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Doctor Fatty posted:Relevant job experience is (almost) always better than schooling. Especially if you're looking for another QA position for the time being. Funny considering that they preside over this company, and someone I know was let go in that same way. I'm not positive how things are going to turn out, but I'm still not getting my hopes up here.
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Apr 5, 2012 05:09
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I'm really enjoying Ben Cousins' talk from GDC and wanted to pass along the deck. http://www.slideshare.net/bcousins/when-the-consoles-die-what-comes-next
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Apr 5, 2012 05:42
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I have a few questions and they may be a little tough to answer. I'm looking to hire a low-poly modeler to do the character/monster models for a game and I have absolutely no idea how much I should be expecting to pay here. I'm getting wildly different sums everywhere I look and, as I am but a lowly environment modeler, I have no clue how much work goes in to something that will have to be rigged and everything. Where's a good place to find this and how do I know I won't be overpaying. I'm trying to budget out my game, so these are things I'd like to plan for.
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Apr 5, 2012 07:03
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Entirely depends on the complexity of a character, do you have specs you want in mind?
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Apr 5, 2012 07:28
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NINbuntu 64 posted:I have a few questions and they may be a little tough to answer. I'm looking to hire a low-poly modeler to do the character/monster models for a game and I have absolutely no idea how much I should be expecting to pay here. I'm getting wildly different sums everywhere I look and, as I am but a lowly environment modeler, I have no clue how much work goes in to something that will have to be rigged and everything. Where's a good place to find this and how do I know I won't be overpaying. I'm trying to budget out my game, so these are things I'd like to plan for. Are you indie or with a larger studio? Are you looking for a couple assets or trying to hire an artist full time? I'm answering under the assumption that you're independent and looking for some assets; best is to find an artist you like and negotiate pay. Artists are going to have different hourly rates, but they may choose to just give you one flat rate per model. How much you're going to pay in the end is going to depend on the experience-level of the artist and the complexity of the asset ask. You're going to pay much less for extremely low poly characters with a diffuse map only; it's going to take less time to rig and animate, too. Throw in spec, normal maps, and an extra 3000 polys though, and you've probably quadrupled the time it takes to complete the character.
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Apr 5, 2012 07:36
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EgonSpengler posted:Desk cleaned out, box containing 8 years of memorabilia brought home, and LinkedIn is now current: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jeff-lydell/2/345/82a  Bye dude, sorry to see you go*. I'm sure this will mean better things for you in the long run.*I'm sitting in your old desk. 
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Apr 5, 2012 08:21
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MustardFacial posted:
Nice view in that seat. In other news Slant Six laid off 30 people today. Tough week for Vancouver.
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Apr 5, 2012 08:32
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endlosnull posted:Holy poo poo. Not to rag on anyone posting on the Shadowrun kickstarter thread but I think I finally know how it feels to be a developer reading a goon thread about the game, and it's not even in development yet. It's absolutely off the wall and while I'm not angry or anything, it's just weird to be on the offset. Well, you kind of broke the main advantage I have: I haven't revealed where I work and I don't post in threads that involve my game. It's a great place to get honest unfiltered feedback, and it's especially neat to see what gets pointed out here but not on the official forums (because they don't want us to fix it). It gets tough not to take things personally (and I don't always do a good job of it), but I try to remember that players necessarily have a narrower focus and a far different perspective than I do. Sometimes I have to sit back and compare what I thought this job was to what it actually is. When I was a player I never thought, "that's a different decision than the one I would have made. I wonder what led them to go that way?" Life's better now that I do that more. And entering the joke portion of the post, why are you splitting mage and shaman astral space? Is it because you hate America, or because you love being wrong and bad?
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Apr 5, 2012 08:52
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NINbuntu 64 posted:I have a few questions and they may be a little tough to answer. I'm looking to hire a low-poly modeler to do the character/monster models for a game and I have absolutely no idea how much I should be expecting to pay here. I'm getting wildly different sums everywhere I look and, as I am but a lowly environment modeler, I have no clue how much work goes in to something that will have to be rigged and everything. Where's a good place to find this and how do I know I won't be overpaying. I'm trying to budget out my game, so these are things I'd like to plan for. This is totally a "how long is a piece of string?" type question. If you were on the other side and asking how much to charge per asset, I'd tell you to charge hourly_pay_desired * estimated_hours * 2 and allow a single revision, with additional revisions costing extra. You're best off finding artists that you'd want and asking what they'd charge. You also need to make sure you've got concept art and examples from other games to help make it clear what you're looking for. Are you looking for the modeler to rig and animate, or only rig, or to only model?
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Apr 5, 2012 11:35
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EgonSpengler posted:Nice view in that seat. Vancouver has such a brutal job market for the industry right now. I had to jump ship to the golden shores of Montreal after failing to find a new job in Vancouver for over a year. And hearing things like this, it's hard not to recommend that everyone consider doing the same.
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Apr 5, 2012 12:35
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Frown Town posted:Are you indie or with a larger studio? Are you looking for a couple assets or trying to hire an artist full time? Sigma-X posted:This is totally a "how long is a piece of string?" type question. I'm really small scale indie. The only other person on the project is my sound designer. I'm looking for five assets. It's just going to have diffuse on it, 1000-1500 poly, ready to be rigged. I'm looking around at various sites and I guess things have changed since the last time I looked since now things that are 2000+ polygons are considered low-poly now.
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Apr 5, 2012 14:50
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NINbuntu 64 posted:I'm really small scale indie. The only other person on the project is my sound designer. I'm looking for five assets. It's just going to have diffuse on it, 1000-1500 poly, ready to be rigged. I'm looking around at various sites and I guess things have changed since the last time I looked since now things that are 2000+ polygons are considered low-poly now. I might be interested in this if you want to pm me the brief. I'm a lead/character/whatever artist at a mobile and handheld game studio.
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Apr 5, 2012 15:00
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endlosnull posted:Holy poo poo. Not to rag on anyone posting on the Shadowrun kickstarter thread but I think I finally know how it feels to be a developer reading a goon thread about the game, and it's not even in development yet. It's absolutely off the wall and while I'm not angry or anything, it's just weird to be on the offset. I'm as rabid a Shadowrun fan as you're gonna get, I grew up playing the PnP game and for what it's worth, I'm looking forward to what y'all come up with. Especially the level editor. 
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Apr 5, 2012 15:28
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I didn't read the entire thread, but it's a shame everyone just started ripping on the whole Kickstarter movement instead of talking about Shadowrun. I know I'd love to work with such passionate people to bring about an interesting franchise, hell this is already the making of a new development method anyway, I don't see why anyone would resist it.
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Apr 5, 2012 19:02
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Super Slash posted:I didn't read the entire thread, but it's a shame everyone just started ripping on the whole Kickstarter movement instead of talking about Shadowrun. I know I'd love to work with such passionate people to bring about an interesting franchise, hell this is already the making of a new development method anyway, I don't see why anyone would resist it. Some people always have something to complain about. Really nothing you can do about it.
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Apr 5, 2012 19:28
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endlosnull posted:Holy poo poo. Not to rag on anyone posting on the Shadowrun kickstarter thread but I think I finally know how it feels to be a developer reading a goon thread about the game, and it's not even in development yet. It's absolutely off the wall and while I'm not angry or anything, it's just weird to be on the offset. As someone who got fired a few years back for posting about a game I was working on (without approval, breaking NDA, being a really dumb intern, etc.), my advice is to just stay right the gently caress away from a thread if you can't resist the urge to post. If you're passionate about what you're working on, someone's going to say something you're going to want to defend or correct or whatever, and even if your intentions are good you might wind up in deep poo poo. You've got to either have thick skin, tight lips, and a strong will or stay the gently caress out of a thread. If you absolutely must post, find an official source to back up your information and then link it in the thread so that you (and others) are absolutely sure you're not putting anything new out there. Plus, as soon as you reveal to goons that you're involved in something, they'll immediately pile onto you to get their
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Apr 5, 2012 19:34
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Thanks guys, this is all really good advice that'll probably improve my lifespan so my heart doesn't explode. What was really exciting about this whole situation was that it wasn't under the "shackles" of a publisher and is very grassroots, community oriented. It's their money, what better way to embrace that than to speak to the people! Well I think I'll leave it to the main channels like through the kickstarter and my bosses. Plus that way they can bring it into a FAQ or update so everyone can see it, probably for the best.
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Apr 5, 2012 19:51
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I think the best reason to never post anything other than facts / press copy for a game you've worked on was demonstrated in the Mercenaries 2 thread - Alastor, their community manager, basically made a ton of loving promises about how awesome that poo poo was, and then got really lovely when people realized it wasn't the second coming of christ but instead another ~75 metacritic open world game, and caught so much vitriol he wound up leaving and becoming a teacher or some poo poo. I posted a lot of stuff in the RFG thread but my personal policy was to never engage anyone saying anything negative (because I can't agree with them and it's not my place to argue), only talk up the positive, give little insights into some things that weren't NDA-type stuff (I talked about the creation of the Ostrich hammer, for example), announced poo poo as soon as possible, and answered questions/provided facts. And played with goons in the Earth Defense Fish. I also did a developer live webcast thing and also starred in our 3rd DLC pack's advertising (which we did on $0 because the pack was free).
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Apr 5, 2012 19:54
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I'm excited to attend PAX since it's right in my backyard and I get to see some internet friends I only otherwise see once a year. On the other hand, I'm starting to get bummed out because I want to talk about where I work and the game we made without getting into a fencing match about how I sold out/am the Great Video Game Satan.
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Apr 5, 2012 19:59
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Media isn't really a "game job", I know, but while I was working at Ziff I mentioned in passing on neogaf that I saw the dude in the next cubicle reviewing GTA:SA (remember that Rockstar didn't show the actual game running at all before launch) and even that was enough for the EIC to come in and have The Talk with me. That weaned me of the habit of posting to game forums real quick. Let em stew in their own juices. Any benefit of dealing with them is far outweighed by everything else.
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Apr 5, 2012 20:02
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Yup, looks like I won't have a job in a month. Any QA jobs around Austin?
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Apr 5, 2012 20:34
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Pretty sure Zynga's QA center there is almost always looking.
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Apr 5, 2012 20:39
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I've been exchanging emails and info with a recruiter from Vicarious Visions up in NY. Too early to say much more than that, but I spoke with her last night at a mixer here in Austin and she seemed genuinely excited to talk to me and was looking forward to seeing my newer work now that i've got some approval to show stuff. wish me luck!
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Apr 5, 2012 21:02
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endlosnull posted:My heart goes out to all game jobs goons and Cliffy B. How do you guys do it?
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Apr 5, 2012 21:34
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rope kid posted:Be impervious. Be polite.
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Apr 5, 2012 21:37
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mutata posted:Be polite. Be aggressive.
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Apr 5, 2012 21:44
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NINbuntu 64 posted:Be aggressive. I have trod this path, that way lies nothing but misery and sorrow.
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Apr 5, 2012 22:58
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Just a heads up for those without Game Industry experience that we're looking for a Junior IT Support person and a Junior Producer. For the Junior Producer we're looking for someone who is interested in Production and likes games but isn't a Designer or Artist in disguise that just wants an in so they can change departments. You should be a naturally organized person that wants to work at a game company. This is for Ready at Dawn Studios, if you're not caught up on the thread we're making an original IP AAA 3rd Person Action Adventure for a Next-generation home console. PM me or e-mail me at patrick@readyatdawn.com
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Apr 5, 2012 23:16
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rope kid posted:Be impervious. I'm replaying NWN2 solely for the keep section right now. Just FYI.
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Apr 5, 2012 23:31
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Being a community manager has to be the worst job in the gaming industry. Not only are you the go to guy for all of the insane ranting, but it's your job to take it. It seems like an unbearable nightmare.
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Apr 6, 2012 05:31
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rope kid posted:Be impervious. Rope Kid's more or less got it here - you have to remember that if they care enough to be angry about your game, you've made something that touched their emotions and made them want more. Plus, angry people tend to be honest and that's the feedback that's worth its weight in gold (if you can get through the whole 'you're a terrible human being and a retarded chimp could do your job' bit). Live games actually make this situation even weirder - I'm actually in the bizarre position of getting worried when nobody is complaining about something related to my system. Silence generally means that I've done something wrong with the tuning and I need to hunt down where I hosed up and fix it (or at least make sure that it doesn't happen in the next patch). Plus I get to see if people have come up with something more creative than 'who let the intern make stuff?' again! As far as etiquette on SA itself goes, you have to be very careful not to become the voice of authority on something. Occasionally wandering in is ok, but if you're ever the go-to for an answer as to the official company position about something, you've done hosed up. I've seen a couple of guys do the balancing act pretty well, but many more blow up horrifically and it ends in tears and blood.
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Apr 6, 2012 06:00
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wodin posted:Live games actually make this situation even weirder - I'm actually in the bizarre position of getting worried when nobody is complaining about something related to my system. Silence generally means that I've done something wrong with the tuning and I need to hunt down where I hosed up and fix it (or at least make sure that it doesn't happen in the next patch). Plus I get to see if people have come up with something more creative than 'who let the intern make stuff?' again! I find that silence means its not good enough or bad enough to say something.
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Apr 6, 2012 06:02
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Beanpants posted:Being a community manager has to be the worst job in the gaming industry. Not only are you the go to guy for all of the insane ranting, but it's your job to take it. It seems like an unbearable nightmare. I imagine it being like the White House Press Secretary, except the room is always filled with tougher critics.
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Apr 6, 2012 09:24
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Ever met the WH Press Corps? The only people I think who are harsher are the State Department Press Corps. It's very easy to dismiss criticism when it is XsepirothX, 420bongcrusherthetokeslayer420, and RU_pokemaster as your critics; saying respectively "This game sucks, it'd be better if u put in more guns like maybe a gun that shoots other little guns out of it and each of them shoot nukes, and oh yeah u should put out 50 DLCs for free, and there should be a ninja class that hates pirates and has mystical powers, gently caress u n00bs," or "Bro ur game is poo poo, nintendo and sony blow cocks, Gears of War is the best, amirite bro?" or "gently caress U FAT AMERICAN U MAKE poo poo GAME WHERE IS KALASHNIKOV." The problem is that reading through so much of that poo poo is demoralizing and infuriating that when you get to actual legit criticism, you sometimes mistake it as bitching and moaning also. Irish Taxi Driver posted:I find that silence means its not good enough or bad enough to say something. For multiplayer games (especially MMOs) when people DON'T want you to change something (usually balance related), you have to figure out whether it is because it's actually working fine (in which case, there should be SOMEONE bitching), or whether it is OP and nobody wants their class nerfed.
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Apr 6, 2012 11:18
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Mega Shark posted:Just a heads up for those without Game Industry experience that we're looking for a Junior IT Support person and a Junior Producer. What other qualifications do you need for both those positions? Mr Interweb fucked around with this message at 14:28 on Apr 6, 2012 |
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Apr 6, 2012 14:00
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Diplomaticus posted:For multiplayer games (especially MMOs) when people DON'T want you to change something (usually balance related), you have to figure out whether it is because it's actually working fine (in which case, there should be SOMEONE bitching), or whether it is OP and nobody wants their class nerfed. Yeah I do multiplayer maps for a game with a loving huge playerbase, so I do a lot of this when I'm getting feedback.
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Apr 6, 2012 15:39
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Mr Interweb posted:What other qualifications do you need for both those positions? I don't have qualifications on Junior Producer yet. Here is the Junior IT Support position: Readyatdawn.com posted:Ready At Dawn is seeking a Junior IT Support technician who will be working under the supervision of the IT Director. Job will entail resolving computer hardware and software problems and providing general IT support for the company.
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Apr 6, 2012 15:54
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I can only speak with loose authority since I don't start there until 4/16 but Ready at Dawn is pretty awesome.
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Apr 6, 2012 17:18
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Let's say, hypothetically, that I had a Big News Item to launch, ready to go. Original plan was to launch next week, Tuesday, but it got done early. Is afternoon on a Friday a bad time for video game news? Should I still wait? Or should I press the button?
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Apr 6, 2012 20:35
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Shalinor posted:Let's say, hypothetically, that I had a Big News Item to launch, ready to go. Original plan was to launch next week, Tuesday, but it got done early. Push the button and then release a follow up press release on Monday chronicling the rampant success you've seen over the weekend, regardless as to actual level of success.
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Apr 6, 2012 20:36
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