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I think it's best not to give out an inkling of an idea that in game jobs you play L4D2 and TF2 at work and then tighten up the graphics in level 2 because god knows how many people already have that idea. Sure it can be fun, and great to be in an environment with people who are passionate about games, but it's also loving hard work. At DigiPen, there were countless number of people who thought all they were going to do was play video games in a video game college while they were in a programming degree. Well that's also why there's like a 50% dropout rate there. I currently work at a small startup and we don't have the luxury of spreading out our tasks to lots of people so when we have to hit our deadlines we have to bust our asses to get poo poo done.
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Jun 3, 2011 08:56
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Demitri Omni posted:Well, from what me and my friend have been talking about, what he suggested (after basically saying 'for most people this is a bad idea but you seem like you would work well') was the Bachelor of Science in Game Design, which is what he is in for, and he says they'll basically kick my rear end trying to make sure I'm cut out for it, and if it isn't something I believe I can do, I can easily switch to the RTIS degree, which is the main programming degree. I am a DigiPen programmer graduate in the RTIS degree and DigiPen works you really hard, but that's how you have to get your mindset into. The biggest thing I always try to emphasize is self-motivation. Playing games and making games are very different. You can roll through the degree and work hard, but if you don't feel like wanting to make your own levels for a game or a new scripted AI or something on the side, then everything DigiPen or any other school offers won't help much. I've seen way too many dropouts because they loved games, but just didn't have the heart to make them. I don't know much about the game design degree at DigiPen so I can't comment, but I was a programmer and much of us never really liked the game design degree. I don't know how much that's changed.
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Jun 28, 2011 19:50
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Demitri Omni posted:Looking at the actual course requirement list (and suggested course sequence), there don't appear to be any less core programming or math classes than the design degree, it just seems like the design degree has a lot more required courses other than those (only 2-3 electives), whereas the programming degree has a ton of electives towards the end of the curriculum, instead of the design-oriented classes the other degree has. Maybe I'm just reading it wrong, but it doesn't look like I would be going through any less programming than I would be in the actual programming degree. Umm, looking at the current recommended course sequence for the game design degree, I can handily tell you that you will be going through way less programming in the game design degree. Most of the programming if at all you will learn is scripting, but I think even then learning a programming language like C/C++ first then moving into scripting is miles and miles better. As someone who went through the programming degree, I think the game design courses look really meh but maybe it's just my bitterness having to write my own physics engine, graphics engine (both OpenGL and DirectX), AI, math libraries, etc etc from scratch. However, if you look at the courses and you are really excited for it, maybe check it out. I think you can always switch to the programmer or art degree if you want to but it's expensive. If you're a programmer you're not pigeon holed into a programmer position, you just need to get some experience on your own.
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Jun 29, 2011 00:37
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So Bungie finally officially announced Bungie Aerospace http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=bungie_aerospace, their project to partner with smaller indie companies and their first partnership with Harebrained Schemes. I am currently a Tools Engineer/Programmer at Harebrained Schemes. We're a startup with really just a handful of people so this is huge for us. Being a startup with little to no funding is pretty scary so getting a partnership with Bungie is a really big step to getting noticed and getting our game out there. Woo 
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Jul 1, 2011 02:59
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Sigma-X posted:How are you a startup with little to no funding? I thought Weisman starts and sells a company every year or so and I would imagine with his track record he should have no problems either finding funding or having a stack of cash of his own to run it off of. Am I grossly off mark here? Besides Bungie's help we currently don't have any other venture capital so we can only go so long from self-funding.
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Jul 1, 2011 06:14
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Shalinor posted:I don't suppose anyone has contacts at Sucker Punch? Washington is pretty boss. Bellevue is a sweet place to work, too. I've been around their offices. It's right near Valve. I had an interview for a tester position there, cool people.  I saw Gabe Newell in the Starbucks nearby but I didn't have the balls to talk to him. He exerts presence.
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Jul 16, 2011 01:09
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GetWellGamers posted:I know there's already a PAX thread, but it's being overrun with the dickwolves controversy, so I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a PAX Prime meetup/dinner like we do for GDC? Fun times can be had by all! I currently don't have any passes for PAX, not sure if I can snag a late pass but I'd still be up for a meetup/dinner.
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Jul 18, 2011 21:35
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gently caress, it is taking every fiber in my body to not post a youtube of Steve Ballmer saying developers developers developers developers developers. Fake edit: Well I've already gone down this rabbit hole so https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8To-6VIJZRE
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Jul 29, 2011 04:09
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Aliginge posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGar7KC6Wiw&feature=share That video is amazing and it made me laugh but it linked me to this related video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GoF0khg3Ac&NR=1 and it made me cry.
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Jul 29, 2011 04:48
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Fishbus posted:Urgh workin' the Brink threads is a harsh mistress. I'm not a PR guy, I don't even need to be there, but I care about our fuckups so much but I'm alone on that quest against a lot of angry internet people. Anyone have such fun? It's fun to see the praises of something you've worked on, but absolute torture to see the criticisms. I don't think anyone will have fun doing what you're doing, but it's okay to feel passionate but not hopeless. You alone can't fix every gripe but you can always learn more about what some people want. Of course the internet, especially SA is a vocal minority and not the be-all consumer base.
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Aug 3, 2011 22:51
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Pretty much a crosspost from the PAX thread but, I'll be at PAX as well so definitely check our booth for Crimson Steam Pirates at booth 682 (marked [a]listgames). I'll be at the booth all 3 days but not all shifts. Come by, say hi, and play our game.
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Aug 25, 2011 23:10
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Solus posted:I'll never get the complaint that an applicant is over qualified. Maybe they like the work they are applying for and will be the perfect employee. The biggest reason for "applicant is over qualified" is that the company wants a person that will be paid a lower wage and will stay for the length of the project they need them for. This has happened to me as a programmer straight out of school applying for QA positions. They don't want to spend resources hiring and training someone that might leave for greener pastures and leave them poo poo out of luck.
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Aug 30, 2011 00:50
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Shalinor posted:I will go to my deathbed saying that Shadowrun was a freaking awesome shooter. Especially when you remember that the plan was always to take those MP skills and wrap them into a single-player RPG/shooter, just... drat. So sad. You would make some people who I work for very, very happy. I've heard their stories after playing the game myself a long time ago and I totally know how you but also everyone else feels. They certainly tried but things don't always go as you want them to and the consumer base is a harsh and less than forgiving environment.
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Sep 12, 2011 22:04
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Archetype posted:That reminds me, I noticed even DOTA 2 doesn't have any females in its Strength category, much like HON doesn't. This makes me really sad. I thought they were better than that. It's a causation of DOTA 1 on the WC3 engine and WC3 in general. List of DOTA1 Heroes: http://www.playdota.com/heroes You can even dig deeper into the list of WC3 units: http://www.wowwiki.com/Warcraft_III_units You can see from the WC3 units that there are very few if any(?) "bruiser-like" strength female units, most are on the skinnier side and look more in the vain of agility and intelligence anyways. Most of the strength heroes are monsters/beasts unless you want more female monsters/beasts. Since DOTA2 is more or less a remake of DOTA1, all the heroes are only slightly changed but try to have some similarities so people who've played DOTA1 can still differentiate between them.
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Sep 15, 2011 22:58
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Chernabog posted:Apparently Digipen is making a new MFA program. I'm not sure what else they can teach on top of the 4 year BFA. The only thing I can hope is less smaller projects and more larger portfolio piece projects. The top complaint I hear from my friends that have done/currently in DigiPen's BFA program is not having enough time to flesh out projects to be more competent portfolio pieces. This is usually because they're trying to teach a broad range of abilities of many 2d and 3d mediums. They really need MFA to only have a few classes at most and the rest is projects.
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Dec 8, 2011 00:21
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I have a metric ton of friends that work for Zynga (drat you Zynga for taking all my friends out of Seattle to San Francisco   ) and they all really enjoy working there. It's easy to hate but the actual work environment seems to be fine. They're pretty passionate about what they work on so it's not my place to judge them or their company. Haters gunna hate.
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Jan 6, 2012 20:34
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Man, all the DigiPen hate brings me down. I graduated as a programmer there and I liked my experience but I also understand the remarks about the degree not being completely legit and option to go for a normal CS degree from a university. However the knowledge and experience from DigiPen is legit, but only if you apply yourself but that can be said of anything. All the programming they teach is good stuff and a good way to go about studying the subject which is to start from the ground up. Usually when I'm asked about DigiPen and other CS degrees, my general sentiments are they're both good experiences, but I feel that because of DigiPen's many projects and yearlong team projects, DigiPen students are usually better at creating an application from start to finish from scratch while Uni students may be better at CS theory. As for jobs, most of my DigiPen programmer friends all have pretty good jobs in all over, from Zynga to 343 Studios. But they're very exceptional anyways. In fact I know at least 6+ programmers from my class that were hired by Zynga alone!
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Mar 15, 2012 23:44
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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. My heart goes out to all game jobs goons and Cliffy B. How do you guys do it? Edit: oops forgot to mention I'm a developer for the Shadowrun kickstarter
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Apr 4, 2012 22:23
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mutata posted:HATAS GON' HATE I'm going to pour a 40 just for Cliffy B.
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Apr 4, 2012 22:31
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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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http://kotaku.com/5936142/diablo-iii-interview-leads-to-unexpected-facebook-bitching Even if you're a lead designer in Blizzard, don't be "That Guy". Basically David Brevik, ex cofounder of Blizzard North says criticisms of Diablo 3 in an actually not a terribly mean way and developers of D3 get all in a puff and go on Facebook to say "gently caress that loser". Developers, please stop saying dumb poo poo on public forums. We all know the game you made is your baby and you're understandably attached to it, but sometimes you just got to let it go.
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Aug 20, 2012 23:46
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Well gently caress. THQ is doing an awesome humble bundle now with games like Saints Row 3rd, Metro 2033, Darksiders, and Company of Heroes, and I check my facebook and what do I see? Well a friend that works at another game company linking it and saying to make sure not to give THQ any money. I am pissed because he should know better, he works on games. What is up with the hate to not care about the people who make the games. I mean there are really bad articles on Penny Arcade Report and Ars Technica about it but this just makes me mad.
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Nov 30, 2012 00:42
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Hurray, the game I have been working on finally released an alpha gameplay video, Shadowrun Returns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MiMjQwd2VE Developing a kickstarter game sure is a hell of a thing, way different than the publisher-developer relationship, and sure as hell scarier because the fans paid for a lot of it. Trying to ride the razors edge along fan expectation and what we want to or can do with the funds available sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out. But, overall it's fun and it's a relief that the fan reaction is mostly positive so far. Kickstarter really is a hell of a thing, and while I have benefited from it luckily, I still don't know how I feel about it. Really great games are coming out of it which is huge, but I think there still needs to be more growth in consumer understanding of what kickstarter and the projects provides them and developers understanding of the usage of kickstarter. This is especially for topics like breakdown of development costs, the goal price, stretch goals, backer features and feedback. Perhaps over time it may get better, but reading stuff like Skullgirls indiegogo campaign and dissonance of what others think game development costs or is like, is baffling.
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Mar 8, 2013 20:32
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Resource posted:Cool! It's looking good, I'm looking forward to playing it. It'd be great to get some more thoughts on how kickstarter is working for your project and others as well as ways to improve it. It seems like it's critical that the big games that were at the start of the kickstarter phenomenon do well, to keep crowd funding from losing steam for games. What role do you play on the team and how many developers are in each department? (if that's not super secret info) I'm interested to see what size team it's taking to make Shadowrun Returns. Thanks! It is pretty imperative that the high profile kickstarter games do well and are well received. There's a huge amount of pressure because we don't want to be "that company" that ruins it for the rest. There is a good sense of freedom in that the game is molded to how we want it than a publisher, but there's always those promises you make at the start of the kickstarter and fan reaction that persists in the back of your mind. The worst part is that if you make changes, most of the backers won't read updates. The Banner Saga guys wrote an interesting gamasutra article that basically explains their whole multiplayer ordeal and that they constantly told backers that is was going to happen, except no one listened and they still got angry. http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/AlexThomas/20130304/187768/Developing_a_Kickstarterfunded_game_a_look_from_inside.php Brackhar posted:I hate to say it, but this sounds pretty much exactly like my experience developing an iOS game as well. It's one of the reasons I decided to move away from mobile dev entirely. I do hope things turn around for you though; the proper press at the right time can create a huge uptick in sales even well after the release date. Plus the game looks toot sweet and deserves more attention. That being said, if you need some support I do know a few studios that are hiring who are also supportive of people working on indie games in their spare time. Thanks Brackhar, I really appreciated it. I hope things are going well.
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Mar 10, 2013 04:05
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Oh wow just got around to catching up with the thread, thanks everyone for the kind words about Shadowrun Returns! It really means a lot to me and I really appreciate it. It's been a real wild ride, especially as a kickstarter and all, and is especially surreal with the current news about Phil Fish and David Vonderharr. It's tough to try and manage everyone's expectations with making a game on a tight budget, and there are definitely valid concerns and sometimes the only answer is a poor excuse of time and money, which sucks. I try to read up on a lot of stuff about our game but I only get incredibly more depressed. There are some hardcore fans and opinionated people out there to keep it short. The discussion about how to keep the relationship between the players and the makers has definitely helped keep me sane. I hope we can all move past a lot of the negativity, even though sometimes it's more fun, but sometimes it can really suck.
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Jul 30, 2013 01:08
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I'll be at PAX Sunday afternoon demoing Golem Arcana at the tabletop area, so Sunday would be cool.
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Aug 29, 2013 22:19
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Yikes, I commute from Greenlake to Kirkland and it takes me 1h30m 3 buses worst case and I think that's rough. I can't imagine having to take the ferry or go from Duvall to Seattle. Plus there is a possibility that there'll be more metro cuts, too.
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Nov 12, 2013 22:30
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Occulus Rift is something you wear on your face. The company, Facebook buys out the Occulus Rift company. Follow the money.
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Mar 26, 2014 18:48
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Brackhar posted:Vancouver/Seattle area. If you're in the Seattle area, we definitely need to meet up again.
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May 17, 2014 01:58
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Frown Town posted:From personal experience (of being an artist), I'm significantly more likely to gently caress up something super badly in GIT than I am in Perforce. I've had to call an adult so many times over GIT-related sadness. I'm a little traumatized by the experience and feel a bit hamstrung/helpless anytime there's a merge error or conflict (which is often, even on a small team). You shouldn't feel too bad because Git isn't very good dealing with conflicts with files that aren't straight text. The biggest problem is then no 2 people should be working on the same binary file at the same time and you'll need to coordinate pushes and pulls to not have merge conflicts. Also the idea of ownership when there's a conflict really gets people, or "Ours" vs "Theirs". The repository has ownership, so instead of thinking "Ours" is a personal mine, it is actually the latest on the repo while "Theirs" is actually my current work.
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Aug 6, 2014 23:47
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Is anyone going to Unity: Unite 2014 in Seattle this week?
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Aug 19, 2014 18:46
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poemdexter posted:I fly out to Seattle tonight after work. I'm not "industry" but I'm the sole employee of my LLC so I think that counts as a Game Job. Cool, I'm trying to go all three days. I think the procedural dungeon Galak-Z talk on Thursday will be pretty popular.
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Aug 19, 2014 20:15
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ShinAli posted:Are they going to be recording the sessions? Pretty excited about Galak-Z. They have some archived videos of previous sessions but I can't say for sure it's all of them.
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Aug 19, 2014 21:10
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If anyone is going to PAX East, check out the game I've been working on, Necropolis. I think some of my leads will be at GDC, too. Sadly, I won't be there. http://necropolisgame.tumblr.com/ 
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Feb 27, 2015 23:25
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Sigma-X posted:That screenshot doesn't do your game justice, but the click through sure does Thanks. I was thinking of grabbing some gifs but saw that they were like 1+mb large. I can't really give you a good answer about our colors since I didn't really work too much on it, but we actually use a good amount of lights to give some tint. The work is mostly done with shaders on the materials with the help of ShaderForge.
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Feb 27, 2015 23:48
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Wow, thanks everyone. It's been tough since it's our first attempt at a more action oriented game for our studio so there's been a lot of trial and error and figuring things out. If anyone has any questions about using Mecanim in Unity, I've been pulling my hair using it for the past few months and I'd be glad to help.
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Feb 27, 2015 23:59
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Gwyrgyn Blood posted:It's not clear from the description, is the game mostly procedurally generated or is it more like something like Diablo 3 where each level is basically a collection of 'chunks' assorted into a semi-random layout? Well the procedural generation is sort of like the chunks. It's separated into floors and each floor has a randomized layout separated into sections, and each section has a pool of variants. Dungeon of the Endless made a good talk at Unite 2014 on this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPQOHX9hiL0&t=1557s
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Mar 2, 2015 04:41
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I'll be at PAX working the booth Sunday and Monday morning. Stop by the Harebrained Schemes booth on the 6th floor next to the Valve store and check out the game I'm working on, Necropolis. I'm the asian dude with glasses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmc8jlpvsEw
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Aug 30, 2015 07:26
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concerned mom posted:Love the style of this, it looks great. Thanks! A choice quote that I heard at PAX was, "This looks great but when are you guys going to put in textures?"
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Sep 1, 2015 19:05
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Chernabog posted:I went to digipen and currently work making videogames (6 years later) so I can't complain I also went to Digipen and currently making video games (6 years later). Were we in the same class or something? Digipen is a tough sell because it's really expensive but it's one of those things where you get out however much you put in. I was in the programming degree and I felt prepared to work on games straight out of school. Don't think of it as your only way to get a job working in games though. Also I think Digipen has been getting more affiliation with Ubisoft (Singapore studio) because they've been trying to build a South East Asian game developer community together.
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