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Fizzle posted:I thought there were groupies?!? There are, just not the ones you want.
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Oct 27, 2011 21:02
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Hey game development dudes. I was wondering if I could talk to somebody for some critque of Sc2 maps I've been working on. If you have the time I would greatly apprecieate it. I was also wondering, is sc2 maps even something I would want to put in a portfoilio?
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Oct 27, 2011 21:09
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Lord Humongus posted:Hey game development dudes. I was wondering if I could talk to somebody for some critque of Sc2 maps I've been working on. If you have the time I would greatly apprecieate it. Yes, if it's good. If you name the map so I can play it and it's good and shows something novel, you've just helped yourself. If you say sc2 maps and that's it, I ignore it. If you name it, link it and it sucks... thanks for the resume, good luck in your future.
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Oct 27, 2011 21:11
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Well that was a fast rejection email.. Guess I won't be following up anyway :/ Time to let go of this dream I guess, I've been trying to break back in for too long and because I don't have recent experience, everyone just glances right over me. It's tough too because I'm going for PR/Community work and there's really no way to hone those skills without being in it..
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Oct 27, 2011 21:22
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Fizzle posted:Time to let go of this dream I guess, I've been trying to break back in for too long and because I don't have recent experience, everyone just glances right over me. It's tough too because I'm going for PR/Community work and there's really no way to hone those skills without being in it.. ... you know, actually, we're going to need a community person on The Savage Garden. It's just that we can't afford anyone, so I was always planning on just running the forums/etc myself as best and impartially as I could. If you're interested, or anyone else in your position is... ? ... I can make a post in here when we get to that. No pay of note guaranteed, just credit, probably light work overall, things would shift if the game took off, etc, you know the drill. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Oct 27, 2011 |
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Oct 27, 2011 21:54
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Oh hey, just found this thread. I'm Loquacius and as of a few weeks ago I'm a QA Engineer at Turbine. Might as well throw my how-I-got-into-the-industry story on the pile, although I confess it's not a particularly exciting version of the standard tale. Nobody linked in the OP seemed to have talked much about being a QA / Test Engineer, so I'll define that term before I get started. I've been an Associate QA Engineer at Turbine for about a month now. Note the "engineer" part of the title -- I'm not a tester in the traditional sense of the word; I code for a living. Basically there are many soul-crushing aspects of a traditional software tester's job which could be very easily automatable -- the worst, most boring, mutiny-inspiring tasks are prioritized here. Walk the software through basic user scenarios; make sure it never gets into an unexpected state (like crashing); log performance data the whole time; give bad and/or unexpected input and make sure it is dealt with gracefully. Carry a tie game of baseball into the 128th inning and see what happens (if I may steal an example from The Trenches). You know. Boring stuff. My job is to write programs that will take care of that stuff so that human testers can do other things with their time, and to set up tools and infrastructure to allow other people to easily set up more automation for other scenarios as well. Here's the Wikipedia article on test automation if you need a better explanation. I confess I kind of fell bass-ackwards into test automation engineering (and thereby into the games industry). I was a CS major in college; not a lot of my work was particularly games-oriented OR test-oriented. I don't think many universities even teach much about test engineering -- mine certainly didn't. But having good software-engineering skills, knowledge of .NET, and a knack for nailing tech interviews (hope you like whiteboards!) was enough to land me a job as a Software Development Engineer in Test at a large company with an entrenched and rigidly-defined testing tradition (it rhymes with Pike Woe Quaffed  ). Not that I had any idea how to be an SDET at this point, but I drat well LEARNED, because they more or less threw me into the deep end.After about a year of that, I decided to try to find a job on the East Coast, aided by the fact that I now had enough experience as a software test engineer to list it prominently on my resume. I found out that Turbine was hiring; I've pretty much always wanted to work in the games industry, and I was and still am a big fan of LOTRO, so I applied. Turns out test automation skills are a pretty valuable thing to have on your resume. For the first time in my life I had a choice between two different job offers; I picked this one and never looked back. So, what are the pros and cons of being a QA Engineer? + Good QA / Test Engineers are not as common as other types of software engineer; as such, test automation skills are valuable not only in the games industry but across the entire tech sphere. - The reason for this is that the skills themselves are kind of hard to find a good source for; recall that the way I learned myself was to get hired and then kind of figure it out as I went along. + The thing about that is, if I could be completely honest here, once you figure out how to best design all your test scenarios and set up a decent test framework, the programming aspect of the job is actually pretty easy. (or maybe I'm just good at it I dunno v  v) Efficiency is not really a big factor in test automation, which allows you to write mostly in easymode languages like Java or C# and largely ignore memory and speed optimization problems (the hardest part of software engineering). Your primary worry is thorough error-logging, because if one of your tests fails for any reason -- whether the problem is with the test code or with the product code -- it's your job to figure out why. You do have to make sure your code is eminently readable and reusable, so standard software-engineering practices still apply, but if you have a degree in CS this shouldn't really be an issue.- Unfortunately as a QA engineer, you are not a rock star. You're not working directly on the game code; you can make more work for the devs by finding their errors, but you don't really have creative input into the game itself. It's hard to explain my job to non-tech people; look how long it took me to do it in this post. Hell, my mom still has absolutely no idea what I do for a living and this is not likely to change anytime soon. When my girlfriend asks how my day was I have to keep it light or she gets bored. These are all pretty standard pitfalls for people in technical fields, I suppose, but getting laymen interested in stuff I was working on always seemed easier in school than it does now. Easier to just talk about the games themselves; that works much better. There are certainly more exciting ways to get into the games industry, but QA engineering is a pretty good way to parlay standard software-engineering skills into an industry job, if you can find a tech company that will train you in it, and if you can find a game company big enough to have a QA department that does test automation. You'll probably have the option to transfer into a development position from there (I might do that myself at some point in the next couple years), but I'd still highly recommend giving it a chance. That's my story!
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Oct 27, 2011 22:06
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Shalinor posted:Glom on to an existing community, help it along. Normal advice is to find a promising mod group and help them out for credit. Regardless, don't give up, because quitting sucks. We can definitely talk about that, see if I'd fit in with what you have in mind. You can always PM me on the forum or email me at adreid@gmail.com Thanks for the pep talk, I'm just really downtrodden because my current job stinks on ice and I want to get back in to doing something I am passionate about.
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Oct 27, 2011 22:09
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V-Singular, the community manager here at Volition, used to be an associate producer. I wouldn't necessarily look at just community roles - especially since a lot of community stuff outside of "Forum Admin" is actually organizing/planning/producing events, managing PR, etc.
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Oct 27, 2011 22:27
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Right now I'm deciding whether or not to move back home for a while for a change of scenery. But I also enjoy working where I am currently, minus your few typical frustrations. I would apply for R* north but it's a mission scripter, which seems like a step sideways or maybe even down (personally) but I don't know if I can go up where I currently am. I am unsure. I need some anecdotes or cheerful words of wisdom to help guide me.
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Oct 27, 2011 22:31
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Fishbus posted:I need some anecdotes or cheerful words of wisdom to help guide me. ... but anecdotes aside, knowing your current position, career aspirations and why you're considering moving would help.
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Oct 27, 2011 22:33
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Sigma-X posted:V-Singular, the community manager here at Volition, used to be an associate producer. I wouldn't necessarily look at just community roles - especially since a lot of community stuff outside of "Forum Admin" is actually organizing/planning/producing events, managing PR, etc. Funny enough, that's where I have my most experience in the industry.. With the event planning and PR side of things.
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Oct 27, 2011 22:45
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DancingMachine posted:Especially when you really just rub elbows with the folks on that side of the business, not actually being directly a part of it yourself.
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Oct 27, 2011 23:58
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Fizzle posted:It's tough too because I'm going for PR/Community work and there's really no way to hone those skills without being in it.. I hear this a lot from people about various positions, mostly production and community manager type jobs, but this is far from true. I think someone mentioned it, but being a forum "Admin" for a popular game server is some experience. Running a large guild, being a writer/admin for a gaming website helps. I was a writer/moderator for stratics back in the day when it was the loving place to go for UO/EQ and when I was trying to break into the industry and it helped having that on my resume. People seem to forget that most people who make games also enjoy playing them, and they'd rather hire a gamer when they can. So, putting stuff on your resume that shows you have a true passion for games and went the extra step in your free time... that can go a long way. Dinurth fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Oct 28, 2011 |
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Oct 28, 2011 00:04
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From a page or so ago...BouncyCastle posted:Hey game audio goons, which sound engine are you guys using? Wwise/FMOD/internal tech/Frostbite I worked (partly, it was mostly another coder) on an in-house audio solution using Sony's Scream/Multistream stuff on some PS3 titles and it was...ok. Nothing fancy, but passable. I got to do some DSP stuff which worked out pretty well. For the PSP Minis title I worked on (Me Monster: Hear Me Roar!, coming to a Scottish Bafta awards ceremony near you soon) we used FMOD and it worked out really well. The audio guy I was working with was really great and the game ended up sounding pretty nice, I think. We used the adaptive audio stuff for music and he did a great job of it, sounded really seamless (just a shame he was asked to change it away from the reggae theme we had going to begin with). He's always spoken highly (and longingly) of Wwise, I'll need to point him towards the Frostbite stuff and see if I can make his ears melt in envy...
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Oct 28, 2011 00:25
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quote:... and now I know why that idea I had for that in LU got shot down way back when. God dammit. I hate software patents. Another really tragic one is the Mark of Kri targeting system (sweep radially to lock targets). It's probably the single most intuitive way I've seen to do multi-target selection on a gamepad for third-person 3D beat-em-ups, and we'll never see it again because it's locked behind a patent.  It's so good - you don't require a chord or secondary button press, it lets the player bypass camera control issues because you can select stuff that's offscreen, it's almost always going to be faster, it allows for precise selection. Pretty much the only disadvantage is that it doesn't interact amazingly well with enemies who like to hide behind other enemies.And yeah, once you're hired baked goods are a great idea.  Just coordinate with other serial bakers so you don't accidentally cupcake bomb the office.
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Oct 28, 2011 00:33
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Black Eagle posted:I'm open about my background. I've never oversimplified or made light of yours... EDIT: wodin posted:And yeah, once you're hired baked goods are a great idea. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 00:40 on Oct 28, 2011 |
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Oct 28, 2011 00:36
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loquacius posted:There are certainly more exciting ways to get into the games industry, but QA engineering is a pretty good way to parlay standard software-engineering skills into an industry job, if you can find a tech company that will train you in it, and if you can find a game company big enough to have a QA department that does test automation. You'll probably have the option to transfer into a development position from there (I might do that myself at some point in the next couple years), but I'd still highly recommend giving it a chance. That's my story! I'm not in the industry and almost certainly never will be(shied away from developing programming skills, etc years ago) but I just wanted to chime in and say that I actually think your job sounds badass. I think if I went back and learned to code or got a degree in a relevant field I would want to go to work doing something like your job, or maybe tools programming.
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Oct 28, 2011 00:40
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rizuhbull posted:I wanna make games! Except I can't draw, program, or grasp the concepts of math. No one ever responded to this. I'm guessing because it's pretty drat broad. Step one is to figure out what in the hell you want to do. I didn't check out your writing, but that doesn't really matter. Did you like writing? Do you want to do more of it? If so, do it. Write. Finish articles. Send them in and collect rejection notices, and get poo poo on by editors and eventually get better at it and start making money. Don't want to write? Well then. Do you want to do level design? Want to code? Want to model or animate? There's a lot of information and resources on the internet, and this very thread is a good place to start (weird, I know). Do some reading and do some research, and try some things out, and you'll start to get a feel for what you might enjoy, and what you won't. If you don't care about putting enough energy into it to do that, then it's probably not the direction in which you should go. Feel free to ask more specific questions, but your post was kind of like asking a bunch of strangers in a restaurant, "Hey guys, what should I order?" If you don't know, we sure as hell don't.
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Oct 28, 2011 03:40
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Fizzle posted:Well that was a fast rejection email.. Guess I won't be following up anyway :/ Try it. Find a game coming over the horizon that you're excited for, but no one else seems to be. Then create a community from dust. It shows amazing dedication.
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Oct 28, 2011 03:49
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Maide posted:I'm a game company Web Programmer (Database designer, website developer, server designer/developer) who wishes he was a game company sysadmin. There's always a step below. Hey a guy in our sysadmin team started as a game company web dev, everything is possible!
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Oct 28, 2011 05:29
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Shalinor posted:David Brevik's kinda similar. He was our studio head for a short while, and he wore jeans, a comfortable button-up, and spoke very plainly to us. He seemed like a pretty decent guy in an unfortunate position, but you say Brevik to anyone else, and you'll just get a giggled "Flagshipped!". I attended his talk at PAX East back in March. He seemed like a genuinely good guy who, yeah, just happened to be in a rough position. Maybe he made a mistake or two, which can certainly happen, but it seems like he's learned from it. In fact, the entire presentation was basically describing his career and the things he's learned along the way, including what happened at Flagship. We speak of failure being a vital part of success in this thread - I think it applies to all levels. He might be stuck with the "Flagshipped!" tag for the rest of his life, but others can learn from it, and I learned a bit from his talk. Just wish I actually took notes. And Fizzle - I remember you from FF14, since we were both involved in eSports at one point - keep it up! I've just recently broken in myself. I'll have more to talk about later, but I moved across the country to do it (without having a job locked down), and so far I'm not looking back. I think the most important thing to do is to network. Not only build a good portfolio, but make contacts with people, and make contacts with their contacts.
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Oct 28, 2011 06:43
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Full disclosure: I'm actually John Romero.
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Oct 28, 2011 06:58
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So I asked for feedback on the interview, just so I could find out what was the issue and perhaps work on it in the future. When I was a hiring manager, I welcomed people asking me (in a respectful way) what caused them to not get the position. The response I got back (which may be more typical) is that their company policy is that they do not share any feedback regarding the interview process. Which sucks because now I'm just left in the cold.. Ah well.
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Oct 28, 2011 07:14
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M4rk posted:Somewhat true. I've honed my skills through finding niche games and creating fansites for them. Then I interact with publisher and studio PR/Community and see how I can help them do their jobs better. You know, I've lead admin'd some of the worst forums imaginable (maddox forums), and honestly don't think anything (not politics-related) could possibly irritate me anymore. I was listening to the Game Industry Mentor podcast someone recommended a while back and the community manager episode was insightful, if disheartening, what with the extremely small amount of positions that exist. Apologies for latching onto you in particular, but would you recommend this sort of thing as a good way to kind of break the ice with prospective employers/industry co-workers? Edit: my only real worry about something like this is my extremely limited web design abilities (I last used html in high school in like 2002). Would commissioning someone to do a template for news updates, etc. and tossing up a phpbb forum be a bad idea? I'm not going to lie, this entire post is pretty much me trying to psyche myself up to actually accomplish something.
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Oct 28, 2011 07:23
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Sigma-X posted:V-Singular, the community manager here at Volition, used to be an associate producer. I wouldn't necessarily look at just community roles - especially since a lot of community stuff outside of "Forum Admin" is actually organizing/planning/producing events, managing PR, etc. Tell V-Singular that I'm calling him out. Fight to the death. Fightin for pink slips.
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Oct 28, 2011 07:58
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mutata posted:Full disclosure: I'm actually John Romero. Make me your bitch. 
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Oct 28, 2011 08:32
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I'm actually John Carmack. I just play an idiot on forums for fun.
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Oct 28, 2011 08:50
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I'm Robin Walker. I like Hats, Not Nerfing the Heavy and Hats...not really.
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Oct 28, 2011 09:00
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mutata posted:Full disclosure: I'm actually John Romero. Happy birthday.
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Oct 28, 2011 10:17
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Solus posted:I'm Robin Walker. I like Hats, Not Nerfing the Heavy and Hats...not really. Don't you hate pants!?
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Oct 28, 2011 10:37
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Monster w21 Faces posted:Don't you hate pants!? Pants can also be hats. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to continue rambling into my Word Document about converting the Space Marine Engine into a Steampunk RPG.
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Oct 28, 2011 11:02
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Find replace 'space' with 'spice'. There, I just re-imagined Dune for a whole new audience. Ship it!
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Oct 28, 2011 11:51
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having all these awesome ideas make me sad that I'm not in the industry yet =(. One day I will model that thing in the game everyone loves. one day
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Oct 28, 2011 11:55
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I see one or two more Producers in the OP. Any of you active for some Producer chat?
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Oct 28, 2011 11:58
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Solus posted:having all these awesome ideas make me sad that I'm not in the industry yet =(. One day I will model that thing in the game everyone loves. one day You fool! Model it now!
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Oct 28, 2011 12:54
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mutata posted:You fool! Model it now! I'm trying dammit!
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Oct 28, 2011 13:09
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Untextured Baretta go go go edit: I will industry-blacklist you if you texture it. 
GeeCee fucked around with this message at 14:04 on Oct 28, 2011 |
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Oct 28, 2011 14:01
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aas Bandit posted:No one ever responded to this. I'm guessing because it's pretty drat broad. Yeah, I love writing, but it's something that appears to be all but useless in the gaming industry; journalism and story-telling both. If it's something I should pursue, then I will, but I don't want to waste years when I could've been learning modelling, or design. aas Bandit posted:Do some reading and do some research, and try some things out, and you'll start to get a feel for what you might enjoy, and what you won't. If you don't care about putting enough energy into it to do that, then it's probably not the direction in which you should go.  So to focus my request down a bit: how would I learn to design? Should I start with making custom levels in games, showing them off in here and asking if I have enough ingenuity? And if so, I should go on and learn to make levels from scratch? I'm fairly confident I wouldn't enjoy animation, and as I said, I can't math so coding is out of the question. Modelling and texturing (are they the same?) I might like, no idea. Where would I even start? rizuhbull fucked around with this message at 14:41 on Oct 28, 2011 |
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Oct 28, 2011 14:31
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Save Russian Jews posted:You know, I've lead admin'd some of the worst forums imaginable (maddox forums), and honestly don't think anything (not politics-related) could possibly irritate me anymore. I was listening to the Game Industry Mentor podcast someone recommended a while back and the community manager episode was insightful, if disheartening, what with the extremely small amount of positions that exist. Yes, I totally recommend building a single fansite and making it the best drat fansite it can be. However, don't get hung up on a site that's failing or that's been usurped by the competition (TERAblah is a good example of a project I put a lot of time into that was pretty much instagibbed by a competing corporate-run fansite). Move on and make something else if that happens to you. Making fansites, attending community events in-person (PAX Prime/East, GDC, E3, gamescom in Germany, etc.) and getting to meet the people who make the games you love is probably the best way to make friends in the industry, period. Real friends that care about your success, because it is directly tied to their success.
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Oct 28, 2011 15:20
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Aliginge posted:Untextured Baretta go go go yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssss I kind of want to dig through the old RFG/RFA archives and get all the untextured low poly versions of the guns and put them up as my portrolio
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Oct 28, 2011 15:32
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