career-chat

[plucky hatch]

@snow kiln

[dull flame]

Hey devs, I recently submitted a Megagrant application for a game I've been working on solo for a few years now, but unfortunately did not receive the reward. I'm feeling a little discouraged to be honest, do any of you have experience in trying to receive funding for your game and are willing to offer some advice? I can send over some clips I have of my project if you'd like to take a look

[rancid hedge]

During an interview, is it safe to say that one of my weakness is time management?

[polar orbit]

I would refrain from saying that even though it's my biggest weakness. Crunch is huge especially in the industry

Probably skirt around the topic best you can

[rancid hedge]

so what do I say?

There is no winning with this question hein?

It's like they want you to fail the interview

[polar orbit]

Always make it sound like you can turn weakness into strength when going into an interview is my outlook

[woven pilot]

Yeah don’t take it personally, it doesn’t mean your project is not good. It’s cause sometimes there are other projects that are given priority. Lets say they’ve funded 20 racing games and only 1 RPG so far. well number 21 of racing games is less likely to receive funding unless it’s exceptionally good. They are just looking for balance. UEFN is a new category too so more likely.

There are other factors too… Your presentation/Trailers… How much you were asking for. Sometimes if you ask for a lot of money and you couldn’t justify why you need that much for that project, they’ll turn it down.

[woven pilot]

I’ll say this, i don’t think any company would turn someone down cause of such a general question.

At the application/inteeview stage, Companies just want to know, what have you done before (most important), What can you do going forward (important).

Then once they are satisfied with the above they’ll move to “character “ focused questions like the above… A lot of these are trick questions and answering “i don’t have weaknesses “ is probably not a good answer. But they are not very important questions. You should stress more on the first two.

Like Do you understand game mode vs state? etc… Can you explain or demonstrate differences. If you fail this stage the rest of the interview doesn’t matter

[brave forge]

Yep, Aubrey's pretty good on that answer. I'd frame your "weakness" in a way of what you are doing to improve it too. A positive spin. But yeah it's to suss out arrogance really. Someone who is "perfect" is less likely to be a pleasant character to work with.

[modern relic]

"what are your greatest weaknesses?" "oh boy how much time do you have?"

[steady pewter]

There is a Job Board category of channels in this server for that.

[short wing]

Thank you! I can’t quite find it on mu list of categories, but I’ll take a closer look and take down this post in other channels I shared it on.

[woeful iron]

it depends on the job really, if you're applying for a junior job for example I don't think it's all that bad. Since you're more or less expected to be managed by others at that point

of course you could some nuance to the response

[granite solar]

Don't know if you're still interested or not, just wanted to let you know that the applications for GDC 2024 Conference Associates has opened up: https://gdconf.com/diversity-equity-inclusion

[ivory echo]

Heh, there’s fixed term contract AI content writer jobs out there now:

“We are looking for professional writers and copy editors to join our team and teach AI chatbots. You will have conversations with chatbots in order to measure their progress, as well as write novel conversations in order to teach them what to say”.

[chilly sundial]

"Hello we would like you to teach chatbots to get to a point where we don't need you"

[nova coyote]

I remember seeing job posting from OpenAI just like that

[ivory echo]

Notice the fixed contract. Teach our AI to speak, and consequently be discarded 😀

Make it replace you

[nova coyote]

Oh I missed that part lol

"teach this bot to replace you, por favor"

[steel creek]

ChatGPT creator OpenAI quietly revised all of the "Core values" listed on its website in recent weeks, putting a greater emphasis on the development of AGI -- artificial general intelligence. From a report: CEO Sam Altman has described AGI as "the equivalent of a median human that you could hire as a co-worker." OpenAI's careers page previously listed six core values for its employees, according to a September 25 screenshot from the Internet Archive. They were Audacious, Thoughtful, Unpretentious, Impact-driven, Collaborative, and Growth-oriented. The same page now lists five values, with "AGI focus" being the first. "Anything that doesn't help with that is out of scope," the website reads. The others are Intense and scrappy, Scale, Make something people love, and Team spirit.

[ivory echo]

Def scrapped the unpretentious part

[woeful iron]

idk if it was OpenAI, but there's definitely AI companies hiring writers to make unique content for their model to train on, to avoid the whole copyright issue

ah found the source https://qz.com/ai-companies-hiring-creative-writers-1850873456

[jovial marsh]

hey. what would be the going rate for someone to teach me unreal engine? per hour? maybe a lession once a week?

[woeful iron]

it depends™️

can differ by location and experience of the teacher

[chilly sundial]

Also depends on the work you want them to do.
E.g. do you want them to prepare you resources to follow outside of the lessons

[real palm]

can i open a ticket here? I want a link scammer banned from here so no one else falls victim for it

[round radish]

You can talk to the moderators?

[real palm]

well idk if im allowed to just Dm them per say

[round radish]

Ping them somewhere more appropriate maybe?

[real palm]

literally so many channels.....

[round radish]

#lounge is a bit of a catch-all really.

[chilly sundial]

you are indeed

for private matters like this dm is the way i would go at least

[real palm]

Already did. Just waiting for a reply

[half sundial]

Does anyone ever succesfully got people to work on their project as volunteers/rev share via one of the Job Board channels here? And if so, what was the main factor for them to join? Maybe also for everyone else; what would be a reason for you to volunteer on a project?

[woeful iron]

the only reason I would ever do that is if it was for a close friend tbh

[chilly sundial]

Simply put people can't work for free. With a volunteer project you either get complete beginners, or people who need to divert most of their attention to earning money to live. Both of those doom a group project

[ivory echo]

Not necessarily, complete beginners could band together and make something after all. BattleBit did, tho it took them 7 years

I like to think that if those channels were entirely useless we prly wouldn’t have them

[chilly sundial]

Yeah but they're always an exception. One severely unlikely success story isn't the norm

Nearly all volunteer projects fall apart

there's nothing keeping you there

[ivory echo]

That’s true, but you gain some experience at least, maybe?

Only reason I’ve considered doing it is for portfolio purposes

[chilly sundial]

from what i've seen it can vary. The thing with working with complete beginners is a lot of it is pure luck and fumbling, so in terms of "experience" value, I don't imagine it gets you that far. It's not like free mentoring
As for having a portfolio piece, sure

It's just always going to be a gamble

You might find that diamond in the rough and reach success, but the other thing with a volunteer project is there is no promise of eventual money at all, which makes it even less attracting than an unattractive rev share job.
The game could make it's millions but you might never see a penny of it :P

I would only approach it if you are just doing it for fun

[thorn blade]

back in the days I was invited by the team of a well known half life remake to work with them. The idea is great but its was only volunteer and it's takes ages I end up leaving, things were super slow and its make everything a bit boring ...

[chilly sundial]

Ah Black Mesa?

I didn't know that started out as a volunteer thing

does make sense why it took an age to ship though :P

[thorn blade]

Nope, project borealis, they didn't ship anything yet

[chilly sundial]

Ah

[thorn blade]

Just the team is super friendly and motivated but and the end I guess when you work on your free time you kinda don t feel the pressure to work

[chilly sundial]

Exactly.

I was working with a close friend on a game a couple of years back. It fell apart because he started a job to pay the bills and I was back at uni, so we just drifted away from the project

Another big killer is burnout.
Witha volunteer project there is nothing to offset burnout

[half sundial]

What made you join in the first place? The idea?

[spiral swallow]

Hello everyone!

I'm currently looking for a job as a game designer or gameplay programmer but I feel like I'm not having any luck. After getting my bachelor's degree, I got a job as a game designer at a studio and worked on a AAA game. I got laid off from my first job in the industry a little over a year ago. I thought after getting my foot in the door it would be easier landing my second game design job but am finding that not to be the case. Of all the jobs I apply to, I just get turned down without even getting an interview. I'm not very confident in my portfolio and wonder if its playing a role in my struggle to find a job. My last job I signed an NDA so I don't know how to display any of my more recent work. I was hoping I could get some feedback on my portfolio and CV, as well as any advice on how to make myself more appealing to potential employers. I can share the link to my portfolio for reference. Forgive me if I'm posting this on the wrong channel, It's my first time posting here. I'd appreciate any advice you guys could share!

[thorn blade]

Im a huge half life fan, I always wanted to contribute to the franchise

[pastel estuary]

you can generally get permission to get some showcase pieces of nda work, to show privately, but there are a lot of rules attached to it.
The best thing to do in the meantime is make your own stuff showcasing your talent.
make at least one thing you really like to make/showcase your strength.

[spiral swallow]

Thanks, that a good idea! I should reach out to my las job then to see if I can find a way to showcase some of the work I did. Besides that I'll try to add another project to my portfolio. Thanks for the advice!

[soft garnet]

so i am experienced in blueprint, basic c++ knowledge, basic looking but very functional ui, creating good looking maps, basic multiplayer functionality, basic blender knowledge, etc
and was wondering how do you look for work in freelancing? im very new to looking for jobs in this field and would like some advice
(i even have some little game projects i made too i can show if they need that)
im mostly trying to find something related to blueprint or ui as i find those tasks the most enjoyable

[spice dagger]

We have a Job Board where other users can post their listings.

Take a look through #freelance-jobs and find one you think you can achieve.

[rancid hedge]

Are these compagnies looking for the perfect canditate? lol

This job offer has been active for months

sad

[modern relic]

All companies are always looking for the perfect candidate

Ideally someone who will work for free and do 100 hours a week and never complain or be sick or have other commitments

[gusty jay]

Hah back in the day when I was looking for internships, I'd put a buck below minimum wage as my starting pay just to make it through auto screeners

Then hr would be disheartened I wanted $15/hr as a software engineering intern

[round radish]

Only 100? Damn slackers.

And they don't pay for the priviledge of working for you?!

[modern relic]

yet

[gusty jay]

Reverse financed role where I burn the midnight oil only for the marketing and product team to fumble the bag and communicate weak KPIs

That's the initiative every programmer needs

[ivory echo]

Bear in mind that some job postings are fake or left there in perpetuity just for them to see what’s on the market and how cheap they can be with their own employees

[nova coyote]

Or they want to seem like they're growing infront of investors

[ivory echo]

Idk, investors usually look at past quarter growth more than anything

[frosty barn]

Hello! I am new here, i need some orientation i am looking for salarys or the fees for hire a freelancer or full time job for a programmer on UE5 in remote work and get and idea of the range of the prices i need to look at? i am working to get gov fund from my country to fund my game project and i need get some logistics

[rancid hedge]

I passed this exam and they said they liked my skills

Now they want to interview me and I am hoping that I already got the job lol

[shut token]

The price range is far too vast. It can be anywhere between like 10 dollars and 200k dollars. Location matters a lot.

[frosty barn]

well what i am looking is professional field but not like a super experiences programmer so is like i am not looking to 10 or 200k there is always a middle range

[shut token]

Location matters still

Middle for San Francisco is different than middle for India

[woven pilot]

Like they said location matters. But start thinking of your minimum as $2000/m

You can go lower but i doubt they’ll be quality there.

I doubt You’re getting anyone in the US for $2000 though but you can find a stellar programmer elsewhere at that price.

US and UK, think $2800, $4500 and up to $7K(AAA experience)…

some parts of China/Africa you can get $2000 .
But don’t get too greedy and think you’ll get away with $500/

At those pay rates, you’ll have to be prepared for “you get what you pay for”

People perform well if you pay them decently… and you won’t find decent programmers without paying the bare minimum

[rancid hedge]

I wish I could shadow a live interview. Im really curious to know how are other people doing in these interivews

Gamers and Game Developers are usually introvert

Im having a hard time believing im not the only messing up this many interviews and stutering and answering these trick questions all wrong lol

[green oyster]

Introvert but also passioned about their line of work, you can show that and recruiters will jump on it (because you will have dedication to your job)

[ivory echo]

At least you’re getting interviews

[rancid hedge]

I'd like to believe it's luck

For this particual application, I had to do an exam first and I passed

then they gave me the interview and 120 people applied to the job.

[woeful iron]

well it has to be a combination of luck and skill really

[ivory echo]

Yeah, I’ve gotten maybe 4 interviews from applying to like 50 jobs and most of those were just the first phone call. Diff industry but you’re doing pretty well

[oblique cobalt]

is the job market for game dev just as bad as software engineering right now?

[ivory echo]

I think the job market in general is bad rn but maybe depends where you are

[gusty vapor]

Welcome to the recession.

[nova coyote]

I wouldn't say software engineering job market is bad compared to game dev's

[rancid hedge]

Why is the game dev market so bad right now?

I tought It was booming

[brave forge]

2 years ago it was

There's been a lot of layoffs recently

[rancid hedge]

Why do you think?

[woeful iron]

Because he is

https://tenor.com/view/trigger-gif-6113599

[rancid hedge]

Epic games I think but I can't think of any other major layoffs

[woeful iron]

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/over-6000-games-industry-jobs-lost-in-2023-so-far

[oblique cobalt]

I dont graduate for 4 years so hopefully everything clears up by then

[dull veldt]

line can't go up forever

[steel creek]

along with VFX halted dead stop due to studio strikes. That also feeds a lot of game development. No movie, no game.

[royal lintel]

Hollywood studio strikes don't really affect games.

Aside from maybe trailer production.

I think there's also confusion happening here, VFX isn't striking. Marvel VFX workers moved to unionize, which is separate from the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike. I'm sure the strikes affect production timelines for VFX but that doesn't affect games whatsoever.

And even if VFX studios were striking, most games VFX production isn't outsourced to those kinds of studios afaik.

[ivory echo]

I thought the writer strike was over

Read something about them getting a decent offer

[royal lintel]

The WGA strike is over, SAG-AFTRA isn't

[ivory echo]

ah ok

[steel creek]

It does from studios like Disney, WB, Sony and Nick. Literally what I do.

[royal lintel]

That is... very few studios.

Sony and WB are the biggest ones there.

[steel creek]

plenty more. Large AAA studio games. millions in resources and acting gigs.

[royal lintel]

That's not VFX though.

[steel creek]

SAG is striking my dude

[royal lintel]

voice acting was affected for a few specific companies

Yes, but I was specifically responding to you saying VFX halting

[steel creek]

VFX, what I literally do, wsa never striking

[royal lintel]

I'm aware that voice acting (and I think mocap) was affected

[white steppe]

VFX is actually the depart doing AI stuff, right?😅

[royal lintel]

yes, that's what I said

[steel creek]

All those properties are feeders for other things. No movies == no other things. its not hard

[steel creek]

Pipeline, but yes.

[royal lintel]

I was specifically responding to you saying

along with VFX halted dead stop due to studio strikes. That also feeds a lot of game development. No movie, no game.
which I took to mean VFX halting affecting gamedev, which it isn't. Other things - voice and mocap sure. But that's not what you meant so... sure? I agree?

[white steppe]

Most VFX studios have their AI R&D team

[steel creek]

VFX itself is at a dead stop

[royal lintel]

Ok

I didn't say anything about that

I said VFX studios being stuck has no effect on gamedev.

[steel creek]

so, games, most likely, are coming to a slow down bc the same thing that drove VFX to stop

bc they are.

[royal lintel]

Games are unaffected aside from voice and mocap, and that's only specific studios.

[white steppe]

Movie VFX studios are barely have intersection with game industry.

[steel creek]

Sure, if you discount writing ....

it literally just started

again

[royal lintel]

WGA isn't striking

did they start a new strike?

[steel creek]

yes, so we obv. have all those 5 months of work instantly filled in? lol

[royal lintel]

The WGA strike ended. Also, I'd ask how many game writers are covered by WGA

games have historically been separate aside from some specific cases

[steel creek]

lots. up to the writer to join

[white steppe]

I mean some great games don't need even a pro writer for stories, lol

[royal lintel]

and again, I wasn't arguing about WGA or SAG affecting games. I thought you meant that games were specifically affected by VFX being shut down

which they're not

You apparently didn't mean that but have instead opted to put words into my mouth after I said ok, I misunderstood you.

[rancid hedge]

Does anyone what's the best answer to give for the interview question : What is your weakness?

[white steppe]

It is a BS question, lol.

[rancid hedge]

I know...

I found this answer on Chat GPT

Self-Criticism:
"I tend to be my own harshest critic. While this has helped me produce high-quality work, it sometimes affects my confidence. I'm learning to appreciate my accomplishments more and view mistakes as learning opportunities."

LOL

idk

[white steppe]

It has no answer. Well, you might think about what they want to know from the answer but not the answer itself? Like how you answer the question. idk what I was talking about even, lol

Think the point is just avoid the things mentioned in JD

[rancid hedge]

oh you mean job description?

[steel creek]

tell them your weakness is in responding to poorly formed questions.

[rancid hedge]

lol

[royal lintel]

It's one of those questions that gets asked just because everyone asks it.
You don't want to give them reasons to not hire you, and that precludes giving a real answer to it. The only "good" answers are ones where you bring up a flaw and resolve that flaw/talk about how it isn't a real issue at the same time. The example ChatGPT gave is pretty much that.
And this is something pretty much everyone does, which makes it a completely useless question aside from filtering out people who have literally never thought about being asked this before.

[white steppe]

Yeah. Pretty much it.

[nova coyote]

"I'm too good and my previous hardest jobs were boring to me cause they're just too easy"

[woeful iron]

unironically true though

[woeful iron]

you already kind of asked this question though

[modern relic]

You mean you don't keep asking the same questions every few days?

[brave forge]

We call this being a project manager, or having the memory of a goldfish

[woeful iron]

we call this having the memory of a project manager

[agile basin]

why is this such a common occurance tho

write it down somewhere...?

how many notes must there be

is it unorganised or smth?

or they cbf?

so they just ask you again?

[woeful iron]

I haven't experienced it that commonly tbh

[agile basin]

I mean by the sounds of things its a common thing that happens to everyone

[modern relic]

nah its not

some people are what we call ask holes where they just ask the same question and never listen to the advice because its not what they want to hear

[harsh raft]

Hi guys, any sites for getting unreal dev jobs?

[gusty vapor]

#salary-jobs

[rancid hedge]

but that's not a good answer I was told

[agile basin]

nah... i mean the project managers, had personal experience with it

[nova coyote]

Who and why?

[rancid hedge]

A former colleague of mine

He said time management is very important skill to have

[ivory echo]

There isn’t a right answer. You pick an actual weakness you have and embellish it, phrasing it in a way that shows you acknowledge it and you’ve been working to fix it, and how you’ve done that

[woven mica]

using unreal for last 6 months ,want to know what to learn to get a job i dont even know roles and pipeline

[chilly sundial]

Well first you need to identify what area you like and want to work in

Character modelling, environment art, tech artist, audio, all the million billion veins of programming etc.

[mint grove]

Is this the place to get feedback on a portfolio?

[short owl]

Hi people of the industry, I’m going to be honest here, I really want to move into the Game dev industry, I’ve dipped my toes into unreal and blueprints it can someone really make it in this environment with just blueprints knowledge alone? Or would it be better to learn C++ or C# aswell? Thanks for you time

[shut token]

Depends on what you wanna do

It's a vast field

Programmer will be expected to know C++

[short owl]

I’d love to work on game mechanics specifically

So knowledge in C++ would be an expectation?

[shut token]

If you're trying to be a programmer, yes.

[short owl]

Right perfect thank you

[rancid hedge]

idk man the game dev industry is not looking promising right now

[chilly sundial]

It also doesn't hurt having a little experience in other languages/knowing how to adapt

[short owl]

It’s gotta be better than my current 9-5

[short owl]

Probably the most obvious question, do I need a degree? Because I’m in my 30s now so university is kind of beyond me a little 😅

[mint skiff]

Don't need one, can be very useful

Depends on how self directed you are as a learner

I like having mature age classmates bc they're reliable 😆

[short owl]

Well that made me feel old 😂

But thank you! 😅

[short owl]

So taking up a random course that’ll teach me basics in Languages and back end game design should be fine then

[mint skiff]

You should be a proficient programmer

[woeful iron]

just so you know, this is not that strange, I had people in my colleague classes of all ages, majority was early 20s yes, but there were people in 30s, 40s and even 50s, also one retired dude that just wanted to learn something new

age is not a blocking factor, of course, having other responsabilities in your 30s might be

[timber viper]

Hi everyone 👋 earlier this year I got my first job in AAA game development and have written a short blog post about my first 6 months: https://www.artstation.com/blogs/javertvalbarr/4wrm/gamedev-journal-1-my-first-6-months41 Afraid I can't go into too much detail as the title hasn't been announced but hopefully it's interesting

[round radish]

Nice!

You should keep updating it every month!

[ivory echo]

Ah yes, so we can observe the slow descent into madness 🙃

[oblique ice]

alot of different people and different age, also anyone different knowledge and education, hope that help 🙂

[tall compass]

Hey all, I need some advice, and hopefully this is the right place to ask.

I'm trying to get into the games industry. I've worked as a swe in fintech for 3 years, and it's not for me at all. Anyways around a year ago I applied to a bunch of game studios with a cover letter of two small unfinished projects and 0 replies haha.

Since then I've been working on something more tangible a small rts inspired by sc2, it's still far from polished but it's a lot more presentable than my last 2 projects. https://xyzrts.com/devlog I written a few posts about the systems in the game. I've got some small demos on youtube https://youtu.be/Z5zju4rWTWk

So here are my questions. Is it too early to be applying to studios? Do I need something with more substance? Or am I doing some solo indie game trap that's not going to land me a job. My goal is to work for some studio that works on a multiplayer game. Thanks!

[upbeat spear]

Hey, I might not be the best person to answer this since I'm also looking for a job 🙃
But professional experience and published games weighs a lot when someone is evaluating your resume/portfolio, most roles actually expect you to have previously released something
So I'd that your best bet is to be constantly applying to junior roles (it's never too early) and getting your game out in the world

Your portfolio project already looks technically very interesting, having some real art applied to it could be helpful to catch the recruiter's attention

[woeful iron]

I like that project tbh, that could definitely pass for junior level imo

[mint grove]

HI everyone, I hope this is the right place for this. I'm into my last year at Full Sail for my BS in game design and I'm slowly updating my portfolio for level design. Would any fellow level designers already in the industry be able to give me some informative feedback on my portfolio and possibly any advice on how to better prepare for a level design position. I have done a few game jams as well. https://terrahoecker.wixsite.com/portfolio

[tall compass]

Yeah guess it doesn't hurt to apply 🙂 Game dev feels like such a catch 22 field lol

[upbeat spear]

Yeah, I just left my Unity mobile game dev job after 5 years and I'm going through it all again trying to migrate to PC/consoles

[crystal magnet]

They need roles not projects, make something you are good at, sequences, particles , animations and rigging, code that you made for some cool feature . And Polish the hell out of it , make it a post on art station and add to your letter

[woeful iron]

well I as a programmer can say, code is hard to capture attention with

also having a project shows you know more about the whole "pipeline"

[chilly sundial]

yeah showcasing some code on especially artstation is not at all how you get a call back for programmers

[crystal magnet]

To much text with no content, move all of your finest content to the top, mix it with the three small describing text you made for your showcase. And the deep dive underneeth

Also first page is messy. Some titles are on top of project others underneath.

[crystal magnet]

Depends what you do and how you show it, a video of playing your own physic engine is nice , then show the code behinde it and your toughtprocess would go a long way, much further than some unpolished project

[crystal magnet]

Art station was for the rest , use some personal website for your code and git

[mint grove]

I appreciate the feedback, but unfortunately I didn't understand any of that. I'm sorry, would you mind explaining which sections/pages you speak of. feel free to DM me any screenshots of what you are talking about so I can fix. Also, the site is not optimized for mobile, it looks like you are using mobile.

[crystal magnet]

Nevermind then, I used mobile , you should probably at least load it as computer on mobiles.

Haha then I can't give any feedback BCS I don't know how it looks really haha

[mint grove]

What does "load it as computer on mobile mean?" Sorry, I'm still new to Web design.

[woeful iron]

I think he means you get the desktop version on mobile?

[crystal magnet]

Yes ,this

But I now looked on my computer and 2 points really . Presentations looks nice, the last game was the best BCS i got a feeling for what you actually did. The other two posts didn't say much, as of did you do the level design or just used an asset, what was your goal, what did you learn, if you designed the maps and levels did you block it out first whiteboxint , how did it change over time and why, is there any work in progress photos to se.

One of the other games just said you did scripting for a boat but doesn't say anything of what you did on the level design part.

One game had exploration and agency but when o look to me it seemed you made it streamlined and used landmarks to introduce mechanics. So I would just highlight that more in your opening post, that you designed for the player to know how to proceed through the level , with some drag as you show them the map from high vantage points to let them know where they need to go and so on 🙂 looks nice tho.

[rancid hedge]

Does anyone here conduct interviews in the game industry ?

Is it true that it’s bad to have facial hair during interviews?

[chilly sundial]

...whaaa

where have you heard that

[dull veldt]

it might be perceived as bad to have unkept facial hair. If it's clean and trimmed/appears maintained then it shouldn't matter

(the neckbeard stuff is unappealing to most people, interviewers are no different)

[chilly sundial]

but that goes with anything. Don't look like a scruff.
Be well groomed. If you've got one of those scraggly few-long-chin-hair beards then shave it.

its for the same reason you wouldn't go to an interview with mustard stains on your shirt.

[dull veldt]

or a thicket of nose hair sticking out

[mint skiff]

Or a shirt that says "I STEAL OFFICE STATIONARY"

[chilly sundial]

or wearing croc boots

[chilly sundial]

Eh you could definitely go for worse.
Like telling them your hobbies involve violating NDA's and corporate espionage :P

I guess it depends how expensive those pens are :P

[dusty shoal]

I'd hire a guy in croc boots

[tidal tree]

Hey, anyone good in zbrush human sculpting?

[ivory echo]

#instructions

[woeful iron]

almost as good looking as dress shoes with separated toes

[fallow magnet]

Anyone know some certification I can get to validate and test my skills as a technical artist?

I have 2 games out on Steam, assets on both Unity and Unreal and worked in the industry but most of my experience is in Unity. A lot of the knowledge can be transferred but I want but getting a job on Unreal will be harder for me compared to Unity, so I would like something to back it up a bit

[round radish]

If you feel your skills are transferrable, why not transfer them and create some technical art?

[fallow magnet]

This is already what I am doing actually 🙂

But I also don't have tons of assets that could showcase that

For example, I have a cloud shadow system on Unity (for topDown games) because its relevant. But on Unreal, you do this in a few minutes

[round radish]

Spend the time you're putting into a certification into creating assets then 😛

[fallow magnet]

Yeah definitely, but I was curious about doing both 😛
If I already have the knowledge, getting those certifications would be easy, but also I may learn some things important that I didn't know I was missing 😛

[rancid hedge]

Would you hire someone if they showed up with a beard like this and no hair cut like that to an interview?

[round radish]

Depends on the severity? I mean, why not just get a haircut and a pair of scissors for your beard?

[earnest pecan]

why would I care about someone's haircut when hiring 'em?

[rancid hedge]

Idk some people do care

[round radish]

Because for most jobs there are a lot of candidates.

You want to reduce the number of possible negatives.

If the random guy interviewing you thinks you can't be bothered to shave/trim for an interview, what's he going to assume about the work you'll do?

[rancid hedge]

L0L

nice thesis

[round radish]

Or maybe he puts it down to bad planning? "Didn't have time to shave." Etc.

[rancid hedge]

so this is why it's always safe to take it all off

[round radish]

Or maybe with the 100 candidates who are all probably similarly as qualified as you, he just prefers the person who looks after their appearance? Justified or not. Either way the chances of them preferring you to be unkempt is extremely low.

[fallow magnet]

So having a beard or not doesn't matter today, as long as it look intentional and clean. I agree with Daekesh

[round radish]

It's not about shaving it all off, it's about making it look presentable. If it isn't your standard type of beard, it at least has to look intentional.

And turn up in a suit and tie, even if they're all in jeans and t-shirts. Look professional. "Dress for the job you want" etc.

[rancid hedge]

Even for a game dev job?

[round radish]

Any white-collar job.

Unless your CV/experience/etc is so good that you could turn up naked wearing a cowboy hat and still get the job, you need to dress to impress.

They may not decide to hire you in the first 3s of meeting you, but they will decide if they don't want to hire you.

First impressions, etc.

[rancid hedge]

lol 3 seconds?

how

[ivory echo]

he told you, first impressions

try not to wear a Batman t-shirt in your interview either

[round radish]

They may simply think, "I don't like the look of him, we'll do the interview in case he's somehow amazing, but I expect we'll not hire him." The moment they meet you. Without even speaking to you or shaking your hand etc.

[rancid hedge]

lolll

that's hilarious

Just outta of curiosity, did anyone ever interview someone that was stuttering during questions, and visibly extremely nervous?

[round radish]

I expect they're used to that.

Confidence is good, maybe uber nervousness will go against you, but you'll get better at it. The biggest thing you can take from an interview is experience going into the next one.

[rancid hedge]

I think interviewers are missing the point that these game developers they are interviewing are mostly introverts and when you ask trick questions, it won't end well lol

[round radish]

That's how life works. In every aspect. From meeting people on the street, to interviews, to whatever.

People make snap decisions.

And generally go with them.

[round radish]

No, they'll find the people that best fit their company culture. If they're all introverted nerds, I'm sure you'll get on. If they're all chads, they'll hire that sort of person. Probably.

[rancid hedge]

When I meet people on the street, I don't nervously stutter

[dusty shoal]

or if you're applying for a job as exotic dancer.

[round radish]

I don't mean about the stuttering. I mean snap decisions.

If you meet someone on the street, before you've even talked to them, they'll have formed an opinion of you. Good or bad.

[rancid hedge]

Did you ever hire someone that was nervously stuttering?

[round radish]

I've never hired anyone.

I'm succesfully employed, though.

[rancid hedge]

wait...

You said before even talking to them?

lol

How is that possible?

[dusty shoal]

correct

[round radish]

Because of their first visual impression of you.

[rancid hedge]

So the second I open that camera on the interview, they make their decision? L0L

[round radish]

They'll make a decision.

[dusty shoal]

people subconciously and conciously form opinions and assumptions of you within milliseconds of meeting/seeing you.

[rancid hedge]

So what if someone is very ugly?

But is dressed well

lol

[dusty shoal]

then they generally do worse in society.

[dusty shoal]

its not a blanket statement that applies everywhere and to everyone, and as much as it seems sucky and shallow it is the way the world works.

[rancid hedge]

lol

like an AI

makes a decision in less than a second

[dusty shoal]

humans make millions of decisions in less then a second every day

[rancid hedge]

It's starting to make sense why compangies don't tell you why you weren't hired

lol or else they would have millions of law suits L0L

[round radish]

Plus you could probably sue them.

"Didn't hire him because I didn't like his face" -> lawsuit

[rancid hedge]

ya sue = law suit

[round radish]

It's why companies don't write bad references.

They will just refuse to give one if it's bad.

[rancid hedge]

lol this is hilarious and there's a recession right now btw

[round radish]

Or they will write amazing references to offload a problem to another company.

[upbeat spear]

I think that suit and tie might be overdressing for most game dev jobs, I'd personally avoid it

[steel creek]

Did someone just realize Humans are psychologically driven and make choices based on their own bias?

[round radish]

Back in the day I showed up in a suit and tie to a job interview to be a data centre "operations engineer". The interview was over pizza in a local restaurant. They were both in jeans and tees and commented that I didn't need to "dress up" for the interview. I still got the job.

[chilly sundial]

Yeah I'm also not exactly sure why it's a surprise that being unpresentable might not get you hired :P

Just look smart. Nervousness is expected. I was a ball of nerves in my interviews, something which I made clear.

I still got offers for each of them though

[crystal magnet]

You can still write some shaders in unreal in code

[round radish]

You can even write your own raw shaders in hlsl.

(And I don't mean with the hlsl node)

[rancid hedge]

You think that's normal in professional setting when someone loses a job opportunity because of someone's bias even if you are a great candidate?

[round radish]

Absolutely.

[chilly sundial]

Yep

[rancid hedge]

LOL

[mint skiff]

quite explicitly really

very normal to be rejected for being a bad 'culture fit'

[round radish]

It's why there are laws that mean women, minorities, etc saying they have to be treated equally beacuse for a very long time people have been dicks.

[rancid hedge]

Did you tell them you were nervous?

[chilly sundial]

If you think you're immune to implicit bias because it's a job interview then I've got some bad news

[rancid hedge]

I love how nobody ever agrees that it's wrong lmfao

[chilly sundial]

I did indeed. On some questions, I could feel myself slipping a bit, so asked for an extra moment to think and collect my nerves

[chilly sundial]

Oh it's wrong, but there's no sense in crying over literal human nature. People are assholes.

[mint skiff]

i mean in some sense you don't want to work at a place where your manager hates you

[rancid hedge]

I believe there should be new laws that force companies to give you feedback and explain why you did not get the job

[round radish]

There really shouldn't.

You can always ask.

[rancid hedge]

They never answer

I tried.

[round radish]

Did you get a haircut before the interview?

[steel creek]

you are trying to equivocate what, exactly? This is life. Humans live here. Whether or not I like it, and whether or not I don't practice it myself, doesn't preclude it from being reality.

[rancid hedge]

Nope

[round radish]

To be honest, from what you've been saying here, it sounds like you've turned up to your job interviews in jeans and a string vest, needing a haircut and a beard trim, and you're surprised that you don't get any response.

[rancid hedge]

My hair is brushed tho

nothing wrong with it

[round radish]

You're the one taht said you needed a haricut 😛

Or implied it, at least.

[rancid hedge]

Never said that

I don't know what the person is thinking

for him a haircut means something else

[round radish]

⬆️

[rancid hedge]

My hair is not all over the place

[steel creek]

on a scale of Distinguished, Disarrayed, Disgusting -- where do you find yourself....

[chilly sundial]

Would anyone actually answer that honestly tho?

[mint skiff]

it's possible you're in that 'intermediate/mediocre' slump

[rancid hedge]

Do you get a haircut before an interview ?

[mint skiff]

where there's nothing easy to say you did wrong, but you weren't good enough regardless

it's a well known stage for artists at least

giving feedback takes time and energy, and the amount of time and energy required increases with the subtlety of the mistakes.

[rancid hedge]

what's your point?

[steel creek]

that self-evaluation is a thing

[rancid hedge]

that's biased

[steel creek]

as is the point. all humans are

[rancid hedge]

I don't know what the interviewer is thinking. I can't read minds

[steel creek]

then ask

[rancid hedge]

ok lemme ask if I didnt get hired because of my hair and beard lol

[royal lintel]

No one else said it was, but what you wrote implied that you thought something was wrong.
The standard for interviews depends on the industry, but the impression you give no matter how you give it will be taken into account - consciously or unconsiously. If your question is whether looking presentable matters then the answer is yes.

[rancid hedge]

I think ima just go bald lmfao

[steel creek]

yes. literally. ask.

[rancid hedge]

lol

You think that's a normal question to ask?

in a middle of an interview or in an email?

[royal lintel]

...sure? Though people usually ask it to their friends, not to a discord server.

[steel creek]

your entire problem solution is simply asking for the reason. If they do not give it, then there is nothing left to do. This is life.

[royal lintel]

No, it's not something you ask an interviewer.

[steel creek]

yes, I have asked plenty of interviewers why I didnt get the job in their view.

you dont know, if you dont ask.

[royal lintel]

I was thinking the question was asking an interviewer whether you're presentable before an interview lol

[steel creek]

ah

[royal lintel]

but yeah, you can always ask after the fact if there was a reason

the worst they can do is say no

[rancid hedge]

Yes. I have normal nair and barely any facial hair during the time of the interview. No nose rings, no purple hair. nothing

[fathom vigil]

To be honest though, I don't think they're going to tell him it was because he looked like a hobo.

[royal lintel]

So why do you even think this is the problem?

[steel creek]

you'd be surprised.

[rancid hedge]

because for someone else normal hair means no fade

[steel creek]

humans are consistently humans.

[rancid hedge]

Would you judge somone more from their hair,face, or their clotches?

[royal lintel]

Especially in a "casual" industry very few people (if anyone at all) is going to care as long as you don't look like a complete slob. Which per your own answer you didn't.

I would judge them more from the interview itself.

[steel creek]

none of the above. But I am not hiring 😄

[royal lintel]

Why are you under the impression any of this has to do with how you look?

[rancid hedge]

Im talking about anywhere

not the interview

on the street

[royal lintel]

Why is that relevant

[rancid hedge]

just a question

[ivory echo]

Perhaps more suited for #lounge then

[mint grove]

I really appreciate this feedback! Are you referring to the tile game being the one you like more? The other two being the adventure and turtle games that need to show more of my level design process (like blockmeshing)?

[main harbor]

i have more than 2 years of experience in unity and i have decided to move to unreal because it is just perfect for the games which i like to make i have no idea how to land a job in unreal as a fresher in Europe, Singapore is fine too i just dont know where to apply can anyone help me i have just started to learn unreal like two weeks ago

i prefer c++ more as i like to code the stuff

[crystal magnet]

Yes the smal game was nice and clean and as it was a solo project it was clear what you did in terms of level design. The other two post was kinda clear to if you read all of it till the end , but you should really highlight everything important first and put in your summary what you did, what the goal was and what you learned

[main harbor]

atleast tell which are the websites used to search for unreal jobs in europe

[ivory echo]

https://gamejobs.co

[shut token]

Solid. Good to know the position is still open.

[ivory echo]

Idk, someone posted that site in lounge for EU

[main harbor]

im shifting to unreal forever

so less results for unreal in India if you search on indeed.com you get like hundreds of results im targeting europe by the way

[earnest pecan]

I can relate

so little people in india use UE

[pastel estuary]

theres a LOT of people in India using UE.
they might use different places to find/post job offers though.

[sturdy vault]

Hello everyone. Is it a good idea, for porfolio purposes, to recreate a level from a game for example: crash, mario, etc., and use some similar assets even if I am not making money, just for demonstration? Or is it better to create an entire idea from scratch. I just want to show off my programming skills. Thanks in advance!

[crystal wing]

Hi Do we have any nordic ppl here ? im a last year student of a Game designer education and we are looking for internship starting right after newyear, do anyone know any studios or w/e thats looking for interns?

[woeful iron]

for programming I think it's perfectly fine to recreate existing things, as long as in legal bounds of course

[woeful iron]

I did my internship at Nitro Games in Finland, they probably still take interns, was cool studio, but it's mobile games though 🤢

[crystal wing]

yeah id really wish to stay away from mobile games if im able ill write it down as a backup 😛

[woeful iron]

also got pretty far at Massive Entertainment, but they were "too busy to make decisions" atm

Arrowhead Games also looks for interns from time to time

Or DICE or Avalanche studios

I know of HouseMarquee too, dno if they do internships though

Paradox interactive also maybe

also still get mails of FatShark openings

[crystal wing]

yeah ive already applied to dice & avalanche

[woeful iron]

also was interested in FrozenByte, but at least at the time they only accepted people fluent in finnish

[crystal wing]

a month ago we were at a studio visit at fatshark in sthlm (sweden)

but theyre not taking interns atm

oh

[woeful iron]

also applied to MachineGames back in the day

IO Interactive is also maybe taking interns, they were expanding to a new studio recently iirc

[ivory echo]

Would you say you weren’t able to finish your application because of this? 🤪

[woeful iron]

maybe starbreeze, although they're in bad finances these days I think

also applied to StunLock studios

[ivory echo]

Are all of these in Finland?

[woeful iron]

sweden/finland and ioi in denmark

those are the ones I recall from the top of my head, but already covers some stuff @crystal wing

[ivory echo]

Scandinavia is a game dev hub eh

[woeful iron]

source: I was looking for internship in Sweden back in the day

[upbeat spear]

that's Unity though isn't it?

[woeful iron]

they didn't specify it had to be unreal

[upbeat spear]

I know that V Rising was made with Unity, not sure about Battlerite 🤔

[woeful iron]

idk all engines people use

but a good game dev should be pretty engine agnostic anyway

for sure if just starting out

imo at least

[upbeat spear]

Not sure if it's that easy to transition from Unity to Unreal

Job-wise at least

It's not being that easy for me 🙃

[woeful iron]

I started with unity and then convinced the studio to switch to unreal lol

then I just quit gamedev

[upbeat spear]

Why?

[woeful iron]

https://tenor.com/view/hello-money-giveittome-mr-krabs-spongebob-gif-4184913

[upbeat spear]

Oh yeah, that's reasonable

[woeful iron]

also, I really never cared all that much about the end product. Just the problem solving of programming is what I like

gameplay programming was getting a bit too repititive/"easy" at the level I was in

[sturdy vault]

The legal bounds are my concerns.

[woeful iron]

I was always more interested in engine programming, but there's not many opportunities for that, and for sure non in Belgium 😄

[woeful iron]

I think it's fine in most cases as long as you don't release a full copy of the game or ask for money

[upbeat spear]

There's Keen Software House, the Space Engineers guys

They have their own engine and hire remotely

[woeful iron]

I don't think it's likely they'll match my pay and benefits though

and I prefer to not be homeless

[chilly sundial]

I mean it's really common to recreate something existing in a portfolio. If it's something popular it gives an immediate frame of reference

Sometimes it can help to do something with a twist.
Like doing a level from a Game, but underwater or something

[sturdy vault]

My initial thought was this but during development this doubt came to mind.

[sturdy vault]

Yeah it can provide new insights

Thanks @woeful iron and @chilly sundial . I think I can continue now that you gave me a little relief

[earnest pecan]

How do you know this? (Genuine Curiosity)

[idle maple]

Are you at futuregames / game assembly?

[crystal wing]

@idle maple Futuregames

[idle maple]

Don’t you have meet&greet? Ting or whatever they call it nowadays

[crystal wing]

Yeah we did 2 weeks ago but sadly i was unable to attend had a sick kid at home, but i got to do 2x online interviews but they didn’t feel right tbh

And sound like your a former student or ?

@idle maple

[idle maple]

Yes, went there back in 2018

[crystal wing]

Ok cool, so where did u end up ?

[idle maple]

What type of game designer are you?

@crystal wing

[crystal wing]

Oh did u release the game or was it not successful?

Tech designer is my goal but also gameplay/ui/generalist

[idle maple]

Problems with the publisher and people were stressed out, so we decided to quit

[idle maple]

Specialize for your internship. Most companies don’t need a generalist unless its indie dev

And indie dev in stockholm usually means no job after your internship

Many scummy companies at the Ting that just takes on multiple interns but never hires anyone

[crystal wing]

Yeah thats what i got from the meetings i had..

[idle maple]

Yea, indie devs at the Ting are usually very shady

Go with the ones that are like 30-40 employees atleast

There was this one guy who made a music game, he had taken interns from stockholm universities for 4 years. Basically that whole game is made by interns

Dont remember the name

[crystal wing]

Oh damn yeah thats shady :/

Aye but its hard to find… this year its the first time ever futuregames doubbled the class size

Wich they already said openly they wont so again

[idle maple]

They’re stupid as hell

The only one who actually cared for the students there left

He worked his ass off to get everyone out on internship and bypassed rules for us to start a company

I’m forever grateful for that guy, but yea he’s off to new adventures. Wish he was still at FutureGames

How is the school now?

[crystal wing]

Tbh idnno i think the school is a joke tbh… the only thing the school has given me really is time.. haven’t learn nothing in school except for the group project like how it “works” basically

Altho i have a game dev hobby for over 10 years

So i might not be the right person to ask

I know some students never opened a game engine ever be4 applying

Wich i think is weird af

But idnno cant really compare to something

[idle maple]

So it’s the same as when I went there

I heard they ditched the interviews after that guy left too. Have they dropped the tests too? Do you just apply now?

When I went, you had to make a game in Unreal when applying, if that was accepted, you had an hour interview

[crystal wing]

No we got test to join

Nointerview tho

[idle maple]

The interview is great

Don’t know why they ditched that

[crystal wing]

Altho some ppl watch a tutorial for 10 mins did a game and got applied

Idnno eaither

Greedy

Want more students

= more money

[idle maple]

Yea, I’m glad I went when we were only 100 students per year

[crystal wing]

Aye i can understand that

[pastel estuary]

been around the industry since 1998. so just knowing peeps, meeting peeps, and talking to peeps.

[crystal wing]

So u dont know anyone that needs a intern :)?

[idle maple]

Also, attend linkin bar

[idle maple]

Unfortunately no

[crystal wing]

Ate its to late for that now those event has already passed

Ah ok darn

[idle maple]

Those are every other month

Next is in november

[crystal wing]

Oh nothing the school organizes ?

[idle maple]

No, one indiedev and one from Dataspelsbranschen organize these events. They’re now at Slaktkyrkan

Usually packed with people

From the games industry

Also its usually a nice way to reconnect with old classmates, so many alumnis go there

[crystal wing]

Oh ok

Cool il check it out

Ty for the tip

[idle maple]

Do it! No worries

[main harbor]

the pay is very less in Europe pay is very good

[main harbor]

im okay with repetitive programming do you know any studios in Europe which use unreal i m unity dev with 2 years + experience shifting to unreal permanently no issue with relocation also willing to join as a fresher but no training period because during training stipend over here is usually not even enough to take care of basic requirements i dont know about Europe though how much they pay

[woeful iron]

well I can imagine cost of living is also a lot lower though

[main harbor]

it is but my plan is save money for 4 to 5 years and come back and i can start my own stuff saving same amount of money here wil take me atleast 15 to 20 years

[earnest pecan]

ahh, checks out

I have no clue how to network with people other than sending connection requests on LinkedIn

and LinkedIn is... not good

kind of stranded tbh

[earnest pecan]

not only that but the quality and standards are not good

I wouldn't want to put something like those productions in my portfolio

[spare moss]

We are a newly formed small indie studio, is there any place to post a small survey that would help us a lot from the Unreal Source community? I checked out the "Community Creations" section, but the only relevant i saw said "only post with screenshot or video from UE"

[modern relic]

You could try #lounge but I'd bet that you might only get a handful of people actually do the survey. What information are you after?

[bitter wolf]

Thank you so much for letting me know. I'll see if I'll make it in!

[bitter wolf]

Hey guys, I could use some advice/a point in a good direction if anyone knows what I can do/where I can apply to. (If not, it's okay). I am a 3D prop and environment person that can do stylized, realistic, and semi-realistic. I'm employed with a company called Grit Games, but receiving tasks has been very slow due to some production changes and issues. It's a wonderful company with great people, but I have been looking for a more fast-paced, challenging role or opportunity, whether it's CA near SF or remote. I have been looking and applying since January, and not a lot of luck. I have had three interviews now, but all met with silence afterwards despite sending thank you letters. It has always been a struggle for me to get anywhere, and when I do, it's by miracle or an unpaid job--and I can't do unpaid anymore. People will reach out to me once in a while after finding my ArtStation, but they disappear as soon as I write back to them. I'm always willing to be suddenly thrown out of my comfort zone, always learning something new on my own, and always busting my ass to make things look better than they ever have been. But no matter how much I try to communicate this along with my 5+ years of experience, my cover letters go unanswered or I get a generic "no", even though it's an "Entry" position. I have no idea what to do. I have connections, but I don't want to bother them or burden them by asking if they're hiring or if they need a prop person. I'm not sure what to do anymore, and I'm super discouraged. Here's my Artstation if you feel like viewing it:
https://www.artstation.com/samrobinson93

Thank you to anyone taking the time to read this.

[mint skiff]

Hi, discord isn't really the best place for serious critique, I'd recommend posting on an artist community like polycount, or reaching out to any other professionals/past teachers you might know

I will say that your portfolio has way too much stuff on it, and the quality is incredibly inconsistent

3-5 pieces MAX, make them your best work & really curate it.

[spare moss]

Its mostly to get a grasp of what people enjoy in games, and if our name suits what the game is about:)

[wanton yoke]

I would defenietly do a longer project, I see that you do around 30h on a piece, which feels like is not enough, they quiite frankly look like they need much more work in few areas,
you dont need that many pieces in your portfolio, if you have just one that showcases your whole skillset and is done at amazing level you will get hired,

stylized, realistic and semi-realistic is quite a whole range, if it were me I would specialize, as it is way easier to get good at one thing then be good at all three of them, you can always get better at all of them, but as of right know it seem like you need a job, and specialization will help you with that

if you have connections, honestly I would ask them the question, "what do you think I lacks for you guys to hire me"? you might not get the best reasponses as ppl try to be nice. If that isnt something you can do it is fine, I would highly advice to message the artist that you look up to and seek the critique from them

[modern relic]

Honestly that's not really how gamedev works. It's a passion driven industry where you make what you love and people will play it. Trying to make an impersonal project to try and fill a gap in the market is a pretty poor business strategy imo. Note that I'm not an expert and this is purely my personal opinion

[chilly sundial]

I mean it can work, you just need millions to throw at it :P

[spare moss]

I agree 100%! My passion and enjoyment for games for over 30 years is the reason the whole journey started in the first place. Gaming (WoW in particular) has helped and affected my life in a big way. I wanted to create a universe to inspire and immerse people, to take a break from the hardships of life.

The reason I really want the communities help is for two reasons:

1. To gain an idea if the naming of our game and races is good before finally staple it.
2. In my country, to get funding we have to show the people responsible that what we believe to be great, also is great in the mind of the people. Corporations are cold ❄️

[modern relic]

Ye its a tough industry to break into. What I would recommend is get a prototype/v-slice made and don't worry so much about the lore or names of things and just use place holders. Speaking from experience, you can burn out and halt progress for weeks over the stupidest road blocks

[spare moss]

Good recommendation ✨ We are in the making of a prototype atm, really excited that things are going forward after a year of planning. Totally get what you mean about stupid road blocks 😅 It certainly is a bit nerve-wracking to take the first step into the public now, the survey is our first "Hello world"

[bitter wolf]

Thank you so much. I have reached out to other professionals, but they often ghost me or don't answer me, especially recruiters. 😦

People used to tell me "Have as much work on your portfolio as possible", and now that I am hearing more people than usual tell me to have the minimum, I gave it a shot and narrowed it down. So hopefully that gets me results. The quality change is probably a jump in timeframes when I uploaded, if that makes any sense. At least that's all I hope it is

[bitter wolf]

Hey, Rivgar, thanks for the reply. What do you mean by a longer project? Like something on a larger environment scale that takes 100s of hours? Or is it something else? And you're right, it makes sense to focus on one type of art style. I think the temptation comes in when I can't find a lot of job ads that are hiring for stylized for that day or week. And yeah, I'm tempted to ask, but I'm always afraid that I'll come off as just wanting to talk to them as a connection rather than being friends too, ya know what I mean? Plus they've already done so much for me.

[lilac walrus]

your portfolio is only ever as good as the worst pieces in it - so only put your best work in your portfolio. 4-5 pieces of work is ideal.

[mint skiff]

I did take another look after your cleanup. I still think there's too many - this was touched on by another user - I don't think art tests should go in a portfolio (A brief discussion: https://polycount.com/discussion/73011/art-tests-in-portfolios). You do not get enough time to refine & perfect the piece, nor do you really get to take ownership over it. I don't think there's anything in my portfolio that I haven't spent at least a month on (granted, I work slowly).

I think generally your pieces need to be higher quality across the board, but in particular the 'realistic' stuff. If you're not actually interested in working on 'realistic' projects then I'd just bin those pieces, no point splitting the focus of recruiters.

Also industry is in a bit of a slump, if you need work use your connections - for most people portfolios are just for getting their foot in, which you seem to have achieved already.

[ivory echo]

Nice portfolio man 👏

[wanton yoke]

I wouldnt recommend to go for an art style that gets you a lot of jobs, if you are phenomenal artist that doest stylized everyone would want to hire you

you can always ask them as a form of feedback, you need a good critique to grow as an artist or person in general, dont ask with premise that you want to be hired, ask bc you want to get better at your craft thats all

[wanton yoke]

probably not in the scale factor, more hours that are spent on the quality part

also you dont have to get rid of the older projects completly, what I would do is to change one post in your protfolio to a dump of the
"bad" or jsut too old to be relevant projects

[dusty shoal]

<@&213101288538374145>

👌

[woeful iron]

so you would recommend to go for an art style that gets you no jobs?

[wanton yoke]

it is a tricky question

for personal art yes, def do what you love, but for a pro job, you have to make sure you are hireable,

the best scenario would be, you do what you love and get paid for that, but it take time to get to that point

[woeful iron]

but you just told that guy to not go for a style that gets jobs

[wanton yoke]

I meant it in a way to go for a art style that you love, if you read it literaly, yes I did "write" to go for an art style that gets you the job but didnt mean that

my bad

[ivory echo]

What art style do you go to when designing the SCM software ? 😁

[chilly sundial]

That's a bit of a double edged sword though. I've spoken to plenty of people who say the opposite. Stylized games are not as common, and a stylized artist may not be a good realistic artist. So the "everyone is gonna want to hire you" is a bit of misnomer. A range of art styles would probably be better than hard focusing a single more niche area.

Though this is mainly opinion based, but has also been observed through other people in the industry, and industry artists I have spoken with

[shut token]

Stylized games are not as common
You should tell the indie scene this. I feel like every game I see comin' out by indies is stylized.

[chilly sundial]

Yeah I should have clarified for AAA

[vocal lantern]

What do you guys think about having a test where they ask you to make a prototype of something in unreal engine

It's my first time doing something like that so I'm not sure how I feel, to do all that work just to pass to the next stage

[mint skiff]

Thank you!

[spice dagger]

@vocal lantern If thats their process and you want the job, do what needs to be done.

You can always refuse and look elsewhere.

Demonstrating competence is not unusual.

Depending on whats in your resume, they may feel more comfortable with your application if you did a practical application of the skills your claiming to bring to the table.

🤷

[mint skiff]

Advice ive been given is the opposite haha, recruiters want to be spoon-fed the exact role you're looking for. Showing diversity is good but you need to be careful that the quality is consistent (harder when you're splitting your work across a number of different styles) and that your message is clear (HIRE ME FOR ENVIRONMENT ART)

[ivory echo]

As long as they’re not asking you to make a full-fledged game, it sounds like a decent request, especially if you don’t have an existing portfolio you can use to showcase your skills in UE

Really, it’s better than being asked questions that will have nothing to do with your actual job

[ivory echo]

Yeah, it’s odd how recruiters don’t care so much about your versatility, even in other industries

[mint skiff]

I guess they've been given a mission to fill a specific role so they're primed to look for that role

[chilly sundial]

Yeah that's what I'm saying. Stylized is a niche in AAA so even diversifying may end up being better. Getting into the big studios, sticking to realism is gonna be your best bet. Unless I misunderstood you :P

[mint skiff]

Oh I see

I thought you meant demonstrate a wider range on the portfolio

Rather than retraining

[modern relic]

Legal issues aside this isn't the place for recruitment and you should check out #instructions for posting on the job boards

[vocal lantern]

Yeah you're right I didn't think of it like that. I just remember hearing about these scams where they get programmers to work on their game. So after I was done I just thought "what if"

[vocal lantern]

Yeah I agree, previous times I had to do codin game cpp tests and I always did shit. I've forgotten all my normal cpp

[spice dagger]

I have heard similar stories, but I would imagine it gets obvious when its more than a days work.

If they are asking for something complex and time consuming, its probably a scam.

[vocal lantern]

Yeah exactly. I just had to make an enemy that's patrols and hide when you aim at him

[spice dagger]

But then again, Ive never had to take a practical, so I dont know... lol

[torpid glade]

I would do whatever it takes to get the job if it’s a job I want

[steady pewter]

#hire-a-freelancer

[grave python]

Hi, this is my new resume, please reviews are welcome, hit me...

[steady pewter]

https://tenor.com/view/spongebob-punch-boxing-boxing-glove-punching-myself-gif-21654165

[modern relic]

This is the laziest attempt I have seen

[shadow knot]

It's cool that the layout has blueprint graphic elements in it.
You need to direct the recruiter to targeted examples of your work that shows your skills, besides stating them.

[raven rune]

Not quite as lazy as your attempt to act like a decent and respectful human being.

[raven rune]

Looks decent, needs work and more targeted examples like @shadow knot said

[pastel estuary]

@slate snow please read the #rules , you should know them by now.

[grave python]

Thanks for the harsh response.
This actually took time after several feedbacks of experienced reviewers on my previous CV.

[grave python]

Thanks men, yes I took it out since the portfolio is asked after taking attention on the particular experiences.
Check my previous CV on my previous response.

[round radish]

I probably would have removed my real contact details...

[grave python]

Thanks!

[fervent palm]

doesnt need a picture either

[green oyster]

idk I prefer the first version because it has more details on the work experience

[modern relic]

For clarity I mean just saying "this is my resume reviews please" is lazy

[rancid hedge]

I wish I could shadow an interview to see if I'm the only struggling

Interviewers don't seem to understand most of us are introverts

lol

[shut token]

No. You're not the only one struggling.

This is just how it is trying to get a job. Even more so in the hyper-competitive field of game development.

[chilly sundial]

you keep saying this despite it being obviously untrue.
people get nervous in interviews, even extroverted people, it's just a fact of life.

that being said, even introverts need to develop social skills even if they don't want to :P

- signed, an introvert

developing the skills to control those nerves can be pretty essential too i'd imagine

[grave python]

Alright, I was asking for a review, is a direct question.
What would be a propped approach for you here, on an informal chat channel on a discord server?

[nova coyote]

I think you're confusing introvert with antisocial. Introvert is just someone who feels exhausted after talking with someone, it doesn't mean the person hates interacting with people, this is something a person can't really change tho can reduce its effect. Antisocial hates interacting with people, this is something that is learned and not a human nature. If you hate talking with people then you might wanna reconsider why and fix that issue

I was once in that position until I started forcing myself to talk with people. Just talking about whatever, slowly and surely I started feeling more comfortable with human interaction! Though I still do feel tired after a long while

[woeful iron]

you can still hate people while being comfortable though

[red hearth]

I loved the first one

[rancid hedge]

Are you an interviewer?

[chilly sundial]

What would that matter

Especially when reading the followup they sent

[rancid hedge]

Who's they?

[chilly sundial]

Gambit

[rancid hedge]

oh

not sure why you used a plural pronoun

[chilly sundial]

I used a gender neutral pronoun

They has been used to refer to specific unknown individuals for ages

[rancid hedge]

What's gender neutral?

oh ok

[chilly sundial]

When you do not know if the person on the other end is a "he" or a "she", so to speak

[chilly sundial]

I'm confused, what interviewer?
I feel like I'm missing something obvious here

no no.
when bat replied to Gambit, the "they" I was referring to was Gambit. The followup, being this message here:
#career-chat message

hence my comment on whether Gambit is an interviewer not mattering, as it was a critique of how the original user asked for help, rather than the portfolio.

oh I think I get what i was missing now lol, were you making a joke based off double meaning?

Ignore me, I need sleep 😆

Ah

[keen sentinel]

best interview I ever had was just talking over my projects. Then they asked some design/basic programming questions to see if I could fit the bill. Then the guy pretty much said its sink or swim and asked me if I could do the job. Said yes, boom hired over the course of 2 interviews.

[keen sentinel]

I would get rid of the profile info and use the rest of the space to highlight what you accomplished at your jobs.

• I'd get rid of the bars. They dont really give a good idea of what your skill level is to the reader.
• References could also be gotten rid of. If the job wants references they will ask.
• You're better off using all that space to highlight your projects/work experience/listing your skillset.
• Get rid of the photo. No need for that.
• I'd streamline your portfolio website to show your projects right out of the gate. I saw you have trailers for each game. Make it easily accessible and apparent where they are.

[woeful iron]

sink or swim does not sound like a pleasing work environment

[rancid hedge]

Any trick questions?

[chilly sundial]

Genuine question. Are you looking for answer or just to vent?

You keep asking the same questions but don't appear to like the answers

[rancid hedge]

just exploring

[fervent palm]

why you repeating the same question over and over

[woeful iron]

I would guess trying to reason why he's nog hired yet

[grave python]

Awesome!
Thanks for the detailed explanation.
Cheers!

[fathom vigil]

Just make sure you shaved.

[keen sentinel]

im paraphrasing. The interviewer asked if I thought I could do the job. But not in a douchey manner. Later on I told him that people would think its a red flag lol and he stopped asking it. Still at this job years later and they have been excellent to me. Had and has a lot of very unique opportunities.

[keen sentinel]

No trick questions. Pretty cut and dry. Trick questions leave a bad impression and seem extremely assholeish on the interviewers part IMO.

[rancid hedge]

Lol nice

Proving my point more and more

[rancid hedge]

Wow lol

I can’t believe you had the balls to say its a red flag

You have to act like a prince in front of these people

In order to get the job that is

One weird stutter and misplaced button on your shirt and you’re not selected!

Lol

What kind of job is it? Dont need to be specific.

Is it in the game industry?

[rancid hedge]

Well I keep getting them and it’s making me fail the interviews

Lol symptom

[fallow magnet]

I want to improve my LinkedIn profile and I did a lot with my own studio (mostly as a freelancer and working on my stuff part time)

I was wondering, how do you think I should showcase my game and assets I've built over the years?
As a separate experience or, everything under one section like this screenshot?

Only the first one, I definitely need to change that

[gusty vapor]

I suggest not using the title CEO. I suggest owner or game developer. I also suggest organizing the list of skills so that similar things are next to each other (Unity and UE). Also, call out what products you make with a link to the product.

[fallow magnet]

I actually changed it to Owner, I had the same comment a few minute ago, thanks !

[hallow thorn]

Hey, what is the duration of contracts you usually work on? @fallow magnet

[woeful iron]

under one "job" but you can add projects to linkedin profile as well afaik

go to your profile scroll down and in top right click add profile section

then you can choose add projects

[fallow magnet]

That depend on the job need, I usually take 3 months minimum but most of the time its until X or Y project is done. In the end that depend on the task and the offer

[fallow magnet]

Thanks I will have a look

[wooden jackal]

It's fine to post on Github the courses that I follow in Udemy? To have portfólio and stuffs?
I would ofc say the course that I followed

[chilly sundial]

I wouldn't. Following a course doesn't show any skill development tbh

Especially since a lot of udemy courses are really awful

[fallow magnet]

I have the same opinion about uDemy courses, even many on Youtube

They mostly copy each others and build a course with different words

[gusty vapor]

What Acuppa Tea said. Take what you learned and build your own project for your portfolio.

[fallow magnet]

But, you could make a small game and publish it after the course to showcase what you did

[wooden jackal]

Hmmm I see, thank you, thank you

[whole olive]

Any internships in process!?

[ivory echo]

Ooh can we intern for Laura?

[whole olive]

I wanna learn something new man, share me some 😄

[ivory echo]

Guess he botched that interview 😀

[coarse tide]

Hola Amigos. I’m searching for a multiplayer development teacher to help me find the mistake I made with a few things. I really need to finish my project the end of november. I would pay you for a online teaching session.

[rare vector]

hello. I am considering goinh back to online college

or should I try and teach myself?

[chilly sundial]

it depends. is the online college an actual college or one of these borderline scammy "game dev" colleges

[rare vector]

my last go around I got my MacBook Pro 2019. Full Sail University

I studied Digital Cinematography but I had no car or studio so a digital camera was not an option in long run

[chilly sundial]

yeah no i wouldn't bother personally. have not heard the greatest things about full sail

[rare vector]

with financial aid there will be debt. but I may have chance of upgrading hardware

[chilly sundial]

tbh your issue isn't there, its the reputation of full sail

[rare vector]

they were nice

I am going to have an indie studio..

[chilly sundial]

nice doesn't make it a good institution

they just want your money, they're gonna be nice :P

[rare vector]

everyone does

[chilly sundial]

i mean you look at full sail's stats. many 1 star reviews complaining about the quality. below average retention and graduation rate. a knack for producing underequipped graduates

and that all falls in line with most "game dev" degrees

[rare vector]

...

[chilly sundial]

you'd be best off teaching yourself, or if you want the structure and university lifestyle, going for an actual repuatable college

[rare vector]

i guess. I'm far now from the community college I used to study st

[chilly sundial]

the other thing to consider, as i'm assuming you're an american is the debt.
everything a college would teach you, you can learn yourself.
if you don't need that structure for you, you're gonna save yourself a hell of a lot of money

[rare vector]

ok. I don't mind debt

[chilly sundial]

future you might not say that :P

[rare vector]

9k so far

What's more? just more

[round radish]

I'd expect to be blown away by full sail!

[chilly sundial]

i live for these puns

[whole olive]

It was a figues of speech 🥹, it was for general audience 🫤

Oh :D.

[plucky hatch]

Anyone who is looking forward to work with me to create a medieval mmorpg with me? Game needs a few weeks to finish i would say like a month for early acces we will discuss more on dms

[rancid hedge]

It's funny how the only place that hired me was the one where I had the phone interview only

Just goes to prove my point

[upbeat spear]

and what's your point?

[chilly sundial]

no it really doesn't

[round radish]

I think it goes to show our point that if you don't take care of your appearance that it will negatively affect your interview process.

[chilly sundial]

I would in fact say it does prove that yes

i would also say it proves that you weren't in fact "Just exploring" and were also looking for answers that agree with you or just venting

hence the repeated questions

[rancid hedge]

Nice speculation

[rancid hedge]

Answers don't really matter because there is no winning in the interview process. You do everything right and you still don't get it or you might do everything wrong and still get it

[chilly sundial]

yeah no. Don't get me wrong it sucks not getting an offer after an interview but that's just life.
Your outcome isn't random in an interview

[rancid hedge]

You don't stutter during interviews

[chilly sundial]

i absolutely do

[rancid hedge]

and you get the job if you do?

[chilly sundial]

i would also like to know when you shadowed my interview 😅

[chilly sundial]

yes, i got an offer.

[ivory echo]

I don’t get it

How are we still going on about this ?

[rancid hedge]

I learned to think that it's just complete luck

[chilly sundial]

that's probably a factor in why you were less successful

if you've given up it shows

[ivory echo]

1st off, did you get the job? Congrats, move on.
2. If you think you look like ass and it’s affecting your outcomes, change your look. Why come in here and complain that you look like ass and people won’t hire you because you look like ass?

[chilly sundial]

just gotta keep on going

[rancid hedge]

Well after 6 months, it sure seems like I did a bit

[round radish]

There's definitely an element of randomness in interviews, but no more than there is in any other walk of life.

Like there's that interesting statistics that people are likely to get lighter sentences if they are judged shortly after lunch because the judges aren't hungry or tired.

[rancid hedge]

dude you probably yell at Starbucks workers about your extra pumpkin spice coffee lol

[chilly sundial]

hell i had one company take 6 months to send me a rejection letter without even getting an interview

it sucks

[ivory echo]

Nah, I’m just tired of your rant about looks. I’ve been applying to jobs for months with no results and those people never saw what I look like.

[upbeat spear]

dude, if you ever interviewed someone you'd know that it's not luck

[round radish]

https://tenor.com/view/htb-dancing-htb-dance-horse-horse-dancing-gif-27694301

If you look like ass, have you tried looking like horse?

[upbeat spear]

pretty little luck is involved in this

[rancid hedge]

Oh are you referring to a certain judge of that orange man?

[round radish]

I'm not referring to anyone specifically.

[rancid hedge]

Found the karen

[chilly sundial]

but the offers i got in the interviews i did, i bought new clothes, made myself look smart and presentable. learned to cope with my nerves somewhat, made sure my technical knowledge was there, and was transparent with the interview.

if i could feel the nerves getting too much i asked for a moment to compose myself, and in that moment summoned the relevant technical knowledge first.
the hour on the train to the interview i was writing and revising notes i made on common questions, but also revising and talking to myself to put my own experience into words

[ivory echo]

My point is I get that the process is frustrating but the arguments you are making are implausible. And you’ve been making the same arguments all along, despite being told otherwise. Yeah, job hunting sucks, but if you finally got a job that’s decent enough idk why you’re still ranting about it here

[rancid hedge]

@ivory echo You're dismissed bro. I don't wanna engage with you anymore. You have shown me your true colors.

[ivory echo]

🤷‍♂️ yep, solid philosophy

[chilly sundial]

and in the ones i didn't even get an interview for, i accepted there was probably someone more suited to the role that applied, but also took the opportunity to read over my resume and portfolio to make sure i didn't leave obvious holes.
it was a nerve wracking stressful series of months. but i pushed on and it worked out

[leaden wing]

Hello, I'm a newbie in ue5, currently a student. I want to know if a degree in software engineering is enough to get into the industry, or should i prioritize making projects and building portfolio? Thank u for reading.

[round radish]

You're lucky it was only months, really.

[rancid hedge]

The whole recruitement system needs a huge overhaul in my opinion

All phone interviews to avoid bias

[chilly sundial]

i even made sure to work on my small talk and people skills because i suck at talking to people i don't know

[round radish]

Why phone? All text interviews.

[ivory echo]

Yeah, it’s a long painful, process alright

[round radish]

Your voice could give you away.

[chilly sundial]

absolutely.

[rancid hedge]

too long

[round radish]

I had a friend who had a text interview on irc with google.

IRC.

[chilly sundial]

i will not deny there was luck at play, but there was also a hell of a lot of effort that increased my chances

[ivory echo]

lol, what year was this?

[round radish]

Like 15-20 years ago.

[ivory echo]

Ok, I thought you meant like 2023 hahah

[rancid hedge]

how

[round radish]

He didn't get the job.

[chilly sundial]

text interviews are a confusing prospect

[round radish]

It's about bias, right? Maybe they are biased against gender or certain accents?

[chilly sundial]

it's like online test, you can just google everything :P

[round radish]

Go to the place, enter a black box that only has a light and a keyboard.

You have to intuit the questions and then answer, without being abel to see what you're typing.

[ivory echo]

ChatGPT interviews, basically

[chilly sundial]

screw the light, touch typing or nothing

[round radish]

Well that's one of the tests. If they se a light, they know you're using your phone.

[chilly sundial]

well i guess technically, unscrew the light

[ivory echo]

How many game devs does it take to unscrew the light bulb? 🙃

[chilly sundial]

none, the light disappears because of a bug

[rancid hedge]

lol I guess there is no escape really, you might show up at your first day at work, and they see you and don't like what they see and BOOM! You're fired.

it's that easy

[ivory echo]

Failed to unscrew because light bulb is Pending Kill/Garbage 🙂

[round radish]

We all know lights attract bugs, that's why we work in the dark.

[chilly sundial]

a degree won't carry you anywhere, it can be useful for getting past the cv screening from what i've heard, especially for internships, but you will always need a portfolio, some demonstration of your skills, because quite simply, it's somewhat easy to coast of bluff your way through a degree nowadays

[round radish]

That would never happen in reality... And you could sue them for it.

Unless you lied about something.

[ivory echo]

marks visible minority as a white person 😀

[chilly sundial]

shows up to the first day of work a as a 12 year old with a fake id

[rancid hedge]

Lol they could just fire you and make an excuse

cutting the budget or something

[round radish]

Far too much hassle.

[round radish]

In the end, they want a somebody to work there. If you can do the job, tehy won't care if you look like the backside of a constipated camel.

[chilly sundial]

the moral of my anecdote was you just gotta keep self evaluating and pushing through.
there's no greater machine working against you, you've just gotta present yourself as the best 'you' that you can.

[ivory echo]

lol the imagery 🤣

[round radish]

As long as it's not your fault. If you're actually just covered in runny camel poo, things may go differently.

[ivory echo]

Yeah, tbh job hunting is depressing af, sometimes infuriating, but then I think of this random “the world doesn’t owe you anything” quote that I can’t rmbr where I got from

[chilly sundial]

although it depends. if you were a camel diarrhoea doctor then it might show dedication.

[round radish]

Just stick a finger in. What can go wrong?

[chilly sundial]

yeah it really was.
i was under a time constraint for getting one with it being a uni placement.
knowing that nearly every other uni student in the country would be applying to the same jobs i was at once, as well as having to have an offer confirmed within like 7 months, as well as not every company offering placements really made it stressful. getting lied to, ghosted, 6 month awaited rejection emails, and such didn't make it much easier either. Especially as a lot of placements seemed to expect Junior level experience for a not Junior job.

but giving up just makes it infinitely harder for yourself

[ivory echo]

Jeez, makes me feel lucky in my position lol

Why the time constraint tho? Not sure how uni placement works

[chilly sundial]

basically a placement is in industry for a year.
quite commonly if you do well you get invited back for a permanent graduate role. (for a lot of companies it's just cheap labor though:P)

now because placements also go through the uni, i.e. it has to be approved, and admin have to manage it, due to it actually being a qualification from the university on top of the degree, it means you have a cutoff date for it being confirmed. normally applications open in october-november time and you only get until like May to get it approved. which is also scary, because you could have accepted an offer, signed a contract, declined any other offers, and then have the uni reject it :P

[ivory echo]

Oh like an internship/coop

[chilly sundial]

yeah a lot like an internship

[ivory echo]

Why would the uni reject it tho? That’s weird

[chilly sundial]

the uni have their own lists of convoluted rules a placement has to follow.
my uni for example just after i accepted my offer banned all remote placements for seemingly no reason

[ivory echo]

lol excellent

[chilly sundial]

i can only imagine how that's going to affect the next round of placements especially with the hiring freeze

[ivory echo]

Yeah, things are rough out there. They’ve finally arrived at the conclusion that we’re in a recession here, but this has been obvious for months

[chilly sundial]

always takes em a while to catch up eh?
must be running on internet explorer

[round radish]

And obviously Cuppa's course didn't take ugly people because they wouldn't be able to get a placement /s

[chilly sundial]

now you didn't have to dismantle me in one sentence

[round radish]

That's just how I roll.

[chilly sundial]

Kicking ass and taking names 🥲

[plucky hatch]

with me aspiring to get into LD, would be a waste to publish fantasy art in my artstation account?

[mint skiff]

Fantasy art?

Your portfolio pieces should reflect the job you want

[plucky hatch]

I don't have any design to show. I was thinking on dumping fantasy art creations into art station

[mint skiff]

If you're thinking of it as "dumping" then no

Portfolios are professional documents. You need to show only your best and relevant work.

Run a blog or something for your dumps

[steady pewter]

Dude, #instructions for real. But if you insist, go on, I'm up to here.

[pastel estuary]

https://tenor.com/view/ban-hammer-futurama-scruffy-gif-20750885

[ivory echo]

https://tenor.com/view/korg-thor-you-rode-a-hammer-humor-gif-10225293

[warm minnow]

Hey everyone- long time game dev here, looking to get more into tech art using houdini and unreal engine for games. I'm pretty new to tech art as my main focus for my last 2 jobs has been creating a photogrammetry pipeline, somewhat in Houdini but mostly custom tools that aren't games related, so are there some.. checklists or necessary languages that would be the best place to start off as a new tech artist? HLSL, Python, C++? I see various different requirements, I see people saying C++ isn't necessary, I see people saying houdini isn't needed for games.. I don't know what my next step should be. Is there a course list for a typical tech art position I should follow? What are the usual courses a tech artist should have taken in school, or knowledge that would be expected of a mid level tech artist?

[gusty vapor]

You might want to give this video a watch. As far as what you want to learn, I suggest starting with Blueprints (see the pinned articles on #blueprint ), Niagara ( #niagara ), Materials ( #materials ) .

With a background in Houdini, #geometry-tools and #pcg-framework (procedural graphics) would be of interest.

Sorry, forgot the video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ClY3NigKa8&t=1517s

[warm minnow]

Perfect! Thank you so much for the info!

The new PCG tools are roughly the equivalent of Houdini geometry operations?

[gusty vapor]

I'm not familiar with Houdini, but I believe that is the goal.

[warm minnow]

I'm a bit hesitant to really tie myself fully to Unreal as a DCC/ place to build tools as I know a lot of studios are looking for experience that will transfer over to in house engines, would you say that PCG knowledge/concepts are something that's easily transferred to a different engine?

[gusty vapor]

I suggest ask that question over at #pcg-framework They might know. I also forgot #editor-scripting as scripting the editor can be done in both Blueprints and Python (also C++, obviously).

[dull veldt]

They have some overlap and similarities but there's still a big difference in terms of the overall picture. If you want to place pre-existing geometry based on points then PCG can be great, it's fast for lower-density point distribution and you don't have to rebuild HDAs for changes to your system. On the other hand, out of the box PCG doesn't really have geometry processing functionality and isn't able to things like geometry-aware projection either. You can scatter points on a mesh but actual manipulation of the geometry itself as data (like we have in houdini) isn't part of the picture. Your familiarity with houdini will be helpful with understanding how PCG functions but I don't think you'll get any major cross-engine revelations from PCG itself. Houdini has already introduced you to the same general concept.

[compact mantle]

where can i post looking for someone to help fix a blueprint/issue? for money

[wary idol]

#instructions

[winged dragon]

Guys, do you know any good websites for finding remote unreal work? Besides here

[tender ridge]

this is pretty good

https://jobs.gamedeveloper.com

https://gamejobs.co

https://hiring.cafe

[gusty vapor]

Alsohttps://remotegamejobs.com/

[winged dragon]

thx

is making assets for the marketplace profitable?

[green oyster]

yes

[steady pewter]

Ships hundreds of 2d AI generated assets.

[winged dragon]

what would be the average profit from marketplace assets? I know it really depends, but just something that is possible

[chilly sundial]

What's likely is very little

[woven pilot]

Like every field with a lot of participants, the average is going to be little.
The better question to ask is what’s the average of the top 10%.
but no one or not many people will give you their figures so you might have to figure out this one on your own

[pastel estuary]

it fluctuates a lot.
there've been packs that made a few 100k a year, there are those that bary make a few k a year.

highly depends on kind of item you are selling and how well you market it.
then again, you could market an AI-image generated icon pack to hell and prolly not see much sales. hehe

[green oyster]

A few k a year? But that's what I make 🥲

[pastel estuary]

I havent updated the few packs I have (mainly the niagara ones), and havent done any marketing for them this last year+. I dont know the exact number, but I think last year it was around 8-10-ish k euros.
I consider it spending money along with what I earn from my regular job.

this year its prolly closer to 6-7k me thinks.

[crystal summit]

Hi, I would like to know If there is a french Unreal community. For futur project, I would like to meet some artists with a good knowledge in previz with unreal (generalist artist medium level). No remote work are allow, Job will be in paris.
hope to hear from you.

[ivory echo]

And here I thought the lowest level language you need to be able to program is English

Unless you’re doing Assembly maybe 😅

[feral urchin]

French internship here 🇫🇷 #salary-jobs

Sorry about that!

[woeful iron]

Wouldn’t you delete the message if you were really sorry 🤔

[ivory echo]

Someone get the hammer

[feral urchin]

Sorry what are you talking about?

I posted less than 10 minutes ago and was just fixing what's wrong with you

[steel creek]

What's wrong with me is I'm a professional has little time in the morning to be reading through forums to see a bunch of junk spam for somebody who doesn't know how to read instructions

[feral urchin]

It's a spam to offer money for a developer

Come on don't be that guy

[steel creek]

You are full of well aware of what the point is

[feral urchin]

Someone kindly pointed my mistake I fixed it, what do you want

[feral urchin]

Could people just take a breath and give people a few minutes you guys are a bit stressed it seems

[steel creek]

the same advice applies to posting things.

[feral urchin]

Usually it's 15 yo kids from my community acting like this I mean.

[ivory echo]

Like not reading server #rules you mean ? 😀

A revolution 😀

[crystal summit]

It's not an Internship. I will post in the good location. Sorry for the mistake. But hope there is no hostility in all the answer I had.

[feral urchin]

What would you select for an internship?

I was doubting

[ivory echo]

The last one prly

[feral urchin]

I will pay the intership actually

[ivory echo]

Oh, then salary yeah

[feral urchin]

Is there a way to move it? From the commands it seems that I can just delete and recreate

[ivory echo]

That’s prly the only way but you can prly copy the text before you delete

[feral urchin]

Awesome, fixed, thank you.

[wintry epoch]

hello guys anyone faced problems with steam , like exactly in graphique assets review (when releasing a game in steam )
they rejected mine for 4 times 🙂 i updated it and hope they accept it this time

[woeful iron]

don't they give you the reason why it's rejected?

[ivory echo]

“AI generated art” 😀

[wintry epoch]

hello guys anyone faced problems with steam , like exactly in graphique assets review (when releasing a game in steam )
they rejected mine for 4 times 🙂 i updated it and hope they accept it this time
i want to publish my game as soon as possible but steam don' t help 😦

[woeful iron]

https://tenor.com/view/theres-something-very-familiar-about-all-this-deja-vu-i-feel-like-ive-done-this-before-this-feels-familiar-i-feel-live-ive-been-here-before-gif-16489734

[ivory echo]

Given this level of reading comprehension, they prly told him exactly why it was removed 4 different times 🤣

https://tenor.com/view/maam-this-is-a-wendys-gif-22294839

“I told you, we don’t publish games here, we sell burgers”

[steel creek]

https://tenor.com/view/video-games-pc-game-gif-14872467

we do both

[wintry epoch]

?

ok sorry for posting here my problem

[ivory echo]

Looks like you’ve failed to read the replies you got a few times now, perhaps you also failed to read the reasons Steam gave you?

[wintry epoch]

they just give me stupid answers

Your store page has failed our review because the capsule images contain some additional text overlays. We ask that you don't include descriptive text, marketing copy, or similar overlays in your capsule images. Content on base graphical asset capsules on Steam is limited to game artwork, the game name, and any official subtitle. Please update the following capsule images:

and like i found many games have descriptive text in images

[royal lintel]

You know they respond to questions in the rejection thread, right?

Like, you can ask about this exact thing.

They will respond.

[wintry epoch]

like this fine?

[royal lintel]

Ask them...?

[wintry epoch]

they said to mpe before to include game title no problem

[royal lintel]

great, so ask them about that again

[wintry epoch]

it's already in review

today i submitted it for review again after making those changes

[royal lintel]

ok, so...?

[wintry epoch]

waiting until they answer

no one have experience publishing game in steam here?

[steel creek]

Considering this is the Career-chat, even if we did, this is the wrong place to talk about your technical and/or production problems

[wintry epoch]

ok

i will just wait for steam team

[ivory echo]

And also seems like a weird issue that’s prly not as common, but 🤷‍♂️

[pastel estuary]

I like lamp

[fervent palm]

i dont think theres no steam team here either

[lyric yacht]

Hi ! what kind of jobs I can get by becoming proficient with unreal engine 5?
I am wondering so I can have a better mind set what my goal would be

[ivory echo]

Prly anything from game dev programmer/artist to architecture and marketing design, movie production, etc.. you can do quite a bit with the engine

[mint skiff]

Main divides are whether you're an artist, designer, or engineer/programmer

[lyric yacht]

That is good to know I recently started taking the unreal engine 5 tutorial from the unreal website

how can implement my art with unreal?

being a designer and artist sounds like something I would enjoy

[mint skiff]

for artists unreal tends to be the end of their pipeline, the software you import finished assets into and render them in.

[lyric yacht]

what would be a hireable tier? is it programming like knowing on how to set up blueprints and scripts?

[lyric yacht]

I will do my best to start learning then, thank you everyone for your input and suggestions.

[chilly sundial]

location is literally one of the biggest things

no one here can give you an hourly rate

[round radish]

For remote work? Surely the point is that location doesn't matter.

[ivory echo]

I’ve heard of this “fair pay” but haven’t actually had the pleasure

[small marsh]

do salaries usually vary depending on location if remote in the same companies?

[royal lintel]

depends on the company, but yes that's not uncommon

[round radish]

Salaries can vary in the same company even for people who aren't remote.

[royal lintel]

differing per country - definitely, different currencies all but require this anyway. Differing per state/city - depends on the company, some do CoL adjustments to salaries and some don't.

[tardy schooner]

Yes, impossible to give a generic number. But most countries has information on the netz where average salaries are stated for different markets.