optional, not held trigonometry optional
- optional, not held develop creative ideas optional
- optional, not held interactive media optional
35 held skills the digital games developer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role Adobe Illustrator knowledge
- not needed by the target role Adobe Photoshop knowledge
- not needed by the target role Ajax Framework knowledge
- not needed by the target role CSS knowledge
- not needed by the target role CoffeeScript knowledge
- not needed by the target role Drupal knowledge
- not needed by the target role Erlang knowledge
- not needed by the target role GIMP (graphics editor software) knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT project management knowledge
- not needed by the target role JSSS knowledge
- not needed by the target role JavaScript Framework knowledge
- not needed by the target role LESS knowledge
- not needed by the target role Microsoft Visio knowledge
- not needed by the target role NoSQL knowledge
- not needed by the target role Sass knowledge
- not needed by the target role SketchBook Pro knowledge
- not needed by the target role Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
- not needed by the target role Synfig knowledge
- not needed by the target role Vagrant knowledge
- not needed by the target role WordPress knowledge
- not needed by the target role design graphics skill
- not needed by the target role design interaction model skill
- not needed by the target role draw design sketches skill
- not needed by the target role graphics editor software knowledge
- not needed by the target role human-computer interaction knowledge
- not needed by the target role screen reader knowledge
- not needed by the target role software UI design patterns knowledge
- not needed by the target role software interaction design knowledge
- not needed by the target role style sheet languages knowledge
- not needed by the target role use an application-specific interface skill
- not needed by the target role use markup languages skill
- not needed by the target role use methodologies for user-centered design skill
- not needed by the target role use query languages skill
- not needed by the target role use scripting programming skill
- not needed by the target role web programming knowledge
10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn 3D lighting required
- still to learn 3D texturing required
- still to learn digital game genres required
- still to learn computer graphics required
- optional, not held Internet of Things optional
- optional, not held Joomla optional
- optional, not held object-oriented modelling optional
- optional, not held software anomalies optional
- optional, not held trigonometry optional
- optional, not held interactive media optional
Common questions about this move
Can a user interface developer become a digital games developer?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A user interface developer already covers 71% of what a digital games developer is expected to do: 63 skills carry over, 11 of which the digital games developer role treats as required.
What skills does a user interface developer need to become a digital games developer?
8 required skills are missing, plus 11 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by arts and humanities. The single most important is 3D lighting.
How hard is the move from user interface developer to digital games developer?
Its learning distance is 40.6 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.