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Ice Blue posted:I hope somewhere in the industry someone has a company and gives themselves the job title "Ideas Guy". Gotta get some new business cards soon...
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Jun 1, 2011 09:22
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Have you talked to the hire for that role would be reporting to about it? IME being to the point about professional development goals can take you a long way especially in cases where you've got a track record of doing stellar work.
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Jun 10, 2011 04:20
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Irish Taxi Driver posted:I think its just a really bad idea in general to pigeonhole yourself like that even if the degree wasn't a piece of poo poo. What happens if you graduate with a Game Design degree and you have to get a normal job? Do you think your last sentence becomes any less true if you replace the words "Game Design" with any of the plethora of other majors with no practical application offered by universities? I don't think Game Design is inherently any different, but a lot of the programs out there currently are poo poo unrelated to being "Game Design". They won't make you more well rounded as a person, and won't get you a job either.
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Jun 22, 2011 20:34
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devilmouse posted:Actually yes, because in the process of getting a History of Science or Art Semiotics or whatever other useless degree you might come out of a liberal arts school with, you've also gotten a presumably well-rounded education that introduced you to all manner of subjects across the spectrum. I guess I wasn't clear that I am making a distinction between trade school programs and a normal degree that happens to have a major of "game design" instead of "french literature" or whatever.
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Jun 23, 2011 06:38
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Diplomaticus posted:I utterly disagree. GameStop is a distributor, and if one works for GameStop in a corporate capacity, I would consider them in the industry. However, working a menial retail labor job (note: I was an EB associate for a few years back in the day) has nothing substantially to do with the actual industry. You push a product. Frankly, I think even this is a stretch. By the same logic, Walmart is in the furniture, fashion, automotive, gardening, etc. industries. Industry side "distributors" (to use Black Eagle's terminology) are the publishers. The people they sell things to are in the retail industry even if their focus is video games. Similarly the people retailers sell to are (generally) "customers". Marketing, legal, etc. are the publisher are absolutely in "the industry", but not everyone they deal with on a regular basis is. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Jul 29, 2011 |
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Jul 29, 2011 08:17
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Vino posted:Amazon Web Services. Real cheap. All hail the Hypno-Cloud. You will never get any info on this if you don't know someone on the other side of the fence. Generally speaking, if you have some professional experience and are applying for jobs you are qualified for you should be getting callbacks on most of them. If that isn't happening it probably means your portfolio isn't good enough, or your resume doesn't do a good job communicating your skills. Care to post the materials you submitted and, if you have it, the job posting? There are plenty of people who read this thread who can offer up solid feedback. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 09:53 on Aug 4, 2011 |
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Aug 4, 2011 09:49
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Vino posted:I realize that, but I haven't even gotten coding tests from many places. Rockstar, Trion, SCEA, complete silence. Your goal with the resume is to get someone from the place you are applying to call you back at which point you will knock them out with your incredible phone interview skills. Ideally, someone who is not reading things particularly carefully will be able to pick out what makes you awesome in 15 seconds or less. From looking at your stuff I think you should reorganize the whole thing. Here is what I'd change along with an explanation of why: 0. What are you applying for? It looks like you've got experience in design and programming. 1. Cut profile section. I don't think this adds anything meaningful. 2. Remove objective, or retool it. You mentioned applying at rockstar, but all your experience looks like it is indie leaning. Given the number of people moving the other way, why do you want to make the transition to AAA games? If you have something compelling here you might be able to get a useful objective, but otherwise I'd kill it. 3. Move your skill list to after your name/address. Also, make sure to list anything relevant that is listed in the job posting. I've seen recruiters throw things out because they don't know enough about what you write elsewhere to figure out that you've got the relevant skills. Be explicit with them. I've seen people split this up into programming disciplines as well listing relevant things they've done in that area. 4. Put your game projects after the skill list. It looks like you have some pretty cool experience, but it is kind of lost in your job section. Make sure you list specific things you did, as much as possible this should back up things that you listed in your skill list. "Built the game engine from scratch: physics, scene management, rendering, UI, networking." is good, but did you implement all that by yourself? "Managed design, development, Linux builds, packaging and release of two major versions (2.1, 3.0)." is less good. Managed design? What exactly did you do? 5. Reorganize your job list to put things in chronological order. What you've got right now is confusing (I missed your note about how they were organized on my first pass), and confusing often means your resume gets binned. From my reading, you were working four jobs at one point? I'd probably keep the jobs section to things you were paid (or self funded for) just to reduce confusion. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Aug 5, 2011 |
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Aug 5, 2011 09:13
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Vino posted:Oh I am totally stressing out now. Rockstar wants to send me a two hour timed programming test. Last time I took one of of those it was in a web form that you had to do all of your work in, and they didn't give you any debugger or data set to work with. My naive implementation ran perfectly for a simple data set but failed for odd or huge data sets, and I got a terrible score as a result. If it's another test like that I'll get another horrible score and then I'll be out of a job at a great place. Look on the bright side: if you don't get the job you'll get to keep your life. Rockstar is legendary for working people ridiculous hours. Vino posted:So what then would you guys say a company like Rockstar (or Obsidian, Valve, Bethesda, etc) would be looking for in this kind of test in terms of style? Maybe they're looking for developers who are modular and data driven and thorough or maybe just people who can write extensible code quickly? Or is it just a mass culling of skills? Perhaps they're just going to cull every score below a certain number of place on the curve and they don't care about the style? What should I focus on during the test? IME no one is going to look terribly hard at your code. If your test works (including for tricky data sets) you could have written it in brainfuck and you'd get to the next stage.
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Aug 16, 2011 18:30
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Jan posted:This is going to be particularly weird when the next console generation inevitably is released -- the project I'm on is still in early conception and will most likely end up on this next generation. So any tech investigation and choices we make right now will inevitably be obsolete before release. It isn't difficult to make a guess at what a next gen machine targeted for release in fall of 2012 or 2013 will look like.
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Aug 23, 2011 18:22
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Jan posted:So yeah, "a guess" might help scale detail on art assets and level detail, but it's naive to assume that the jump will be easy. Yeah I didn't mean to imply "duh its easy you idiot" which my post kinda came off as. What I meant specifically is, you can get a fair amount of info on what a high end PC for those dates would look like as a probable "best case", and use WiiU level as a "worst case". What actually happens will likely be somewhere in the middle.
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Aug 23, 2011 21:33
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Kitten Kisses posted:I thought putting references on your resume was another one of those things that went out of style ages ago? I still toss a "references available upon request" at the end of mine, but seems like you could probably save some space ditching that section. Would love to know if I've been wrong about this! I've never put references or "references available upon request" on my resume, and have never been asked for them. Anecdotal of course, but it is across ~30 job offers.
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Aug 27, 2011 10:48
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Hughlander posted:Bog, Bungie isn't next to Pancake house anymore? Or are you talking a different building completely? They are in downtown Bellevue now.
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Aug 30, 2011 02:19
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monsterland posted:stuff I'd suggest talking to a lawyer. There is a lot of suspect sounding stuff here, and even if someone here was qualified to offer advice it'd be full of "i'm not your lawyer and this is not legal advice" caveats that won't help you if things go south.
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Aug 30, 2011 21:33
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Project Oni posted:Damnit, I better be in that game manual at least. Typically manuals are finalized even earlier than the game is so I wouldn't count on it. FreakyZoid posted:Of course you can. Anyone who believes a game's credits are a full list of people who worked on that game is, unfortunately, an idiot. 100% this. I've got a couple of titles on my resume I am not credited on and it has never come up.
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Aug 31, 2011 21:48
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Shalinor posted:Unrelated question. Am I correct in assuming that trying to live out in Bremerton and commute via boat or ferry to game dev would suck balls? On the one hand, bad commute, but on the other... maaaan, I love small coastal towns Ferry ride is an hour each way to downtown Seattle plus another half hour+ if you are working on the east side, and will run you several hundred dollars a month just in ferry fees. If you ride the bus instead it'd be about two hours total to Downtown Bellevue (near where Bungie, Valve and Sucker Punch are). Plus Bremerton is kind of dumpy. Friday Harbor is where the small coastal town feel is at. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Nov 23, 2011 |
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Nov 23, 2011 00:29
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BizarroAzrael posted:I already said, I'm trying to get work doing C# development or something, and every time I get asked why I should be making twice what I got at Frontier, graduate money. I can't afford to get further education, so options are limited. Lie about your past salary if you were being radically underpaid. Seriously. If you are in the US they will never know barring some weird turn of events (e.g. old employer buys new one).
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Nov 23, 2011 22:36
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devilmouse posted:Or almost certainly WILL if it comes across my desk for a design job! Why do you hate them? I don't have any opinion on the institution, but if its an entry level position and they've got a solid portfolio, why do you care where they went to school? If it isn't an entry level position then it seems like it matters even less where they went to school.
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Dec 8, 2011 03:07
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Aliginge posted:So Canada isn't the game dev land of milk and honey we all hear about. Sorry, I'm bitter at reading this after hearing of so many friends planning to move to canada for jobs. Vancouver has been in decline for years now, and barring some major change in government policy I don't see that changing. Why have a studio in British Columbia when Ontario and Quebec are tripping over themselves to give out a lot more free money? edit: Ontario gives a tax credit of 40% of labor costs and Quebec 37.5%. BC only gives 17.5% Jaytan fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Feb 4, 2012 |
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Feb 4, 2012 01:36
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tehlad posted:Hey guys, If you can program you should find a job where that skill is valued. I don't think any amount of negotiating with your current employer is going to help you if they aren't looking to hire a programmer. If you're good enough to get hired as a programmer there is no reason at all to work in QA. edit: I worked in Austin in games, and an entry level programmer should be making at least 60k. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Feb 11, 2012 |
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Feb 11, 2012 01:16
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BULBASAUR posted:Question about this: I'm a junior in the industry that's come to this conclusion. When do you know it's right to start looking for something next? I know what I'm worth and what I can and can't do... I'm just totally new to the idea of jumping around companies as career steps. I know what I'm worth and what I can and cannot do... am I'm missing something for the equation? For me (as a programmer) I find the big driver of when to switch jobs is when I find what I'm doing boring. There is a lot of potential for things to go wrong with job changes (personality conflicts, not liking new areas if you relocate, etc.) that leaving a job I like just for more pay isn't something I would do unless I was pretty dramatically underpaid (e.g. 50%+ under what I could get elsewhere). When switching jobs there is a period of reduced productivity so even if you are underpaid now you may be able to keep progressing in responsibility so you can get an even larger bump when moving later. If you're curious try applying for jobs and seeing where it goes. edit: aiHD posted:So tempted to apply for that poo poo - already got my JLPT1 and everything. That said, it's gonna be competitive as gently caress and I don't feel too confident. I don't imagine there will be a lot of competition for senior positions if they want people to relocate to Japan, but I pity the person trying to filter out entry level resumes. Anecdotal, but one of the programmers here worked in Japan for a while. The impression I have is programmers in Japan are dramatically underpaid (~30% of US pay and Tokyo is more expensive than any of the US hubs) and not respected very much compared to in the US. Plus the culture difference can be pretty shocking - weekly desk cleaning time, weird "bonus" structure, different levels of directness during collaboration, pressure to not leave before your boss under any circumstances, etc. In short I'd say stay away unless you've got some sort of unique oppurtunity. If you want to hang out in Japan you'd be better off trying to get a US based job with a Japanese developer or even just teaching English. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Feb 22, 2012 |
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Feb 22, 2012 19:34
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floofyscorp posted:Sure, just don't break your leg. The problem isn't breaking your leg, its losing your job. Any reputable employer will provide decent health insurance, and some pay the full premium costs. Which is part of the reason health care costs are so high here (the other part being costs of uninsured people getting passed on).
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Apr 2, 2012 18:20
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NextTime000 posted:and I just applied to a huge swath of EA jobs last week too, though I don't exactly know if that would negatively or positively effect my chances since I am applying at the entry/mid-level (or the QA position I applied for; yeah it is QA, but dammit I have all the skills that position was asking for) EA does layoffs pretty regularly, I wouldn't worry about it as an applicant.
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Apr 16, 2012 18:15
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Shalinor posted:Not to hijack the conversation, but, I'd love any feedback anyone could offer on that right there for ours: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/954522547/gravitaz - via PM, email, whatever, any thoughts that anyone has are welcome. Here is what I've got: 1. There isn't a lot of in game footage and it isn't terribly interesting to watch. I don't get much of an impression of speed, and the bit at 20 seconds kind of looks like you glitched out of the environment. People aren't going to process what pre-alpha assets might mean, and the visuals aren't very impressive for a desktop title. You say the engine is complete, but the lighting looks super flat and there are no particles. Your concept art is cool, but I don't see it in the in game footage. 2. Admittedly this is superficial, but the live action parts gave me a distinct 80s home movie impression. 3. You mentioned people calling it out as being a wipeout clone, though it reminded me more of Extreme-G. I didn't get any impression of what is substantially different about your game (gameplay wise) from the video or skimming the text. 4. My immediate question is does it support multiplayer? You don't mention it so I'm assuming not.
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Apr 20, 2012 18:50
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Irish Taxi Driver posted:A games recruiter just called me. I told her I was happy where I am and hung up, and I'm wondering now if I made a mistake. Does anyone really use recruiters to find anyone? I'd stay away from anyone giving you unsolicited calls when you don't already have a working relationship with them. Double so if they aren't employed by the company they are recruiting for.
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May 2, 2012 20:39
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If Valve is indie then so is every internal major publisher studio so the definition is basically worthless. edit: just to clarify Forbes estimated gabe newell's net worth at 1.5 billion and most of that is from valve. For comparison THQ's market cap is 43 million, TTWO is 885 million, EA is 3 billion and ATVI is 13 billion. Valve has several hundred employees making them larger than almost anyone out there. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Jun 21, 2012 |
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Jun 21, 2012 22:06
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For Indie definitions I'm going to go with you aren't indie when you need to rent out space to have any kind of team outing. So over 12 or so people?
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Jun 22, 2012 17:12
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SynthOrange posted:I work in Gaming. I'm not allowed to play my own games outside of the studio and I get to hear people describe the industry as evil! If it is any consolation many free to play business models have as much potential for evil except that the games that use them are playable from home, often embedded in a service many people already use* and completely unregulated. Plus when someone wins they don't even get anything tangible other than a badass dopamine hit. The public hasn't caught on yet so try bringing up these talking points the next time someone implies they think gaming is evil. I mean I guess there are no stories about Zynga ditching people in the deserts of Nevada, but I don't think that really applies to digital games anyway. edit: * I don't know anyone who started using facebook to play games, but do people go most people go to a Casino when they don't intend to gamble? edit 2: just to be clear, I don't give a poo poo about any of this it just seems like a useful way to deflect an awkward conversation. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Jun 27, 2012 |
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Jun 27, 2012 16:44
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TalonDemonKing posted:If I want to get into the field of Game Design; what degree should I be looking into? The OP just seems to be saying to stay away from tradeschools; but I'm completely and hopelessly lost in the woods when it comes to how to actually start on the path of becoming a game designer. I have my military TA I can be spending while I'm in, and I'd like to abuse it as much as possible before I get out. What is stopping you from making a game now?
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Jul 4, 2012 23:17
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Diplomaticus posted:Typically not, actually. They're paid on salary. The firm BILLS hourly, but since your average first year associate brings in more than 10x his salary in billables, it has little relation to what the lawyers actually get. They used Hunton & Williams for the suit he was referring to. First page of google hits pulls http://www.huntoncareers.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Careers/NALP2011_NC.pdf which lists their yearly req at 2000 hours. I'm sure your aware, but that is going to average out to at least 50 hours a week assuming no vacation. More likely closer to 55 or 60. Lets stick to the real criticism about the professions he compared: 1. Lawyers at big law firms know what they are getting in to (like you said) and get compensated better than anyone in games (assuming comparable seniority), and are often working on things more important than games. First year associates fresh out of law school who don't know anything about being a lawyer make more than 99.9% of game developers. 2. Doctors also know what they are getting in to, and most are compensated better than anyone in games. Other than maybe some plastic surgeons they are all doing things more important than anyone in games. 3. Firemen and Policement don't blog about being exploited because any legit complaints would be picked up by mainstream news orgs. Also, they are unionized nearly everywhere. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 21:25 on Jul 13, 2012 |
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Jul 13, 2012 21:22
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Aliginge posted:It sounds like this would be more common a mindset nowadays, due to the surplus workforce and wage freezes and layoffs more common post-2007. IDK about artists and designers, but there is a major shortage of programmers out there. If you're a programmer with more than a few years experience don't get poo poo on go find a new job. If you needed this advice you will also be able to get yourself a double digit percentage raise in the process.
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Jul 31, 2012 18:29
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mutata posted:Disney is only attractive if you're an artist working on the films. Once they hear "yeah, in video games" after "I work for Disney" it's usually "Oh, that's nice." That would be my guess. He's got accomplishments from a long while ago and now he's "just Disney games". Yeah this isn't it at all.
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Aug 30, 2012 07:55
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mutata posted:Ok, so what then? Not sure what the conference the poster you replied to was talking about, but at an industry conference no one worth talking to is going to be broadly dismissive of what you work on based off "just Disney". At a fan conference it is likely no one would recognize him due to him not having done anything with core gamer appeal in almost a decade. Shalinor posted:That's the most surprising thing. Research long ago proved that down vote buttons are a bad, bad idea for a lot of very good sociological reasons, hence them being removed from more or less every social media site out there. But then Steam brings them back? Is there any transparency on what they are doing with the data? It seems unlikely to me that they are basing anything off just the number of up/down votes. edit: I'd be interested to hear why they didn't just let anyone put a game up for sell and only actually make it available once it passes some $ threshold (and is given a final sign off). The amount of commitment for putting up even 1 buck outweighs just pushing a button by several orders of magnitude. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Aug 30, 2012 |
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Aug 30, 2012 20:28
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Sucker Punch is the most well run game developer I've worked for. I find it difficult to consider moving elsewhere without leaving games since most studios have a ridiculous level of BS - regular "mandatory" crunch (not due to one's own mistakes), nepotism or just plain run by assholes applies to so many companies it is kind of sickening. We're also hiring http://www.suckerpunch.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=91 Yes this post is a shameless plug. Jaytan fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Sep 8, 2012 |
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Sep 8, 2012 09:09
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Bongo Bill posted:I won't have time to apply to this for a few days, but the programming test looks like a very fun problem. More companies with programming openings should ask for a test as the initial part of the application. I really like the problem because it isn't super involved the way some programming tests are, and that makes it pretty great at avoiding wasting either the candidates time or ours. As I understand, anyone who gets to a decent solution gets a phone interview, but plenty of people get binned for failing to follow the instructions. We still reject 80%+ of the programming candidates we bring onsite which makes me think our process could be better.
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Sep 12, 2012 16:04
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Monster w21 Faces posted:I'm really concerned about Riot getting taken down by Valve. Tencent paid $400 million for a majority stake in Riot last year. I'm not sure which company has deeper pockets honestly.
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Oct 15, 2012 21:26
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On one hand, I got a job via thechaosengine. On the other, it was working on Tony Hawk Ride.
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Nov 1, 2012 08:54
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Sigma-X posted:Does anyone know a producer without a BA? That seems like a major issue. I don't know if not holding a degree will be an issue as much as the fact that nearly everyone in QA wants to move into production roles. It is not an easy jump to make. I'd go as far as to say it is basically impossible to do as a contract tester.
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Feb 15, 2013 10:35
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The big problem with being a generalist as someone trying to break into the industry is the fact that a person who is just ok at a lot of things is not very desirable as a candidate while someone who is very good at just one thing will have no trouble finding a job. Do you have the experience to tell the difference?
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Feb 18, 2013 01:47
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DreadCthulhu posted:As far as Bay Area is concerned, that's very true all across the software industry. As a dev, you get laid off, you walk across the street to the next building and get a job there at some other big name firm (or any startup, nowadays). The downside is that your salary implicitly accounts for that, so you have to live with a very considerable paycut. I know game programmers who worked on AAA projects since 2007 and just now are breaking into the 6 figures, while many software companies in the area will pay fresh college grads more than that. I think this has more to do with lots of people in games failing at assertiveness. This is also part of the problem with crunch. If you are looking for a job while employed it is very easy to just walk away from offers that don't pay what you are worth.
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Mar 22, 2013 02:05
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