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While at work today a buddy of mine mentioned Gamescom was coming up in August. Now I've never been before and it sounded quite interesting (camping woo!), but what I'm wondering if it is just a trade show to play demos and look at the latest stuff, or is it the kinda place where you could network and pass around a few business cards. Can anyone enlighten me?
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Jun 3, 2011 00:03
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Huh, Playground Games sure is getting popular, I had an E-mail last night and a call this morning from an agency to put me through for their Design Assistant job. I also asked to be put forward for the Level Designer spot since both jobs call for level design, strange stuff. Interview though? Who knows.
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Jun 9, 2011 23:28
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Ohshi- Interviews are going this week? I hope my agent busts rear end to get this.
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Jun 14, 2011 23:30
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Man that blows, I'd have figured they'd take you on. As for me I pretty much got told my application went in the bin, I suppose it makes sense considering none of my portfolio has anything to do with racing games.
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Jun 16, 2011 23:28
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Studio posted:I wonder how many people view game design the same way ads portray them. Reminds me of the time I got sent a little cardboard "Train2Game" invitation a couple months after I graduated. How dare you grace my post box with such garbage, I certainly do not want a diploma in Games Testing. 
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Jun 19, 2011 13:08
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Fishbus posted:Oh god, right now I'm here to pimp some UK Jobs we have in London, Good place to work, pretty chill peeps. Looking for eager starters (like env artists) as well as grizzled juggernauts. Oooo, story time, it's always nice to read about how people get into my desired career.
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Jun 30, 2011 11:49
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Monster w21 Faces posted:new CryEngine Sandbox editor Woohoo! new toys to play with. After the GameDev challange is up and I finish my TF2 map, looks like it's time to master a new tool for portfolio goodness.
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Jul 5, 2011 23:24
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Andio posted:...We’re talking to candidates who can hit the ground running... Man what's the deal with this phrase, I got told the exact same thing for not getting their Design Assistant job.
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Jul 6, 2011 23:31
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Aliginge posted:Not counting chickens yet, still very much a trial for the rest of this week. Good luck to you still, it'll be nice to hear that one of us grads made it.  (Also success stories are very inspiring!)
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Jul 11, 2011 23:34
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Aliginge posted:As of today I am now officially the sole artist at DNA Dynamics. Woohoo! nice one! I suppose I'm at the "working a crappy job" stage of your story myself. 
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Jul 16, 2011 00:06
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Imajus posted:EDIT: I also really like this portfolio: http://www.ilyanedyal.com/ This has the most beautiful piles of garbage renders I've ever seen... wow. Also not the most outstanding one, but I've come to the conclusion that my portfolio blows dicks (http://lee-hodges.co.uk/). After a long slew of "Thanks but no thanks" from lots of companies, it's definitely a wake up call to make new things on new engines to an awesome standard. All of my stuff is school work finished to a lovely standard (functional, but ugly as hell), as well as the remains of a failed mod team and a WIP piece. I think after GameDev: VI finishes this Sunday, I might join another mod team or carry on with solo projects (and maybe find another job with friendlier work hours...).
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Jul 29, 2011 02:44
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Irish Taxi Driver posted:Excellent Advice FreakyZoid posted:More Excellent Advice Following up on this; I think I will be trimming the crap as I've fallen into the trap of "I may as well upload everything I've got since there's nothing else" I'll probably take down the TF2 map until it's done, since it's not even finished yet as it's one of my current projects. The fullbright map simply has to go since it's a massive eyesore, as I said I'd fix it last year but that never happened. (Also when people say properly backup your work, do it, otherwise you look like a bellend like me without your texture source files) I also totally agree with the fact that I need to talk about the design processes more, as I admit the details are pretty much just waffle. Plus I really need to add some layout sketches and proper schematics. Thanks for the much needed critique, I'll definitely be retooling the site with everything that's been mentioned. I'd much rather be judged here compared to friends who'll just say "Yeah man, looks cool". 
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Jul 29, 2011 13:24
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Right, now that I'm done with SA GameDev: VI and made an embarrassing unfinished game, I want to focus on revamping my Level Designer portfolio. I'm thinking of doing a few new projects using newer technology to hopefully stay ahead of the game. I want to properly finish off my Team Fortress 2 map first, and then make one or two things using some of the following: - UDK, Which seems to be very high in demand, especially for scripting using Kismet - 3DSMax, Some places seem to demand level/environment design using a 3D modelling package - Cryengine3, Quite new and very sexy Or possibly the alternate path: - Join a Modteam, I'm interested in doing this again but it seems a bit of a gamble. I've been burned twice now for wasting my time; the first team I joined the talent up and disbanded leaving nothing but time wasters, and the GameDev competition where my team members promised work but suddenly up and vanished halfway through the project. Could anyone recommend the most appealing tools to use from a recruiter perspective? Also what would be a decent standard screenshot size to use, I'm leaning more toward 1024x600 since its big enough to fill a Netbook screen and look respectable on larger monitors.
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Aug 6, 2011 15:41
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Amrosorma posted:Our UDK mod team (I guess using UDK doesn't make us a mod team though since we can distribute and sell standalone?) is looking for another level designer You don't say, got an E-mail address I can use?
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Aug 6, 2011 20:45
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BizarroAzrael posted:The non-game job didn't come good either. I'm trying to do mod stuff in my own time but being so miserable makes it pretty hard to do anything at all. Try not to let it get you down too much, I'm in the same situation and I'm sure many others are too. Recently I've been interviewing with Playground Games (Telephone, then face-to-face) and got shot down in a blaze of hopes and dreams, blocked by the experience barrier again. I did however get the following feedback, "...They spoke very highly of you and want to stress that you came across very well in both interviews. But on this occasion they have a few who were stronger and with more relevant experience within the games industry." Same old story, but gave me a tiny twinkle of hope, so I continue on modding, mapping... etc. (As a side note try to avoid getting into Data Entry work if you can, an already depressing job with with depressing news kinda sets the tone for the whole week)
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Oct 6, 2011 01:13
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M4rk posted:Very cool. Also, anyone else get out of memory errors with Stencyl? I've got 12 freakin jigawatts of memory, I shouldn't be having this problem. :l Practically every time I did anything intensive. I think the official solution was pretty much "Close and restart" or you could could just grin and bear the slowness since Stencyl had a big memory leak problem the longer you used it anyway. Still a fantastic piece of kit though.
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Oct 8, 2011 09:23
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Fishbus posted:In hiring news, we (Splash Damage) are looking for some new folk in our London studio Gahhh... I would be all over this like white on rice, but there's so many apprehensions. What are the odds of contract turning into permanent or rising through the ranks? I don't think my missus would be best pleased to be uprooted to London without stability.  (I would butter up all 'dat toast though)
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Mar 22, 2012 19:59
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I didn't read the entire thread, but it's a shame everyone just started ripping on the whole Kickstarter movement instead of talking about Shadowrun. I know I'd love to work with such passionate people to bring about an interesting franchise, hell this is already the making of a new development method anyway, I don't see why anyone would resist it.
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Apr 5, 2012 19:02
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The more I hear about the internals of Valve, the more it starts to sound like Willy Wonka's Game Factory. (This isn't a bad thing)
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Apr 24, 2012 09:57
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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've had pretty good experiences with em' in the UK, particularly Amiqus games as there's one guy who's always piped up opportunities for me and has been really friendly and helpful. I've even gotten one through LinkedIn, as I've got a contact who works for GamesRecruit, however I've not gotten much luck through Aardvark Swift as they don't seem very responsive, I'll have to bug them again this week to see how to company I applied for is doing. Superrodan posted:I know the reasons I messed up the interview were my fault in the first place, but I also feel like it wasn't a 100 percent representation of who I am or who I would be if I was working for them, and instead was sort of a more pressured, less solid-answers version of myself. Well you're not alone there, given lots of reflection I can come up with multitudes of reasons where I think I went wrong with interviews! In some sense I suppose it's a good skill to step back and critically analyse your mistakes and how to learn from them. (I've still yet to break into the industry myself) Crytek: Games Designer - Built up a good rapport with all the staff - However I was freezing cold wearing a shirt so I was having trouble writing during my written design test - Completely forgotten about the stack of blank paper I should've drawn my concepts and designs on and instead used what space I had in the booklet! - Leaned over to look at the Head HR lady's collection of documents about me, might've appeared like I was scoping out her cleavage.  Traveller's Tales Fusion: Games Tester - Let the cat out the bag that I intend to progress to Level Design Ninja Theory: Level Designer - Babbled a bunch of panicked bullshit about the mechanics of God of War 3 for what made it a good game Playground Games: Level Designer - While the discussion was about my time at University, I was asked "What kind of environments have you made?" to which I answered "Actually I kinda copped out there and mostly made things in space" (COMPLETELY missed the chance to bring up my outside mod work, other personal works and the fact and I can actually make poo poo! Stupid stupid stupid)
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May 2, 2012 21:39
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Shalinor posted:Just a reminder that SA GameDev VII is almost here. Wooo HOT DIGGITY DOG!
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May 4, 2012 18:43
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Sweet, looks like I'm setting myself up for an interview at Team17 next week. Are people generally receptive when using tablets? I think this time I'm going to leave mine on the table, to remind myself to actually use the drat thing for some good talking points.
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May 18, 2012 12:47
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So today I was poking around Gamesindustry.biz and noticed you fine chaps at DNA Dynamics are apparently looking for a Junior Games Designer. Now I'm just wondering if I could probe a little bit of info out, as I have the feeling it could be a bit over my head as I don't how much "Junior" they're looking for.
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Aug 14, 2012 16:34
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And now for an interesting headline.quote:Scotland's games industry adds 'no value' suggests study Oh... So pretty much a couple government organisations didn't do their homework properly, and told everyone pac man was a waste of time. 
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Sep 7, 2012 19:24
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UK Goons, would anyone know much about Hardlight Studios? I'm getting a phone call on Monday from them about a Junior Designer role, and the small amount information I can dig up is that they're one of SEGA's newer smaller studios, and focused on mobile games.
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Oct 6, 2012 18:48
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Monster w21 Faces posted:Now the UK press is tearing chunks out of each other. If it makes you feel any better, when I read this I imagined that scene in V for Vendetta where he sets off that massive wave of dominoes. As a side note, Sega Europe decided not to take me on for someone else with more experience, arse.
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Oct 25, 2012 18:00
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The Guardian posted:http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/dec/05/tax-breaks-games-training-autumn-statement Every little bit helps I guess? Funding training can bugger off though, there's already a sea of talent here trying to be scooped up.
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Dec 5, 2012 20:39
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Every time I post in here it's always about interviewing, so here I am again. Team 17 want me in for a Junior Game Design position; and I'm wondering besides usual interview antics, would it be worthwhile to pitch a mini design doc of sorts? I'm trying to think of ways to be a bit more proactive than just selling myself on words and portfolio.
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Feb 7, 2013 19:43
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Since Tuesday I've been given a design test to create a new weapon and a new level that makes use of it. So far my design doc is at 9 pages with descriptions, metrics, research and diagrams, but is there any golden standard on these things so I can stand out better? I was also told to complete the task "As soon as you're able" and I'm not sure if submitting it tomorrow on Friday might be rushing it, or if Sunday might look a bit too late.
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Feb 14, 2013 19:00
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devilmouse posted:Did they give you any indication of length? 9 pages to do a weapon and level seems... excessive. One of my favorite quotes from giving a design test to someone: "One critical skill we look for in designers is the ability to communicate ideas with economy.... We encourage our designers to approach written documents with one guiding principle in mind: “nobody reads”. But it's better to be overly verbose, I suppose. Well I wouldn't say it's overly verbose, I've kept it pretty clean with plenty of topic headers and bullet points to pick out the most interesting bits, so I guess there isn't much more I can add to it. As for indication, it's pretty much "Format it to how you feel it best communicates the idea" including; A mission briefing, general description of the mission, rough drawing, the solution.
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Feb 14, 2013 19:30
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djkillingspree posted:All of the best QA testers I've worked with have wanted to get into development. I've found that wanting to break in makes them more motivated to figure out how the game works and report bugs in more detail. Man there is such a massive catch-22 right there. When I got shot down for a QA job and I asked my friend who works there for advice, it basically boiled down to them not wanting to hire people who desire to get into development, it's incredibly awkward to bullshit your way into the wrong job in the right industry.
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Feb 20, 2013 18:44
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Aliginge posted:I suspect I may have been a little self critical on the part where you rate your confidence 1-10 on an area of art in games i.e. Drawing, 3D modelling, 2D Animation, 3D Animation, UI etc, felt like a lot more 3s and 5s than I'd like. Totally proud of putting Photoshop as my only number 10 though as while I reckon I'm an 8-9 in 3DSMAX, I am like, super confident with photoshop "So I see you graded yourself an 8/10 for documentation writing and 9/10 for level design work... that's even higher than our current guys!" "Eh heh... well, erm how about that" Ratings charts are bad bad things. 
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Mar 6, 2013 18:45
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it's like an extra limb now.
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emoticon posted:Job requirements are usually way higher than they need to be because it's such a hirer's market (this applies to jobs outside of game development as well; in regular software development, HR departments will put in as many programming languages and certifications they can think of for positions that don't possibly need them). On the flip side, game studios get a lot of resumes from people who aren't even remotely qualified for the positions they are applying for. So it's terrible for everyone all around and the hiring process sucks basically. A lot of job postings are generally the same as each other in regard to lovely required skills etc, so unless it looks like a person has put a lot of effort in describing the kind of person they want, I just think gently caress it and apply anyway. It also doesn't help that lots of postings are listed by recruiters who will follow desired requirements to the dot; "No three years of experience? Not released two games? On 'yer bike son" Speculative application snooping can sometimes help though. I found a new small indie that said they weren't looking for anyone right now, but they liked my stuff and said my skills match up to a role they're looking to hire later in the year.
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Apr 14, 2013 20:46
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Canned Bovines posted:The downside to getting a degree in games is that your education is going to be poo poo. Everything you learn is going to be years out of date and taught to the lowest common denominator, which is depressingly low. You're better off skill-wise just buckling down and teaching yourself (at least for artists, probably less true for programmers). There's a lot of truth to this, during my time for my degree I can honestly say I didn't learn anything that I didn't already know or could have easily done in my own time. Granted it did give me a reasonable foundation for 3D modelling which I hadn't dabbled in until then, but like most people will say you can just learn all the practical skills of the trade through google and practice. It probably does depend where you go but the bar is definitely set quite low. I went in with a good foundation of beginner Level Design and Scripting through learning DromED (Thief 1/2 engine, oh god it was awful!) and having lots of knowledge with using the Unreal 2 engine. I was up against a few people like me, some who had dabbled, and those who just play FIFA and thought video games are cool; for the most part I don't think the course content really allowed me to improve my skills since everyone was treated at the same base level (Some of the modules were truly diabolical).
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May 23, 2013 19:09
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The Oid posted:Yeah I've been following him on Twitter for a while and personally I think he doesn't really deserve the stick he gets most of the time. I dunno... the few bits and pieces I've seen of the guy do portray him as pretty douchebaggy. I mean I just watched this which is drat cringeworthy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYpMxMPZ-Mk Japanese guy just about gets his question across asking what the panel thinks of recent eastern games, and then Phil just blurts out "THEY SUCK". 
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Jul 29, 2013 11:44
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uglynoodles posted:I'm pretty excited to be going into an internship at TT Fusion later this month where I'll be working on one of the new Lego games. I'll only be there for a week and it's unpaid but I bet I will learn a lot. Huh, I didn't know they even held internships. I wish they'd hire me, I have friends there and I live quite close.
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Aug 13, 2013 22:40
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