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Jerbs. We have: Level Architect Lead Level Architect Lead Environment Artist Lead Animator Environment Artist Lead Tech Programmer http://jobs.zenimax.com/locations/view/3 If you want to work with people who made Deus Ex, Dishonored, and most importantly Smash TV. Edit: And a bunch of other cool stuff.
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Jun 4, 2013 16:15
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Aliginge posted:Another major company layoff (Zynga I mean), another bunch of people I read on FB and Twitter essentially blaming the laid off staff for not seeing it coming. So do I  A bunch of my good friends from college worked at Zynga LA, and weren't given the option to transfer SF.
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Jun 4, 2013 16:36
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Well to be fair, at this point if you don't have a contingency for being laid off you're taking big risks with your life. Layoffs can happen to pretty much anybody at any time now, especially if your company is failing to meet earnings projections. Hell, I even know folks from well off and stable studios that have been laid off recently.
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Jun 4, 2013 18:10
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Lay off one studio, shame on you. Lay off another set of studios, shame on me. Lay of a third set, and C'MON PEOPLE HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT COMING?!
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Jun 4, 2013 18:43
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Juc66 posted:Well to be fair, at this point if you don't have a contingency for being laid off you're taking big risks with your life. Planning for an unexpected layoff is something everyone should do nowadays, no matter what the industry. That's not to say that it isn't incredibly jarring to suddenly be escorted off the premises of a huge part of your life, but that fact is all the more reason to get your affairs in order so you can cope with the mental and emotional fallout without having to worry about things like your immediate expenses or other logistics. Easier said than done, of course, but still... 
mutata fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Jun 4, 2013 |
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Jun 4, 2013 18:50
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mutata posted:Planning for an unexpected layoff is something everyone should do nowadays, no matter what the industry. That's not to say that it isn't incredibly jarring to suddenly be escorted off the premises of a huge part of your life, but that fact is all the more reason to get your affairs in order so you can cope with the mental and emotional fallout without having to worry about things like your immediate expenses or other logistics. Wife and I are working towards a solid 6 months pay of cash reserves and an equal amount of food on hand. If we had a house (still in an apartment) with more room and in an area with more jobs i'd prefer a year.
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Jun 4, 2013 19:07
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I'm working towards 6 days so you're doing super well there.
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Jun 4, 2013 19:09
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treeboy posted:Wife and I are working towards a solid 6 months pay of cash reserves and an equal amount of food on hand. If we had a house (still in an apartment) with more room and in an area with more jobs i'd prefer a year. Yeah, I think we have 6 months of food and a couple months of money. We just had a kid, though, so we'll have to rejigger our reserves.
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Jun 4, 2013 19:10
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mutata posted:Planning for an unexpected layoff is something everyone should do nowadays, no matter what the industry. That's not to say that it isn't incredibly jarring to suddenly be escorted off the premises of a huge part of your life, but that fact is all the more reason to get your affairs in order so you can cope with the mental and emotional fallout without having to worry about things like your immediate expenses or other logistics. It sucks, but you end up expecting it in this industry in particular. After witnessing three major layoffs/studio closures first hand and then two others in Baltimore, I realize it's just the nature of working in games or really any profit/entertainment-driven industry. Now I have a sizeable amount of money saved up that I can either use to buy property or hang on to as seed money for a startup. But it's just me- no kids, no significant other, no property; living on my own without a steady source of income wouldn't be hard for a year+.
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Jun 4, 2013 19:13
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treeboy posted:Wife and I are working towards a solid 6 months pay of cash reserves and an equal amount of food on hand. If we had a house (still in an apartment) with more room and in an area with more jobs i'd prefer a year. Personally, I treat the two separately. We have our 6 months of rice and beans that hopefully we never touch, and then our 6 months of "the world didn't end" savings including food money.
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Jun 4, 2013 19:14
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^^^ ed: I don't disagree but its good to have extended amounts of food supply in case of emergency (Hurricane Sandy reinforced that for us). Cash doesn't help if there's no where to get food/nobody selling.concerned mom posted:I'm working towards 6 days so you're doing super well there. it's both surprisingly difficult and easy to do. Definitely one of those things that once you start making headway it feels like it snowballs even though it doesn't really. Steady income obviously helps in the first place. The trick is not trying to do too much at once and just putting away an extra $50 here or $100 there when you can, regularly if possible. Food is the same way. Each time you go to the grocery store buy one or two things extra that you know you'll eat and soon you'll have a fair amount of stock for only a few dollars extra each shopping trip. We're at the point that we're also looking to investigate creating some passive or capital gains income that we can use instead of (or supplemental to) savings should I lose my job. edit2: Number 1 thing to do if you come into any extra overtime or bonus pay is to save a chunk as soon as you get it, preferably into an account you don't regularly draw from. At least for me it's "out of sight out of mind" and a lot harder to spend. I *kinda* broke my own rule about that recently and I've been regretting the semi-missed opportunity. This also comes in handy for unforeseen expenditures like dental/medical work or (in my case) a nearly year old collections claim from my old apartment i just found out about...uh...saturday treeboy fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jun 4, 2013 |
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Jun 4, 2013 19:18
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Shalinor posted:We have our 6 months of rice and beans that hopefully we never touch Working in the games industry.txt
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Jun 4, 2013 19:28
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Shalinor posted:We have our 6 months of ramenthat hopefully we never touch. AHEM.  that's more of the expectation I expect to see.
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Jun 4, 2013 19:32
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Shindragon posted:AHEM. it is actually quite important to have food that you're going to eat regularly and replenish as you consume it. Longterm storage like hard whole wheat and rice isn't bad, but if you're using that then there's really something bad going on. It's good to have extra pasta and tomato sauce on hand before breaking out the mortar and pestle 
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Jun 4, 2013 19:45
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treeboy posted:it is actually quite important to have food that you're going to eat regularly and replenish as you consume it. Longterm storage like hard whole wheat and rice isn't bad, but if you're using that then there's really something bad going on. It's good to have extra pasta and tomato sauce on hand before breaking out the mortar and pestle A.) I'm an American. We've all got enough fat on us to make up for that for a good long while. B.) No matter the disaster, the world doesn't stop. You forage for greens, you start popping the squirrels/rabbits/geese, whatever. It doesn't actually take that much meat to turn beans and rice into a survival diet. ... and most importantly: C.) Rice and beans for months fits easily in a hidden corner of my shelf, and can be left there for 10 odd years without me even thinking about it. Stocking sufficient pasta sauce and pasta for that length of time takes an entire pantry, and has to be rotated out yearly. It takes a ton of work to keep a rotating pantry that's actually capable of supporting you, with no hidden quadrants full of long since expired canned carrots or whatever. By contrast, having a functional pantry (that maybe has some really old stuff in it) + the always there rice and beans, I could probably cobble meals out of that for ages. EDIT: VV The problem isn't meat, it's... uh... brain chemicals. You can get it from hominy, but hominy is obnoxious to find in dried bulk form. Once I'm not poor again, I'll just hunt down a big rear end bag of it, pack some recipes in there that use all three, and then we'd be good to go for months, easily, with no missing nutrients - and it all fits easily in a couple of large, sealed buckets. Boom, compact survival food, lasts forever. Quinoa might actually fill that niche too, I've no idea. It's certainly easier to get, and more versatile. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jun 4, 2013 |
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Jun 4, 2013 20:14
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I'd just like to point out you don't need meat to live! Throw some quinoa in with those rice and beans and by god you're good for protein.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:17
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Shalinor posted:That's why I go the rice and beans route. It's a food I eat all the time (augmented with other stuff), and it's really easy to prep. If we ever had a hurricane, I whip that and our super slick hiking water filter out, and we're good to go for months. Technically, rice and beans is a starvation diet, and lacks sufficient nutrients to sustain you in and of itself. But! oh sure, i wasn't suggesting a years worth of spaghetti. Ideally you'd transition out of more common food stuffs on the short term (1-3 months depending on storage space) into longer term food storage like wheat/rice/etc as time wore on. Keeping in mind that when you've got little ones (and even for adults) transitioning quickly into a harsher dietary pattern can be upsetting. But then we also have potable water storage that we rotate out semi-regularly too, typically just for watering plants or whatever around the apartment, but it comes in handy if water is no longer drinkable or flowing at all. we're not preppers i swear, just mormons
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Jun 4, 2013 20:22
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treeboy posted:oh sure, i wasn't suggesting a years worth of spaghetti. Ideally you'd transition out of more common food stuffs on the short term (1-3 months depending on storage space) into longer term food storage like wheat/rice/etc as time wore on. Keeping in mind that when you've got little ones (and even for adults) transitioning quickly into a harsher dietary pattern can be upsetting. But then we also have potable water storage that we rotate out semi-regularly too, typically just for watering plants or whatever around the apartment, but it comes in handy if water is no longer drinkable or flowing at all. Honestly, what most people call "preppers" are just small town folks that are pretty used to services shutting down / getting knocked out. Actual preppers are few and far between. All of this stuff was just standard up in Alaska. Everybody had a pantry, rotated it to some degree, etc. Potable water wasn't so much a concern, but then, most of us were on well water anyways. It only looks like prepping to these dang city slickers that have never been a mile away from city water EDIT: Also, we're about a banjo away from turning the game dev thread into Deliverance.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:25
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Shalinor posted:EDIT: Also, we're about a banjo away from turning the game dev thread into Deliverance. can't animate without a full tummy  Actually this is the kinda stuff that someone should mention to prospective students who want into the industry. It's generally good life advice anyway, but when employment can be spotty, a little planning and forethought years ahead of time can have huge dividends later.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:37
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treeboy posted:can't animate without a full tummy The animation program at BYU has a required course called "Business and Ethics of Animation" which among other more philosophical things has class topics like "How to deal with being laid off". It was one of the best, most useful classes I ever took at college.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:40
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mutata posted:The animation program at BYU has a required course called "Business and Ethics of Animation" which among other more philosophical things has class topics like "How to deal with being laid off". It was one of the best, most useful classes I ever took at college. Not surprised. My wife is considering a graduate degree at BYU sometime in the next few years and I'm very tempted to look for assistant professorial positions in the Animation program there if she decides to pursue that.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:46
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treeboy posted:Not surprised. My wife is considering a graduate degree at BYU sometime in the next few years and I'm very tempted to look for assistant professorial positions in the Animation program there if she decides to pursue that. I bet they could use some good profs. They've lost a couple adjuncts and a full-on professor lately.
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Jun 4, 2013 20:49
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I don't eat wheat or other grains (in excess I get sick) so I'd basically be SOL. I require an expensive produce and meat diet. :'(
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Jun 4, 2013 20:54
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Frown Town posted:I don't eat wheat or other grains (in excess I get sick) so I'd basically be SOL. I require an expensive produce and meat diet. :'( Dried/canned vegetables and fruits as well as lentils are probably your best bet.
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Jun 4, 2013 21:00
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Yo thread, I could use some advice on getting into the game industry. I'm currently applying to a bunch of smaller game studios as a 2danimator/illustrator and am wondering how the hell to word my emails. Should I write a cover letter for each one, or just send some basic information about myself and a link to my portfolio/demoreel? Do I email them again everytime I do significant updates on my portfolio and demo reel? I took a few years in school for illustration and animation programs, but they were both so far behind industry wise we didn't even touch on isometric or vector graphics/animation and I had to learn that on my own.
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Jun 4, 2013 21:01
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Horrible Smutbeast posted:Yo thread, I could use some advice on getting into the game industry. I'm currently applying to a bunch of smaller game studios as a 2danimator/illustrator and am wondering how the hell to word my emails. Should I write a cover letter for each one, or just send some basic information about myself and a link to my portfolio/demoreel? Do I email them again everytime I do significant updates on my portfolio and demo reel? I took a few years in school for illustration and animation programs, but they were both so far behind industry wise we didn't even touch on isometric or vector graphics/animation and I had to learn that on my own. For smaller studios, I write a brief email with my portfolio/etc link easy to see, and a little blurb about my interests and why I'm interested in the particular company, and what I think I could offer. Not like a formal cover letter, but something that could passably be considered one in the body of email. It's more likely that the art director will personally read each email in a little studio. If you don't hear a response in a week or two, ping the studio and gently ask if there was a decision, or, if they've got a spare moment, how you can improve your portfolio to prove that you're a better fit. If you can get an art director to give you a critique, then send him your new stuff. But if you don't establish that repertoire with a human being working at that company, you may as well just reapply in 6-12 months. They say they keep your info on file, but I'm not sure how likely people actually dig into those files. Gentle reminders are ok, as long as they don't turn so frequent they're obnoxious. mutata posted:Dried/canned vegetables and fruits as well as lentils are probably your best bet.  I wouldn't starve to death at least.
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Jun 4, 2013 21:10
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Frown Town posted:
Yeah, that's generally the point  There are plenty of awesome recipes online, in any case.
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Jun 4, 2013 21:17
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I told someone in an interview recently I was OK with C++, I mostly used it for Nintendo DS development for about 6 years, but touched a few other platforms. I hadn't done anything in C++ recently, it has all been C#. He then asked me a very specific question about some C++ keyword I had no clue on. When I asked some former coworkers about it later, it was a keyword that was not supported for the compilers we used for DS development. On the subject of C++ versus C# development, Unity taught me that C# is a very scary language for mobile development, for slower platforms. I wrote a blog post on using C# with Unity and iOS last week http://josephstankowicz.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/unity-c-and-mono-best-practices-and-memory-patterns/ On the Zynga layoffs, I know it came as a huge surprise to a bunch of my friends at Zynga offices. Lots of people super excited about the projects they were on, and excited about their projects doing really well when released. I think the two things I've learned with the many recent rounds of layoffs everywhere is: Always keep your resume up to date and constantly be networking. Don't believe anything you are told about how well things are going, always expect the hammer to drop at any moment. Also, on "should you just roll on your severance for a while instead of getting back to work right away", I was really tempted to do this, but I quickly realized I really do like going to a place with other people and working every day. Working from home on my side projects is exciting, but stressful, and I get some extreme cabin fever.
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Jun 4, 2013 21:54
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Chainclaw posted:On the Zynga layoffs, I know it came as a huge surprise to a bunch of my friends at Zynga offices. Lots of people super excited about the projects they were on, and excited about their projects doing really well when released. I guess I was lucky in that, as a remote studio (Zynga East), we were extremely sensitive and privvy to the Boston/Austin closings earlier and saw the writing on the wall. Having one game cancelled via telecom, then immediately having head of HR come on vidcon and say, "Hey, on the plus side, devs/PMs can apply to transfer to HQ!" and having 99% of the requests for promotions/recognition get shut down were all exceptionally bad signs. Having IT start taking inventory of the equipment was just like a, "Welp.." moment. That gave those willing to the opportunity to send in our transfer requests. I was really thankful our GM kept it real with us, even though the final weeks were total morale-killers.
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Jun 4, 2013 22:00
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I have an air raid shelter that I'm keeping prepped just in case my wifi ever goes out.
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Jun 4, 2013 23:00
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Chainclaw posted:Also, on "should you just roll on your severance for a while instead of getting back to work right away", I was really tempted to do this, but I quickly realized I really do like going to a place with other people and working every day. Working from home on my side projects is exciting, but stressful, and I get some extreme cabin fever. (I would recommend against dropping out to do solo indie for this reason, unless you know you have a solid support structure in place, btw - never even mind the other massive risks involved in solo indie) Shalinor fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Jun 4, 2013 |
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Jun 4, 2013 23:05
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Chainclaw posted:I think the two things I've learned with the many recent rounds of layoffs everywhere is: Always keep your resume up to date and constantly be networking. Don't believe anything you are told about how well things are going, always expect the hammer to drop at any moment. These two paragraphs seem pretty incompatible with each other. You like working with people, and you also expect to be fired and separated from them at any moment? How is that conducive to having a happy career at all? (Disclosure: I went freelance years ago and never looked back at the infighting, the commutes, and yes, that looming sense of doom you get. A lot of places out there show about as much loyalty for employees as the Wendy's they eat lunch at, despite the interview hurdles.)
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Jun 4, 2013 23:07
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SUPER HASSLER posted:These two paragraphs seem pretty incompatible with each other. You like working with people, and you also expect to be fired and separated from them at any moment? How is that conducive to having a happy career at all? I guess keeping it in the back of your mind and not being totally caught off guard is important. I don't think anyone needs to be ultra-paranoid about it. But generally keeping your resume up-to-date-ish and not disappearing off the face of the earth from your contacts is a pro business move. I don't like "networking" because that implies I'm really only after growing my career professionally with someone. I really just want to find more game devs to come rock climbing with me
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Jun 4, 2013 23:12
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SUPER HASSLER posted:These two paragraphs seem pretty incompatible with each other. You like working with people, and you also expect to be fired and separated from them at any moment? How is that conducive to having a happy career at all? As with most things in life, it isn't so black and white as you want to read it to be. I enjoy a sense of stability because I do good work and I feel that my company is going to release a profitable product, BUT I recognize that a lot of factors could possibly change for the worse so I prepare for the worst. Preparing for a worst case scenario like a layoff actually makes me feel more secure. If you live in California, you should prepare for an earthquake. This doesn't mean you live in constant fear of one dropping any second, but in fact, your preparation helps you feel more secure that you'll be ok if/when one does hit. Get it?
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Jun 4, 2013 23:21
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SUPER HASSLER posted:These two paragraphs seem pretty incompatible with each other. You like working with people, and you also expect to be fired and separated from them at any moment? How is that conducive to having a happy career at all? I guess I used the wrong word. I should have worded it to be ready for anything, and not to always expect things to fail. I don't think the industry is that much doom and gloom. What I'm seeing out of being included in a round of layoffs is, for the people who had been through layoffs before, they hit the ground running. They didn't need to spend a week getting an up to date resume, they actually had portfolio stuff they were keeping up to date, they didn't need to spend a week making their linked in account look great. They had been doing a good job attending networking events, and some people were even employed before the end of the week after being laid off. On instability in games, I know quite a few people have left games after the layoffs. Especially IT and other support staff that can do the same work for another industry. I have even been entertaining leaving the games industry, but I decided I want to stay (unless some crazy opportunities present themselves), it is just so much fun working on and around games. One of the positions I'm looking at is a contract position. I want that because I am curious how it would work out. It seems like a fun way to really get some more exposure at different places in the games industry, and if you do it right, you can take space contracts apart to do some of your own projects. Would be cool to be prepared to launch a Kickstarter a year from now.
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Jun 4, 2013 23:23
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Frown Town posted:I really just want to find more game devs to come rock climbing with me I want more game devs to come airsofting with me so I can shoot them and bother them for jobs later in my career.  
GeeCee fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jun 5, 2013 |
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Jun 4, 2013 23:24
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Frown Town posted:For smaller studios, I write a brief email with my portfolio/etc link easy to see, and a little blurb about my interests and why I'm interested in the particular company, and what I think I could offer. Not like a formal cover letter, but something that could passably be considered one in the body of email. It's more likely that the art director will personally read each email in a little studio. If you don't hear a response in a week or two, ping the studio and gently ask if there was a decision, or, if they've got a spare moment, how you can improve your portfolio to prove that you're a better fit. If you can get an art director to give you a critique, then send him your new stuff. But if you don't establish that repertoire with a human being working at that company, you may as well just reapply in 6-12 months. They say they keep your info on file, but I'm not sure how likely people actually dig into those files. Gentle reminders are ok, as long as they don't turn so frequent they're obnoxious. Sweet, thanks! I didn't consider sending a blurb about what I could bring to the table to be honest. Since my last course was all about animation we pretty much didn't learn anything about contacting people except "go to animation festivals!" or "have friends in the industry!" I would have switched to the game design program but it's all programming/level design and it seems like there's enough people going through the diploma mill that it wouldn't make a difference on my resume.
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Jun 5, 2013 00:50
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Horrible Smutbeast posted:Yo thread, I could use some advice on getting into the game industry. I'm currently applying to a bunch of smaller game studios as a 2danimator/illustrator and am wondering how the hell to word my emails. Should I write a cover letter for each one, or just send some basic information about myself and a link to my portfolio/demoreel? Do I email them again everytime I do significant updates on my portfolio and demo reel? I took a few years in school for illustration and animation programs, but they were both so far behind industry wise we didn't even touch on isometric or vector graphics/animation and I had to learn that on my own. I do an edit pass on my resume for every position I apply for, and I write a cover letter from scratch for each one (this actually becomes something you can do really fast once you've gotten used to it-- they all follow the same general pattern). It's been mentioned to me as a positive from people I sent them to once or twice, so it seems worth doing. I can't say it got me my current job (because that was probably more having a friend there to put in a word for me. See: importance of networking) but it can't hurt to put in the effort.
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Jun 5, 2013 01:58
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I think I've decided to not go to E3 this year, because I really hate E3 and I think with the new consoles this year is going to be an absolute clusterfuck.
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Jun 5, 2013 01:59
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Lots of interesting posts to reply to today, which I'll do now! I'm glad to be part of a security minded company that doesn't let me reply to these posts because SA's posting form uses multipart/form-data encoding, which incidentally is the encoding format to upload files through HTTP... If it weren't for my company's vigilance, I could accidentally leak tonnes of sensitive project information!  loving paranoid shitheads Hughlander posted:For years in console development questions on RVO were my normal litmus test for someone who is actually a 7-8 in C++ vs someone who just self-rates themselves there. It's weird, I already came across, used and memorised some of these acronyms -- RAII, CRTP. RAII is a pretty simple concept, but the vagaries of C++ constructors/destructors can make it a pain to actually use on a game project. I guess this is why the good old Init function has yet to go away. CRTP, I have a good example of later in this post. And RVO is a new one to me... Though I already knew about copy constructors and copy optimisations, I wasn't aware that the standard allowed to bypass copy constructors in this particular case. The implications are heavy, but then I suppose this is also why I never saw copy constructors defined in AAA codebases. Shalinor posted:EDIT: Dude, CRTP is so cool. Definitely need to find time for a fun C++ side project. It's a weird yet useful pattern, to be sure. On our WiiU port of DS2, Vigil refused to share a common base class for pixel and vertex shaders, because the cost of virtual function calls would add up across every single renderer function. Since we always knew at compile time the base type of shader we were referring to, I decided to throw together a CRTP base class for the shaders. During the review, my lead was looking at me like I'd gone crazy, but I managed to make my point about the utility of the pattern. When Vigil later on introduced a bit of texture sampling in the vertex shader as a performance optimisation, I was laughing my way through the integrate that took about half an hour of testing and a quick shader rebuild instead of tediously copy & pasting all the texture related shader functions, then changing the pixel functions to vertex ones. Good times. treeboy posted:Wife and I are working towards a solid 6 months pay of cash reserves and an equal amount of food on hand. Up until recently, I would've called you a tinfoil hat person for storing food in such a fashion, but Montreal recently went through a hilarious (in a sad, ironic sort of hilarity) phase of tap water boiling advisory. Though it turned out to be an unnecessary precaution, it makes you realise how fragile our western luxuries are. Cash wise, I have a year's worth of money saved up, and in spite of that I can't bring myself to take risky decisions. There's something inherently worrisome about not having a steady source of income. Even though I have no doubt I'd be able to find something before running out of savings, there's so many horror stories out there about the current economy, not to mention the popular wisdom that it's far easier to find a job when you're already holding one. I guess this is part of being a responsible adult, as opposed to leaving a job you hate just to stick it to the Man.  SUPER HASSLER posted:Disclosure: I went freelance years ago and never looked back at the infighting, the commutes, and yes, that looming sense of doom you get. If I may ask, what kind of context are you freelancing in? I've always admired my uncle/godfather's lifestyle because he's self-employed, taking care of his own medical software company, which allows him far more freedom than most salaried positions. Currently, he owns a nice, large house quite away from the city and any urban amenities I've grown used to... But he has a large vegetable garden that serves both as hobby and source of food... He has a far larger terrain than I could ever dream of owning in the suburbs, let alone the city... His current house is far larger than the one he'd owned back when he was in the city... And, lastly, he's on his own goddamn schedule, meaning one week I'll constantly see him popping up on Steam playing Skyrim or something, then he'll just disappear for a few days to completely focus on work -- exactly the kind of lifestyle I'd love to have if it weren't for lovely companies shoving their 40 hour, monday-friday week down their employees throats. The irony of it all is I have a greater salary than he does. But since he already paid off his city apartment a while ago, and has little to no debt to speak of, he can now afford to live on a lesser salary than I need to just to survive in an urban context. Uncle aside, all of which to say, I'd bloody love to be freelance but that seems increasingly impossible in the games domain, let alone AAA games. So I'm curious to see how you're managing.
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