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Oh god what did I start  Mental note. When people hear you complain about little insignificant things because you're used to complaining about bigger more suckier things and now you're living in a nice area in a nice flat with more money than you've ever had before coming in, they may think you're actually complaining and not just being a grumbly englishman.  SVN is making more sense now I only have to upload a few files at a time I must admit. Akuma posted:Technically you work for DNA Studios, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DNA Dynamics... Hey man you ain't the boss of m...oh. 
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Nov 2, 2011 13:16
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devilmouse posted:Well well, look what was released last week! Come ooooon TortoiseHg, update to latest Mercurial. And I'm looking at you too, Bitbucket.org. Though I'm not seeing where you'd put in the details for the Bigfiles server. Does it "just work" when you push/pull your changes with the server, or am I missing something? Shalinor fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Nov 2, 2011 |
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Nov 2, 2011 15:13
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Vino posted:I used SVN and now I use Git for code, but only for code and I can't imagine why anybody would try to use source control for art. Artists don't like having to commit/checkout/update. You'd be better off with a network drive in my opinion. Speaking of which, while I was doing Digitanks, I kept all of the art on a Dropbox shared folder and that did a great job of syncing me and the two artists involved. May not scale well to bigger teams, but it sure as hell is easy to use, which artists like. As an artist, I love source control, so does the rest of the art team. As I work, I like to explore variations and ideas that fork, and typically that has meant folders full of files like: code:There is of course a difference between being able to quickly check 300mb Photoshop files into a Perforce depot across a gigabit local network which has terabytes of free space and is troubleshooted by a dedicated IT guy, and having to git or tortoise crap up and down a slow and wonky cable connection at home over wifi to collaborate online. If I had to telecommute, I would probably just Dropbox too. All the work I do outside the office is done right out of my Dropbox folder. waffledoodle fucked around with this message at 17:38 on Nov 2, 2011 |
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Nov 2, 2011 15:51
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Shalinor posted:Though I'm not seeing where you'd put in the details for the Bigfiles server. Does it "just work" when you push/pull your changes with the server, or am I missing something? I had the same thought... "Ok, so I can store them on a network share or web server, but... uh... how?" We'll probably look into this in the next few weeks when we've got the cycles to spare, but for right now, we force those poor artists to use the sub-repo setup.
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Nov 2, 2011 16:03
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Mega Shark posted:Very cool, what about your background? Always a producer or did you come from another discipline? I came in with no experience through the IT department 7.5 years ago and worked my way up. Moved over as an Assistant Producer to help finish Company of Heroes, then moved on to Dawn of War II and have been there since. I took over the producer role 2 years ago on the first expansion, and have since shipped another expansion. Right now I work on unannounced stuff, as well as DLC for the expansion.
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Nov 2, 2011 16:23
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Naysmith here requesting more base-building in the next DoW and more map variety.  Also, what did you think of Space Marines?
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Nov 2, 2011 17:51
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Crap, do it again. (Haven't played it but I know several warhammer nerds who love the poo poo out of it.  )
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Nov 2, 2011 18:31
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Vino posted:I used SVN and now I use Git for code, but only for code and I can't imagine why anybody would try to use source control for art. Artists don't like having to commit/checkout/update. You'd be better off with a network drive in my opinion. Speaking of which, while I was doing Digitanks, I kept all of the art on a Dropbox shared folder and that did a great job of syncing me and the two artists involved. May not scale well to bigger teams, but it sure as hell is easy to use, which artists like. Perforce is really easy to use for assets and helps deal with multiple people having to work on the same asset without doing conflicting changes. One thing I didn't really like about SVN (and it could have been my limited knowledge) was that you didn't really "exclusively" check things out - Perforce and VSS (which was an abomination) did this and it made a lot more sense when you're source controlling assets. It's also great to have a log where we can say "Hey, artist/designer X did this dumb thing in this revision, let's go tell him the right way to do this!" or to assign the shirt of shame for breaking the build! Also, it's great when your daily build crashes on load of a level, and you need to start reverting each check-in from the day prior to isolate the change that caused the crash. This happens more than you'd like on larger teams. djkillingspree fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Nov 2, 2011 |
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Nov 2, 2011 18:49
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Perforce is fantastic for artists compared to other source control I've fiddled with. Also, the tools Perforce comes with are awesome. Time lapse view for source control is really useful.
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Nov 2, 2011 19:08
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Thirding the love for Perforce. Now I have to use TFS 
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Nov 2, 2011 19:10
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Mega Shark posted:Just because artists don't like it, doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. The purpose of version control is so that you can revert. If you only overwrite the file on a shared drive, you're saving your latest but not able to revert. If you create a new name for the file every time, it could work but you had better be good about making a standard naming convention. Right, that's the main drawback of a shared network folder. Dropbox does have revisions that get automagically updated every time a file is changed, and you can restore old revisions from the web interface, but that's obviously not a solution for large teams. If a team were able to get a network share that automatically backed things up and handled conflicts like Dropbox does, that'd be the best of both worlds in my opinion. Some artists don't mind updating and checkouts and committing, but a lot of artists I've worked with never quite got the hang of it. I tend to try to make things as cushioney as possible for other people on my team, so they worry less about technical crap and more about what they're good at. I've heard good things about Perforce but I haven't ever had a chance to use it.
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Nov 2, 2011 19:23
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Shalinor posted:Seconding JIRA. I loved it for bug tracking. Now we use TestTrack Pro. It is a thick client slow-rear end piece of horse poo poo - with a web client that is also lovely to use. We use DevTrack and DevTest here. I absolutely love them. They are clunky, but they are so robust. I can pretty much do anything I want with them. Using the report views and then using the built in export to Excel features are perfect for preparing the reports I need.
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Nov 3, 2011 00:32
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hello gents, so I'm at this design firm now as mentioned, and it's been pretty slow so I'm trying to learn myself some things. We're pretty retail design heavy these days, so there are a few people in the office doing product renderings with Modo, and the pipeline for that work is for the moment pretty small. Thinking about seeing if I can pick it up to learn how to model some lint brushes or whatever. Do any of you (or anyone in games period I guess) use it? Is it impossible?
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Nov 3, 2011 00:57
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Modo is definitely pretty useful for rendered stuff. I don't know of anybody that uses it for games though. No 3D application is impossible, just need to look up tutorials and practice.
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Nov 3, 2011 01:12
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Splaa posted:hello gents, so I'm at this design firm now as mentioned, and it's been pretty slow so I'm trying to learn myself some things. I haven't used it but from what I hear it's much more user friendly than Max, etc. I know some UI folks that use it, and they find 3ds Max awkward and a bit daunting. Honestly, if you've got folks you can ask questions about the software with, you should be able to pick it up in no time. Just spend some lunch breaks working through tutorials and ask them questions.
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Nov 3, 2011 01:16
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GeauxSteve posted:We use DevTrack and DevTest here. I absolutely love them. They are clunky, but they are so robust. I can pretty much do anything I want with them. Using the report views and then using the built in export to Excel features are perfect for preparing the reports I need. I'm one of the Global Admins for both DevTrack an DevTest and couldn't be happier with them. There's nothing I enjoy more than building custom projects for Studios. Supporting those applications are by far the best aspect of my job. Some cool features announced at the TechExcel conference last week too.
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Nov 3, 2011 01:45
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I know idTech5 (RAGE) has a pipeline that is tightly integrated with Modo. Perhaps mostly because their lead artist got kinda crazy and wild with writing tons of scripts for it: http://www.indigosm.com/modoscripts.htm I'm going to be learning/using Modo proper from next year, and from what little I've done so far I am a lot happier with it than with Maya or MAX. Still would love a proper WASD-ish camera control for environment modeling though, instead of the pivot/dolly/track model everything uses.
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Nov 3, 2011 10:17
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Lovin' JIRA just because I can close bugs as Benson dressed like Heisenburg. EDIT: I'm a level design intern at Raven Software if you want to add me to the OP. Irish Taxi Driver fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Nov 4, 2011 |
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Nov 3, 2011 23:57
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czg posted:I know idTech5 (RAGE) has a pipeline that is tightly integrated with Modo. Perhaps mostly because their lead artist got kinda crazy and wild with writing tons of scripts for it: http://www.indigosm.com/modoscripts.htm This is an interesting bit of info for me if I ever get the design for idtechego.com finished. Cheers.
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Nov 4, 2011 11:58
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Lego Universe shutting in January Glad you got GBG set up, Shalinor.
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Nov 4, 2011 19:05
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Not sure I've talked enough to be included in the big list - but in case  I work in a large European Games company specifically in monetisation. I started with my own RPG company out of University, and have done design, scripting and all the standard industry stuff (well, no QA I guess) until I drifted into my current position by being earlier in free to play than most. I've worked in 4 countries in the last 10 or so years, not all in games so have experienced the joys of changing location and international recruiting (which seem to turn up here a ton.) I'm not so keen on giving exact company names - so I can refer to previous companies in general terms without damning either myself or anyone else involved. Besides that my current project is under so much NDA that I'm possibly saying too much by stating it is under NDA.
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Nov 4, 2011 19:08
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FreakyZoid posted:Lego Universe shutting in January Ugh. 115 people is a lot of game devs to dump on Colorado.
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Nov 4, 2011 21:28
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DancingMachine posted:Ugh. ... and, yeah, I am glad I have GBG set up. The severance was remarkably good - it's just enough for me to launch into Glass Bottom Games full time, and make a run at being indie. I'll have to  Yes, I could find work (I've already got nibbles), but I mean... how often does a chance this like come along? Normally in games, you'd be lucky to get a month's salary in severance, if even that. So screw that. I'm young-ish, no dependents - now's the time. I'll make my run, and see how it goes. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Nov 4, 2011 |
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Nov 4, 2011 22:38
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Anybody on der thread familiar with the inner workings of Blue Castle Games/Capcom Vancouver and wants to share their experiences with me? I'd much appreciate it. edit: Aw, poo poo. Agreed on all points already made, Shalinor. Here's to GBG's success!
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Nov 4, 2011 23:03
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typhus posted:Anybody on der thread familiar with the inner workings of Blue Castle Games/Capcom Vancouver and wants to share their experiences with me? I'd much appreciate it. My room mate is a programming lead there and I have quite a few friends there in the programming and art disciplines. I think they're all relatively happy there for the most part.
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Nov 4, 2011 23:07
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typhus posted:Anybody on der thread familiar with the inner workings of Blue Castle Games/Capcom Vancouver and wants to share their experiences with me? I'd much appreciate it. I have a friend there and he's quite happy, though I suppose you might get tired of making Dead Rising games 
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Nov 4, 2011 23:17
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Shalinor posted:Yes, I could find work (I've already got nibbles), but I mean... how often does a chance this like come along? Normally in games, you'd be lucky to get a month's salary in severance, if even that. So screw that. I'm young-ish, no dependents - now's the time. I'll make my run, and see how it goes. Well, hopefully it will inspire some new startup studios (and therefore new clients for meeee).
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Nov 4, 2011 23:18
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Shalinor posted:Game development in Colorado is basically hosed, yeah. We're back to nothing but a few small companies. My battle cry as I try to get my internship extended again and finish up school is that the job market is too crazy to spend time being unemployed. I love your response to layoff craziness, it's a great example to me.
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Nov 4, 2011 23:18
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The best part - I'd already set up a speaking thing for a University class over at CU Boulder. I'm talking to one of their CS classes about the games industry, and games programming. ... now I have license to talk about the business realities, too, and the drinking afterwards
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Nov 5, 2011 00:11
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FreakyZoid posted:Lego Universe shutting in January Shalinor, condolences on the closure. The article says not enough users converted to paid, but was it an issue with the business model, the content design, or a mix of both that let to inefficient monetization?
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Nov 5, 2011 00:21
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Shalinor posted:Yes, I could find work (I've already got nibbles), but I mean... how often does a chance this like come along? Normally in games, you'd be lucky to get a month's salary in severance, if even that. So screw that. I'm young-ish, no dependents - now's the time. I'll make my run, and see how it goes. Seriously. It's a great opportunity, if a little scary. Unfortunately I had a pregnant wife when my studio was shut down a couple years ago, or I might have made a go at it as well. Good luck! Are you staying in Colorado or are you going to make that jump to Seattle you've been thinking about?
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Nov 5, 2011 00:39
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Shalinor posted:Game development in Colorado is basically hosed, yeah. We're back to nothing but a few small companies.
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Nov 5, 2011 00:59
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DancingMachine posted:Seriously. It's a great opportunity, if a little scary. Unfortunately I had a pregnant wife when my studio was shut down a couple years ago, or I might have made a go at it as well. Good luck! Are you staying in Colorado or are you going to make that jump to Seattle you've been thinking about? I'm lucky I was set up for it when it happened. Already have irons in the fire, already nixed my major expenses, can easily cut expenses massively from here, etc. Well, some planning was involved, but lucky in that I don't have kids or dependents of note. EDIT: ... though now that I'm working from home, I desperately want a puppy again Perfect time to adopt one! But... I mean the whole "no dependents" applies to pets too - the little furballs are expensive.
Shalinor fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Nov 5, 2011 |
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Nov 5, 2011 01:06
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Shalinor posted:... now I have license to talk about the business realities, too, and the drinking afterwards The drinking is supposed to happen AFTERWARD? We've been doing it wrong the whole time...
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Nov 5, 2011 01:30
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I had one of those "click" moments recently. There was a certain style of game that I absolutely hated (barely interactive, no fail building games). Then someone described them as "activities" and not games, and it clicked into place, and now I accept and like this style of software. Also, I feel like I'm rapidly becoming an expert on Unity / iOS. My entire job right now is just to understand what makes both tick.
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Nov 5, 2011 07:31
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Same here really. Working in a tiny dev studio and then seeing these enormous credits pages involving literally hundreds and hundreds of people involved in the making of DXHR, Assassin's Creed, MGS4 and BF3 is really loving humbling.
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Nov 5, 2011 11:54
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I'm at the point where I have dabbled with everything that I can think of when it comes to art. Making really simple stuff and learning the basic ropes. I just have no clue where I want to start specialising and learning properly.  To the Polycount forums. Might as well research more. And redownload UDK
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Nov 5, 2011 12:21
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Also, I passed my 3-month probation at DNA. I am now a fully signed on Game artist with rights a pay rise and everfink  Solus posted:I'm at the point where I have dabbled with everything that I can think of when it comes to art. Making really simple stuff and learning the basic ropes. I just have no clue where I want to start specialising and learning properly.
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Nov 5, 2011 14:42
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Hrm. Dammit, now I really AM tempted to drop everything and make an iOS Rocket Jockey. I loved that game as a kid, and I really don't think it would take much to make an iOS version in Unity. And like... I mean I AM my own boss now, so... Bleh. Must stay focused on current projects.
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Nov 5, 2011 18:26
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Shalinor posted:Bleh. Must stay focused on current projects. In the startup world, it's called "pivoting"! Pivot, do it!
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Nov 5, 2011 18:35
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