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Nerolus posted:I work on the QA art team. We test maps and all the problems with environment stuff (world-outs, seams, clipping issues, stuck positions, everything else), armor, weapons, and all visible equippable items on characters etc. We work pretty close with the art guys, it's a pretty sweet position and I love this place already. The pay isn't the best, but it's entry-level and I work with awesome people in a great place so I don't mind at all.
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Jul 20, 2011 07:07
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Ditto, I been bugging my friend who does character art over there to let me know when there are openings :P
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Jul 20, 2011 08:11
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We've got a couple of mid-level programming positions open at IronMonkey/EA Mobile in Melbourne Australia if anyone's looking.
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Jul 20, 2011 09:20
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Cyanide Sandwich posted:Would you mind elaborating a bit on this? Essentially they hired a lot of people with no games experience to run the porting and deployment backend. They were pretty awful, took three times as long to do anything, and made a lot of mistakes. However, because they were CHEAP, the company got to make it look like they were making more profit while sales were declining. I really hope I never work in a publicly owned company again, urgh.
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Jul 20, 2011 12:03
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AntiPseudonym posted:We've got a couple of mid-level programming positions open at IronMonkey/EA Mobile in Melbourne Australia if anyone's looking. Don't suppose you know a guy named Luke Bond? Programmer who used to work there a while back. Really nice bloke.
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Jul 20, 2011 12:04
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Dogbroth posted:As trite as it may seem, the best advice I had was to start programming games in my own time. SupSuper fucked around with this message at 15:30 on Jul 20, 2011 |
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Jul 20, 2011 15:27
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SupSuper posted:This is what I've been doing so far but it's like just throwing someone the OpenGL reference and telling them to have at it (not made-up), I can't help but wonder if I'm doing it all wrong and there are much better ways to go about it. Unless you're writing the next Crysis, sloppy coding and performance issues are easily hidden by today's hardware. This is probably better suited for the Game Dev Megathread though. This way, you see at least one example of how to do a thing, rather than reinventing the wheel every few minutes. ... but that aside, yes, this is why getting into games dev is hard. It's a self-directed process. You learn by doing (and making mistakes).
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Jul 20, 2011 16:04
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Had the first prelim design meeting for the next project I'm leading today. Very excited about it! But need to temper that excitement because I'm not done with my current project yet. But it's so close I can taste it! Might be getting previewed in the media next week. Our new starters are working like champs. I wasn't sure if it was cruel or kind to throw them onto their own solo games from day one, but they're definitely swimming and not sinking so I guess it was a good thing! The studio's all full steam ahead at the minute. Very exciting time. We have so many cool games either nearing completion or in the pipeline that I desperately want to talk about but can't! Aliginge is going to have plenty to do when he starts! Does anyone in this thread ever have to do Android development?
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Jul 20, 2011 17:48
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Akuma posted:Does anyone in this thread ever have to do Android development? Personally I only care about WinMo7.
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Jul 20, 2011 18:03
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GetWellGamers posted:I know there's already a PAX thread, but it's being overrun with the dickwolves controversy, so I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a PAX Prime meetup/dinner like we do for GDC? Fun times can be had by all! I'm definitively interested. A bit dependent on what my schedule is with the company's PAX booth though.
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Jul 21, 2011 00:30
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jBusy posted:I'm definitively interested. A bit dependent on what my schedule is with the company's PAX booth though. 
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Jul 21, 2011 00:52
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Akuma posted:Aliginge is going to have plenty to do when he starts! 
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Jul 21, 2011 01:00
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Well, I've been working as a Gameplay Programmer for 6 months now. I initially wanted to get a design job, and I spent months sending out applications and going to interviews for entry level design jobs. I ended up taking a programmer job thinking I'd eventually move sideways into a design job after a while. But at this point I'm starting to think that might not be the best idea. I'm starting to get used to working as a programmer, and I actually quite like it. I'm beginning to think I should just forget about making the switch and just stay as a programmer. I have a programming background, meaning five years of studying computer science. I have no formal game design training, and while I have designed games and read a lot about game design, I'm a lot less confident in my design skill than in my programming skill. Plus, after seeing what designers have to do on a daily basis, I'm not sure I could handle it. It seems like a lot of arguing and running around. My current job can be pretty stressful at times, and I don't know if I really want a more stressful daily life. I don't know. Play it safe as a programmer, or ask for a design job and possibly regret it?
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Jul 21, 2011 01:56
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Nagna Zul posted:Well, I've been working as a Gameplay Programmer for 6 months now. If you enjoy it, then keep doing it. If you still have an itch to be a designer at this point then try to make something in your free time. A lot of what designers do is taking a feature that a programmer implements (with all of the necessary functionality) and actually tweaking and tuning it to get as much fun out of it as possible. When you make something in your free time and it has all of the features that it should have but just doesn't "feel right" yet, then the designer stuff begins.
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Jul 21, 2011 02:04
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M4rk posted:Which company? I'll drop by your booth. Riot Games
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Jul 21, 2011 02:25
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jBusy posted:Riot Games M4rk fucked around with this message at 07:51 on Nov 30, 2011 |
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Jul 21, 2011 02:45
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I might not be able to get a PAX pass but I'd be down for a meetup.
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Jul 21, 2011 02:46
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jBusy posted:Riot Games Oh hi! This company is too big  What department are you?
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Jul 21, 2011 05:34
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Nagna Zul posted:I don't know. Play it safe as a programmer, or ask for a design job and possibly regret it? You like money? Stay a programmer. Work on levels during pre-production time or when the company decides that maybe Multiplayer maps would be a good thing after all.
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Jul 21, 2011 05:47
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Nagna Zul posted:I don't know. Play it safe as a programmer, or ask for a design job and possibly regret it? Superrodan has some good advice (as does Hughlander). If you have an itch to be a designer, do some design-type stuff in your spare time (take something you've done and try and make it fun). If, after that, it's still bugging you, then quietly bring it up at work and see what the response is. Worst they can do is say no. Protip: Be careful with your design portfolio/case studies/whatever - make sure you're not abrasively contradicting decisions made by people who will make the choice if you design with them or not.  (Basically if Fred the senior designer makes a boneheaded decision you don't agree with, don't go in there  about it. As a matter of fact, probably safest not to mention it at all.)(Well technically the worst they could do is fire you on the spot, but if they do that you probably didn't want to work there anyway.)
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Jul 21, 2011 06:52
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FYI: There is a large group of studio founders on Google+, as well as many more game developers. At this stage of the Facebook-Twitter hybrid's life cycle when most people have very little information coming at them, it shouldn't be too hard for a savvy someone to get a great portfolio in front of the right people.
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Jul 21, 2011 10:46
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So, as it happens, I can now vouch for in-house QA absolutely being a viable approach to getting into the industry. A Full Sail grad that ended up in our QA Engineering group is now being interviewed for a jr developer position. The key, if you go that route, is to work closely with the developers, and well - most QA people can't compile a developer's branch, for instance, or do careful debugging to save the engineer work in tracking down a crash. There's a lot you can do as a QA Engineer to get noticed by a dev, and then hopefully, that dev goes to the mat for you because they're tired of your useful dev work getting interrupted by bullshit bug tracking busy work. (EDIT: but I still really wouldn't advise it - it can take years, and it depends on a bit of luck, and it HAS to be in-house QA) Shalinor fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Jul 21, 2011 |
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Jul 21, 2011 17:42
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Shalinor posted:So, as it happens, I can now vouch for in-house QA absolutely being a viable approach to getting into the industry. A Full Sail grad that ended up in our QA Engineering group is now being interviewed for a jr developer position. The key, if you go that route, is to work closely with the developers, and well - most QA people can't compile a developer's branch, for instance, or do careful debugging to save the engineer work in tracking down a crash. There's a lot you can do as a QA Engineer to get noticed by a dev, and then hopefully, that dev goes to the mat for you because they're tired of your useful dev work getting interrupted by bullshit bug tracking busy work.
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Jul 21, 2011 18:02
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I can vouch for internal dev QA being super awesome. Sometimes I'll just sit there and shoot poo poo with them for ages after getting some helpful feedback 
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Jul 21, 2011 23:07
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In-house QA (particularly smart, motivated ones) are the biggest luxury you can ask for as a developer and are completely awesome. Having that guy who you know is backing you up, who understands how your development process works, and who's willing to act as the canary in the coal mine and say "hey, uh, this is sorta hosed up" is huge. There are some definite upsides - I've seen multiple people who were specialist QA and interfaced directly with the developers get hired because they did good work there and learned a lot about what was necessary to make the game tick. However, it's a 3-year gamble and it IS a roll of the dice - as many people don't make it as do. Now, it's not like you're not picking up skills that are applicable elsewhere, but you need to be motivated and continue to work outside of your normal job (without neglecting it). And that's hard given how hard in-house QA get worked.
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Jul 22, 2011 02:58
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Shalinor posted:or do careful debugging to save the engineer work in tracking down a crash. I think this is an important point to repeat, having been around some QA types that think that making more bug reports than anyone else (not necessarily carefully debugged or clearly written) is what will "win" them into development.
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Jul 22, 2011 04:52
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Well I just graduated with a BA in English but no clue what to do in life. (lay on the jokes I've heard them all.) Anyway, I enjoy gaming and it's a big passion for me(surprise) and would love to be an editor or use my writing/communicating skills in some other useful manner in the industry.(probably nothing)Should I just give up on this far fetched dream or is gaming journalism an actual thriving industry? Edit: I should clarify, I DID read the OP but I have seen many ads from places like IGN looking for editors which is why I am wondering if things are changing? rocket_man38 fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Jul 22, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 05:01
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rocket_man38 posted:Well I just graduated with a BA in English but no clue what to do in life. (lay on the jokes I've heard them all.) Anyway, I enjoy gaming and it's a big passion for me(surprise) and would love to be an editor or use my writing/communicating skills in some other useful manner in the industry.(probably nothing)Should I just give up on this far fetched dream or is gaming journalism an actual thriving industry? But I wouldn't know for sure, I run fansites. I've sold a fansite in the past and worked for the company that acquired it (Curse), but I didn't really enjoy being told what I couldn't write about a game because the publisher was an advertiser and they'd pull their ads if they didn't get positive coverage. There's quite a few sub-standard gaming news sites out there that might want to hire a promising writer and then railroad them into oblivion. I'll avoid naming names because there might be folks in here that work for them. M4rk fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Nov 30, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 05:20
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Moving to San Diego in a few weeks and I'll be looking for work as a programmer. My expertise is C/C++, gameplay, engine or tools. If you need people, give me a shout: bs.vino@gmail.com
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Jul 22, 2011 15:00
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cgeq posted:I think this is an important point to repeat, having been around some QA types that think that making more bug reports than anyone else (not necessarily carefully debugged or clearly written) is what will "win" them into development. All that happens to those types is they see all their reports bounced back marked "Cannot Reproduce". 
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Jul 22, 2011 16:16
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cgeq posted:I think this is an important point to repeat, having been around some QA types that think that making more bug reports than anyone else (not necessarily carefully debugged or clearly written) is what will "win" them into development. It's even worse when you're in QA and your boss believes that a higher bug count is inherently virtuous. This is not my situation now, when it was, I wanted to hang myself. We sure logged a lot of clipping bugs that sat idle and didn't get fixed though! 
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Jul 22, 2011 18:28
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Monochrome posted:It's even worse when you're in QA and your boss believes that a higher bug count is inherently virtuous. This is not my situation now, when it was, I wanted to hang myself. LESS POSTING MORE BUGS, BUSTER (or just respond to that mail I sent out to the designers and say, "Gosh, this would also make our lives easier! Don't you want our lives to be easier too?!!?!") Having good developer QA is the best. Having bad dev QA makes me want to slash my wrists and bleed out in the bathroom. It's actually odd having non-confrontational dev/QA engagement. I do not know how to deal with this! edit: Saw your response! 
devilmouse fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Jul 22, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 18:38
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devilmouse posted:LESS POSTING MORE BUGS, BUSTER (or just respond to that mail I sent out to the designers and say, "Gosh, this would also make our lives easier! Don't you want our lives to be easier too?!!?!") Ask and ye shall receive. For a second there I thought it was a QA task and I was trying to work out how to find that data - then I learned to read.
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Jul 22, 2011 18:50
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devilmouse posted:Having good developer QA is the best. Having bad dev QA makes me want to slash my wrists and bleed out in the bathroom. It's actually odd having non-confrontational dev/QA engagement. I do not know how to deal with this! Small QA teams that aren't segregated from the devs helps with this. It's easy for adversarial relationships to develop if you're off in your own little world, firing bugs into the ether with 50 other people doing the same thing. Echo chambers are terrible, but you never realize you're in one until it's over. Edit: loving up quotes Doctor Yiff fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Jul 22, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 19:08
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I'm eyeing QA jobs because frankly working in the poo poo pit would be better than working in a gas station and I'm running into lots of "1 year of experience required". Is that just a thing they throw up there because that's what the company would like to have or am I actually hosed?
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Jul 22, 2011 19:24
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Nagna Zul posted:Well, I've been working as a Gameplay Programmer for 6 months now. What kind of portfolio did you have when you got hired?
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Jul 22, 2011 19:44
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1stGear posted:I'm eyeing QA jobs because frankly working in the poo poo pit would be better than working in a gas station and I'm running into lots of "1 year of experience required". Is that just a thing they throw up there because that's what the company would like to have or am I actually hosed? If your portfolio can compete with someone with one year of experience, you'll be fine. So work on it.
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Jul 22, 2011 19:57
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rocket_man38 posted:Well I just graduated with a BA in English but no clue what to do in life. (lay on the jokes I've heard them all.) Anyway, I enjoy gaming and it's a big passion for me(surprise) and would love to be an editor or use my writing/communicating skills in some other useful manner in the industry.(probably nothing)Should I just give up on this far fetched dream or is gaming journalism an actual thriving industry? You want a place to get started, I can get you a non-paying job at a fairly small but respected gaming blog. PM me if you are interested.
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Jul 22, 2011 20:34
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Just sent in my resume to the good folks at Riot Games, so if you Riot guys know any of the fine ladies or gentlemen in the recruiting department, would you mind putting a word in?
M4rk fucked around with this message at 07:53 on Nov 30, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 20:36
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Monochrome posted:It's even worse when you're in QA and your boss believes that a higher bug count is inherently virtuous. This is not my situation now, when it was, I wanted to hang myself. We had publisher QA on a project who would write more Z fighting bugs than anything else... "Jump across the broken nav mesh, duck under the broken bind posing AI, shoot 3 times or you'll crash then jump on the crate here, here and here, look up at a 47o angle then left 20o and notice the ceiling texture z-fighting with the light fixture..."
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Jul 22, 2011 23:58
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