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Jimbot posted:How much programming knowledge do you need to have to build a basic game in Unity or Game Maker? I download Unity and did some basic tutorials to get the hang of the layout and what does what but before I continue on I'm just curious to know if I should look up some Java tutorials or something like that.
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Jul 30, 2014 05:39
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Shalinor posted:If your team is that large, I honestly think the only right Unity workflow is "you use it as a cross platform rendering engine, and every other scrap of tooling/etc you need is hand-coded / loaded manually". It scales alright to a point, but only to a point. Eventually, yeah. Or alternatively, don't use Unity. :\
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Jul 30, 2014 05:43
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I'll be at PAX too. If there's a meetup, I'll definitely try to swing by.
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Jul 30, 2014 06:56
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So I've heard a lot of "Unity is bad with large teams" but what is it that makes it bad at it?
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Jul 30, 2014 08:13
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15 months ago I got my first job as an 18-month contract Mobile QA Tester. As of this past Monday though, I am now a converted full-time employee with the title QA Technical Analyst!  I shall start taking advantage of my benefits immediately and go to Disneyland as soon as I can!I still remember my posts in this thread ~16 months ago asking about QA test/interview tips and stuff like that. 
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Jul 30, 2014 11:30
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OneEightHundred posted:So I've heard a lot of "Unity is bad with large teams" but what is it that makes it bad at it?
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Jul 30, 2014 11:42
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DancingMachine posted:Eventually, yeah. Or alternatively, don't use Unity. :\ Unity + all-custom toolset is still a HELL of a lot better than deciding to roll your own engine, at least. It also has a relatively even glide path from micro studio to large studio.
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Jul 30, 2014 15:42
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Shalinor posted:UE4, then? As much as I love what UE4 is doing I question how well the bluesprint system scales with team size. They've done a lot from version 4.0 to 4.3 to improve the blueprint workflow but it isn't much better than a prefab really in terms of multiple people working on the same blueprint at the same time (in other words don't do that). The biggest factor is that blueprints can be broken up into smaller chunks and you can have blueprints call other blueprints, so it is a little easier in that regard.
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Jul 30, 2014 16:54
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xgalaxy posted:As much as I love what UE4 is doing I question how well the bluesprint system scales with team size. They've done a lot from version 4.0 to 4.3 to improve the blueprint workflow but it isn't much better than a prefab really in terms of multiple people working on the same blueprint at the same time (in other words don't do that). The biggest factor is that blueprints can be broken up into smaller chunks and you can have blueprints call other blueprints, so it is a little easier in that regard. Besides, they can't possibly be as bad as Unity prefabs. Unity prefabs break when I'M THE ONLY ONE TOUCHING THEM. They break if you squint at them. ... and yet Unity still makes more sense for us, as a studio. Too much institutional knowledge and experience to just throw it away, and Unity really is "ok" for us, even if UE4 sure as hell looks shiny right now. The lack of rev share is also really a bonus long-term - UE4's pricing, ironically, doesn't scale well to large studios at all. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Jul 30, 2014 |
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Jul 30, 2014 17:53
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Hey hey.... my Oculus DK2 arrived today! Too bad I'm busy finaling this other game.....
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Jul 30, 2014 20:02
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I'll be at PAX, but probably dead sick and/or completely hoarse from yelling to journos all day
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Jul 30, 2014 20:25
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stiknork posted:I'll be at PAX, but probably dead sick and/or completely hoarse from yelling to journos all day The difference between 'yelling to' and 'yelling at' is subtle but important. 
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Jul 30, 2014 20:31
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stiknork posted:I'll be at PAX, but probably dead sick and/or completely hoarse from yelling to journos all day I just got told I have to work our booth for PAX... my EP told me "bring lots of Purell."
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Jul 30, 2014 21:02
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Pixelboy posted:I just got told I have to work our booth for PAX... my EP told me "bring lots of Purell." Not some tiny squeeze bottle either, no, a big one with a pump top. It sits on your booth all day, and you use it constantly (as do your neighbors). EDIT: The drinking is taken as given. Do other industries teach you to drink? Never thought that'd be an on-the-job skill, but, here we are. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Jul 30, 2014 |
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Jul 30, 2014 21:06
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Shalinor posted:Hand sanitizer and throat drops are key. With those two magical talismans, you can make it through a convention without being sick and silent the following week. Yeah, that's how I survive when I get tasked with E3 floor duty. That, and drinking.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:08
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Also, Zicam at the first sign of a sore throat. It's magic.
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Jul 30, 2014 21:10
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Also this  .Steve Ballmer swore by them, and so do I. Just take a bit every now and then to lubricate and coat your throat 
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Jul 30, 2014 21:57
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Yeah, I'm also going to try to drink a lot of this stuff this year.  We're moving out of Indie Megabooth this year too, which may or may not help the situation based on where we end up. All I know is that I was real excited to work my first PAX last year and now, to be honest, I'm really dreading it. There's something about the PAX audience that just makes the whole weekend nightmarish outside of the bar bits. Also, 4 days.
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Jul 30, 2014 22:24
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So is this Crytek's swan song or what?
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Jul 30, 2014 23:29
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I don't think it's their swansong yet, I think they just spent a bunch of money they didn't have and now it's biting them in the rear end. Expecting Ryse to make any kind of money is a sucker's bet, and it sounds like they were really expecting to secure Ryse 2. Sucks about Homefront, though, that game sounded pretty awesome and it seems destined to never loving happen. Although Deep Silver did good by my friends at Volition when they got bought out and Saints Row 4 was pretty solid, so maybe they'll support the new/refugee team appropriately. I think their Frankfurt office will subsist just fine for quite a while and go on to make more great looking technology with lackluster gameplay.
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Jul 31, 2014 01:33
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Sigma-X posted:I don't think it's their swansong yet, I think they just spent a bunch of money they didn't have and now it's biting them in the rear end. Expecting Ryse to make any kind of money is a sucker's bet, and it sounds like they were really expecting to secure Ryse 2. Sucks about Homefront, though, that game sounded pretty awesome and it seems destined to never loving happen. Although Deep Silver did good by my friends at Volition when they got bought out and Saints Row 4 was pretty solid, so maybe they'll support the new/refugee team appropriately. Maybe nine offices when you've only ever released nine games was over reaching a little? Is that what you mean by 'spending a bunch of money they didn't have'? Like, having the same number of games as you do studios seems like a fairly weird economy to be trying to run, right?
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Jul 31, 2014 01:53
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They've said they've secured more funding so they're not going to be out for a while. I have no idea what their "transition to a publisher" is going to mean though, like if they're going to become a vertically-integrated online dev typical of the F2P market, or just drop development entirely.
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Jul 31, 2014 03:11
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Sigma-X posted:I don't think it's their swansong yet, I think they just spent a bunch of money they didn't have and now it's biting them in the rear end. Expecting Ryse to make any kind of money is a sucker's bet, and it sounds like they were really expecting to secure Ryse 2. Sucks about Homefront, though, that game sounded pretty awesome and it seems destined to never loving happen. Although Deep Silver did good by my friends at Volition when they got bought out and Saints Row 4 was pretty solid, so maybe they'll support the new/refugee team appropriately. FYI the deal with Homefront is that the IP was sold as well as the whole dev studio primarily working on it, so basically everyone who was at Crytek UK yesterday will become Deep Silver Dambusters tomorrow, we're being taken care of. It really sucks about Austin though as there is no similar deal for them, from what I've heard a lot of people have already been picked up by other devs there - I knew a couple of folks over there and they had done an amazing job on HUNT, so I'm hoping everything will work out for everyone.
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Jul 31, 2014 07:49
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Hey gamedev goons, This is Thom: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/thomas-whalen/8/149/969 He's every lovely friend you had in 6th grade, but in an adult's body. Last I heard he was still lying pathologically ("my uncle works at Nintendo" type poo poo) and making up random rules to win at card games. He went to Full Sail for game design, but as far as I could tell had zero talent or passion. Always dodged gamedev questions, no Github or Stackoverflow accounts, etc. Anyhow he was back in his hometown the other weekend and a bunch of my friends saw him. He says he's working on The Sims 4 but when my friends pressed for more info he said it was all confidential. He claimed to be in a design / development role, but his Linkedin only lists "balancing The Sims 4's systems and economy" which just sounds like "tightening the graphics on level 3" to me. What's the read, goons? How full of poo poo is my friend? fart barterer fucked around with this message at 18:03 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 18:01
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Shalinor posted:Congrats dude! Is anyone planning a meetup for Pax? This is the first year I won't be working at the show and I'd love to meet up with some of you folks.
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Jul 31, 2014 18:20
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androo posted:Hey gamedev goons, I've interviewed him before. How would you know he has zero talent or passion? I'm personal friends with a lot of people connected with him on LinkedIn but honestly its sounds more like sour grapes to me from your end.
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Jul 31, 2014 18:21
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androo posted:Hey gamedev goons, So... you just want to call your old high school "friend" out and be like "nyah nyah nyah!"? Cool, bro. Are you gonna give him a swirly at your high school reunion too?
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Jul 31, 2014 18:32
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I don't have github or stackoverflow accounts either. I don't even know what they are. Am I not a real dev? 
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Jul 31, 2014 18:51
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He's listed as a Technical Designer in my Lync directory, and I'm at EA. Soooo, not full of poo poo at all?
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Jul 31, 2014 18:52
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To be fair, he does have a stupid hat. So you can still make fun of him for that.
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Jul 31, 2014 18:53
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I didn't doubt he had the position, I just wasn't certain what it actually entailed. Ragging on Thom is an ancient tradition in my circle (he was impossibly goony in high school), but in hindsight I probably shouldn't have let my GBS sensibilities spill into a thread about a really tough industry. My apologies if I was obnoxious.
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Jul 31, 2014 18:59
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androo posted:He says he's working on The Sims 4 but when my friends pressed for more info he said it was all confidential. He claimed to be in a design / development role, but his Linkedin only lists "balancing The Sims 4's systems and economy" which just sounds like "tightening the graphics on level 3" to me. Hazed_blue posted:He's listed as a Technical Designer in my Lync directory, and I'm at EA. Soooo, not full of poo poo at all? Thom sounds like a man who values his job and respects the power of an NDA. I don't know anything more about him but from these posts he sounds like he is mature or has matured enough to understand being a professional. Hey, apparently he is a 2nd Degree connection.
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Jul 31, 2014 19:08
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androo posted:Hey gamedev goons, androo posted:I didn't doubt he had the position, I just wasn't certain what it actually entailed. I think you might be projecting.
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Jul 31, 2014 19:16
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androo posted:I didn't doubt he had the position, I just wasn't certain what it actually entailed. I'd fully expect a technical designer to be working on crunchy systems, so that sounds entirely above board. Also you should consider trusting your friend if they are in fact your friend - your first post in general rubs me the wrong way. Shalinor posted:... and yet Unity still makes more sense for us, as a studio. Too much institutional knowledge and experience to just throw it away, and Unity really is "ok" for us, even if UE4 sure as hell looks shiny right now. The lack of rev share is also really a bonus long-term - UE4's pricing, ironically, doesn't scale well to large studios at all. Keep in mind also that if you're a large enough studio you can likely negotiate different terms with Epic. I doubt the Activisions or even the Turtle Rocks of the world just accept the terms on their website without deeper conversation. Brackhar fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 19:43
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androo posted:Hey gamedev goons, Not sure what axe you have to grind here. Also, I don't know hardly anyone that has GH or SO accounts and I had to actually look up what gamedev.net was. And I've spent years "balancing systems and economies" as a both a systems and technical designer so I think you're just being an rear end in a top hat.
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Jul 31, 2014 20:41
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Iron Leg posted:I think you're just being an rear end in a top hat. ^This Everybody grows up for the most part and needs to find a career path, no matter how goony they are. That being said, I'm so glad I don't have to work on The Sims 4.
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Jul 31, 2014 21:05
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If being a gamedev requires me to have active github and stackoverflow accounts then gently caress my life.
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Jul 31, 2014 21:12
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androo posted:I didn't doubt he had the position, I just wasn't certain what it actually entailed. The duties and responsibilities of developers with technical positions tend to vary wildly across the industry, even within the same studio. In my experience, there is no no good way of knowing what any particular role actually entails without first-hand information and/or a resume. Your friend sounds like he knows what an NDA is and doesn't run his mouth. I'd take that over a good LinkedIn photo any day. Also it's not uncommon for some companies to not want their employees having github/stackoverflow/other public accounts.
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Jul 31, 2014 21:14
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androo posted:I didn't doubt he had the position, I just wasn't certain what it actually entailed. That hat + profile image + designer probably means he's a bit of a goon, and it looks like the kind of handshake I might go "eeehhh" after and wash my hands, but I mean, hell. A similar shot of me ended up in a big magazine spread. It was very professionally done, and the photographer wanted me to grab goofy props I had lying around to really ham it up for the presumed audience. Pictures like that often have a lot of context to them. EDIT: Brackhar posted:Keep in mind also that if you're a large enough studio you can likely negotiate different terms with Epic. I doubt the Activisions or even the Turtle Rocks of the world just accept the terms on their website without deeper conversation. It isn't like Unity's without downsides of its own, though. There, it's more "you eventually reach a scale where the engine begins to break down, but lack of source access means you're faced with a costly re-architecting of your entire historical codebase or progressively more costly work-arounds that contribute to ongoing engine instability in all future games." Negotiating source access isn't even useful in that case, since most signs point to Unity's codebase being a spaghetti mess that not even their 400+ team can reliably support and expand on. EDIT2: I do think our plan of basically side-lining Unity and writing all-custom tools et al in C# has interesting upsides, though. Theoretically, we can unstaple Unity from that codebase and, so long as we've got a proper interface layer, we can just staple on any other serviceable C# engine we care to use. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Jul 31, 2014 |
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Jul 31, 2014 22:00
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Shalinor posted:Yes, you were obnoxious. Please tell your friends that you were being an insufferable tool, and that your impossibly goony friend at Maxis may be the most successful of your circle. Also, that you're possibly all envious of his success despite his possibly suspect personal grooming regime. Yeah, my company photo had me wearing a fake mustache. Props are really common.
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Jul 31, 2014 22:04
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