career-chat

[woeful iron]

are you fired?

[pastel estuary]

I wasnt, but hurt quite a bit still

[woeful iron]

understandably

never nice for peers to be fired

ruins morale

[pastel estuary]

yea, I cant say too much about it atm because nda and contract stuff of course.

I truly hope all the people I worked with will land somewhere properly. There's a lot of talent there, and I considered them all great colleagues. It will be weird to go on without em.

but such is life.

[ivory echo]

Oof

[ornate mist]

So a buddy of mine works in the industry as a senior gameplay programmer and thinks I may be able to get on somewhere as a junior. So how to do it? I've literally never been paid for anything gamedev besides a little one-off prototype a few years back. I feel like I'd be a pretty strong Unreal generalist but can't really prove it. Finish my plugins and use them as a portfolio piece?

[woeful iron]

what have you been doing to become a pretty strong generalist?

is that shareable?

[ornate mist]

It's a bunch of half-finished prototypes and a fairly robust WIP plugin suite. I don't think it's ready to go yet. I think finishing the plugin suite is the way to go.

[woeful iron]

you can share prototypes if they have a function though

like e.g. if you create a combat system, but it's more like a tech demo than a game, that's experience to show

you don't have to show only fully finished games

depending on how interesting the thing is of course

[ornate mist]

It's one of those things where I'm not DYING to get a 9-5 job doing this, as I make equivalent money in civil engineering, but if it's a sidegrade it'd def. help progress my skills faster towards my true goal which is indie.

[woeful iron]

well that's up to you to decide where you want to go

[ornate mist]

I'll finish the plugin suite, it has accompanying demo gameplay so I think it'd be a good portfolio piece.

[woeful iron]

if you're already a civil engineer though, they might not be that nitpicky about a portfolio though

depends where you go

especially if you already have a guy on the inside

they might give you some more slack

[echo vale]

If anyone here knows anyone good at animations and combat systems looking for work shoot me a message

[round radish]

Seems this particular whale is out of reach.

[plucky hatch]

Is there a point in trying to learn Unreal to get Unreal contracts in the future if all I have is a gaming laptop with an RTX 3050 and no hope of affording a better laptop with my Unity contracts any soon?

Like are most contracts for hyper realistic graphics heavy games?

[round radish]

Depends on your vram, mostly.

UE will run on a potato if you want a slow experience.

Depends what you want to do.

You wanna play around 5M poly models? Maybe not?

[plucky hatch]

@round radish well, for personal projects I want to use stylized lighting and make simple models, the question is not about that. But I want to get paid and I fear the Unity job/freelance market might die.

[round radish]

Well, you were asking about performance. And it entirely depends on your skillset and what you want to sell.

Check out the job offers in #instructions and the UE marketplace itself.

[plucky hatch]

Well, are professional projects commonly bloated and completely unoptimized until the crunch before release?

[round radish]

Lol probably yes.

And probably after the crunch.

And after launch.

[plucky hatch]

Even indie ones? 😢

[round radish]

Indies will be one extreme or the other.

[grave sail]

a 3050 is not bad for Unreal. What CPU and RAM do you have?

[modern relic]

I use xyz and can confirm it was cheaper than most tld

Certainly cheaper than dev.. That shit would bankrupt me

[brave forge]

Don't checkout .io then

[brave forge]

"cheap"

[modern relic]

Pretty sure short domain names are the most expensive

gambyy.xyz is like $9USD/yr

[bright sage]

Hey folks. We're potentially a month or so away from securing some modest funding for our project (yay!)
It's clear to me, and has been for a while, that there are certain areas of the project which will require additional/more experienced programmer support.

Having not been in a position to be able to hire talent this way before, and only really being familiar with the rates on the artist side of the industry, I wondered generally if anyone had advice on how freelance programmers generally structure their work and what the rough range of going rates are? I suppose it fluctuates wildly based on skillset, locale, and area of expertise.

Artist quotes/freelance is generally easy for me to digest for a budget, because it's usually possible to agree on a per-asset quote. With our upcoming budget being fairly restrictive, the thought of an open ended "per hours" contract scares me a little as that could likely eat through our funds very quickly. Is that the norm for programmers? Would it be unusual to ask for a quote on a particular set of work as a pre-agreed lump sum?

Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated 🙂

[brave forge]

Would it be unusual to ask for a quote on a particular set of work as a pre-agreed lump sum?
This is definitely a thing for more well defined features/work, but for both parties sake, make sure that there are installment/progress payments, scope is very well defined with explicit end deliverables and requirements, and that the contract specifies how changes in scope, or additional iterations will be handled.

The less well defined your requirements are, especially if it's like "well, we want weapons, but we really need to get them in, and then begin iterating to get the 'feel' right" is when it's not really well suited to predefined quote, or you have just getting weapons working as the first quote, and then you talk a second contract to refine it.

[bright sage]

Great point! Yes, we're pretty good at itemising generally (on the art side, mostly, but we can certainly do the same elsewhere). I expect the best process would be to have a design/spec document for the work to go along with the contract, which then confirms for everyone what is expected over the course of the collaboration?

[brave forge]

Also, if the dev is a competent contractor, they will work with you to help define these requirements. You may find some tasks are non-linear. Sticking with the weapon example, There might be a WHOLE bunch of to get 1 weapon working right, but then the next 10 weapons are all done in half the time of the first weapon. If the dev has the right experience they will work with you to understand how that might look, some of the gotchas, some of the rabbit holes, and get a clearer picture of that. Having said that, you probably can't expect them to spend a month scoping work for you either, so it really depends on the scale of the work you require them to do as well. If you ask them to setup a whole cloud infrastructure scaling server system, they may need some exploratory budget to help scope. Really depends if you are talking 5k worth of work, vs 300k worth of work

[brave forge]

yeah pretty much bang on. And you can tether the progress payments to that to with the different acceptance criteria

But, also, software estimation is notoriously difficult. The more hard you define the requirements further out, the more likely you will get inflated estimates.

it can be better to take an iterative approach to some of these things, as the dev becomes more familiar with the project and the problem space, they can get a better idea of what they are estimating for the next phase

[bright sage]

Awesome, really appreciate that perspective! We're definitely going to be on the lower side at this stage, and the person would essentially be supporting in areas the team can't manage already by themselves, a bit of tooling initially, and then pretty standard gameplay programming after. Is there a good place to look for people? Artstation would be my usual go-to for art. Is there an equivilent space for programmers?

[brave forge]

Hmmm good question. Github tends to be the place to share stuff for programmers, but it is less discoverable and social than artstation i'd imagine. Asking around your own professional network is usually a pretty good start, local gamedev groups etc. But if you are looking more international, not really sure

[bright sage]

No problem, I can do a bit of research over the next few weeks on that. Really great stuff though, thank you!

[brave forge]

no probs

[plucky hatch]

so, my friend talked to me about this and it really got me wondering, wont AI replace game development sooner or a bit later?

[chilly sundial]

no

[earnest pecan]

still insane people actually think this

[wary idol]

No, not happening any time soon

Or in any foreseeable future

[round radish]

AI will replace everything eventually.

...including us.

[wary idol]

probably for the better 😅

[chilly sundial]

Bold of you to assume that humans can keep each other alive until then :P

[mint coral]

quantum ai gaming

rip

[orchid flicker]

i got this awesome idea for my game called Anger meter: if you kill civilians in missions, police amount will increase or lower how high or low anger meter is

[nova coyote]

congrats! you've reinvented gta!

[round radish]

It'll certainly do things for their career if it isn't a "game" idea.

[ivory echo]

“Career” 😀

[hidden kayak]

Any CEO wants to talk a little bit in private. I wanna know how you organize your companies/teams.

[forest wren]

Are you the creator of Zero-K the RTS game?

[plucky hatch]

no

[forest wren]

Oh

[vale laurel]

Hello everyone I am a beginner at game development and I need some help, so I have been trying to learn how to make a game using unreal engine ( I know its hard but I still love its ability to make games which are just outstanding and so I decided to stick with it ) but most of my time just goes on watching tutorials about how to add/develop a feature to my game like attack, running, etc and still after some time I can't even remember most of it. I don't want to be a developer who survives by just watching tutorials and then copying it I want to build the logic on my own, so can you guys share how you remember or tackle such things and also I wanted to know how you guys decide to make a game like what is the normal flow while making a game like make animation then coding then testing like that.

I want to pursue a career in game development.

[shut token]

Break down the problem into steps. Tackle said steps.

Experience.

No tricks.

No shortcut or anything about it. Just need to keep building things.

[woeful iron]

just make something without a tutorial? If you're stuck on something figure out that step and move on

[forest wren]

Plan out your game ahead of time before working on smaller pieces in the editor. If you have a solid plan then you can start working on implementing the game mechanics. Once the gameplay loop is working even if just as a draft version you can begin to add more visual quality to it by replacing placeholder assets such as cubes with the actual assets. Same with materials. Just use the basic ones at first then spend time on improvements once you’ve decided upon and built the functionality of the actors first. Why? Because you might change your mind or realize something isn’t going to work and it’s better to throw away something with placeholder assets than something with high quality custom or even paid assets.

[autumn dawn]

Hi there! I'm on a quest to dive into the world of modding for the game 'Squad' and I want to hire an expert in Unreal Engine 4 to guide me. If you're passionate about game development and love teaching, I'd be thrilled to work with you on this personal project.

[woeful iron]

read #instructions for hiring @autumn dawn

[autumn dawn]

ok

[merry roost]

Yes please post hiring requests there.

Additional question: Does Squad allow for user mods? From the Steam page it seems to be allowed?
We don't allow for unofficial modding/reverse engineering on this server.

From this it seems to be allowed: https://squad.fandom.com/wiki/Modding#:~:text=Squad can be modded using,them on a dedicated server.

[chilly sundial]

I see you didn't refer to the #rules about crossposting

[pastel estuary]

@rich kiln please stop crossposting. If I wasnt in such a good mood it would've been another strike, and when you get 3, its a ban.

In this case you might wanna post in #969360633386655744 and tagging Pfist about it.

[modern relic]

if a job seems like a good fit/i feel like i have a good chance of getting it but the application process is absolute shit should i just suffer through it? or am i "allowed" to fob those off

[round radish]

Depends how badly you want the job.

[modern relic]

not for this specific job. just applying for jobs in the field. theres basically none in my areas but could definitely be because everyone is on holidays

[signal turtle]

I think there are two main reasons why the application process for a job is terrible
one, silly HR requirements, or simply ignorance and not knowing a better way to hire people (like just copying another company's method without understanding it)
or two, the company is actually just as terrible/predatory to work for as the application process 😂

you have to interview the company yourself and ask good questions to figure out which they are

[spice dagger]

Some people tend to treat an interview for a job application as a one way street.

In that its only purpose is for them to evaluate your fitness for the position.

Its much better to also look at it (for what it is) as an opportunity for you to interview the company and get an understanding of if it meets your standards as well.

I've refused to work with companies before after getting to know them better prior to engaging in any work.

Some are certainly not worth the effort.

[fickle maple]

hey everyone, I am relatively new to the gaming industry but have lots experience with software dev through various personal projects and internships. Im looking for part time roles in the gaming industry i can do while i finish my last year in college, are there any ideas on where to look?

Note: been coding in unreal for 6-7 moths now so im not a complete noob.

[urban cove]

How would one go about looking for beginner level jobs in unreal blueprinting ? For example should i put up videos of game mechanics I have implemented in the games ive developed ? This is considering I have no professional experience.

[ivory echo]

You might find some postings on the job board here, but for an actual paying job you’re likely going to need to know C++

Yeah, if you’re an artist that’s a diff story, but at that point you’ll need other tools as well

Oh?

I thought you need to either know programming or art to some extent

Ah yeah maybe

[round radish]

Yeah. I am always very suspicious of any "interview question" which could lead to code directly put into their project.

"we're hiring a gameplay programmer... The interview question is to write a modification to the cmc for wall running" okay mate.

[pastel estuary]

So far, when they ask me to do a test, I tell them to pay me for my time. they all declined, and I refuse to do so without payment.

[lean pond]

This sounds more like they want to test how familiar you are with CMC. If you have ever made a custom movement for CMC, this task is trivial. Just copy paste PhysWalking, instead of sticking to the ground you make it stick to a wall. Then you can check how Crouch and Uncrouch(UpdateCharacterStateBeforeMovement and UpdateCharacterStateAfterMovement) is implemented and now you can Start and End wall run the same way. Then just make one tracing function that finds a wall. It will work in single and multiplayer.

I highly suggest everyone to get familiar with CMC(until Mover2.0 comes out), just follow a tutorial and implement some custom movements. You don't need to touch 99% of the stuff inside CMC. The code is ugly and disgusting, but it's not really hard to make new movements if you follow their "framework". Who should do the wall running then if not gameplay programmer? It is gameplay code after all.

[round radish]

The point is that they can take the code you write for them, use it and not hire you.

Or pay you anything for it.

It was just a (bad) example.

[urban cove]

I am a concept artist with basic knowledge of unreal blueprinting, so does that mean i go for designer jobs only ?

[chilly sundial]

Well, are you a game designer

You won't be hired as a game designer if all you have is concept art and basic bp knowledge.
You'd need a good knowledge of the things the posting requires, as well as a game design portfolio. Portfolio is super important

the only way you'd possibly get a job as a solely blueprint programmer is in a smaller indie studio.
if you're looking for the wider industry, you need to pick, hone, and showcase a specialisation. I personally reccomend takign a look at what the jobs require, for ones you're interested in, and see which align with your interests, and that you can adapt to the skillset

[radiant lake]

Man I’ve been moving away from programming since I wasn’t having much luck getting jobs during Covid.. the gap in between definitely made my programming skills obsolete😪 been trying to get into concept art roles but so many art roles be focusing more heavily on 3D stuff or want you do be the concept artist and 3D modeller plus material artist.. I just wanna do 2D concept art 😅 and possibly practice 3D while having an actual paying job doing concept art

[shut token]

Probably only going to be getting more and more difficult to be a 2D concept artist

[radiant lake]

Yea… especially with ai nonsense.. but that goes with anything at this point art related 😂

I’ve also been trying to create a storyboarding portfolio to possibly get into animation

See how the goes

I feel like just having a casual job is the only way to go and do art on the side for commissions… but even finding normal jobs right now is a task

[grave sail]

I stopped programming for about 15 years, just started again 2 years ago.

[radiant lake]

Yea… I can’t get myself back into it.. the jobs are far and beyond my capability of landing now

Their requirements are ridiculous

Unless your breath and dream code lol it’s hard to keep up if you’re not working in the field

[grave sail]

yes 15 years ago I decided I'd rather have a life than keep up with the tech all the time

but 2 years ago I decided to get back into it 🙂

[radiant lake]

At this point I just want a well paying job to enjoy life xD

[ivory echo]

You and countless orhers

[small marsh]

You get dropped into a high-stakes life or death game with a six-figure salary on one side and taco bell on the other

[still nymph]

so I have something for those who are doomscrolling the #salary-jobs channel on New Year's eve, probably jobless and sad...

I've been there too despite 10 years experience (at the time) and a stellar portfolio at Unity and Activision Blizzard.

Since more than 11,000 games industry people have involuntarily become unemployed in 2023, I shared my experience as an example of what NOT TO DO after losing your job.

Hope it helps some folks to keep their sanity and have the right focus to land a job.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-personal-rollercoaster-odyssey-job-hunting-growth-game-olle-9ucdf

[woeful iron]

so are we only allowed to read this in 3 days?

[magic scroll]

That's why I decided to become solo or duo game developer and move to low cost of living city and make indie games. I can do it until I die.

[signal turtle]

thanks for reminding me why I haven't quit my corpo tech job to do anything with games full-time 🙃

[magic scroll]

only very few of us make it anyways

[still nymph]

It was meant to be motivational, not vice versa 🫣

[magic scroll]

OMG

[still nymph]

Well 🎩

[silver pewter]

but if it gets the job done, where's the harm?

[royal lintel]

I think you've missed the point, it's not that blueprints aren't used but that "using blueprint" is rarely a job in and of itself because it is simply one aspect of a myriad of other roles.

[silver pewter]

isn't there an argument to be made that BPs are relatively new and is becoming more and more popular?

compared to something like C++

[royal lintel]

No?

The question was effectively whether "blueprint programmer" is a position you can get a job in-industry, and the answer is that those positions rarely exist because most studios don't need people who can do only blueprint.

[silver pewter]

every forum related to UE, a lot of people keep asking the same quesiton, if they can do games only with BPs

[royal lintel]

Blueprint is not becoming more popular in the industry, it's already used heavily as part of other roles.

[royal lintel]

that was not the question

[round radish]

You won't get a job as a blueprint programmer, except maybe as an unpaid intern.

[royal lintel]

A solo dev, or a small team, might be able to. You will not find an actual job in the industry where this is the case unless you are very lucky.

[silver pewter]

idk, that chinese dude worked on a game for 2 years and sony hired him. I know statistically it's very rare but it was 100% bp

[royal lintel]

Hired for what

as a designer? As a technical artist?

there is no "blueprinter" role

[silver pewter]

they bought his game as an exclusive for playstatioon

and hired him to keep working on it

[royal lintel]

that's not what the question was, again

no one said anything about making a game entirely out of blueprint

this was a comment on getting a job

[silver pewter]

and i gave you an example of sony hiring a "bp programmer"

[royal lintel]

No, they funded his game.

An apparently solo project.

Or near solo.

[silver pewter]

and hired

[royal lintel]

To work on the game.

And once again: this was a comment on a specific person asking about getting a job

[silver pewter]

yes, so techincally he got hired as a "bp pgroammer"

[royal lintel]

my dude you are calling out technicalities while ignoring the context

If the goal is to get a job no one is going to say "go do this one in a million thing"

[round radish]

He got hired to finish his game, which is not a "bp programmer".

[royal lintel]

Yes, you can make a game entirely in blueprint. You can get funded by a publisher or bought out. No, I'm not going to say that's how you get a job.

[silver pewter]

because i doubt you have credentials to take your answer as right

were you a recruiter in the game industry, i'd listen a lot more

[royal lintel]

Great, then go find one and talk about it with them. You've still missed the context of the answer you were responding to.

[silver pewter]

you're responding as if you ran a game studio and know what to recruit

[royal lintel]

I'm responding with years of industry experience, yes.

[silver pewter]

as a recruiter or an employee?

[royal lintel]

As someone who has been in positions to help make hiring decisions.

And as someone who knows generally what the job landscape is like.

You don't have to be a recruiter to see job postings.

You don't have to be a recruiter to understand the general makeup of teams you have worked for or adjacent to either.

[silver pewter]

job postings usually ask for 5 years of experience, i know the majority of people don't get hired based on 5 years because they lack it. but they make up on other aspects

[royal lintel]

what does that have to do with any of this

[silver pewter]

game studios, like most companies, tend to hire people who get shit done, whether it's with bp or C++, if you can provide them a product, they will hire you

[royal lintel]

No one hiring for an engineering position is hiring someone who knows blueprint but not C++.

Not unless the job posting specifically calls that out.

[silver pewter]

thats right, but we're talkin about UE here

[chilly sundial]

If I knew only BP I would not be in the role I am right now

[round radish]

Even in UE you won't find a job which is 100% BP only - unless a game you're already making gets bought out like that 1 in a million guy.

[chilly sundial]

A games company hires someone who fits what they need. You can "get shit done" in BP all day, but if it's a role for C++, or a role for level design, or an art role your BP knowledge is gonna leave you high and dry

[round radish]

That's not to say that knowing BP is useless.

A level designer, technical artists or even a regular artist knowing BP is really useful. You can make cool stuff.

But it's not the main focus of the role.

[chilly sundial]

Of course not, it's a useful tool, and roles do use it. It's just never going to be your sole role unless you're targeting like a 2 man studio

[silver pewter]

from my experience, it's the big studios that want C++

[chilly sundial]

Game designers and LD, and virtual production I imagine use it all the time.

Their primary focus is still elsewhere

[silver pewter]

that's a good point you bring up. game designer with BPs and C++ still works seeing that the role fits as a game designer

[royal lintel]

Yes, I am talking about UE.
Quite frankly there's a ton of stuff that can't be done with blueprint at all, and any studio bigger than a handful of people is going to need actual C++ engineers. And on those job postings they will not be accepting people who only know blueprint.
Instead the "blueprinters" will be tech artists, technical desginers (or other forms of game designers).

The engineers may use blueprint alongside C++ - the engine is built for that purpose - but they will not get along with blueprint alone.

[silver pewter]

i think if the job is asking for a "gameplay programmer" then it's most likely to be in C++

[royal lintel]

it's not likely

it is

and the roles that are "pure" blueprint are mixed with other roles

tech artist, level designer, game designer, technical designer. A lot of designers.

[chilly sundial]

Blueprints and lots of other in engine visual scripting languages are primarily aimed at designers, after all

[royal lintel]

you don't look for "blueprint programmer" jobs, you specialize or at least pitch yourself as one of the above.

[chilly sundial]

So they can chunk together gameplay stuff quickly, without getting bogged down in language semantics

[silver pewter]

that's right, no such thing as BP programmer but a game designer could work, that is if you know what you're doing

[royal lintel]

...which is what I've been saying this entire time

and what laura, the person you originally responded to, was saying

[round radish]

Imo knowing blueprints well is akin to a c++ programmer having perforce or git experience. You don't get a job because you know perforce or git, you get a job because you know c++ and knowing about source control is a highly rated added benefit.

[silver pewter]

nah you didnt mention game designer role

[royal lintel]

I did

[silver pewter]

ok

[royal lintel]

by name? no. By implication? yes. #career-chat message

and #career-chat message

and #career-chat message

and that last one actually was by name, who knew

not me apparently

[silver pewter]

git sucks for bp projects

xd

[round radish]

Git is great.

[chilly sundial]

Not really, you don't need the niceties like merging to effectively use the source control

Git is awesome and needed for any project

[round radish]

Locking is an issue, but eh.

[royal lintel]

git is... fine. LFS isn't good enough for large teams.

for small teams, eh

[silver pewter]

i use git personally but generally feels better with perforce for UE when working with a remote team

[round radish]

Perforce is just a pain in other ways, but it's better for assets, yes.

[modern relic]

We are currently using git+lfs but it's not as good a workflow as perforce. However if we switch to perforce we lose integration with gitea/github. Mostly the issue tracker and kanban board. Is the alternative just to use some dedicated project management software like jira?

[royal lintel]

yep

of which there are a decent number of other alternatives out there too

also perforce swarm for code review

[earnest pecan]

what if you know BP and git :((

(jk lol I'm a designer, wanna avoid programming wherever I can)

[royal lintel]

I'd hope that just about everyone directly touching the game knows something about the source control they're using, even if it's just the basics :/

otherwise how is anyone submitting changes lol

[earnest pecan]

whoever I've worked with so far had no idea

at least many of them

[royal lintel]

sometimes you gotta make it as easy as possible but if someone can't figure out how to click "submit changes" and "sync latest" then oh boy

[earnest pecan]

I ended up writing a guide whenever someone does have the skills I want except for VCS

don't wanna lose out on someone for such a trivial reason lol

unfortunately Azure DevOps makes it an absolute pain in the ass when it comes to adding users

[hasty musk]

What is a systems programmer??

[round radish]

Somebody who creates systems?

[hasty musk]

what is the meaning of a system!

[round radish]

That'd depend on the context.

Within a game it could be a "inventory system" or "movement system"

A system can be pretty much anything.

[hasty musk]

I understand stuff like graphics, or audio programmer, to me each is a system

oh so more like a gameplay programmer

[round radish]

It might not be gameplay related.

[grave cove]

It can depend a lot on the company and how they want to organize programmers.
For us it's mostly anyone not a gameplay programmer. So stuff like graphics or audio are sub-disciplines of "systems" but also other things that are systems that may not be specific to the game the rest of the team is making.
You could also consider it sort of like engine programmer, except when you've got an engine like UE4/5 that can also be a little confusing.

[hasty musk]

Thanks, it sounds a lot like tools programmer or general programmers
the name is confusing though lol

[grave cove]

Tools may or may not be included in systems. Depends on how many there are.
Tools might be separate since they're working only within the Editor. Systems programmers are tend to be doing systems that are still used in game.

[hasty musk]

Thanks that clarified it a bit for me

[native mulch]

I got scammed by a client who didn't pay me for work, what's the best use for the project source code that I have atm, is there anyway to get money out of it?

[chilly sundial]

I wouldn't. I don't think legally speaking you can leak or sell code for someone else's project just because they haven't paid up

You might be landing yourself in some very very hot water doing so, and open yourself up to not only never getting the money, but having to pay money in damages

I've heard of people doing similar before and getting bit big style

[native mulch]

how would he even know it's me selling his project code?

• what whould happen at max, I dont get it

[mint skiff]

Get sued

[native mulch]

I don't really have money to

[chilly sundial]

Doesn't matter, they can come for future paycheck, personal assets

Got a dev machine? Probably not after a lawsuit

[chilly sundial]

Well because there's a very limited number of people that will have seen it.

It's not exactly hard to guess "maybe that guy that I didn't pay sold my source code"

[mint skiff]

not really going to discuss whether or not you can get away with doing something illegal anyway

[chilly sundial]

Getting scammed is frustrating, however it doesn't give you the right to scam and steal back

Pursue something in small claims court, keep getting on at the guy or chalk it up as a loss if you really don't think you'll be able to get that money

But under no circumstances go and commit what is itself a fairly major crime

[native mulch]

what if that I am not the first one he didn't pay to? how would he be able to guess

[mint skiff]

in future work out ways to mitigate or recoup losses in your agreements - some proportion in advance or on completion of milestones, make sure you know who you're dealing with, etc.

[chilly sundial]

If you've got a contract that could work in your favour, especially for pursuing something legally, but if this was just something informal, your only real chance is the guy's conscience

[native mulch]

I just figured out, I only signed an NDA

no contract

[mint skiff]

you can have clauses that demarcate what you keep posession of if the client fails to pay, but that's something you should consult a lawyer about.

[chilly sundial]

How do you know this? If you know this why did you work with him?

Why take the risk. Why commit more major crimes in return

If you signed an NDA you're double screwed if you leak that

Because then you're in breach of contract

[native mulch]

I didn't know, I am just assuming, if he scammed me, then it can't be the 1st time he scam someone

[chilly sundial]

But it absolutely can be

And most often times is.
Someone willing to rip off a freelancer doesn't tend to be able to do it to tons of freelancers on the same project

If I was in your shoes, I'd try a bit longer and then just chalk it as a loss, and be more careful, ensuring all your ducks are in a row, as BillyBobCornCob pointed out with contract clauses

[modern relic]

Wouldn't like a screen share or video proving the work is done, then getting paid then releasing it work out? Or get paid half, hand it over, get paid the other half? I know it's not that simple but I always get confused at how many people get scammed over this stuff

[mint skiff]

yep

i think really the best way to protect yourself is suss out your clients - look at their past work, how professional and organised they are, whether or not you can take them to court (e.g. if they're an international client), etc.

everything else is sort of just to mitigate damage if things go south but you really want to avoid those situations to begin with.

[chilly sundial]

Always do your homework :P

[hasty musk]

in the future Never accept a suspicious offer and always take your time to read the contract & NDA.
also never give up your code without getting paid first, unless you are working with a trusted company!

[lilac walrus]

if you didn't sign a contract, any work you completed still belongs to you

a work contract will include terms that assign the rights of any work you complete to the employer in some manner

so yeah, check the paperwork you signed - if it doesn't include something like an IP assignment clause, your 'employer' doesn't have any rights to anything you produced

[chilly sundial]

That's a bit different to what they were asking though

They were saying leak the project source code, not just repurpose what they made

Which is super illegal

[lilac walrus]

yeah, that's different unfortunately - you only own the material you produced

the smart thing to do is letting them release their project, and after they've made money, if you can prove your work is still in there, take legal action for intellectual property infringement

assuming they made enough money to make that worthwhile to being with, mind

[hasty musk]

suing them is a waste of time.
I studied law, intellectual property to be specific,, and I understand what you say.
But remember the people you are going to appeal to(the judge/court), they didn't study these laws and they don't even understand it, because it's relatively new and I am talking about western countries.
For example, there's an Egyptian guy who made an indie video game and star trek discovery stole his IP, they stole his characters(Copy and Paste), even they got actors that look like his characters and they built on his story and yet he lost in courts.
If you search the internet you will find the guy himself explaining it in his blog, it's been a while
https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2018/09/11/understanding-the-star-trek-discovery-plagiarism-allegations/

[round shell]

Hello guys

I am currently looking for a QA job and have over 2 years of experience. What companies should I start looking at? I assume that not all job offers are posted on Indeed but may be on the company's careers page.

[chilly sundial]

We can't really help with that

go for whatever pays appropriately, and is accessible to you.

It's very region specific

and situation specific

[young osprey]

Look on LinkedIn, Google Quality Analyst Jobs, Search your area for game studios and see if they are hiring. Look at if they have a project starting or ending as you'll be able to predict production requirements.
Also, don't feel restricted by industry and look into other software QA positions in other industries as the skills are not just required for games but for all software development.

[young osprey]

You can also speak to recruiters and talent aquisition people and introduce yourself. But remember, they dont work for you, they have clients and if your resume matches something they are looking for they may decide to speak to you about it. But it never hurts to offer your information and resume.

[plucky hatch]

I would like to know, where can you show your work, depending on where is the best web platform to present your game, graphic design, and or the entire creative process?

[pulsar turret]

Hey guys. I am looking for advices on how to create a good portfolio for being an UE gameplay programmer, ifanyone has some

[brisk arrow]

Hey, y’all. Considering a career switch from film to gaming. In art dept in film and have visual art background. Do you think this is wise?

[lilac walrus]

Probably not - games have notoriously shit pay and working conditions, and right now we're in the middle of pretty devastating industry wide layoffs that are only going to make things worse

over 10,000 people lost their jobs last year and this year is unlikely to be much better

some of your art skills and soft skills may well transfer, but you should also be prepared to spend a lot of time working on games specific hard skills and building a suitable portfolio before you're able to secure an interview, and even then it could well be entry level

[pastel estuary]

https://twitter.com/hashtag/gamedevpaidme?f=live

[woeful iron]

ArtStation?

[plucky hatch]

Yes I know, I'm already there even if I haven't done a lot of publication, but it's not suitable for gameplay presentations etc, to test a game, or an extract of a game. There is no no dedicated platform?

Okay, yes, I know but I hadn't thought about it.^^ thank you, but there are so many unity games that I associated the site with unity. lol same for me

[steel creek]

First problem is that ideas cannot be copy protected.

Second problem is he supposedly came up with his idea 3 years after the announcement of the show being written.....

good luck.

[steel creek]

That's a cool story except more people in our industry of vfx lost their jobs last year than in games.....

[round radish]

Become a lawyer. Nobody's ever going to stop needing those.

[shut token]

Won't need 'em in our MadMax future!

[brisk arrow]

Yes I definitely am planning on learning all the software. I have some experience with cad software/3d art already and see that the film/tv/commercial industry is moving more in the direction of virtual sets, whether they’re green screened or on an led video wall. I’m mostly wanting to future proof myself in learning this software while also holding an interest in working in gaming.

[hexed nymph]

Hey y'all, so I'm creating this fully animated short film entirely made in UE5, I even have someone that work as a sound designer at EA, plus worked at other projects like "the boys" and stuff he's kinda like a mentor figure of mine and he's pretty interested in the project so he offered to be a part of it, anyways I wanted to know of there is anyway of directly contacting a representative from Epic Games and maybe pitch the idea to them to see if idk maybe they'd like to be a part of it In someway specially once I put it into festivals, I thought I'd give it a try since I'm using their software to do this project

[round radish]

You can probably find a corporate contact on their website. You probably won't get that info here.

And how is this career related? 🙂

[spring bough]

Hi, I am looking for a game design mentor for my younger brother. He is learning from the internet. But not learning much. Can someone help me? Is there any Indian who is from Delhi or nearby?

[earnest pecan]

good luck finding a game design mentor from anywhere in india oof

borderline impossible

[spring bough]

is it possible to find someone out of india who can teach online

how

[woeful iron]

if it's online, why does it need to be someone from India though

[spring bough]

I am looking for offline. But if it's not possible then I have to go online courses and language is a diffrence for him

Communication in deferent language is hard

It about finding job and posting your portfolio. but for that he has to learn?

[earnest pecan]

I haven't found anyone at all, I learnt GD on my own

I'd recommend buying some GD books and reading them, for a start

provided he knows the basics

[spring bough]

Can you give me any tips to improve his workflow. Like giving him targets or something else.

Like he is learning unreal engine now

oooh! shit I didn't think about that. Thakyou for that

[earnest pecan]

First of all, he needs to know what exactly he wants to do. "Game Development" is a massive field and it's almost impossible to do everything by yourself.

Broadly speaking, there's 3 fields. Design, Art and Development.

Which one does he want to start with?

[spring bough]

I don't know and in my opinion he need to work on everything in start. So he can decide later while learning

because as time goes you see yourself what you like and what you want to do

[woeful iron]

Just tell him to start with something small and look up what he needs

there is no real set path

[earnest pecan]

~~BPs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw9QEMFInYU~~
Blender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0J27sf9N1Y&list=PLjEaoINr3zgEPv5y--4MKpciLaoQYZB1Z

I am honestly not sure how someone will get started with GD.

fair

[spring bough]

He is doing a project right now. but many time he stuck at some problems that he cannot solve by himself

[earnest pecan]

or at least point you in the right direction

[spring bough]

I have already send the link of this server

[woeful iron]

even outside of software development, anything remotely international is probably done in English

[earnest pecan]

I have to ask, how old is he? I thought English was taught everywhere in India, especially in Primary/Middle school.

lmao fair enough

[woeful iron]

idk how but I just learned it naturally through TV and games lol

I was fluent by the time they thaught it in school

[spring bough]

yes it is and he is 18 or 19

[spring bough]

It's same for me

he is improving in things but I want to speed up things

Because I spend 5 years finding what i want to do and learn every thing from internet

I don't want the same thing for him

yes

that a great idea and I am working on that. we started a project to see that and It's been three weeks. It's seems he has done very less work

So what should I do to relise him

[woeful iron]

is it your responsability though?

[spring bough]

And can you give any idea how to start a small project

yes

yes

what

[woeful iron]

you mean what should you do to make him realise?

[spring bough]

yes

[woeful iron]

does he want to realise though

does he want a future in game dev

if he doesn't do shit, maybe he's just not interested

if you're already doing nothing in the learning phase you will never become a proper game dev

cause you lack drive and passion, which is needed in the industry

cause there's nothing else for you there

[spring bough]

he is working and I don't have to force him

[woeful iron]

you say he has done very little on the project though

[spring bough]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO8x3WZql2I

last month he created this project

I did the 3d and lighting and rendering. and he made all the blueprints and exe file

and after this he is not able to make nothing

If you have complete day. And you don't have any other work. how much work you can do

[spring bough]

this one he created in two weeks

[limber mantle]

How poor people like me laern unreal engine

Tell me

[woeful iron]

use internet

[limber mantle]

Ok

But how to download megascan and quixell it's too much i don't have that much space

When any of u guy coming to India. Open some damn company bro ,we need good gaming companies I need job and experience

[nova coyote]

You can either download the low quality versions of assets or don't download a lot and only few that you can reuse in your environment

[limber mantle]

Ok now who's gonna open company in India i m poor and need job in gaming field

[nova coyote]

I wouldn't count on it

Your two other options is to either learn game dev on your own, save some money then move out and start job hunting. Or pick another field. Software development is know to be a more secure and better paying field then game dev

[limber mantle]

Bro one problem how decrease size of any texture whenever I put it's too large

How I m gonna move out I m poor

[nova coyote]

Just lower it's quality externally. You can use Photoshop or photopea

[limber mantle]

Ohh

[nova coyote]

Figure it out ig. Either find some odd jobs out there at some restaurant or construction site. Or if you have the skills do some freelancing

[limber mantle]

Whenever I put it on any surface weither it's wall or ground texture is to large it's looks pixelated when I play it

Resturant or construction site ? Bro it better I just leave this whole world

[nova coyote]

If your pc isn't able to handle top tier graphics then it's best to not aim for it. Why not choose a more pixilated art style?

[limber mantle]

Now texture is good but it's just I don't know how to reduce its size to fitt ,like. Grass and mud texture grass look gigantic

[nova coyote]

That's just some things I've done to earn some money and buy my current pc.
You don't always get to have the nicest options in life but at the end of the day you need to pick something

You want to not be poor? Earn money! How? Well freelancing currently I'd imagine isn't an option for you due hardware limits, then fix that by upgrading your hardware! How? Do some odd jobs to get enough for a disk drive

[limber mantle]

Bro in your country even construction site pay enough to live here u die so it's better I just go to jungle last option

How teach me sensei

How freelancing work I didn't get any work i tried

[nova coyote]

Ooooh sweet summer child. You don't even have an idea on my countries finicial situation

[nova coyote]

Do you have any portfolio? Any experience that people can verify? Did you hunt for those opportunities? Just making a fiver account won't be enough to get a gig

[limber mantle]

No portfolio here people are old minded they don't give sh#t about portfolio just degree then they will exploit u by literally sucking ur blood

Sensei adopt me

[nova coyote]

Cool thing about the internet is it allows you to not interact with these people :)

There's hope at getting a job with people respecting you. You just need to prove yourself

[limber mantle]

Only Old people with money no tech knowledge, wrong or not enough to resources but still unreal expectations thats my countries problem

One day my boss gave me old 512 mb ram pc that cant even connect to wifi without dongle to make intro video from an event then I said its not possible then they gave me 4gb ram pc said that new

just imagine

[nova coyote]

I can relate. 4gigs of ram was considered top of the line around here too

[earnest pecan]

freelance internationally bruh

[limber mantle]

Bro photoshop work on 8 gb Ram after effects runs on 16 I told him and he show me a video to make something like this ,his expectations was level of large product studio I left that place

[nova coyote]

But as I said. I took some odd jobs here and there, saved up some money, bought an actual usable pc . That opened a great opportunity for me to learn and make money thanks to freelancing

[limber mantle]

Sensei how

[earnest pecan]

make portfolio, use reddit and discord

[nova coyote]

It doesn't need to. I remember using Adobe Photoshop cs6 with 2gigs of ram with no issue

[earnest pecan]

even LinkedIn maybe

[nova coyote]

It was smooth experience

[limber mantle]

How to use reddit discord,is it to promote my work?

[nova coyote]

Or find work. Check #freelance-jobs

But 9 times out of 10 they will ask for some kind of a proof of experience

[limber mantle]

I m thinking of opening a illegal coaching to teach thinks I know about graphics designing vidoe editing I know 3d software too like zbrush 3ds max , unreal engine

*things

I can show something

What this i made this on. Phone

[nova coyote]

Lmao how will be illegal?

[limber mantle]

No paper work, u know no registration no nothing's just coaching it's kind of illegal

Nobody gonna stop me

[nova coyote]

I don't know if that's true...but if it's actually illegal I cannot with good conscious recommend that path

[limber mantle]

Tell me u know any discord or subreddit where I will get real free lancing work

[limber mantle]

I will sell cocain and guns too that's good money 🤑

[nova coyote]

cough cough #career-chat message cough cough

[earnest pecan]

this server has a channel

he told you what it is

every subreddit has their own discord

BRUH

[limber mantle]

What

[earnest pecan]

well ig there's a reason why people don't wanna work with him lmao

[nova coyote]

Jesus dude help us to help you

[limber mantle]

What i thought it's place to ask for work 😔

[nova coyote]

🤦‍♂️

[limber mantle]

X

So it's for unreal engine

Realted

Related

[earnest pecan]

no matter where you go to work

dude

there's ALWAYS rules to follow

if you don't follow them

[limber mantle]

Ok

[earnest pecan]

they'll just free you from your duties

[limber mantle]

I just a dumb dank unemployed reddit user sorry

[earnest pecan]

that excuse won't work anywhere

and how old are you? do you have a PayPal account?

[limber mantle]

No

I m 23

[earnest pecan]

well then make a PayPal account

[limber mantle]

Ok 👍

Sensei tell more

[earnest pecan]

what do you want to know? I don't have a lot of freelance experience either

I earned just enough to buy an RTX 4070 lol

in my entire life

that's all I've earned

[limber mantle]

😮wooow

With my earning I buy a decent laptop only

[earnest pecan]

not wow at all

[limber mantle]

*I can

[earnest pecan]

fair enough, I decided to do something else (pitch game)

[limber mantle]

Bro u don't how much cost for us

[earnest pecan]

I do

[limber mantle]

Like anything that's in range of 70 to 80 k rupess

[earnest pecan]

point is, Laptops

don't buy them

buy PC

[earnest pecan]

you can happily build a decent PC with that

[limber mantle]

Bro for job I need to relocate I can carry pc every where I get the point pc are better

*I cant carry

[earnest pecan]

laptops suck ass

not worth it

the decision is yours, of course

just giving advice

[limber mantle]

U don't know robbers and their every where and to much

Problem for me

[earnest pecan]

???

[limber mantle]

To expensive to

[earnest pecan]

where do you live lmaooo

[limber mantle]

I can hide laptop but pc they will just snatch your bag and run thats why u will only need few bag it's good carry them with ur life when traveling

Too much danger and too expensive to shift carry less that's my rule minimalistic coz of danger

[earnest pecan]

idk man, your call

now I gtg, I need to do something

[limber mantle]

Ok

[woeful iron]

what about second hand though

[earnest pecan]

it's all done lol, the PC is with me rn

[woeful iron]

how did you buy the other parts though

or did you not put in a 4070

[earnest pecan]

I asked my dad to help me 😅

I still need to pay him back

but no job for me 🥲👍

yes I'm growing one of my own

it still needs to grow more

to bear fruit

[chilly sundial]

I don't recommend bear fruit. While cute, they're very aggressive

[ivory echo]

https://tenor.com/view/jim-dwight-identity-thief-geek-battlestargalactica-gif-4700649

[neon swift]

What should i do if i wanna become a game developer ? i am already learning unreal engine but i heard i should also learn some modelling software like blender or drawing to make 2d sprites etc

[woeful iron]

depends on your definition of developer

in most cases developer refers to programmer, so for that you do not need modeling or art skills really

if by developer you wanna be an indie game developer making whole games by yourself, then yes, those will be needed

[neon swift]

so. which software do you recommend for each type

2d and 3d

[woeful iron]

well, Blender is free for 3D and gaining traction in professional world, other that that if you have money, Maya is often used and ZBrush if you wanna do sculpting

for 2D idk, photoshop?

[neon swift]

i see

okay thank you

[jaunty swallow]

For 2d you can also use aseprite

[chilly sundial]

If you want pixel art, yes, but not every 2d game is pixel art

For example, aseprite is an awful software for vector graphics

[limber mantle]

Tell me what's skills neede to be game tester

[woeful iron]

didn't you ask how to learn unreal yesterday

[nova coyote]

Yeah what a quick downgrade lol.

[magic scroll]

Game testing skills duh

[heady isle]

hello!, where do you guys build your portofolios? I can only think of github, but i think a employer will not actually clone and build what i have there, is there a free place to upload clips or demos? I dont really have a finished product, i just implement mechanics that are interesting and useful until i have an actual idea of a decent game, but i need to show of prototypes to find a job and i really need some advice

[woeful iron]

you could make a github pages, you can host one actual website for free

but I build mine back in the day with wordpress

and just bought a domain

[heady isle]

i know some web dev, i didnt think i will be useful for this :))

thanks a lot, i brainstorm some web portofolios now

[past cradle]

Hey guys, so , I wanted to know if there are any good websites for searching for indie game developer opportunities besides the channel in unreal source?

[modern relic]

imagine having all your projects as private github repos and on your website you just have a bunch of youtube videos with broll of the code

[chilly sundial]

Any hiring website

[chrome blaze]

Someone suggested I ask here instead of the AI chat so: I have a UE related AI programmer interview soon-ish, and I'm trying to prepare. Any UE specific things I should focus on? Obviously I've worked with the behavior tree, I've used EQS a little, decorators, services. Haven't used the StateTree, nor Mass. I'm pretty much just wondering if anyone has anything that comes to mind, something specific that you think anyone who is programming ai specifically should know about. Appreciate any advice/tips. Otherwise I'm just going to continue studying and refining what I already know

[limber mantle]

Any one here doing job of games tester ??

Suggest me something

[woeful iron]

I suggest you drink enough water today

[lilac walrus]

AI Programmer implies the native C++ code side, so I'd be more concerned with general engineering and AI principles

[long sun]

I thinks it's fairly likely you'd be doing a lot of character animation programming as well

[past cradle]

Anyone know if epic games is hiring?

[ivory echo]

Epic would know, any openings should be on their career page

[hard vale]

Hello Everyone. I am finally stepping out of my anxiety-riddled comfort zone and reaching out for help because college has taught me nothing except to watch YouTube and copy. I recently have gotten 2 degrees, a BA in Game art and Design and a BS in Game Programming and Development. I am 30 with the past 10 years of experience being all military so consider it a mid-life career change. I was primarily looking for a technical artist position but honestly would take anything remotely (I have small kids and I am their primary caretaker so it is more convenient to not pay an arm and a leg in child care, I also missed so much of them growing up I want to be around). When creating a portfolio would it be better to create a standalone demo level or just the standard here are some screenshots and gameplay stuff look at my code and poly count type deal. Also, what are some stand-out things that would set a no experience having shmuck's portfolio out from others? Most professors at school are teaching as a side job to make extra money and just seem to gatekeep, or they are Computer Science majors that are loading UE for the first time while grading.

[pastel estuary]

@hard vale welcome!
start with some of the pinned messages in this channel. Get a portfolio going.
If you want to go the tech-route, I also suggest you to blog about neat tech things and approaches and share these on social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin) and grow a network of people. It takes time, but the more eyes you get on your work, the easier it is to find a job. At least, thats my experience. I'm sure there are others with different advice and insights :)

[hard vale]

Sound good thank you! This is my first time really on Discord so I had no idea about pinned comments and all that. I just thought it was like an old-school instant messager but I am glad I hopped on. Also, I never thought of using LinkedIn as a place to post work.

[pastel estuary]

take your time and go with the flow. You'll ease yourself into it :)

[tall fjord]

I learned unreal and c++. Still find it hard to get interviews for a job. What would you recommend i learn more or specialize in?
I was thinking machine learning, though maybe it doesnt have much use in unreal yet

[steady pewter]

If you "learned" (past tense, job done), then show them examples - small games / modules you made.

[pulsar turret]

You can also post your portfolio here to get feedbacc

[regal geode]

@charred sentinel noted. My apologies

[little wing]

Hello every1

I want to become a Level Designer, and I would like to ask you all for any tips you can give me. I have some questions as well:

What should I do to start a career as a Level Designer?
Is it true that Level Designers are supposed to code as well?
How to get first job?

[woeful iron]

I don't think level designers do code

maybe some bp if you consider that code

[ivory echo]

https://tenor.com/view/how-dare-you-greta-thunberg-gif-15130785

[slender hazel]

people consider bp to not be code?

It's certainly not traditional code but I think it's interesting to disregard it completely as code

[nova coyote]

I would consider it code as much as how python is considered code. Both are just using a virtual machine to call the native C/C++ code.

But in job hunting context you won't find any openings for a "bp coder"

[modern relic]

I don't think it's that, it's more like if you only know blueprint I wouldn't really consider you a programmer you know?

[spice dagger]

I wouldnt hire you as a programmer if all you knew was BP.

[royal lintel]

And in reverse: a level designer isn't going to be hired to do programming tasks in C++

[spice dagger]

Some job listings on Linkedin blur that line though 😛

[brave forge]

Wanted:

• Rockstar LD
• Bonus: expert knowledge in all of the following BP, c++, sound design, animation, rigging
  Pay: $3.50
  Contract Term: Ongoing (until next unexpected downsizing)

[slender hazel]

I could get behind not hiring someone who only knew blueprints based on the fact that it's very limited and slow af

But I'd definitely believe it should be considered code as the fundamentals are the same

[round radish]

Sure

But also the coding you're doing as a level designer is orders of magnitude simpler than that of a systems programmer or even a gameplay designer.

And only knowing bp is fine for that role. Or a tech artist or whatever other role that isn't primarily coding.

[earnest pecan]

BPs are a huge plus for Level Design

[modern relic]

tf does this mean?

How many years of Technology, Information and Internet experience do you currently have?

i put 10 🤷

[woeful iron]

is that just a random number or have you been working with pc's for 10 years

[modern relic]

i mean ive been working with computers for a lot longer than that but i figured i should probably just put my related years of experience for the position

[woeful iron]

it's a strangely generic vague question though

not completely irrelevant, but can't say I ever encountered it

[brave forge]

"I have completed the internet."

[woeful iron]

internet any% speedrun

[idle maple]

unless you know design too, then you're qualified for a technical designer

[modern relic]

https://tenor.com/view/the-it-crowd-jen-barber-google-internet-gif-5271459

[ivory echo]

Haha, that episode was epic

[nimble geyser]

because I will be applying for a programmer job I'm doing current project with 80% logic done in c++ and I try to do very little in BP, somehow I feel like this is bad idea, The whole point of project it to showcase my c++ skills and my understanding of Engine, so should I feel free to do more in blueprints?

AI is done in c++ UI in BP

[brave forge]

Part of the interview process at anywhere reputable will involve talking about when and why to use one over the other. Demonstrating a good understanding and feel for the strengths of both is a solid plus. Don't feel constrained to use one when it's the wrong tool just for potential interviews.

If you feel like you need to demonstrate more c++ then it's probably better to choose a task/project/system to implement that's particularly well suited to being c++ heavy.

[nimble geyser]

Nicely explained thank you

[brave forge]

No probs

[broken yacht]

Hey so I want to get a job in game development some time latter in my life. Currently I’m loving working on VR games but I can do flat screen games but I much rather do VR games.
So my question is if most of my projects are VR games on my portfolio does it looks better, the same, or worse than a portfolio with only flatscreen games? I would most likely be applying to flat screen game studios.
I’m just wondering if I should spend the time and resources of making a flat screen game if a VR game will do the same thing. Thanks!

[earnest pecan]

flatscreen games are more accessible

so if you want the greatest chance possible to land a job

then do that

[nova coyote]

Plus your experience will still apply to VR development.

If you ever find a position for a vr dev then you can still reference your flat screen experience and still have a good chance of being accepted

[nocturne rampart]

Hey, do you guys know how common it is to get a remote job for game design or do most studios want you in the office?

[woeful iron]

from what I know it happens sometimes, but I wouldn't call it common

[versed galleon]

Hello,

Need some general advice on how to move from commercial software dev into game dev. I have around 6 years of total experience working as a software developer.

Currently I do C++ and Python and work in the autonomous driving industry. I am almost done with my Unreal Engine game, which I have been working on for the past 8 months in my free time. It is 90% done in C++ / 10% blueprints, and is a full game from A-Z. I have implemented every game mechanic and system from scratch (no marketplace plugins).

Whenever I check for job postings, I see "Must have X years of experience in AAA game development" or "X years working and releasing video games in the game dev industry".

So now despite having professional programming and software development experience, including C++, I feel walled off from game dev because I never went into the game dev industry and don't have this game dev industry experience they keep asking for.

I will prepare my portfolio, which will include this one game, and release the entire source code for review and publish on itch.io. It is a full game, and there are a decent number of gameplay systems included (UI, inventory, monologue, AI, goal system, level scripting) that are all done in C++.

I want to make the switch into game dev, ideally as a Gameplay Programmer. I'm aware that WLB can be bad, but there are some studios that outline WLB, and the notorious ones with bad WLB are well known so I would avoid them anyway.

Has anyone made such a switch? And is it even possible? What else can I do to strengthen my application for game dev jobs (apart from working on more games in my free time)?

[woeful iron]

I would ignore the X years of AAA game development tbh, it's just a recruiter wishlist most of the time, you don't have to match per se to be considered. Of course don't apply to senior gameplay programmer positions if you have no experience in that field.
Other that that I would say just having a few samples of what you want to do at that company on your portfolio is a good bet. It's also always a plus in my experience if your cv visually stands out, so recruiters remember it (if it ever passes the AI check first).
Not that I'm a recruiting specialist or anything though, just speaking from my experience.

But I made the switch the other way around 🙃

indeed

But getting a junior position should be possible I think

of course with the drawbacks that come with it

If you want comfort, money and career, I would not recommend going into game dev 😅

it's possible to have that, but less common than in other swe industries

[versed galleon]

Ah, this was my worry... I'm ok with getting a mid-level, but I'm afraid I can't go down to junior. It would be a huge step back... 😒

[woeful iron]

I mean you can always apply and see, if that's what you really want

[versed galleon]

Yes, I know. This is why I avoided game dev in the first place. 😅
I was told that the pay is crap and WLB is bad.

[woeful iron]

I can confirm that based on my experience in 2 indie studios

of course that is my personal experience

[versed galleon]

My reason in getting into game dev is that I enjoy gameplay programming, and I want to gain this game dev experience.
So that one day, I can form my own game studio with other game devs.

Currently, I have no game dev experience, all I can do is just struggle alone making single one-man games.

[woeful iron]

I would say having your own studio comes with a whole slew of different challenges as well though

also doing it as a hobby is very different to doing it as a job, at least it was to me

[versed galleon]

Yes, but wouldn't you say having some AAA game dev experience will help in being successful?
All the indie studios that make it big tend to have similar story: A bunch of coworkers from X AAA game studio quit and made their own game with success. Because they had industry experience in building and releasing games.

Or AA, does not have to be AAA. Just some game dev industry experience.

[woeful iron]

I would think indie experience would actually be more useful if you actually want to found your own studio

cause you're not gonna be founding a AAA studio

[versed galleon]

For now, I am just building hobbyist projects to continue learning Unreal Engine.
I do have a serious plan to publish a game one day (on Steam) but I will need to find game artists and level designers since I suck at everything else...

[versed galleon]

Sure, then I would love to get into a mid sized indie studio and gain the experience.

[brave forge]

Yeah I'd say I'm AAA scale you don't see as much of the workflow as you would in indie. It's compartmentalized just like in big corporations. Indie scale would be better for getting experience for your own projects

[ashen lynx]

So now despite having professional programming and software development experience, including C++, I feel walled off from game dev because I never went into the game dev industry and don't have this game dev industry experience they keep asking for.``` They want superhumans while offering minimal salary. Ignore those clauses, and apply.

[versed galleon]

That's the plan right now, it just takes a lot of time since I have a full day job and am not gaining game dev experience in it.
I've still managed to make a game, and it has been an amazing and challenging journey. I will continue and keep doing it in my limited free time.
But I have limited time to come back home and then work on my own stuff, I also have family commitments.

[versed galleon]

Yes, the same story in non game dev as well. They list every tech / framework / language under the sun and expect a superhuman programmer...

Ok, let's see. I'll apply and see what I can get. If I am being offered the short end of the stick, I will stick to keeping it my personal "side job" for now.

Thanks for the discussion. 🙂

[ashen lynx]

My reason in getting into game dev is that I enjoy gameplay programming, and I want to gain this game dev experience. You should double check with yourself. Because quite a few can enjoy experience of gameplay programmin while not working in gamedev. There is also a non zero chance that after 1-2 years of work, you will find that you do not actually like it at all, in fact the opposite. If you do, it will be the best job ever. If you do not, it might end up pretty hellish. All in all, gamedev, from a wide range of occupations and crafts has the lowest income versus level of commitment in current state of events, so working elsewhere and enjoying making the game of your dream is far not the worst pick these days. @versed galleon

[woeful iron]

game devs are in general passionate about doing it

if they really want to do it, they'll do it for lower pay

We also have social elections for unions at our company, but if you give yourself up for candidate, somehow the company convinces you to not do it...

[ebon dove]

I’m kind of just worried I’m not gonna get a job in game development in Australia. It’s not very popular.

[woeful iron]

It's possible

best you can do is try

if you think it's a geographical issue, you can always move

[ebon dove]

I am studying a 2 year course in programming and c# in unity in my spare time i self teach myself unreal c++

Idk if I am wasting my time not being realistic as I am 21 now idk I am scared

[woeful iron]

if you enjoy it you're not wasting your time

[signal turtle]

@ebon dove I was in your place years ago and decided to go into backend server and cloud development instead
I would suggest to just keep learning and make sure you have the software development fundamentals solid, so if it turns out that gamedev isn't for you, then you can easily pivot to other parts of the industry

[pastel estuary]

one of the Lead artists at epic is from Australia, and a few other buddies come from down undah as well, so if you set your mind to it, you can do it.

[ebon dove]

Did they go to aie

[tulip grail]

What is current state of game jobs market? I'm searching for job like 1 year and right now it feels like it's dead. I had 2 year of XP just in case.

Also what is good place to switch? I'm currently thinking about switching to backend with python + django.

Well, for me I just want to long term stability. Python was seems like good idea because it's a general language and it's easy to get into.

But I'm not sure about that

My primary skill is Unreal Engine (gameplay programming )

I'm fine both with C++ and Bp

[past cradle]

anyone know if the remote game jobs website/discord is legit?

[past cradle]

also

can I have some help with my resume?

[chilly sundial]

also, don't crosspost and read the #rules

[ivory echo]

✝️ 🕺

[low widget]

hey guys I have a question as I want to upgrade my PC and I'm at an hobby-level, but want to help on a project soon. I have a budget of 1500€ and live in France. Is that suitable enbough for a Pc that would help people for revshare and on limited and reasonable personal project personal....

[royal lintel]

#hardware

[low widget]

thanks was wondering if I should post here because its work related or on the hardware channel!

[thorn flume]

Very noob question.

But is there a position tittle for someone that uses control rig?
Would it be under the tittle of technical animator?

[royal lintel]

it'd likely fall under that title, yeah.

[mint skiff]

Or a rigger

[ivory echo]

https://tenor.com/view/turning-nozzle-nozzle-engineers-petroleum-workers-lionsgate-gif-15742937

[thorn flume]

I'll DM you dude 🙂

[limber edge]

sent friend request

[limber edge]

cause it wont let me message

[worn ember]

Hello! I would like to ask for some help.

I would like to get a job in the games industry! I have 13 years of PHP backend dev experience, and I really fell in love with Unreal in the past couple of years. I understand that a portfolio is key to getting hired, so for the past few months, I really made an effort to create a C++ demo project, that shows what I’ve learned so far in recent years as a hobbyist:
https://github.com/hattila/hover-tanks
https://attilah.itch.io/hover-tanks

What do you think I should focus on? Could this be enough to get (maybe) a junior position? Should I pack more features into one demo project, or should I try to make more smaller ones? Any other suggestions that could help me? Thank you for your time!

[ebon dove]

When you can, please let me know

[woeful iron]

when he can what

[pastel estuary]

iunno

[woeful iron]

but can you?

[pastel estuary]

to be fair, iunno

[ebon dove]

Thanks

[pastel estuary]

https://tenor.com/1OUn.gif

[pulsar turret]

Tom Thanks

[fallen topaz]

any alive programmer here? i'ld like to ask something about turnvoer

[woeful iron]

no they all died yesterday in the programmer purge

but see #programmer-hangout

or this chat if related to career

[fallen topaz]

lol yes all the programmers should be dead or if alilve still debugging

yap it is related

anyway, for couple of days, including today, i've visited several offices as a programmer

and all those bosses, those who never used engine for their lifetime, keeps asking me to make something beautiful

of course, i studied some vfx so i can make to some extent, but i'm not a pro of it

there are masters of modeling, texturing and other stuffs you know

but they ask me to do those

am I thinking in a way too narrow?

[woeful iron]

sounds like they're trying to get you to do work for free

[fallen topaz]

yes absolutely

[woeful iron]

unless you work in an indie studio with like 3 people, a programmer would never do modeling

[fallen topaz]

of course, if there's no single person in the studio, i'll do that

and also i'll crap it

lol

[woeful iron]

but seems like they want to exploit you

if that's your question

[fallen topaz]

thanks, Dieter I was quite serious on this

once even thought am i such a narrow minded or somehting

sry English is not my mothertongue so i need some time to google some word

thanks a lot, I'll stick on the background and develop myself more

[plucky hatch]

Hi there! I’m almost 15 and I’ve been doing game dev stuff on Roblox since I was around 10, but I want to switch and actually make a career, do you think by using blueprints and learning unreal for a couple years I could make a career for myself?

[chilly sundial]

You won't be making a career for more than a couple of years

But generally speaking, only blueprint knowledge limits you to design fields like game design

[night osprey]

100%! im also a teenager and ive been learning UE5 for a future career aswell, it gets frustrating at times but as long as youre dedicated and enjoying yourself I'd say its a good idea!

[plucky hatch]

I want to learn c++ eventually, but it’s really confusing for a starter

[plucky hatch]

Okay thanks!

[nova coyote]

keep in mind that bp is quite powerful. you can do a lot of stuff with it alone if your projects are not too "advanced". stuff like multiplayer, a voxel game, a huge amount of entities swarm things...ect will eventually need c++ but if it's a basic shooter, horror or just a short and simple game experience then blueprints should be enough

[plucky hatch]

Yeah lol, but I kinda wanna work solo and be an indie dev and make smaller solo projects

You can do multiplayer with blueprint to an extent too

For the more difficult things that shouldn’t be too hard to learn

But learning most functions and c++ to make everything seems really hard

[nova coyote]

if it's LAN then yeah sure. but if you want to use steam servers for example then cpp is required.

[plucky hatch]

Oh okay, thanks for telling me that

I’ve only done basic LAN

[nova coyote]

most bp function work exactly the same way in c++, just with a different name. but if you want to learn cpp in unreal then i recommend first learning c++ on its own, learncpp.com can be a great headstart for a newbie. after that i recommend checking the pins in #cpp

[ivory echo]

No, and also #instructions

[signal turtle]

imagine trying to debug a giant blueprint graph generated by AI 😱
the ones created by humans are bad enough

[stoic vale]

so, Im currently learning UE5, and i was sort of curious, what would be the "best" spot to learn for higher chances of getting a job using UE. Would animation be better, or game dev, or something else?

I did a bit of research, but couldn't really find much overall

[pastel estuary]

pick what you really like doing, and learn how to do it really well.

[stoic vale]

that sounds like really solid advice. How far into a niche should i go? For example, should I focus on really good animations with Metahumans, or just learn animation overall and film-making.

[pastel estuary]

start broad, then pick your niches along the way

iow, learn how to make paint before you start to paint, then learn how to make pollocks and picasso's, alongwise whatever floats your boat.

[stoic vale]

thanks for the help 👍

[pastel estuary]

np, you got this.
the most important thing is, have fun. shizzle will become tedious, frustrating, and disheartening, so the more fun you have, the easier it is to keep at it.

[fickle kindle]

I’m really interested in both level design and computer graphics

I originally wanted to pursue level design as a career back in high school, tried to run away from that because of terrible stories about the games industry and the burnout of being a designer, and explored interests in other areas of design as well as software development. I ended up gaining an interest in both design and development that’s been pretty inseparable, and grew from thinking I’d be some sort of UX designer/frontend developer hybrid to ending up discovering computer graphics and returning to my interest in spatial design as a junior yr uni student

I’m still young and haven’t graduated from uni yet so I know I have time, and I also know that I should keep investing in my dev skills more heavily than my design skills rn given the pay difference and how much more flexible and employable programming is as a skillset

but I guess in an effort to run away from my passion I’ve only given myself yet another passion, and I struggle to imagine doing only one and never doing anything meaningful in the other

how do I manage this? would it make sense to focus on trying to break into a game studio in a dev role and later move up into and between roles to get a sense of which I would prefer to build a career in?

[main mortar]

Start in QA and get your foot in the door and you might meet people that you can use or get to know. Keep learning and practicing, level design is cool but you'll need multiple skills like coding or art to get hired since there's so many freaking people trying to be developers.

[heavy cradle]

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

[runic badger]

fwiw $700 rent would be a great price at the moment--a friend had a studio in NY for $2200 a month 😵‍💫

[round radish]

That's not even that expensive for london 😂

[high cape]

Hey, I

• studied applied mathematics (B. Sc.) which included 5 modules of C++ programming
• made the VR-game "Punch Back" in about 9 months full-time alone: https://discordapp.com/channels/187217643009212416/1188147359394312322
• never worked in game industry or programming-related industry

Any ideas how I can improve my chances further to get a job in the game industry?

[woeful iron]

make more games? or game things?

[ebon dove]

Should I go to a private Institute that is well known in industry in my country or public one that is free, but has no industry connection game development programming

[high cape]

I used SHA2 where I needed high security (e.g. in the web database to not save steam-ids directly). AFAIK MD5 is not crackable if you don't have any clue about how the string that has been hashed could look like. But sure, I can also simply replace it. Thanks for the feedback.

[high cape]

You're right. Thanks.

[fast ginkgo]

What’s some good resources to self teach C++. There so much info online it’s hard to sift through and find a reputable course or even just resource. By what I’ve gathered learncpp.com seems to be a good starting point.

[steady pewter]

self teach = learn ?
Ye, I see it frequently recommended that site.

[modern relic]

I understand that md5 is dog water but surely salting would still make it somewhat secure right?

[brave forge]

Nope. Super quick to crack.

[steady pewter]

crypto is fun, adding a salt would likely not help, because what it matters its length and content. Most users wouldn't go to such extents.

[brazen bane]

How much would it cost to hire someone to create a modulable character similar to this : https://img.freepik.com/premium-photo/low-poly-occupation-human-3d-character-illustration-cute-cartoon-stock-images-photos-pictures_662214-5062.jpg (so voxel/low poly) with bones and animation ?
But empty
So just the basic mesh, and so i can create the armor and stuff like this myself later ?

Im asking the correct price, not the cheap plan, i want something with quality

[ivory echo]

You’d prly have to use #instructions and take some bids

[brazen bane]

It doesnt answer my question, and yes ive seen and yes im already in @career

[pastel estuary]

he kinda did. becasuse some will say they can do it for a few hundred bucks, and another will say a few thousand bucks, and both would be right.

[ivory echo]

Not sure what you mean by being in @career, job posts are done on the job board using the instructions provided

[brazen bane]

Im asking for a general price range for this kind of job

[ivory echo]

We need to start calling it TwitX

[pastel estuary]

you missed the chance there to call it Twix.

[pastel estuary]

on the marketplace you have a low-poly model and it would cost you less than a month worth of coffee.
As stylized as that character is, especially modular, Done with superb unwrapping, bones, AND animations?
somewhere between 5k and 10k.

[brazen bane]

I know this, but i would like my own customized, not something public

[chilly sundial]

So read the second half of that message

[brazen bane]

Yes

thanks

[mint skiff]

this happens so much i don't understand it

[ivory echo]

I miss having the super reacts trial

[pastel estuary]

prolly more depending on amount of animations, amount of costumization.

[ivory echo]

Gonna miss the 5K-10k fine print in the contract too at this rate 😀

[woeful iron]

depends what kind of coffee you drink 🤔

[modern relic]

DM'd with project details, thanks

Although ngl a single character for $5k seems steep. I haven't contacted anyone or even attempted to work out the cost though but I wouldn't pay that for 1 character. A few hundred sure

I'll stick to the static meshes provided by the engine thanks

[pastel estuary]

An average character from a professional character modeler can already cost you a few thousand dollars --at the very least--, add skeleton + animation setup and you are easily in the 10k dollar ballpark.

[woeful iron]

you guys don't outsource to chinese factory worker children for 34 cents per day?

[modern relic]

That's actually insane to think about. Maybe it's just because I'm poor af and can't even afford ramen

[pastel estuary]

it kinda is when you think about it.
a 0.3 second vfx can already cost you 300-1000 euro, depending on its complexity.

though, this is also taking into account blocking out phase, testing in gameplay, making sure blueprint/coder sets it up right, finalizing, and finetweaking.

now imagine an RPG with tons and tons of npc's, 8-or-so lead characters, antagonists, a few dozen different monsters and bosses, yadayada and you are easily talking millions and millions of dollars. (per month) (and thats not even considering hardware, software, and much more.

[woeful iron]

*slaps roof of game* You could go bankrupt so quick in this bad boy

[pastel estuary]

or do an embracer and just fire everyone

https://store.steampowered.com/app/240970/Half_Minute_Hero_The_Second_Coming/

Steam

Half Minute Hero: The Second Coming

The world's speediest homage/roast to JRPGs! Can you save the world in 30 seconds? Get a quest, find those in need, fight through dungeons, earn cash, get cool loot and level up until YOU>EVIL. Don't have enough time? Pay the Goddess to reset the clock and try again! Over 100 mini-JRPGs for you to test your might with! Available outside Japan ...

Price

$9.99

Recommendations

443

Metacritic

79

▶ Play video

[woeful iron]

luckily AGI will fix this

[plucky hatch]

https://freecomputerbooks.com/langCppBooks.html also I like to use Solo Learn when I'm on the train/bus on my phone, and Udemy courses like learn C++ by making games ones.

[woeful iron]

read pins in #cpp for learning c++, even more so if learning specifically for unreal

[queen ore]

I recommend https://www.learncpp.com/

[high cape]

Are there any popular certificates for game development or so you can make to increase the chances of getting a job in the gaming industries?

I had a few job interviews and they always asked for something like that. They don't trust me ^^

[chilly sundial]

Certificates mean nothing.
The only remotely useful one is a degree for passing some of the HR filters.

A lot of companies would look past that one if you can extensively prove yourself though

Certificates are extremely useless outside of things like networking and cyber security

[oblique ice]

actually most companies didn't ask for qualifications, not that they even care, but academias always ask if the candidate is either undergraduate or postgraduate, their prefference are always post graduate candidate

[woeful iron]

they don't ask cause usually it's on your cv I guess

certificates seem like a waste of time to me though

for most things

[mint estuary]

HI, are there any good ONLINE summer INTERNSHIPS regarding Unreal engine game development? Are they worth it? I am an Indian pursuing engineering(3rd year).

[high cape]

They did not ask directly for certificates, but I felt that they are not sure if I am qualified enough and that they would like to have something more "official". The only "official" thing I have is my bachelor in applied mathematics with 4 modules (2 years) of C++ programming and the projects I made there. They seemed not to care about my self-taught experience with Unreal and my game I worked 9 months on. So I thought certificates would be a good thing...

[woeful iron]

idk about how it is in other countries, but here we have 2 kind of bachelors, academic and professional, if you just have an academic bachelor, you might as well have nothing here, it's just prep for a masters. Professional bachelor is very useful though

[round radish]

That's some healthy elitism right there.

[lilac walrus]

Master's degrees are required to get past some countries immigration policies

[plucky hatch]

in here they have this distinction too. There is also bachelor vs teaching. So bachelor in math is for research, mostly. Teaching in math is mostly the same content, except that the goal is to produce teachers.

[feral warren]

I don't know what quality of advice I'm giving you, but I usually just buy the services of Indian folks off Fiver when I get stuck. You could always try to set up shop to rapidly gain a portfolio of examples (more so than for the money) while pursuing job opportunities as you go.

[woeful iron]

well not dying of starvation could be a great motivator to some

[pastel turtle]

with all of these layoffs flying around, i'm wondering if the industry will actually bounce back from this, or if this is the beginning of a broader shift.

[placid zinc]

since you are good at math i would say start programming procedural animation systems, is quite a niche skill that's in demand for aaa studios

[buoyant girder]

Considering all the talk about layoffs, have freelancers here found it harder to get gigs nowadays? I'm considering moving into freelance unreal programming, but I'd be picking a terrible year for that, wouldn't I?

[ivory echo]

Depends how good you are

You’re not really going to be freelancing for AAA tho, so it shouldn’t affect you

[buoyant girder]

What's a typical gig for an unreal engine freelance programmer anyway?

[pastel prawn]

Hi, I am Yash, From India, I am 3D artist at local studio, in ahmedabad city, around 3.5 years. I do modeling, texturing and use little bit unral engine for cinematic short films, Now I want to change the role and want to be Unreal engine developer, I don't know about programming or C++, So how can I start learning, please suggest the pathway and what are consequences?? Thank you!!

[mint estuary]

So what I understood from your message is that , doing freelancing on Fiverr gives both money and portfolio, so it can be helpful while applying for jobs?That is what you said?Sorry, I am not very good at English .

[feral warren]

Yes. Fiver is better than nothing. When boss interviews you about problems in the past, you will have many things to say about problems you have solved for people. It does pay money, but I'm not sure it is a lot of money. It is a supplement to progress. I hope that translates good. I wrote this message to translate good.

It is good to have a friend who speaks English if you use Fiver. Sometimes customers do not speak good English and it does not translate in google translate. Sometimes you need help to understand.

[mint estuary]

Thanks.

[limpid yew]

Hello all, I've been struggling with finding a solid direction to go concerning building up a diverse portfolio in hopes of one day breaking into the industry. I already program for a living, but I have been working with Blender and digital 2D art, and have a lot of experience with other mediums as well. I didn't go to school for art or video game design. I actually studied in Japan for a while and got a degree in programming. I just have always studied art and taken classes in my own free time. I've been struggling with figuring out how to break into the industry because I don't know if I should be going back to school, creating products in all sectors of game development/design to showcase, or focusing all my attention on one area of the process. Does anyone have any advice or similar experiences? It'll be so appreciated!

[placid zinc]

I would argue having a diverse portfolio is the opposite of what gets you hired, showcase strength in a particular skill set / art style and you will be considered for projects that are a good fit for your artistic skills

When I hired or recommended artist it was always because they were great in an style that was fitting for the project

[limpid yew]

Ah, that I definitely have considered. It feels so conflicting because I read some places that showcasing a diverse skillset is ideal and others say stick to your strongest skills. It's been so hard trying to navigate what would be the most efficient for me!

[placid zinc]

Like if we were hiring a pixel artist, we were looking for someone with great pixel art skills fitting to the project identity. They being able to have a "diverse" skillset was contrary to relevance. Like we would have never cared if the person did 3d modeling or was good at material coding/tech artist skills

[placid zinc]

Diverse is definitely weaker, you get hired to do some specific jobs, that is whats practical

Like if I have to hire a violinist im hiring someone largely experienced at the violin, if the person also knows guitar or the harmonic that's stays irrelevant to the job in question

[limpid yew]

That makes a lot of sense. My biggest hope is to work on hyper-realistic games. I love designing characters/people/environments in that style, from what it sounds like, if I stick to what I love hopefully people who are hiring for games that they want to showcase that specific style in will see me as a potential candidate?

[placid zinc]

Pretty much

Diversity in skills most of the times speaks of lack of skill to achieve high levels on a specific something. Like diversity often comes as a compensation of a core weakness

In the real world most people who do lots of things do so because they are forced to move to differents things due to not finding success in a specific something

Which can be because of a flawed career plan or just because skill issue / just not putting into the work / procastinating / focusing on soft technical skills over hard skills

[limpid yew]

This definitely was my biggest concern. I definitely have never had any issues with not working hard enough, I actually have always dealt with that on the opposite end of the spectrum. I really value this advice, it's been so overwhelming trying to figure out what exactly people are looking for. Thank you so much!!

[placid zinc]

You’re welcome

[limpid yew]

Yeah, I think that's where a lot of my anxiety around the decision-making process for building my portfolio comes from. I already have a ton of illustration experience, and about a year of Blender experience, and for my job I program, so when it comes to using C++ and Blueprint it doesn't feel nearly as daunting as it may have for me before going to school for computer science. It's so tricky because I love all of the aspects that go into video game development. At the same time, I don't want that to hurt my ability to build a cohesive portfolio and expand my skills as efficiently as possible.

[limpid yew]

I see what you mean, I do feel like my passion for art has always been so strong because there have always been so many areas for me to improve and learn. Especially as technology has developed over the years and learning about game development as a whole has become increasingly more accessible. I try to let it encourage me, but sometimes it does make me feel so small in an industry full of such talented and brilliant artists. Thank you so much for your input!

[dusty sparrow]

Hi, I would like to post a job on #freelance-jobs. Do you know how to get permission to do it?

Thank you

[chilly sundial]

Did you just join to spam self promo everywhere?

[woeful iron]

is that not what this server is for?

[pastel estuary]

slaps Dieter

[nimble geyser]

Is it true that thare are a lot of scam job posts on Indeed.com?

[chilly sundial]

There's a lot of scam jobs anywhere

The job board here, linkedin, anywhere else will all have them

[willow vault]

this is certainly not true

[tardy schooner]

Yes. I couldn't even be bothered to answer that post. Really a strange way to look at it.

[stable fox]

I got ghosted after a finished job. Been a month so its safe to call it a scam 😔

[royal lintel]

then you're in the wrong place, #instructions and #rules

[zinc raven]

If you worked for someone and they didn't pay you. Then sue them.

[ivory echo]

Easier said than done

[mint skiff]

You could do small claims yourself

[brave forge]

Not easily if it's over state or country borders

[woeful iron]

just kidnap their family until they pay up

[chilly sundial]

Just use the money you earned from the job they didn't pay you for to pay for the lawsuit

[brave forge]

Bonus points if it costs more than you recover too

[woeful iron]

it's the thought that counts

[queen ore]

Pose as a different person telling them you will work for free then never deliver?

[woeful iron]

you don't gain much from that though

[queen ore]

Sweet revenge?

[woeful iron]

is this a scam

[pastel estuary]

prolly

banned

[high cape]

Any ideas for a very small vehicle (car) project that I could make in 2-3 days? I want to show it in a job interview maybe. It's about car simulations, like for training for the drivers license.

[chilly sundial]

in 2-3 days? none whatsoever

[high cape]

A VERY small project. I just want to show that I am interested in making something with cars.

[vestal kernel]

Hi could somebody help me delete my portfolio from the #hire-a-freelancer It says I already have a post in there, but I can't find it :/ I think I posted one, but it was like a few years back 😅

[vestal kernel]

<@&213101288538374145>

That felt horrible, I don't know if there is like a legit way of contacting a mod 😭

[pastel estuary]

we've had to deal with a situation before where even after deleting it, a person couldnt post it.

[merry roost]

Feel free to politely DM if you need anything. We're here to help :P

[vestal kernel]

Oh okay, I'll do that next time! :)

[rancid hedge]

I have a random question

Has anyone here ever had an interview with Ubisoft for a QA position?

[willow vault]

can i ask more about your experience as i am working on a game for a lon g time andwanted to make it alone but i will need some help eventually, did you see any red flags around the guy?

[willow vault]

its like saying Da Vinci was moving on to other stuff because he wasnt good enough at that thing, absolute crap

[willow vault]

still, your stuff, is out there, once its out, i know will be hard, find it, after that start with copyright claims, lawsuit is way too much complicated, just pose copyright strikes and if they start making money they will have big trouble, but all depens on how much you "push" where it hurts

[chilly sundial]

The DMCA could be quite hard to prove, would require the platform to respect it, and at the end of the day still doesn't put the food on the table 😔

[rancid hedge]

I have an interview Friday and I'm already stressed

fk

[brave forge]

Yeah basically gotta make yourself see it as low stakes. Less intimidating

[magic scroll]

Watch some interview and negotiation videos on tiktok 😂

[high cape]

Self-fulfilling prophecy incoming... 😓

[fiery owl]

Hey I'm new to unreal engine game developer

[dense hedge]

Hey guys, i'm gonna show you something intimate - my career plan. Please, tell me your thoughts if you have something to say, i'm opened to criticism UPD: I was asked about my background. i'm learning gamedev for a year. Started with unity, now doing unreal (since autumn). The learning speed and amount was average, not 1 hour a day, but not 10 as well (edited)

[woeful iron]

idk if one "student project" is gonna suffice to get a job if that's all related you have

[dense hedge]

why not? Do i need to be the senior to get a job?

[woeful iron]

no

but everyone wants to be a game dev, there's competition

and there's plenty of people that have more than one simple project

also, you don't specify what kind of experience you wanna get

[dense hedge]

It's some junior level project for some junior level position at first

[woeful iron]

2 years would seem short if you have little experience to then go found your own thing

[dense hedge]

Hard skills, actual programming, game dev. And soft stuff like experiencing everything, the work of business, teams

[woeful iron]

I had 9 projects on my portfolio when I applied for junior position, of which 2 "full" student games and 3 other smaller games

idk about the job landscape atm, but you have to set yourself apart from everyone else in some way

[woeful iron]

how do you plan on doing this? work for indies? work for triple A?

[dense hedge]

I'd like the triple A, but can work for something smaller at first

[woeful iron]

add to that the fact that 1000's of game devs with experience have been laid off in the last year, I would expect some fierce competition

[woeful iron]

if you do AAA you're gonna probably work on specialization, like only programming, you won't see much of how business works or other departments afaik

so depending on your plan for when you want to become an indie it will be hard

people really underestimate becoming an independent game dev

it's not easy, takes a lot of money, and chances of success are very slim

[dense hedge]

why?

[woeful iron]

why what?

competition?

[dense hedge]

They have been laid off

[woeful iron]

cause market is flooded with experienced people now?

cost cutting and stuff I guess

idk, I don't run a AAA game company

you will need some real drive if you ever wanna make it as an indie dev

[dense hedge]

Uhu, so i should expect 3-5 years working rather than 2-3?

[woeful iron]

depends on you man

I would start with indie in your free time after work tbh for security

unless you can find some serious funding

if you feel like making games after your day job is too much effort, I feel like you would be lacking as an indie dev too tbh, at least as owner

but that's just my opinion

it's not all roses and sunshine

and it's not easy, especially as an indie working for yourself

[dense hedge]

Of course, but everything worth doing is hard

[woeful iron]

if it really is your dream go for it

but it will be a challenge for sure

[dense hedge]

Honestly, there is no dream or stuff like that. It's just business i sympathize

[woeful iron]

if you wanna do business there's better industries than games to make money tbh

[dense hedge]

Like?

[woeful iron]

I mean, there's a lot of things lol

you have to be extremely lucky as a game dev to become rich

[dense hedge]

And everything is hard, isn't it

[woeful iron]

some things are harder than others

indie gaming is very driven by passion and luck

and you have to be among the lucky ones to make a living of it, let alone have surplus

but of course, if it is what you want, you do you

[dense hedge]

Gotcha, thank you for the responses, i appreciate that

[dense hedge]

Initial question

[woeful iron]

you also mention you started with unity and now do unreal, why the switch?

and what did you achieve in unity?

and do you have any related formal education?

[torn iris]

used to be two cents. Inflation

[willow vault]

bro big companies always want hard stuff from you, if you are really good, you should pursue game development as a freelancer, dont get used by those big companies

[willow vault]

also, if someone else is evaluating your skills you will never get paid what you trully deserve, might be a bigger fight but evaluate your skills by yourself, not by big companies, then it will always be hard for you money-wise

[mint skiff]

Freelancing can be very difficult and if you don't have a base of experience & connections (from working as an employee) you are more vulnerable to exploitation imo

Your clients are still going to be 'big companies', you just won't be protected by IR laws now :D

[woeful iron]

chances that you freelance with 0 experience are very slim indeed

idk if freelance programming is even that common in games at all, idk though

except for highly specialized things

[round radish]

I can't imagine it either.

Art or something I can understand. Outsourcing assets or whatever. Dev work is kinda central.

[round radish]

Lies!

Do you work on games? I thought you ran far away from the industry at some point.

[unreal lintel]

Currently a full sail game design student, interested in transferring. Anyone have any recommendations?

[paper torrent]

I've been looking for a Junior/Graduate programming position and have been through loads of game studios' websites, I don't know what the situation is like outside the UK, but I can almost undoubtedly assure you that as far as Junior Designer roles go, there's almost nothing. I came across 2 internships so far in almost 3 years of job hunting, granted I feel like I'm obligated to tell you that I've always been on the lookout for programming jobs primarily so I might've overlooked design roles during my searches.
Unfortunately, game design positions for people who are trying to break into the industry are almost non-existent given the very nature of the position which requires a broad grasp of almost every aspect of the game development cycle.
One sliver of hope is getting your foot in the door through QA, but then again, this year is expected to be just as bad if not worse than the last in terms of people getting laid off.

[paper torrent]

I'm going to assume there's almost no programmer who works as a freelancer, other than maybe the occasional senior-level programmer who acts more as a consultant to teams, rather than taking on a more hands-on approach. Again, don't quote me on this, but it just seems like when you're a programmer you've got no choice but to stick with a team for long periods of time working on the engine for instance, I don't see how you can do that for a limited amount of time without getting something like the Halo Infinite development situation

[unreal lintel]

Unfortunately I'm 30k in debt already to the government threw student loans. I'd rather make it worth something then just to give up on it entirely. I understand your perspective though and appreciate your insight.

[paper torrent]

No problem, I'm in the same boat but got extremely lucky, I didn't incur in any debts thankfully as I got funding for my uni course, but I've been trying to apply for graduate programming roles for almost 3 years and at this point, considering there's always a fresh wave of newly graduates every year, the chances of breaking into the industry are getting slimmer and slimmer, add to the current market situation, with hiring freezes and whatnot and you've concocted the perfect brew..

[unreal lintel]

Do you think it would be better transferring into a generic computer science degree instead to make myself more hireable?

[mint skiff]

Comp Sci will be much more employable but also very little overlap with 'game design'

[paper torrent]

I've heard in the past that aspiring game designers try to get into the field either through QA or through some form of specialization in some other game-related discipline, programming or at the very last scripting would definitely increase your chances at getting hired then if you presented yourself as a Junior Artist IMO (happy for other to chime in on this and hopefully prove me wrong).

But what I just said is all relative to one another. If you go and check the graduate/Junior programming jobs, at least in the UK, there's little to nothing at the moment, more jobs were available last year, but just to give you some perspective, after around August, I struggled to find even 1/2 new job postings for junior developers in a month. One thing I also noticed is that junior and graduate roles start to pop up on job boards a little more around march or April right before students are about to graduate..

[paper torrent]

I do agree, however if you're aim is to become a game designer, I feel like you'd have a much higher chance of achieving that buy getting in as a programmer. It's all about experience and making connections while being in the studio, if you get those 2.. You can do whatever you want after..

[rancid hedge]

I can’t think like that. This is Ubisoft..

[rancid hedge]

Why

[woeful iron]

average games industry moment

[rancid hedge]

Why do you think this is happening

?

Has anone here had an interview in QA at Ubisoft?

[willow vault]

ubisoft is such a big company, i think you will find countless experiences from people who worked there as the layoffs have been massive

[rancid hedge]

well for some reason they are hiring even with the layoffs

[oblique ice]

not surprise, to learn about that

[willow vault]

my point was, you can find countless experiences first hand that people wrote on the internet

just go r/develpers or smth, you will find all kind of experiences

[willow vault]

of course they are hiring, big company like them needs a lot of "shmucks" who will work thier asses off

litteraly type ubisoft experience in google and you got your answer

[rancid hedge]

I guess people do it for the experience

Ubisoft looks cool on the CV

[willow vault]

yes its going to look good on resume

but

for me, thats about it

all is about your experience, managment, maybe you will come there and be happy with how they handle things and the coworkers

its all individual experience

[lilac walrus]

I have actually come to consider Ubisoft as a red flag on a CV - if a candidate has only worked there, or their previous position was a considerable time there, it's a concern. I have found that people working on their bigger projects in particular are so focused on specific niches, constrained within the limits of the team structure, and have so little autonomy that they often cease to be capable of adapting to perform other duties or working well in environments where they're expected to be more autonomous and have more responsibilities.

It's not the case for everyone of course, every employee is different, but it's definitely been a trend that I have observed.

[ivory echo]

I could see that

Too specialized to be versatile 😀

[lilac walrus]

immigration without a degree really depends on where you want to emigrate from and immigrate to

ultimately it isn't even about you, the employer, or the job, but comes down to local laws that determine immigration requirements

it is not uncommon for a country to have requirements that necessitate a Bachelors, or even a Master's degree, and/or that job offering a minimum salary

[ivory echo]

Yeah, back when we came to Canada it was a points system, based on how old you were how educated you were, how many kids you have, your health, etc.. Took them 10 years to figure out they were bringing in doctors that ended up working in sales hating their lives and went back to their home country, because there were no jobs for them

Prly better to go to a subreddit or forum for immigration for the specific country

[dense hedge]

thanks man

[woeful iron]

replies to what?

oh nvm

I would concur not going to the US

I don't live there, but seems like third world country in disguise

either way, it's just a fact that a degree makes immigration a lot easier in a lot of parts of the world

[chilly sundial]

well the general idea is you would immigrate to work in your degree field.

that's why they want the degree for immigration, to bring in skilled workers

[woeful iron]

well, most people would get a degree in the field they want to work in...

is working in a restaurant your dream job?

[plucky hatch]

PhD in immigration politics

[chilly sundial]

a good ol maître PhD'

[plucky hatch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTM8Y2OAzCI like this

[woeful iron]

that looks like a bathroom, not a bar

[round radish]

That moment when he accidentally pops the plug and it drains out onto the floor.

[willow vault]

that is not plain stupid that is actually clear thinking from experience

[high cape]

Got the job interview for thursday for programming driving simulators with Unreal 🥳

[ivory echo]

US doesn’t really like immigrants anyways, you’d prly have a pretty hard time getting in

[willow vault]

well, people are LAZY in nature, so if people dont know you and by not knowing you they mostly dont give a **** about you dont expect them to make structured essay to your question

the main thing to look for you is, what is the point of relocating? is it because you want to experience different culture? is it for the money? experience in your field? most of it, if not all is much easier to attain in EU. I mean, just getting ambulance to take care of you in emergency sitation is going to cost you so much that the pay difference is not going to do a big difference for you.

I dont want to sound like EU fanboy all places have thier + and -

if its just for the money, unexpected bills can make your stay in US litteral hell on earth

was there for only 1 month so i dont know the whole US experience but ive tasted some of it and didnt like it one bit, nearly everyone ive met there was looking at you by - what is your current position, its very different from smaller EU countries

[willow vault]

see thats the point, they dont like imigrants when us was ALL just immigrants 200 or 300 years ago(i dont know exactly)

[willow vault]

its just irony and idiotism at its finest

[ivory echo]

It’s prly cause everyone wants to go there and there’s alot of them just crossing illegally. Too much of anything can get stale fast, so I can understand why it got to this point even tho I don’t necessarily agree with it

[willow vault]

yes everything too much is bad

agreed

[ivory echo]

In Canada we need immigrants because it’s cold and no one wants to live here, but at the same time there’s a housing crisis so they’re also going on about immigration

And also the birth rate is too low so we can’t sustain the population naturally

[willow vault]

yes its a double edged sword, the same guy will be praised for taking the job of a grocceryshop worker

then shunned for taking a housing

crazy world

[ivory echo]

Yeah true

[willow vault]

china also paying for this, among others