#career-chat | Unreal Source | Page 56

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:35 PM

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That a designer who is a top tier player understand gameplay more?

kind crater Dec 27, 2018, 6:35 PM

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😅

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:35 PM

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hmmm...

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how is that an opinion?

ashen lynx Dec 27, 2018, 6:35 PM

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Namely, opinion, that game designer, who happens to be a good player, has any advantage.

night ridge Dec 27, 2018, 6:36 PM

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🍿 this is some top tier career advice ?s

flat gazelle Dec 27, 2018, 6:38 PM

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Reign it back, is my last piece of advice. Several of us in this channel have shipped the competetive games you mention as well as hold hiring positions.(me included) You are not anonymous here and it's a very small industry. Be careful.

kind crater Dec 27, 2018, 6:38 PM

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scary stuff

steel creek Dec 27, 2018, 6:38 PM

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#RealCareerAdvice

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:40 PM

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@steel hound
"Your logic is flawed because you assume many things about the nature of top tier players. You also assume you'll have time to play at that level once you're in a design position. The reason people stop speaking with you is because you come across as disrespectful with comments such as how you completely slaughter the idea of a QA team being useless compared to someone who played at a top tier."

I think I need to clarify certain points here. The most skill-intensive games have already been released. And I wrote what games those were earlier: Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament, Street Fighter and Star Caft. So I don't expect designers to play those games now.

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too late

ashen lynx Dec 27, 2018, 6:40 PM

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A nightmare, where Glad is interviewing you, and after your brilliant introduction speech, puts out a printout of all your discord messages. Still haunts me. I'd better refrain from posting here often.

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:43 PM

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@flat gazelle Im fully aware.
I also dont judge people exclusively on what they write online. Real life is very different when you get the tone, etc.

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 6:44 PM

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@plucky hatch So for those videos showing of your work, I would record them yourself and do VO over them explaining your thinking like a living design document better then just paper, and gives people a view of your thinking when go through them.

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:45 PM

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That would be a great idea.

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 6:45 PM

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Recruiters aren't going to understand a design doc, they are just going to pass it along if you can make them feel like they understand the work from your video then you will get a big win

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I was submitting videos of the work we were doing on BO3 to the exec staff at Activision and they loved them because I made them feel like they understood the process better, they were tech design / art videos but for people that never dev'd they felt smarter, the producers were begging me for more because it made thier job easier

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the recuirters are in that catagory they will pass it to he hiring manager and then they can review them and if they like it call you in.

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:47 PM

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Do you think recruiters would take the time to go through those videos?

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 6:48 PM

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they are just a gateway they shovel people that fit the box they are looking to fill, they might click on a few links and make sure they work before handing you off, they are looking for boxes to be checked not content.

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not fix FIT

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:49 PM

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yeah

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I guess im not losing anything by doing it anyway

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just pluses

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 6:49 PM

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well try to keep them short, you can do a quick run through and do a detailed walk through

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have a 3 min version and a X amount of time version

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use the same footage

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you know this you have been a pro for 10 years right ? just imagine you are working on the job and have to explain to the team or manager you need to be a sniper and get it over quick 1 shot so people can judge it quickly

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all the loose thoughts needs to be focused in a quick burst of info, if people want more they will ask questions

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I have trained many jedi

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😃

vivid pivot Dec 27, 2018, 6:52 PM

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The padawans are happy 😃

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:53 PM

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@merry tartan Thanks for the tips man. I need to figure out how to record videos from this mobile device

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Plus purchase those games on my phone... X_x

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 6:56 PM

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ah I am sure you can figure it out, you could run an emulator and pipe it to OBS or I am sure if you do research you can find tools for it.

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:57 PM

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Thanks again 😉

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 6:57 PM

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enjoy that video before I remove it

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 6:59 PM

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Got it, you can remove it 😛

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 7:00 PM

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lols ok

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I hope everyone had a lol at fat vader

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 7:00 PM

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hahaha you are awesome

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 7:47 PM

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I just want to make a comment on the "Good players are useful for design" argument

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99% of your playerbase will not be top-tier players

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Which means your game design should accommodate the people that aren't top-tier players. Stuff like the above-mentioned shotgun and active-reload, sure, but that's blatant thing QA or beta testing should've caught, not something you need top-tier players for

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For design overall I'd say it's often detrimental to balance based on the top 1%, because that means most of your players will lose track

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(Unless you happen to also be a really good designer, in which case you wouldn't need to be a top-tier player anyway)

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 8:37 PM

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@hybrid phoenix I don't know why people assume this, but... just because you are or have been a top tier player doesn't mean that you are going to make games that target top tier players. That doesn't even make sense to begin with. When you make games you make games for players at large. If you are a designer with a background as a top tier player, what it brings to the table is you have a full understanding of the spectrum from beginner to top tier levels. And you can detect flaws way ahead of time, because you've seen them before in different context, different games.

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The second thing that a lot of people confuse is things like bunnyhoping.

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That change the nature of the game

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 8:37 PM

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The problem is that most top-tier players lose track of how beginners play

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 8:38 PM

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Not designers

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 8:38 PM

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But alas, if you're a competent designer you don't need to be a top-tier player

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Because you understand people and design principles

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Which means that being a good player is of marginal value

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 8:41 PM

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"Because you understand people and design principles"

If that was true. I would give a mouse and keyboard or game controller to anyone and those ''designers'' should know how to make the player move where they want.
Turns out, most designers that I know have litte to no understanding of player psychology, including people with PhDs in cognitive psychology and neuroscience.

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Playing games requires applied psychology

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Like this.. https://youtu.be/-931jEtvWNs

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If the individual can manipulate 3+ players all at once, you know for sure that the person have solid understanding of player psychology

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And this is transferable to all other areas of design

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From making levels to designing menus

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Pickpocketeers and stage magicians are also really good at this

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They understand how to manipulate our attention

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When i make game levels, I understand that by putting X object in X spot will force player to look there or move there

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Etc.

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Those same principles apply to, I know that after the match when players will open their stash boxes, they will feel let down, because the reward sucks and they will feel empty handed. End result is the game will struggle to retain players

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--
If I was a recruiter, I would have a great interest for individuals who have succeeded in any area in the past. Why? because when someone becomes really good in one field, it then makes it much easier to get good in any other one after (thx to transferable skills). So, if someone has been a top tier player, a world athlete or else.... I would highly value that. Additionally, a study that came out it 2017 has proven that there was a direct correlation between IQ and the capacity to succeed and reach higher skill levels.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171115153631.htm

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Of course, it's difficult to quantify how much someone benefits from top tier play, but one thing we know for a fact is that there are benefits.

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 9:02 PM

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Additionally, a study that came out it 2017 has proven that there was a direct correlation between IQ and the capacity to succeed and reach higher skill levels.
This is 100% unrelated to everything else you've said here

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:24 PM

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how so?

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:26 PM

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well, there are people who just have "drive", and can do whatever you put them to do

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ive seen that clearly in university

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every one of them didnt even need to finish it becouse they all got hired midway starting at 3k month salary at the lowest

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i guess you want to find those?

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:27 PM

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Don't you think that game/level design is quite demanding intellectually and that top tier players who have developped the capacity to understand some heavily complex games (ex: Magic - the card game, Star Craft, Street Fighter, Overwatch, lawBreakers, Unreal Tournament, Shadowrun 2007, Splinter Cell: pandora Tomorrow: Speis VS mercs, etc.) would be greater candidates to understand how to design games with complex systems? And understand how everything fits together or hurt the rest?

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All im saying is that those induviduals are out there and are often overlooked, becuase of opinions like ''top tier players. pff useless experience"

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And Ive seen top tier players who were really bad at game design. But the ones that were great, were really really really good

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Turns out, some players cna get away with just the mechanical skills, depending on the game. So certain games require more brain than others

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 9:32 PM

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being smart is a pain in the ass every time I take an IQ test I pass with a 65... I am the Gump of Video Game industry

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:33 PM

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Well, I dropped the IQ word, but I think many of us have a different understanding of what IQ represents.

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 9:33 PM

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video games are like a box of chocolates

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:33 PM

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At this point, I think we, humans, can improve our IQ in specific areas.

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 9:33 PM

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I thought iQ had something to with learning stuff

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:34 PM

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I'm not quite sure that IQ exactly stands for

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IQ testes are often very generic and arem ore about general knowledge than anything else. nothing really to do with actual intelligence

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 9:35 PM

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well thats what they said about them thier penis pills I am swallowing like m&m's but no progress I can find, I just got a stomach ache all the time

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:35 PM

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lol

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When I was in high school, I was deep into pro gaming, basically before eSports was really a thing as it is now. And I had a friend who, you know.. was the immature guy, partying all the time, was not good in school, had too much energy for those around him, etc. And back then I was playing Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - Spies VS Mercs. He watched me play a few matches, got inspired and he decided that that's something that he wanted to experience too and get good at. And man, he played that game like an addict. He really struggled during the first months. But at some point, it clicked and man... he became one of the top players online. And I was impressed because as I said, he wasn't really known to be ''smart''. But the level at which he was playing, a person really needed to be smart to play at that level. So, I don't think IQ is a fixed thing.

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:40 PM

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IQ is about general "smartness"

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:40 PM

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Maybe that's why sometimes we hear ''oh that person has a high business IQ''. Which maybe refers more to domain knowledge

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:40 PM

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it is calculated on many areas

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people with high IQ tend to learn stuff quick, and if they are decently hardworking and not spectacularly lazy (actually quite common) they will most likely succeed at whatever they decide to do

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:41 PM

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Ive never seen someone ''just naturally smart'' that just became a pro at anything in a short amount of time

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:42 PM

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no one becomes a pro at anything in short time

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a "naturally smart/high iq" guy will just get pro "faster"

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:42 PM

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Would we agree that someone with a high overall IQ just gets a head start?

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:42 PM

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no, not a head start

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:42 PM

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Would learn anything faster?

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:42 PM

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start at the same place

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yes

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it depends on the specific guy, different people with all 130 IQ (top 5% or similar) will be better/worse for different things

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:43 PM

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Because i learn anything faster than most people and I wouldnt say Im particularly smart.
But by learning and getting good at multiple things, over time, there are many things that are transferable.

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So I think fast learning has more to do with experience

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:44 PM

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thats kind of offtopic, really

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:44 PM

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According to the IQ tests Ihve done I average between 132 and 145.

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:44 PM

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not the proper place in career-advice

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and iq tests are bullshit unless they are done by actual psychologists and done multiple times over different years

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:44 PM

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Yeah, i think they are bullshit lol

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ogre

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@honest cipher What do you do for a living?

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hes hacker at pubg

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lol

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 9:45 PM

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@plucky hatch indie programmer couple months ago (succesful) and now im gameplay engineer at PUBG

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:45 PM

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Nice!

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sells expensive skins to kids at expense of their parents wallets

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yep very nice

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mirin

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 9:46 PM

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my sister was told she needed to be held back 2 grades one year then they found out she had no ability to hear in one ear so the next year they wanted to skip her two grades, for I went to that special school for slow kids because I like eating paste, I dont put that on my resume.

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:47 PM

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are you trolling

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lol

merry tartan Dec 27, 2018, 9:51 PM

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I am not trolling but after 30 years of making games and shipping 4+ bil in products I am going to apply at Popeye's Chicken because they do chicken the right way to this coupon I have, also I am hungry.

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the true point of all this non sense is to read between the lines, YOU MUST HAVEA SENSE OF HUMOR to survive in the game industry and that is my career advice of the day.

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 9:53 PM

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As a "surprisingly smart" person according to other people, being smart really doesn't necessarily help

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There's a lot of people, far less smart, that are doing a lot better in what they do than I am

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:54 PM

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What came first: the designer or the top-tier player?

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https://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/selectall/2017/02/09/09-roll-safe.w700.h700.jpg

harsh brook Dec 27, 2018, 9:55 PM

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an appreciation of puns is a skill in the games industry

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:55 PM

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lol guys

finite mulch Dec 27, 2018, 9:56 PM

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voxelsmart

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 9:56 PM

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A wild Phyro joined in

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:56 PM

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Making games is not so different from those who are making tutorials. The majority of the audience isn't advanced in any field or in our case in games. Their taste isn't refined, they have not been around for 20 years. Back during the time of Unreal 1998, I think that game sold 50k copies back then. Now, we have millions of players online. Those players are brand new.

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 9:57 PM

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Just magically appears

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 9:57 PM

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We make tutorials for beginners because they represent the biggest audience...

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Fortnite appeals to... casuals

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@plucky hatch are you 'dodge' ?

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Hilarious

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is it u

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I am. I just think it's funny you call me dodge, because I kept many other names 1,000 longer than that one

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Actually you brought up a good point with tutorials. Often times, I find that the people with the most knowledge are the worst at teaching

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yeah on other server they said u r dodge and a troller

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trololo

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And those who said that are exactly the users who had the highest post count = shitposting.

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you wont troll me

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i know everything about u now

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 9:59 PM

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The people disagreeing with you here definitely aren't shitposters 😛

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:00 PM

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its over for this dude

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whole gamedev community knows hes a T.R.O.L.L

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@hybrid phoenix Wasnt talking about the users here

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This server is very different from the other one he was talking about

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@plucky hatch And please stop.

solemn lantern Dec 27, 2018, 10:01 PM

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you definetly seem like a troll

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:01 PM

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Which server is he talking about?

solemn lantern Dec 27, 2018, 10:01 PM

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¯_(ツ)_/¯

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:02 PM

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So much offtop in career advice channel

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i think i will call mods

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:02 PM

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If you're not a troll, my sincere career advice is to work on your personality. Appear less over-confident and be prepared to take other people's opinions. We've had these discussions here before with sincere people like that

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Personality and dedication over skill

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Practically any day of the week

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:03 PM

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Im sorry but how am I not taking advices or opinions from others?

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I literally had a talk with Vexar and took advices

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:03 PM

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@hybrid phoenix a lot of my friends are actually clinical top 1-5% IQ

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:03 PM

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A dozen people disagreed with you on the pro-gamer designer thing

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:03 PM

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mostly huge nerds, of different kinds

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:03 PM

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I'm in that bracket too, really doesn't help

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:03 PM

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@honest cipher yeah you meet them in MOBA right

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:03 PM

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I've got plenty of other problems

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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im the second most successful of all of them. The first one actually failed secondary school

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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(in part because of it)

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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Some people claimed I was trying to push my opinion, but to claim designers who are also top tier players are in a better position to design complex gameplay system is just common sense

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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but he was one smart motherfucker, and actually did tons of things on tons of random jobs, and he now has a company with 30 employees

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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It's common sense to you

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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btw he is 23

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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Most others here disagreed

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:04 PM

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a lot of the other ones have great marks on their degree... wich is worth shit

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:05 PM

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I'm younger than you, of course, vblanco, but half of my genius family and friends are worth shit in traditional education

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:05 PM

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If really to be a top tier player wouldnt help us a designers, I wouldnt have the recommendations that I have on linkedin by senior designers specifying that Im the go to person for anything gameplay related.

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duh

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:05 PM

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@hybrid phoenix you are?

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:05 PM

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I'm eighteen

finite mulch Dec 27, 2018, 10:05 PM

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Dammit I thought 19

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:05 PM

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Thought you were older?

honest cipher Dec 27, 2018, 10:06 PM

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23

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:06 PM

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Close, I can see why you'd think that. I think I discussed life stuff with you when I just turned 18 in June/July

finite mulch Dec 27, 2018, 10:07 PM

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Ahhhh

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:08 PM

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And Chris, I'm not saying that you can't be a pro-gamer and a great designer

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I'm just saying that in my experience it's gone the opposite direction

flat gazelle Dec 27, 2018, 10:08 PM

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Move this to #lounge

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:08 PM

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There's definitely exceptions

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I'll just leave it at that, thanks for the reminder Glad ;3

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:08 PM

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I've seen more top tier players who would have been terrible designers.
I'll give you all that.,

spice dagger Dec 27, 2018, 10:08 PM

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Guys get back ontopic please

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:14 PM

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Portfolio Question - Game/Level Design
Would you guys add more sections?

📎 unknown.png

spice dagger Dec 27, 2018, 10:19 PM

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@plucky hatch Is this for a portfolio website?

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:19 PM

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Man what is going on in this chat, my phone screen is too small

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:19 PM

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Yeah

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it is for a website

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That would be the portfolio section

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@spice dagger
There is the front page and there either click on the image on top that says portfolio or click on the menu and that would then bring you to that image above
https://christianphilippedev.wixsite.com/gamedeveloper

gamedeveloper

Christian Philippe

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:21 PM

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I don't love the stock photos, personally

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:21 PM

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me either lol

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:21 PM

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And also, who are you targeting?

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Are you targeting Indies or AAA?

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:21 PM

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Mainly AAA

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:21 PM

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If AAA, they won't look at your website that much

spice dagger Dec 27, 2018, 10:22 PM

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Do you have a LinkedIn?

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:22 PM

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Give them a single or double page CV pdf

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Me a compact portfolio

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:22 PM

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Yes, I do have a LinkedIn

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:22 PM

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And*

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AAA HR isn't known to spend a lot of time looking into potential applicants elaborately

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(Correct me if I'm wrong, people)

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:23 PM

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianphilippe/

harsh brook Dec 27, 2018, 10:23 PM

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Pretty much just your reel if it looks good enough they wave you to next rounds

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Been my experience at least

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If it’s a mid/senior level then some HR are finicky about experience but that isn’t typical

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:24 PM

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A video, demo reel, for game design or level design... I don't think it's the best way to do it.

hybrid phoenix Dec 27, 2018, 10:24 PM

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^

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The alternatives take too long to look through

harsh brook Dec 27, 2018, 10:25 PM

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I mean if you google “level design demo reel” then look up the good ones they tend to have jobs... just sayin

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:25 PM

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In my experience, the hiring process is very random and it's just a matter of using your network and keep applying, not giving up lmao

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When I got a job at Eidos MTL to work on thief, I had literally no portfolio, did the test, something came up, never gave back the test and got the job anyway

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When I graduated in 2007, I had a pretty solid portoflio, solid demo reel, documents, etc.
It took forever to get a job

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It took 8 months

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And the weekend that I was going back to my hometown, Gameloft called, I went there, did the interview. Got the job, signed the contract.
Went back home just to learn that ubisoft had just called

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Was so pissed

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Since Gameloft was a sister company to ubisoft back then, they had the power to say no you wont go work at Ubi, we keep you here

harsh brook Dec 27, 2018, 10:35 PM

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It is a visual industry though so the more you can show your work the better off you'll be ime, I mean for me it seems like HR goes through an entire application in <5 minutes so gotta catch them with something

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:36 PM

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Exactly.

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Which is why I feel it's very random 😃

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I went to school twice and have seen the worst designers of the class get jobs

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when the best ones were there like wtf just happened

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by twice I mean, once in game level design and once in 3d modeling for games

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so Ive seen 2 different batches of students. 2007 and 2014

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:38 PM

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People call me to jobs so I kinda never really looked for one properly

harsh brook Dec 27, 2018, 10:38 PM

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design always felt more personality based to me, don't get me wrong there are great designers but the successful ones I know didn't know jack about game engines

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thats the way its been for me to blackfox, usually people find something they like through youtube and email me about contracts through there

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youtube is keeping me alive at this point

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:42 PM

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One thing I can tell you is here, we have a few employees who work in the industry, that group includes Human Resources, Creative Directors, etc.,
And the play hockey together.

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:42 PM

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And I hire people based on intuition mostly

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:42 PM

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I'll leave the rest to your imagination

lilac walrus Dec 27, 2018, 10:43 PM

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When it comes to a portfolio, less is more

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show your best work, and only your best work

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if it's anything less than your best, it's just detracting

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:44 PM

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How do you define best work in an industry where it's mainly about team efforts and appealing to the largest audience?

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:44 PM

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Use your artistic sense

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Show pretty stuff, not objectively best, but subjectively best

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:47 PM

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I'll give you an example.

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In Unreal Tournament 4 (pre-alpha), there is currently a problem with the weapon balance.
Players can use a rocket launcher and load 3 rockets, release and get easy kills.
If it's not the rocket, then they are usually using either the Shock Rifle spamming shock combos or using the Sniper Rifle.
That's basically UT4.
But in many ways, it is also why it works, because those players can get kills

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Now what is best quality?

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A good weapon balance.
Or one that appeals to the majority?

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Which one should I show in my portfolio?

finite mulch Dec 27, 2018, 10:49 PM

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Since when weapons in UT are meant to be balanced? 🤔

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:49 PM

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lol

finite mulch Dec 27, 2018, 10:50 PM

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They are useful in different situations that's all

lilac walrus Dec 27, 2018, 10:52 PM

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trace based weapons in UT have historically always been the most useful at a high level

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¯_(ツ)_/¯

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in any case, I'm not the one to judge what your best work is and isn't; subjectively you would know that better

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:53 PM

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lul

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:53 PM

#

Trace weapons would have higher hit rates due to prediction/rewinding than projectile ones

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:53 PM

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I can do whatever my employer needs from me. But that's hard to show in a portfolio

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:53 PM

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More flight time = more indeterminate impact, so the lean is natural

finite mulch Dec 27, 2018, 10:53 PM

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True

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:54 PM

#

One of the problems that Unreal Tournament has because the signature weapons of UT comes from the singleplayer.
Same issue Gears of War had with active reload that made its way from SP to MP

lilac walrus Dec 27, 2018, 10:55 PM

#

the signature UT weapons were never in the singleplayer game

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:55 PM

#

The shock rifle is considered as ''the UT gun''

#

The shock rifle was AMSD

#

in 1998

spice dagger Dec 27, 2018, 10:55 PM

#

Guys can we steer this back to Career Advice please

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 10:56 PM

#

Do we have any example of solid Game Design/Level Design portfolios?

#

like a list or something

#

What do employers want to see?

#

Because i can poke recruiters all day, they wont reply

#

(dont do that)

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 11:00 PM

#

My last job offer was made to me without me being aware I was interviewed for a job

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 11:00 PM

#

Im being spammed by programming jobs right now.
For game design/level design, Im chasing companies to get 1 interview. It's retarded

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 11:00 PM

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I was told to meet someone in a spy-esque way lol

#

Board a specific train so we can talk in a loud place

west sonnet Dec 27, 2018, 11:02 PM

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What were their reason to do so? Making an good impression goes both ways

plucky hatch Dec 27, 2018, 11:07 PM

#

But seriously, I would love to see some solid Game Design/Level design portfolios.
usually what I find are portfoliso showing levels and we have no idea what the person actually did, sometimes it's just showing level art

fickle hatch Dec 27, 2018, 11:08 PM

#

They asked me if I was OK with making weapons and recon stuff :’D

#

That was most of the interview, just told me about their projects they wanna do and if I’m on board with it

#

And if I had any ideas for doing those projects

#

Never ended up working on weapons or anything directly weaponized though, so I’m still untainted by that

#

I like lack of strict moral responsibility in game dev. Sure there is some, but it’s much more tame than working in some kinds of engineering

lilac walrus Dec 27, 2018, 11:42 PM

#

this is an example of a game design reel that I'm aware of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTksBJeoa1A

YouTube

James Benson

Ori and the Blind Forest - Game Design Reel

This is a slightly messy grab bag of design work along the entire spectrum. Controls, abilities, character art, systems, levels, puzzles, bla bla bla

▶ Play video

#

personally I don't have a portfolio to share, but I have a fairly hefty CV as a substitute (not helpful, I know)

plucky hatch Dec 28, 2018, 12:33 AM

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I like that portfolio, but Im not sure if it's targeting LD, GD or GP or all 3

#

Level design / Game design / Gameplay programming

lilac walrus Dec 28, 2018, 1:10 AM

#

Benson is a game designer who also specialises in animation - he has a pretty broad skill set, so you see a lot in that video

#

in the case of platforming mechanics like in Ori, there's a fair bit of crossover between level / game design and programming though

plucky hatch Dec 28, 2018, 1:39 AM

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That's awesome. Thx for sharing. It's a pretty game

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I have yet to play it 😦

narrow vigil Dec 28, 2018, 3:28 AM

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What is the best way to go about building a programming portfolio? Is just having code on github good, or is there a better way of doing it?

fading yoke Dec 28, 2018, 3:38 AM

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@narrow vigil afaik the best case scenario is to have a standalone website of some kind that has picture(s) and some kind of animation or video clip for each of your projects, a few sentences describing each project, and then finally a link of some kind to more information about it.

#

The idea is that the people who will be looking at this and deciding whether or not to interview you will not care enough to dig into your stuff, so you gotta make it as easy and effortless as possible for them to see what you've got. So: animations, video clips, pictures, and a few sentences here and there.

pallid quail Dec 28, 2018, 5:48 AM

#

Hi guys new here.So ive been into 3D for like 1.5 years now doing mostly characters and want to shift myself fully to environment/texture creation and leave character art as a hobby,mostly doodling in Zbrush.Ive been making some environment interiors and also a few materials in Substance Designer but im kinda stuck.Im a self taught artist and would appreciate if somebody can help me find good tutorials that show the complete workflow on how to make env scenes in UE4 and also some tuts on material blending,making master materials,vertex painting techniques inside UE because i feel like i have the creativity to make an env but the thing that is holding me is mostly how UE works,dont get me wrong i know the basics of the engine but fail short when it comes to blending and making master materials and basically anything that goes with that material editor lol.Sorry for the long post,any help appreciated.

shadow kelp Dec 28, 2018, 9:42 AM

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@narrow vigil A good GitHub page will put you in the top few % of applicants.

honest cipher Dec 28, 2018, 9:42 AM

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or a blog with fancy stuff. In my case they didnt look to much at the github, but they did look at my website with the couple articles i had

shadow kelp Dec 28, 2018, 9:43 AM

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I have a personal website which is basically a blog, with a simple page each for my main personal projects

#

Along with a very basic 'about me' and a link to my LinkedIn

honest cipher Dec 28, 2018, 9:44 AM

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thats the best approach

shadow kelp Dec 28, 2018, 9:45 AM

#

although I am in gainful employment in the industry, I always find time to work on personal stuff and keep improving. GitHub makes sure that effort is visible.

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Don't be afraid of putting code that isn't 100% clean and polished up either. Some of mine is a horror show :P

vivid pivot Dec 28, 2018, 9:50 AM

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Show off your spagetti skills 😛

shadow kelp Dec 28, 2018, 9:53 AM

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Basically, if your CV says you're in full time employment/study, but you're also making the effort to put code up on GitHub, you will get an interview. From me at least :)

#

C++ of course, if you ever want to work in AAA.

fading yoke Dec 28, 2018, 10:51 AM

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@vivid pivot somebody toucha my spagett

stable steeple Dec 28, 2018, 6:54 PM

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@pallid quail dinustyempire.com its an awesome discord full of environment & 3d artists

elder mist Dec 29, 2018, 3:10 AM

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@shadow kelp Are you still at Ubi?

#

@pallid quail I always recommend the same tutorial for all who starting work on landscapes in ue4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAJhppttJgI&t=630s

YouTube

Mind Games Interactive

Landscape Material Tutorial Part 1 (Unreal Engine 4)

In this two part Tutorial Series we are going to create a Landscape Material that features advanced heightmap blends, tessellation and procedural puddles. Th...

▶ Play video

#

@pallid quail also, if you want to make large scale environments grab a WorldMachine and find a tutorial how to import generated landscapes in to ue4.

#

houdini will be a next step

shadow kelp Dec 29, 2018, 1:02 PM

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@elder mist yup

rancid wedge Dec 29, 2018, 9:10 PM

#

does anyone have some good examples for portfolios?

#

for programming (specifically gameplay)

#

and I assume if I have a portfolio I do not need to list projects on my resume?

elder mist Dec 29, 2018, 9:26 PM

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but, portfolio - is your projects

rancid wedge Dec 29, 2018, 9:42 PM

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so I dont list projects on my resume then

#

If i have a separate portfolio

harsh brook Dec 29, 2018, 10:07 PM

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link to your github

flat gazelle Dec 29, 2018, 10:13 PM

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List the projects on your linkedin

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They have a specific section for it

rancid wedge Dec 30, 2018, 9:03 PM

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I already have many links to my GitHub, but I have been heavily encouraged to add a portfolio. I do not have a LinkedIn because I am a student and they have an age limit

west sonnet Dec 30, 2018, 9:09 PM

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View this from a hiring manager and recruiter’s perspective. They need to be able to view your work quickly and efficiently

lilac walrus Dec 30, 2018, 11:42 PM

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downloadable demos are always good, videos and screens of stuff in action with some explanation are even better

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both is top 😉

rancid wedge Dec 31, 2018, 12:02 AM

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Ok. I think I’ll just keep the project list in my resume, but add screenshots to a separate page. But also for programming doesn’t code matter more than screenshots?

lilac walrus Dec 31, 2018, 12:19 AM

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it's useful to have available

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but it's probably not what people are going to look at first

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people want to know what you did and why - they don't necessarily want to spend an hour digging through code to work it out for themselves

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 12:19 AM

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hi

fickle hatch Jan 1, 2019, 12:51 AM

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Hello

spice dagger Jan 1, 2019, 12:58 AM

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Please move to #lounge unless you have ontopic discussion points, this is #career-chat not #idle-chat

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 5:32 PM

#

how is this as a portfolio as an unreal engine blueprinter or game designer?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR-Z3qc7n_c&feature=youtu.be

YouTube

Xiaran

X game concept BOSS and other tests

https://xiaransbackyard.wordpress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Graodon/ https://twitter.com/graodon

▶ Play video

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 6:51 PM

#

If you are making a portfolio, you might want to be straight to the point and specific.

This part shows enemy patterns
This is how Roll/Evade works in my game
This is how players can use X enemy against another
This shows the Score system that shows up in yellow on screen
Etc.

#

If it is made with blueprint, maybe show those blueprints.

#

Now, this character is going full Dragon Ball Z shooting fireballs from his hands and Im like WTF just happened

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:12 PM

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That’s basically the game I want to make in the future if I can. This is a concept of that game

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:13 PM

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I like the concept

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:13 PM

#

@plucky hatch also, can you tell me what is missing in there? I’m kinda wondering what is missing

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:13 PM

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The game looks nice

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:13 PM

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Thanks rayman. Been at my head for over a decade, literally. Just building

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:14 PM

#

in terms of gameplay

#

really

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:14 PM

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Focus was purely on the gameplay cause I suck at narrative and anything resembling proper story telling

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:15 PM

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I don't see the blueprint or design side of it tbh usually companies will look for specific portions of the pipeline to throw you into unless its indie then it varies. Gotta focus on something UI, AI, networking, just something. Same for design

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:15 PM

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The most importante think is gameplay

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:15 PM

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Im@more focused on gameplay

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So I’d say gameplay combat designer

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Cause that’s the biggest focus in the entire concept

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:16 PM

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Yeah

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:16 PM

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A combat that is extremely simple but in the hands of an expert player, is very deep and combo heavy

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:16 PM

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Then it works but I would I add in some design documents that quickly breakdown your planning

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:16 PM

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As in?

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Like actual documents or just showcasing what the structure is supposed to be and how it’s supposed to be used?

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:17 PM

#

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTksBJeoa1A

YouTube

James Benson

Ori and the Blind Forest - Game Design Reel

This is a slightly messy grab bag of design work along the entire spectrum. Controls, abilities, character art, systems, levels, puzzles, bla bla bla

▶ Play video

#

@lilac walrus shared this one a while back and I love the layout where you can see the thought process and the final result

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:18 PM

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Oh good

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:18 PM

#

For your portfolio, that game combat game you made is great as. That video is a cool walkthrough video.
But in a Demo Reel, you might want to show specific things one after the other.

Game controls
Combat mechanics and gameplay loops
Enemy design and behaviors
Game balance, health system, damage, why you did this and that
Game systems to keep players engaged
Game structure (how everything fits together with the levels, is it a visit main menu select a mission? is it an open world? is it go through mission 1 to 20?)
Scoring system
User interface
Etc.

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:19 PM

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I really like the Concept Name

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:19 PM

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Mission system

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Also, thanks.

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:19 PM

#

Anyways I'm a Beginner in terms of Game Design

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:19 PM

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mainly what chris said you have to pull the focus on what you're talking about or else the recruiter will just move on

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:20 PM

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Oh okay

#

That makes sense

#

How would it be for a pitch?

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:20 PM

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I am Learning and that stuff about game design

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:20 PM

#

not enough there for a pitch imo seems like a souls-like game isn't enough

#

theres been three this year though so what do I know 🤷

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:21 PM

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@vale sequoia welcome to game design
In itself, game design is quite vast.

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:21 PM

#

ty chris

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:21 PM

#

One of the big things in Dark Souls is level design + enemy design.

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:21 PM

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Ou. So I should flush out the unique aspects of my game more if I use it as a pitch

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:21 PM

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Each enemy is a puzzle in itself and in the world

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:22 PM

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So I do not know if you can trust on my compliments or tips XD

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:22 PM

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The person will always have to filter the feedback 😛

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There is no good or right answer.

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:22 PM

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True

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:23 PM

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I wanted to make the combat fun

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The focus being fun

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Not frustrating, brain wrecking, difficult

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Just fun

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:23 PM

#

Pitching is complicated alot of early pitches I'v been apart of were as bare bones as dark souls but with cats, what you should try to show is a mastery over the souls like design so combat and level design for yourself

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:23 PM

#

I could give my opinion on something combat related. And a beginner with his very different experience could also add something useful to the conversation.

#

Because game design applies to players of all skill levels, so it's never just one dimensional

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many people read my comments as one dimensional, they never are

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:24 PM

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Everyone has differentiated opinions.

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:24 PM

#

Yeah

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Different experiences, different opinions

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:25 PM

#

Also, the levels randomly generate and thenidea is that even bosses and their attack patterns will be random each play through

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:25 PM

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thing is too, some people find the difficulty fun. There are few games everyone will enjoy

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:25 PM

#

And even the weapons you acquire will have random movesets

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:25 PM

#

did you build out the random generation?

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:26 PM

#

For the most parts I did

#

But at a very basic level

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:26 PM

#

If you built that out pretty far then you'd be golden. Proceduralism is where alot of jobs are heading.

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:26 PM

#

Right now, the weapon moveset cycles between 3 attacks for each attack every time I open the game just for testing. The real game is supposed have specific movesets for the weapon once you gain it

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:27 PM

#

Easier games sell to slightly sell more.

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:27 PM

#

but you gotta decide between design and scripting its hard to foster two skillsets to mastery

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:27 PM

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Because when games arent frustrating, they doont give you reasons to drop the game controller

#

Just look at recent years, Mario Odyssey and Zelda Breath of the wild scored 10/10

#

They arent particularly difficult games at all

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:28 PM

#

I am the type of player how thinks Harder is fun

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:28 PM

#

me too

#

gotta remember nintendium too, hard to compare anything to their unicorn status

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:29 PM

#

I always choose the most harder difficult

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:29 PM

#

Harder sure can be fun. Unfortunately, many games that we have seen in the past completely change nature on harder difficulty levels.

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:29 PM

#

Yeah

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:29 PM

#

Just depends on how the AI is done

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:29 PM

#

halo by example usually is run and gun. But on legendary itc can become hide and seek.

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:29 PM

#

if AI cheats at harder levels it sucks

#

I love halo legendary tbh

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:30 PM

#

hate it

#

lul

#

If i want hard, I go online

#

hard = smarter

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:30 PM

#

For Example, I dont Like Super Mario Odyssey because its very easy

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:30 PM

#

if hard changes the game, it's bad design

#

yeah it is VERY easy

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:30 PM

#

there are still challenges in mario odyssey though

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:30 PM

#

My first Mario was Super Mario Galaxy

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:31 PM

#

OOOOh no not that game

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:31 PM

#

why

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:31 PM

#

That's nintendo taking easy way too far

#

mario Galaxy was way to freaking contextual, removing all the need for ''execution''

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:31 PM

#

galaxy was pretty restrained in what they could do though, mainly because the setting

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:32 PM

#

mario Odyssey is at least in a sweet spot for them where the game takes a bit of skill, but isn't as lame as mario galaxy

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:32 PM

#

Well i prefer Galaxy then Odyssey

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:32 PM

#

😮

#

Matter of taste i guess

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:32 PM

#

I enjoyed Zelda a lot. It was difficult because weapons could break easily so you had to be innovative

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:32 PM

#

but thats is just my opinion

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:32 PM

#

Also, loved mario galaxy more than odyssey as well

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:32 PM

#

I hated that about zelda but liked they were trying new things

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:33 PM

#

I prefer playstation exclusives anyway

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:33 PM

#

now the crafting and weird inventions you could make with balloons with fire were insane

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:33 PM

#

What I mainly disliked about past Zelda games is when they made stuff too contextual. Like instead of pressing A to jump, you had to be in a certain context to jump automatically

#

it takes away player authority

#

ownership

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:34 PM

#

Btw, for pitch, what can I add?

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:34 PM

#

largely those were cheap programming techniques though

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:34 PM

#

It's like assassin's creed when your are climbing and the game does it all for you

#

@brave elm to your video?

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:34 PM

#

Should I add the boss, dungeon and moveset generation as a key component?

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:34 PM

#

Just make it more clear what you are going for

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:34 PM

#

My favourite game of all time is The Last Of Us

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:34 PM

#

like position wise

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:35 PM

#

A combat heavy game that you can always come back to and enjoy the same level with different experience each time

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:35 PM

#

at least for anything AAA you need to make it clear you do one job, you do it well, and you have a passion for that area

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:35 PM

#

@brave elm
"A combat heavy game that you can always come back to and enjoy the same level with different experience each time"
That's kind of the hardest thing to pull off

#

Because you also have to drive the learning experience

#

And keep unlocking stuff fresh

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:36 PM

#

as with most things the ground is easy to build but hard to refine

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:36 PM

#

Oh oh oh, I have the idea for that

#

Hear me our

#

Out *

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:36 PM

#

Very curious to hear it

#

It's a very interesting challenge to tackle in game design

#

that and coop play in action rpgs

vale sequoia Jan 1, 2019, 7:37 PM

#

And making a skills system

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:38 PM

#

The game has no save game. 10 short levels to go through.

Each boss will give a weapon. If the weapon is something you already have, then it’ll add more moves to it. The basic and added moves will vary and each time@you play, the moves can and will change. Same with the boss

The boss design, attack pattern and everything will also change.

#

This idea keeps the door open for updates to add more weapon, more bosses, more level variation

#

And each of the 10 levels carries its own sort of theme or element to add to it. The one in the video is blood theme. Underground dungeon

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:39 PM

#

My only problem with it is that it sounds like a typical roguelike which sell themselves largely on difficulty

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:40 PM

#

But the difficulty isn’t something of a focus here because it’s not that difficult

#

Also, what can I do to change that aspect that makes you feel like that

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:40 PM

#

But you gotta have a challenge for the fun to come up, basically if you don’t fear death you don’t enjoy winning

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:41 PM

#

Oh there is a challenge

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:41 PM

#

Are you saying that the weapons you give to players kind of evolve? or are generated procedurally to add variety?

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:41 PM

#

Your attacks harm you

#

The latter @plucky hatch

#

You can get dual blades from a boss but not have the same moveset

plucky hatch Jan 1, 2019, 7:42 PM

#

But you still need to create all that content.
And in the end you are left with a choice.... would it just be simpler to add 10 more levels?

harsh brook Jan 1, 2019, 7:42 PM

#

As long as you have a challenge it would be fine as a roguelike, but the difficultly in roguelike for designers comes in balancing the fun

west sonnet Jan 1, 2019, 7:42 PM

#

Move this to #design-chat folk

brave elm Jan 1, 2019, 7:43 PM

#

Will do

slate wren Jan 2, 2019, 9:59 PM

#

SirDeff11 complaints are so true... I espect a game of 500kb but at packaging I need all the engine content files, so how about 100mb??
https://answers.unrealengine.com/questions/418806/projects-engine-folder-size-too-big-help-reducing.html?sort=oldest

#

There should be a tutorial on what we can delete...

#

It's more like try and error for me

fickle hatch Jan 2, 2019, 10:00 PM

#

#ue4-general #packaging

slate wren Jan 2, 2019, 10:00 PM

#

yeah yeah no one speaks there...

slate wren Jan 4, 2019, 1:38 PM

#

@flat viper I read on the September Wired magazine talking about it. It's mostly for programmers nowadays, bitcoin studies, digital money... Also, navigation trough GPS innovations, so we can have mechanic cities, with cars going around by themselves.

#

There is a lot of studies on the human longevity too, because some (or all of them) rich sharks who runs Silicon are real old (besides Mark, Elon, some hit-wonders geniuses) they're interested in live more, but at the time, all they achieved was nutricional diets for your specific organism... Nothing like, a miraculous pill or a rejuvenescent potion 'yet'

harsh brook Jan 4, 2019, 7:49 PM

#

There are lots of jobs there for games too... have had a number of interviews now for positions in Redmond/Seattle area (largely Microsoft) along with San Diego and San Francisco area. Jobs definitely exist for games in those areas

#

If you’re trying to break in apply for the internships they have open now. You might think that they won’t take you for whatever reason, but just apply you never know.

#

outside that look for junior positions

slate wren Jan 5, 2019, 12:07 AM

#

Like that ''grammar'' app that youtube makes you swallow, like, - Psh... You don't even need to write anymore, grammar to everything for you, be a total dumbass!!''

#

It's like a need grammar app right now xD

fading yoke Jan 5, 2019, 11:29 AM

#

"Jobs definitely exist for games in those areas" -- to quote the late CS Lewis: the Sun is always shining, it's just always shining somewhere else

steel creek Jan 5, 2019, 5:16 PM

#

Except in nuclear winter

plucky hatch Jan 5, 2019, 9:16 PM

#

The Game Called : Land Of My People.

This Game is a Third-Person Strategie Game where U as Player Starts at a very Weak Village/Base to rely on.

As the Game Evolve your village will grow to be a wealthy Strong Village.

In Progress u will have to buy Villagers to Increase your Population, then who you have to assign different jobs like; Farmer, Woodcutter, Stoneminer, Guards etc.

With the Resources u get out of this u can buy/upgrade your Village Towers, Farms, mines , and so on.

While all this is happening there will be Enemy's who are trying to kill your Villagers and demolish your buildings. Most of the enemy your village can handle. but sometimes there will be Enemy Boss. your Guards and Towers will defend Your Village when you are exploring the World Map. There will be Death Villagers/Guards/Destroyed towers.

while you explore the World u will find Dungeons to explore to.

u can get a companion who u can train and can assign as a high lvl. Guard at your village. (good to defend against bosses)

Do Quest to Achieve Special Magic.

Find enemy Bases.

Defend Your Base.

Learn Skills

Watch Different Weather.

Fight to defend your Land! The land of Your People!

Risks and challenges
The biggest Challenge is to Find a Good Animator who can animate my biggest Fantasy's.
My Second Challange is to Put Art into the Game.
Now right at this moment im searching for a good animator on Blogs, Forums, in the Credits of Games who i like.
For the Art im getting Inspiration of Real Life places.

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What do you think ?

west sonnet Jan 5, 2019, 9:18 PM

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#design-chat

flat gazelle Jan 5, 2019, 9:51 PM

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Are you sure it even belongs there? I thought the "Idea guys" disappeared sometime around Jon Blows last game.

west sonnet Jan 5, 2019, 9:54 PM

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One can only wish idea guys are extinct. Atlas

steel creek Jan 5, 2019, 10:14 PM

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😄

dense needle Jan 5, 2019, 11:41 PM

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Something I was recommended when I started out as a 3d artist was getting good at 2d, drawing. I was already set on that front. You'd be surprised how many are not. I think the same applies to starting out game devs. Get used to 2d games first. If you can make something like Rim World, Chrono Trigger, or Street Fighter. You'll have a significantly easier time designing 3d games. RPGmaker, Mugen, Introversion Software. Reverse engineer, experiment. Then start game design docs. A proper game designer is the captain of their ship. They know how to run it inside and out. This will also keep your budget down, and your work loads practical.

flat gazelle Jan 5, 2019, 11:54 PM

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Depends on your personality. I can't draw to save my life but I'm still alright at my job

dense needle Jan 5, 2019, 11:56 PM

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Yep, heard that a lot in college from class mates. You don't need to be a master. Just have an understanding, and ability to at least draw stick figures.

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People who say, "I can't cook. I can't invest." Often that's not even close to true. Time, ego are the only hurdles for people getting the basics.

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:15 AM

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If you are good at 2D drawing, you can start to create the overall shape of the model, pause, bring that to photoshop, use the painting tools to draw the finer details, quickly do 1-10 iterations until you find something that looks good. If you do it directly in 3D and it sucks, you are screwed.

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If you can draw details, you'll save yourself a lot of production time

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Plus, that 2D skill will then make you better at detailing in 3D as well, because you'll have developed your ''detailing skills''

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You'll find this 3D/2D workflow in the following tutorials published by Vitaly Bulgarov. It's quite efficient.
https://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/tutorials/character-design-and-modeling-for-next-gen-games

Character Design and Modeling for Next-Gen Games | The Gnomon Workshop

In this lecture, Vitaly Bulgarov walks you through his process for creating highly detailed organic-mech characters using Xsi®, ZBrush® and Photoshop®. Vitaly explains his 2D/3D concept design process, then shows his process for creating clean detailed meshes within Xsi, a...

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That changed how I do 3D.

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Yeah, I was wasting so much time trying to just do it all in 3D. There is no shame in drawing first

gritty juniper Jan 6, 2019, 1:20 AM

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career advice, you can be the greatest programmer, 3d artist, sound technician but if you don't have a piece of paper saying so then no one will look into it.

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:21 AM

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I'd say it might be true in most cases, but it generally doesnt apply to 3D artists, since all you wnat to know is what their portfolio looks like

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Designers and programmers, that might be much harder to quantify

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The piece of paper might help

gritty juniper Jan 6, 2019, 1:22 AM

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actually correct, I take that back, the 3d artists have it easy, though well deserved

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:33 AM

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We had this discussion a few times here, do designers need to play games? And how much of a difference can that make? Can you quantify that? Who can?
Some designers have claimed it wasn't important. But I brought real life examples of the contrary. For Gears of War, when you perform an active-reload, all the bullets that were present in the clip before will then inflict more damage. Designers/players with the sufficient amount of experience understand that this doesn't work in multiplayer. From day one, Epic received complinats and requests to remove it. Same thing happened with the Sawed-Off in Gear of War 3. It was to easy to use, too powerful and too wide at very close range, it didn't take skills to use and everyone was using it to get easy kills. Years later, Cliffy B eventually admitted that it was a mistake to add those 2 things to the multiplayer of Gears of War. If he could go back in time, he would remove them. It took him from 2006-2011 to realize that and make a public comment about it. That's 5 years of difference betweem someone who understand gameplay to a top tier level and someone who doesn't.

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In the video games industry, how can we identify those ''qualified'' designers who are proficient in gameplay?

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What can they do to stand out?

dense needle Jan 6, 2019, 1:34 AM

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Variety is the spice of life.

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No one expected Rim World to do so well. Graphically it's ugly. But game play wise it's one of the best games of 2018.

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:35 AM

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Thx, i never heard of it. Going to check it out

dense needle Jan 6, 2019, 1:35 AM

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Beware! The game is really really addictive! It's like Factorio.

mortal zodiac Jan 6, 2019, 1:35 AM

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@plucky hatch yes and no. I don't not a big UT4 player, but I've made version 0.1 of my first map for it. I enjoy that process.

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:40 AM

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Gameplay was very important between 1992-2004 and after halo 2 it kind of took a back seat. And that mentality seems to be shared by many designers today; that gameplay is somewhat secondary. No biggie, we'll just use QA and players to fix it.

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Doesn't work like that.

dense needle Jan 6, 2019, 1:50 AM

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It's more so the consumer saying. "Why not have everything?" AAA promised that for a decade, and mostly delivered. It's only the past few years that they got ridiculous. Launched incomplete products, gambling mechanics, taking nickel and dimming to levels that would make retail stores blush. But we're seeing a shift back into smaller studios. One day probably will become the next generation of market leaders.

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:51 AM

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I can agree with that.

dense needle Jan 6, 2019, 1:51 AM

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In markets you look for holes and fill them. If you succeed, it's a lot of money. Emphasis on if.

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I hope Unreal fills the many holes in the digital stores. There's enough there to make them billions. Or they can make Fortnite 2.

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There's always a easy option.

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:52 AM

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I just think it`s sad that really proficient 3D artists can find jobs because their portfolio makes it obvious and there are designers who have trouble getting jobs, because recruiters and companies haven o obvious ways to tell if those designers are good or not.

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Makes finding jobs very difficult

digital gate Jan 6, 2019, 1:53 AM

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Does having this discussion often help?

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:53 AM

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Hopefully it will help aspiring designers to know what is what about the current state of the business

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So my advice is if you think you are a good designer, learn proramming and make a playable game with unity or UE4.

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go beyond just designing

dense needle Jan 6, 2019, 1:55 AM

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Finding holes in the market and filling them leads to new jobs. Don't always see what's in front as the end all be all.

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Someone make a modern Ogre Battle or FF Tactics game online like Star Craft. My subtle plan...

plucky hatch Jan 6, 2019, 1:56 AM

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lol

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The argument ''should devs play games'' is easy to justify. If we take artists, the good artists don't just instinctively draw cool stuff and add nice details to their props. Over the years, they've created stuff and looked at tons and tons of other models. That gave them a library of ''details'' to choose from. They know what a car engine looks like, because they`ve seen enough. When they make scifi stuff, it's almost believable. That's what playing games is for. You see different game structures, different UI design, different types of skill-trees, etc. You build a web of knowledge that you can pick from whenever it's needed. Because frankly in many cases creativity is overrated.

finite mulch Jan 6, 2019, 5:32 AM

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👀

remote saffron Jan 6, 2019, 7:57 AM

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career advice, you can be the greatest programmer, 3d artist, sound technician but if you don't have a piece of paper saying so then no one will look into it.

I have met programmers in the industry without education, it's not that hard to prove your programming skills
some places will request a degree, sure, but no one will look into it is not really true

honest cipher Jan 6, 2019, 8:52 AM

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@ChrisPG#1073 in blender, with grease pencil, you can now draw IN the editor itself

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there is a video around of a guy who does some 2d concept drawing for shape, then models the shape, and then draws paneling/details on top of that basic shapes, and then sculpts it

dense needle Jan 6, 2019, 9:10 AM

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Blender keeps getting better and better.

honest cipher Jan 6, 2019, 9:13 AM

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grease pencil is currently quite underappreciated, but its a tool that revolutionizes 2d drawing

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by merging 2d drawing in a 3d program, with all the tools needed for both styles at the same time

flat gazelle Jan 6, 2019, 10:18 AM

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Out of the people I've hired I don't actually know if they have a degree or "piece of paper". They had good portfolios and the right attitude.

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Hmm. One had a 2 year vocational diploma. Does that count?

honest cipher Jan 6, 2019, 10:25 AM

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every time ive had to hire art freelancers, the degree had literally zero value

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portfolio says everything you need to know

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i was surprised with how little correlation there is of having a degree vs having good art

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a considerable % of the job applications i got had a degree and had less art skill than me

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and im not an artist

flat gazelle Jan 6, 2019, 10:31 AM

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Degrees are valuable if you need to get a visa. Other than that not so much. Only talking about art roles here.

honest cipher Jan 6, 2019, 10:32 AM

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yeah, also only talking about art role

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for programmer/etc, the degree has value

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if you dont have a degree you better be able to easily demonstrate some serious level skill

flat gazelle Jan 6, 2019, 10:42 AM

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Or if by piece of paper you mean cover letter, then yes. That shit is important :)

leaden pasture Jan 6, 2019, 11:30 AM

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In todays, degree is not important for applying to programmer position. But somehow you have to provide programming skills.

ocean harbor Jan 6, 2019, 2:20 PM

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I guess depends on a place, in most IT companied your CV won't pass filtering without a degree

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"should devs play games'" - should filmmaker watch their own movies? should composers listen to their music?

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there are some rare individuals who don't, but how can you tell if you are doing things right if your are not perceiving your own work

steel creek Jan 6, 2019, 3:14 PM

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That's not the same as playing others games or listening to others musics or watching others films

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The argument seem to be about designer's playing other games

flat gazelle Jan 6, 2019, 3:15 PM

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Could we not do this one again? At least not in this channel

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Just scroll up a week or so and you can read the last iteration

steel creek Jan 6, 2019, 3:15 PM

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You mean now that you guys have had your peace?

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I know I was there

flat gazelle Jan 6, 2019, 3:16 PM

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It moved to Lounge then, so let's leave it there

steel creek Jan 6, 2019, 3:16 PM

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Actually it didn't move to Lounge. Just died

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But there does seem to be some career advice around this

remote saffron Jan 6, 2019, 3:17 PM

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that was the best imo, this whole topic never went anywhere anyway

steel creek Jan 6, 2019, 3:18 PM

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Because the framing of the question is poorly formed

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Along with the fact that the person who was arguing that a designer needed to be a game player was a little obnoxious

remote saffron Jan 6, 2019, 3:18 PM

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the original argument was a bit more extrem (not just a player, but a "top-tier" player, whatever that means)

steel creek Jan 6, 2019, 3:19 PM

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Oh yeah that's right sorry my bad top tier player

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The reality is more information is never going to hurt but Different Strokes

lilac walrus Jan 6, 2019, 3:28 PM

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an outlandish thought, but - if every game designer needed to be a 'top-tier' player to be good at their job, then every top-tier player would be a game designer. Only so many people can be the best at a given set of games, and there are also only so many games out there

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it's hard to know how many game designers are actually employed world-wide, but the UK industry has something like 12,000 developers of all disciplines and the US something like 45,000

remote saffron Jan 6, 2019, 3:29 PM

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I'm a top tier firewatch player

lilac walrus Jan 6, 2019, 3:29 PM

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haha

steel creek Jan 6, 2019, 3:43 PM

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I'm top tier Taco eater

hybrid phoenix Jan 6, 2019, 3:51 PM

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I don't think you need to play games to be a good designer, but you do need to be in tune with your playerbase in order to achieve a game that's enjoyable for them, for which playing the games your project is inspired by can really help

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So you don't need to play games to be a good designer, but it can't hurt and in most cases will help

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The top tier thing is another story entirely, however, but we've already discussed that at length 😛

ocean harbor Jan 6, 2019, 3:54 PM

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one day I'll be top tier Sims player...

terse gull Jan 7, 2019, 9:32 AM

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You certainly don't have to be a top tier player to be a good designer, but you really should like playing games and play enough of them to get a good foundation of what works and what doesn't. You should have a solid ability to critically examine games, have appreciation of what game mechanics are in use, how they work together harmoniously, and are able to communicate this well with other developers.

leaden pasture Jan 8, 2019, 1:42 AM

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Playing games tends to understand to you how the game logic implemented in intutive way. Nothing more.

slate wren Jan 8, 2019, 1:58 PM

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Hey folks

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What does it mean when I hear ''press release'' of the game

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It's like, an official page where describes everything there is to know about the game?

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Thanks

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I think I'm gonna do one for my game in this site https://www.gamespress.com/

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I don't know what it could help me much but those people on youtube of market on gaming always says about that

dense isle Jan 8, 2019, 7:20 PM

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Well, i don't know how to explain press release but it is definitely not "describes everything in the game ". Look here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_release

Press release

A press release, news release, media release, press statement or video release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something ostensibly newsworthy. Typically, they are mailed, faxed, or e-mailed to assignm...

fickle hatch Jan 8, 2019, 8:51 PM

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Press release is more like a FAQ

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It's supposed to answer all the typical questions players and the press have about your game

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So it only describes what's in your game as far as you need it described. Just answer the basic questions anyone would ask ("what is it about?", "who is making this?")

steel creek Jan 8, 2019, 8:59 PM

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Press release: who dis?

slate wren Jan 8, 2019, 10:18 PM

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So I'll write a document with all theses answers like a letter describing the game and links at the end?

fickle hatch Jan 8, 2019, 10:18 PM

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And it would help to include screenshots & raw text as an additional zip file (assuming your press release is in PDF)

slate wren Jan 8, 2019, 10:19 PM

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Cool, what doyou mean by Raw texts?

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scripts and such?

fickle hatch Jan 8, 2019, 10:20 PM

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Just raw text that you have in your PDF. Something that would be easy to take text from

slate wren Jan 8, 2019, 10:20 PM

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Hey Blackfox, could I add you as a friend and when the time comes I had writen everything and have the e-mail ready, you could just take a look and help me

fickle hatch Jan 8, 2019, 10:21 PM

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It's optional, just something that adds extra convenience

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You can send them to me in PM if you want me to look through them

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But I don't add random people on friends list

slate wren Jan 8, 2019, 10:21 PM

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Okay then, thanks dude

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I'll do my best

wild hornet Jan 9, 2019, 3:50 PM

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Hi everyone,
As I'm stepping down from my previous position and switching country to move to Berlin(DE), I wanted to look into entering the game industry.
I have a strong dev and scientific background, and I was lead dev at Ovation, a VR public speaking training app powered by UE4.
Throughout the years I worked with every parts of UE4 (AI, packaging, networking...) although I still am not fluent with code-based shaders.

If anyone has feedback/advice on how I could make myself more desirable, I'd appreciate it. 😃
Github: https://bit.ly/2RgoVmq
A few tech demos on Youtube: https://bit.ly/2VIEjX8

GitHub

Deams51 - Overview

Deams51 has 18 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.

YouTube

UE4 experiments - YouTube

harsh brook Jan 9, 2019, 7:16 PM

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I think your stuff looks good only possible problem I can see is it seems a lil wide. I can't get a grasp of where your focus is which could be a potential problem

wild hornet Jan 9, 2019, 7:29 PM

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Thanks @harsh brook for the feedback.
So you would have preferred to see content specific to one area such as gameplay or AI?

harsh brook Jan 9, 2019, 8:10 PM

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Ya just because usually AAAs at least will have you focused on a slice of the pipeline so if you enjoy gameplay then highlight that area and make it more pronounced same for AI. If its not AAA then companies might want you to wear multiple hats though so it depends on what position you're aiming for at what company

timber gale Jan 10, 2019, 9:16 PM

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Hello Everyone,
I am new to this server (just joined today) and am also fairly new to Unreal and C++. I’m a first year university student majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Mathematics. I tried VR a few weeks back and became hooked very quickly. I’d love to develop games (especially VR) and ideally would like to start my own game development team. I know it’s very early for that, but I like planning ahead. In my classes we are only learning Java, but I’ve been teaching myself C++ during my free time. If anyone has any advice or resources they’d think would help me, I’d love to hear it! I look forward to getting to know lots of you here and hopefully be able to make lots of progress. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

gusty socket Jan 10, 2019, 10:32 PM

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Greetings,
I'm new to this server, just joined today. I am new to UE and C++, but I desire to learn it later this week. I am going to enter high school next year and I am starting to think of some career choices, and an indie developer is one of them.

I would really love to develop games, only experience I had is through a 3D software known as Blender. I will be teaching myself some C++ during free time and I would be wishing for advice and resources to help get me started. I look forward to learning a lot by talking to other developers, as well as pick up some tips down the road. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

harsh brook Jan 11, 2019, 12:27 AM

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Best way is to just watch tutorials and other things of that nature online. Classes will help get you started but personal projects are where you’ll learn the most. That was my experience at least. Probably be a good idea to learn about hardware too if you’re unfamiliar.

gusty socket Jan 11, 2019, 12:29 AM

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Alright, thank you for the input! I will do that, plus get some books that cover the nitty gritty details.

harsh brook Jan 11, 2019, 1:28 AM

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I recommend cookbooks too, they are books full of different projects and their code. You can make full projects that way and learn along the way using an experienced persons thought processes. Looking at code can be very helpful. Also recommend getting experience however you can look to IT or any part time jobs that let you get your hands dirty. I started in python and moved into c# before tackling C++. Not positive about how it would trade off but having learned c# made c++ alot easier to pickup, and learning c# wasn't really easy

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The way i learned C++ was actually cookbooks too

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they're probably more helpful later on once you have a good base of the ideology

wild hornet Jan 11, 2019, 6:18 AM

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+1 With @harsh brook get the hang of OOP, then of the basics of C++, at which point it "could" be worth playing a bit with C to play with low level code and memory, followed by a couple hundred hours tinkering within UE4, watching tutorials, reading game dev books. Though might want to start with small exercise/projects or you might get overwhelmed with the amount of info to digest.

sudden ermine Jan 11, 2019, 9:16 AM

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@gusty socket I would recommend these two courses https://www.udemy.com/unreale4/ and https://www.udemy.com/unrealengine-cpp/

grave swallow Jan 11, 2019, 3:09 PM

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Do you need premission to create a game based on a community based story, like SCP ?

lilac walrus Jan 11, 2019, 3:12 PM

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probably

grave swallow Jan 11, 2019, 3:30 PM

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@lilac walrus Thanks

atomic fossil Jan 11, 2019, 3:36 PM

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@grave swallow in this specific case, no

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~~SCP is CC0~~

grave swallow Jan 11, 2019, 3:53 PM

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Oh so if I ever finish it has to be free to play ? @atomic fossil

atomic fossil Jan 11, 2019, 4:03 PM

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Sorry, apparently is SCP is CC BY-SA 3.0, which makes you have to release it with same license (free)

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and as copyleft licenses are prohibited by EPIC you probably cant even make a SCP game in unreal

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Copyleft being a license that makes you use the same license on the final product, such as SCP's one

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@grave swallow

grave swallow Jan 11, 2019, 4:13 PM

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@atomic fossil Thanks for the answer, really appreacited. Damn thats sad 😦

bronze dew Jan 12, 2019, 9:12 PM

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So... I'm a technical artist looking at getting a raise. I've been working in this role for almost 4 years now. And have around 10+ years on top of that in 3D generalist jobs. Wondering what kind of contractor rates I should boost it up to.

flat gazelle Jan 12, 2019, 9:24 PM

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As a VFX artist my freelance baserate was $95/h.

twilit ore Jan 13, 2019, 12:19 AM

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https://i.imgur.com/BB4qxnF.gif?1

Imgur

Jaw Dropping

▶ Play video

hybrid phoenix Jan 13, 2019, 1:09 AM

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@bronze dew What're you charging now?

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And just out of curiosity, what kind of work do you do under the banner of tech-art? (It's a pretty vague/broad thing)

ivory sandal Jan 13, 2019, 2:14 AM

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what is a good price guide for selling game code. im looking at selling a large chunk of gun code out of my vr game to another developer. but i have no idea how to price it

spice dagger Jan 13, 2019, 2:38 AM

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Price high, let them try and negotiate down.

ivory sandal Jan 13, 2019, 2:44 AM

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@spice dagger oh absolutely. but what ranges are there to consider. is it in the low-mid hundreds or low thousands. its based on a core component of my game, but not as fleshed out. the code is pretty polished and he will get a cut down version with just what he needs and that im willing to offer. as well. his game vision doesn't conflict with my goals.

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assuming its advanced template quality.

spice dagger Jan 13, 2019, 2:46 AM

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Offer whatever you think its worth, if you think its worth thousands, offer thousands. If you have a rough estimate for how long it took you to make it, use that plus your hourly rate (if you have one) to calculate a rough cost.

ivory sandal Jan 13, 2019, 2:50 AM

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ok. hourly sounds like a good place to start. i can work with that. thankyou.
what are common hourly rates for freelance blueprints after say a year of experience. and will give me a place to get started

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im seeing 20ish per hour min. does that sound right

hybrid phoenix Jan 13, 2019, 12:47 PM

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20/h is admittedly very low

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This industry has a pricing problem

honest cipher Jan 13, 2019, 12:48 PM

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freelance blueprints dont exist

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only crappy indies could hire you to do things, so of course there is no money

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the money is on the C++ engineer side

fading yoke Jan 13, 2019, 2:26 PM

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In my sad experience, nobody negotiates. So if you say a higher number than they want, they just ghost you.

vivid pivot Jan 13, 2019, 2:45 PM

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That's also my (irrational?) fear

honest cipher Jan 13, 2019, 2:59 PM

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in my case ive some times gotten really good contracts just due to overballing for negotiation

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and then the guy goes "yeah thats ok"

main relic Jan 13, 2019, 5:49 PM

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Technical people usually underestimate their value to others.

ivory sandal Jan 13, 2019, 8:36 PM

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Ive never had a problem getting people to negotiate. I actually got my guy to go up a bit on his preferred price.

Also yes c++ is stronger. But blueprints work just fine. The job just needs to be completed in a way that works correctly. If it requires c++. ill drag out visual studio.

With bp nativisation. Its not really a concern for me. Its just faster and easier to work with

fickle hatch Jan 13, 2019, 9:13 PM

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This publisher we talked to refused to negotiate anything

dense needle Jan 13, 2019, 11:49 PM

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If they refuse negotiation, odds are they aren't investing.

fading yoke Jan 14, 2019, 12:19 AM

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I remember a comment on HN a while back, that instead of saying a company isn't worth working for we should instead say that we aren't worth hiring. The logic being that blaming others for our own failures won't help us find work faster.

fickle hatch Jan 14, 2019, 12:53 AM

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@dense needle I think they are just trying to strongman it because they still live mentally in 2000's when their company was doing really well

dense needle Jan 14, 2019, 12:54 AM

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Yeah, they do that too. I've seen giant companies treat new potential like dirt. Because they got away with it in the past, and hope to continue the trend.

fickle hatch Jan 14, 2019, 12:54 AM

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They made us an offer, but it's so skewed in their side and they aren't doing any good job of convincing us they are actually bringing anything to the table other than raw money

fickle hatch Jan 14, 2019, 1:17 AM

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Makes me wanna ask them, what they figure we think of them from their point of view 😄

plucky hatch Jan 14, 2019, 6:37 AM

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when should i start a game company?

remote saffron Jan 14, 2019, 8:14 AM

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probably around 2008

lilac walrus Jan 14, 2019, 9:38 AM

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@fickle hatch - I mean, I'd probably just ask them - if you're not going to do business with them, might as well try to get information of value out of it

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chances are you won't get that, but at the same time you might get something useful for negotiating elsewhere

hybrid phoenix Jan 14, 2019, 2:42 PM

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^

balmy thunder Jan 14, 2019, 6:56 PM

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Hey, I'm currently in the process of making a CV, but I'm quite new to the industry. So I'm wondering whether it's better to put my portfolio into a ~5 minutes video format or make it into a long pdf with gifs... I personally prefer the video option, but is it even acceptable?...

vivid pivot Jan 14, 2019, 6:59 PM

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Why not both? Video for first impression and gifs for details?

hybrid phoenix Jan 14, 2019, 7:13 PM

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Brief PDF, and then just a proper portfolio, where iirc HR peeps tend to prefer pics/gifs over videos

fickle hatch Jan 14, 2019, 10:25 PM

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@lilac walrus that's exactly why I only want to ask that and didn't ask yet - they already gave us some insight that will be useful

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And even if I can't see them as real business partners, it's still valuable experience

harsh brook Jan 15, 2019, 12:56 AM

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I host my portfolio on artstation and link to that made life easier for me

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5 minutes is pretty long though tbh

plucky hatch Jan 15, 2019, 4:41 AM

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@balmy thunder
Welcome on board. You said you were new to the industry, but have not specified your role. Are you designer, artist or programmer?

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 5:01 PM

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@plucky hatch um... that's the complicated part. I have an artistic background, but the portfolio mostly focuses on game prototypes. physics simulations and tech (not an artistic stuff). I mean I just want to get some experience on making games from inside some video game company. So my "role" is quite vague. So "Developer" maybe?...

plucky hatch Jan 15, 2019, 5:58 PM

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How about Video Game Artist and Designer?

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 6:09 PM

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yeah, but "artist" kind of implies "Concept Artist", doesn't it? And while I'm into concept art, that's totally not my major. By artistic background I mean that I graduated uni in various cultural studies, worked as a music composer and graphic designer, studied games/interactive art for the most part of my life, and I want to work more on the artistic side of game development.... So it's really hard for me to define myself in my CV. It's kind of a kit of a director of the game, but since I'm gonna start as a junior... Seems like I'm gonna probably be a gamedesigner/programmer, so myabe that's how I should define myself in CV... Arghhhhh so hard.

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i wish there just was a "junior director" position or something...

west sonnet Jan 15, 2019, 6:14 PM

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There’s associate director but I don’t believe it’s what you think it is

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 6:17 PM

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Yeah, seems like it's more like a management position. Anyway, that's still very high for a guy without experience :' )

plucky hatch Jan 15, 2019, 7:05 PM

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That's what cover letters are for, going into detail with your position and exp

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 8:04 PM

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@plucky hatch But isn't it a dumb thing to write about? Isn't everyone like this? Isn't almost all people from the industry came here to bring their ideas to games, being directors of those?

flat gazelle Jan 15, 2019, 8:09 PM

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Don't be an idea guy

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Or are you just trolling?

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https://davidmullich.com/2015/11/23/sorry-there-is-no-idea-guy-position-in-the-game-industry/

David Mullich

Sorry, There Is No “Idea Guy” Position In The Game Industry

Whenever I meet a new group of game production students at The Los Angeles Film School, I ask them what role they want to have in the game industry. Every so often, I get one who says, “I’m really …

plucky hatch Jan 15, 2019, 8:10 PM

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@balmy thunder not really. You're describing your titles and experience in written form. Your creative side can make you stand out a little more. Obviously you should be accurate at your work experience, etc and especially not lie, but sometimes words give a little grab, just like a portfolio would.

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That and it would accurately describe the vague title you add to your resume xD

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@flat gazelle Game Designer is an idea guy.

flat gazelle Jan 15, 2019, 8:13 PM

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Everyone on the game team is a creative person

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 8:13 PM

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@flat gazelle That's the point. I'm afraid of seeming like one of those.

@plucky hatch Thank you for such detailed responses dude, really.

plucky hatch Jan 15, 2019, 8:14 PM

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@flat gazelle usually that position is held by someone that puts in the most ideas for the game, such as story and mechanics.

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Also promotional areas.

flat gazelle Jan 15, 2019, 8:14 PM

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on tiiiiny productions maybe.

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But he asked about getting studio experience

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All of those things are shared between many people who have skills beyond having ideas

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The closest thing would be the creative director which is usually a very senior designer

plucky hatch Jan 15, 2019, 8:16 PM

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Well it depends on the team. Some teams will have a Lead Designer, some teams, more most than others will share ideas together.

flat gazelle Jan 15, 2019, 8:16 PM

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Yes, and the Lead designer is there to make sure the director vision gets executed

plucky hatch Jan 15, 2019, 8:16 PM

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@balmy thunder No problem.

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@flat gazelle right.

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 9:44 PM

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Ah, another little question. Is it ok to put projects on portfolio that derived from video courses and stuff like that?

kindred mason Jan 15, 2019, 9:45 PM

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I personally wouldn't

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Unless you heavily modified the heck out of it

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 9:46 PM

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yeah I did

kindred mason Jan 15, 2019, 9:46 PM

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Where you couldn't even tell what it was originally

balmy thunder Jan 15, 2019, 9:46 PM

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Got it, thanks!

kindred mason Jan 15, 2019, 9:46 PM

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As long as it's not another mailbox

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:41 AM

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@flat gazelle
"Everyone on the game team is a creative person"
But not everyone understands what will work or not in a game for specific reasons.
And that's what people don't understand when they say ''we don't need an idea guy''.

I don't need a team of incompetent designers either.

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But the reality is there aren't many designers who really understand what will work or not in games.
Most of them will say, well we should text it and get feedback from testers or people on the team

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in 95% of the cases, I can tell you right away if it will work or not.

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:42 AM

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How about a dream-team that consists entirely of idea guys with deep and intricate inner world

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:42 AM

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unless it's a very complex scenario

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Every team needs a few idea guys specialized in different areas. Some people are good at creating WoW! moments, others at coming up with solid gameplay mechanics, etc.

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You need to find those people

digital gate Jan 16, 2019, 1:44 AM

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If the "idea guy" label doesn't fit because somebody is a competent designer, I fail to see why they'd not simply be called a "designer"

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:44 AM

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My audience are my idea guys (but this works for a simulation game, not in a general case)

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I found that for simulation audience give a ton of useful ideas, much more than any one person comes up with

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Because simulation is all about those stupid little details and things nobody really notices, but some people do

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:45 AM

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The idea guy adds extra damage after performing an Active-Reload to the bullets that have remained into the magazine.
The competent designer doesn't, because he knows it breaks the gameplay.

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:46 AM

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My biggest personal issue with game design is that I really like fair games. I want bullets to come out of my gun in same ways as they do for NPC's. There is a certain level of skew I can understand for balance, but I want my bullets to be same as their bullets

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And my mechanics be reasonably same as NPC mechanics. No weird advantages, unexplained boosts blah blah

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:47 AM

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Star Citizen 😃 ?

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:47 AM

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I don't know anything 'bout that, but STALKER comes to mind

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Designing such a thing is either lots of luck or a well skilled designer with strong intuition though

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:47 AM

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The dev team of star citizen spent a good amount of time trying to make their game more ''realistic''

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:48 AM

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You can design a game like this, but those designer guys you mentioned would fail at this task probably

spice dagger Jan 16, 2019, 1:48 AM

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If an NPC is cheating but you cant tell its cheating because your having fun, does it really matter that its cheating?

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:48 AM

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lol

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:48 AM

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No, it only matters that I don't feel them cheating

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That's what I want and that's hard to achieve apparently

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What I want is to feel like I'm on the same playing field as them

spice dagger Jan 16, 2019, 1:48 AM

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That is hard to achieve.

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At least for AI.

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:49 AM

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Very very!

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STALKER accidentally achieved it

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:49 AM

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like AI seeing through walls?

spice dagger Jan 16, 2019, 1:49 AM

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Alien: Isolation did this, the Alien in that game actually has 2 AI controlling it. It has a master AI which knows where the player is at all times and gives the actual Alien AI "Hints" to where they are so that it keeps gameplay interesting.

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:50 AM

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Alien: Isolation felt pretty good about it. Until the last level

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The last level ruined that game for me

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Because the alien encounters were VERY heavily scripted and I could VERY clearly find the edges of triggers

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It made me feel like I'm playing a vidyagame, not like I'm escaping a horrible beast

spice dagger Jan 16, 2019, 1:50 AM

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It may have been rushed, who knows.

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:50 AM

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No, I'm confident it was just poor design on that level

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Well

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Maybe rushing had to do with it, but the last level is too linear and too samey

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:51 AM

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I dont have much experience with AI, but if I could work with a AI programmer we could probably come up with interesting bots for a competitive multiplayer game

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 1:51 AM

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Example in STALKER: the AI pathfinding is influenced by corpses

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And the pathfinding is done to the last seen player position

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So the result is, you can feel the AI is playing kinda fair. They avoid corpses, they track you down methodically, but you can still trick them in very human ways

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Corpse avoidance adds a lot to the game, though sadly it's sorta broken

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Usually corpse avoidance resets if you quick-save and quick-load 😐

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It feels so reasonable that AI tries to avoid places where other AI's died. Makes it harder without changing the rules

flat gazelle Jan 16, 2019, 6:07 AM

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@plucky hatch could you post some examples of the amazing games you've made so the rest of us can study and learn. Thanks!

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:16 AM

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🍿

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:17 AM

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I've worked on more than 20 games. Even if I give you the full list, it won't be very relevant. When you work for a game company, you work under multiple leads, a director and possibly even a headquarter located in a different country that might also try to micro-manage the design of the game when they have no idea what they are doing.

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In many cases, the games that devs have worked on are not very representative of their personal skills and understanding in their own respective field.

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:21 AM

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why anyone never post that they require someone to make story of game?

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:22 AM

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@tough blade You mean, why aren't there more Narrative jobs?

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:22 AM

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@flat gazelle
If it can make you happy.

Game/Level Designer: Big Range Hunting 2, Modern Combat: Sandstorm, Modern Combat: Domination, Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation, Gansgtar Vegas, Thief 4
3D Artist: Unreal Tournament Pre-Alpha (2014)
Microsoft compliance tester: Magic Duels, Batman Arkham Knight, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Deadliest Warrior: Battlegrounds, Life is Strange, Game of Thrones - A Telltale Games Series, Tales from the Borderlands, WRC5 and many others that I don't remember from the top of my head.

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:22 AM

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yea i mean that

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:22 AM

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Hmm, TBH, most games on here...

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Don't require story

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(or won't)

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:22 AM

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why?

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:23 AM

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Because...reality is...who has time for that shit

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So, most Indies aren't going to do it

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:23 AM

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i assume story relates to gameplay

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:23 AM

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If they do, it'll be simple and something they'll do on their own

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Now, III/AAA studios, sure

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But, most likely they won't advertise that on here

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Actually, I think 343 is looking for one

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:24 AM

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assume Ori and the blind forest didnt had a story

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343?

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:24 AM

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But, they don't do relocation assistance...

flat gazelle Jan 16, 2019, 6:24 AM

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Well, I'm convinced. That's a list of pure gems! I'm sure it was all the crappy leads fault.

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:24 AM

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Big ass company like that...and they can't spend a few thousands bucks to move people over to the West Coast..

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:24 AM

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u mean 343 studio?

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:24 AM

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Yes, Halo

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Also, the rates...

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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Most games need a story to some degree. Some more than others.

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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well i dont thing they will even talk to me

digital gate Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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ditto

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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"Most games need a story to some degree" That's completely false, sorry

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There's no way anyone of us is going to win that debate anyway

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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games need story

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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No...

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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yea

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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Original DOOM story was adding so much value to the game

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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yes

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:25 AM

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Bah, why did I even start this

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:26 AM

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God of War, Spider-Man PS4, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Second Son, Darksiders, Gears of War, Mass Effect, Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, etc.

flat gazelle Jan 16, 2019, 6:26 AM

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I love Tetris story

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:26 AM

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ppl may not add story in early acces but later they add a story

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:26 AM

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lol

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The thing is... YES stories can make a game from meh...to okay..that's cool.

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But... required ?

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There's no way you could prove that

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And there's more evidence on the contrary anyway

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:26 AM

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Would you have played Witcher 3 if it didnt have a story??

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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not required but they add excitement to games

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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Oh god

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Wtf, you picked a fleshed out RPG experience

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based on a book...

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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ppl want to know how things happened

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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wtf is that

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Of course it's going to have a story...

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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Do you discredit films based on books too?

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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I don't get what you're trying to argue here.

flat gazelle Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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Geometry wars is another personal favorite. I really felt a connection with the shapes.

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:27 AM

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It's not making a lick of sense

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:28 AM

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who me?

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:28 AM

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No, @plucky hatch

tough blade Jan 16, 2019, 6:28 AM

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oh k

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:28 AM

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The moment he said Witcher 3, I already knew this was a lost cause though

flat gazelle Jan 16, 2019, 6:28 AM

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Storybased games need story, games as a concept do not

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:28 AM

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Story is just a powerful way to keep players engaged.

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Even in the most retarded ways

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:29 AM

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Right, of course a big long story-based (especially ones based on book) are going to have stories in them

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And yes, typically RPGs do have stories.

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Some genres kinda require them. But no, not games as a whole do.

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JRPGs

flat gazelle Jan 16, 2019, 6:29 AM

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I've been deep in the Beat Saber story lately. So good

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:29 AM

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^ lol

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:29 AM

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Like seriously, one of the things that kept me playing Mortal Kombat 2 back in the days was the story LMAO

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:29 AM

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What story?>

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:29 AM

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exactly

digital gate Jan 16, 2019, 6:30 AM

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.....

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:30 AM

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I mean, I did it for the fatalities personally

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Are you turncoating?

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Cause your argument was that every game needed a story.

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Now, it's not?

digital gate Jan 16, 2019, 6:30 AM

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Clearly I need to go pro in more games to grasp the train of thought.

flat gazelle Jan 16, 2019, 6:30 AM

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He's a troll. Don't fall for it victor

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:30 AM

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Create a compelling universe and players might dive into its story and crave for more.

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:30 AM

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Ah, my bad.

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:31 AM

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We had Mortal kombat films, we even had youtube series recently

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:31 AM

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How do you deal with the fact that vast majority of players can't read lol

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:31 AM

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rofl

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:31 AM

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There is a story to mortal kombat and if you like ninjas, there arent many games with some

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Have you guys ever played Tenchu 2?

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:31 AM

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Yeah, when I first introduced my kid to Minecraft or Ark... that's all he cared about. That story.

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:32 AM

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https://youtu.be/q02Y26NgRb8

YouTube

zenofer

Tenchu 2 Birth Of The Stealth Assassins Trailer

Un pequeño Avance de este famoso titulo para la Playstation. A trailer of this famous title for the Playstation. También un grato recuerdo a la memorias del ...

▶ Play video

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:32 AM

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This all sounds like #lounge talk btw

kindred mason Jan 16, 2019, 6:32 AM

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Not, building stuff with blocks or rekting dinosaurs with bows.

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^ agreed.

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It got a little derailed because of @tough blade question

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Why aren't there more Narrative job posts?

IMHO Because most people aren't putting in-depth stories in their games on here.

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And the ones that are, already have their story set in their minds.

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And any big title is going to look for the big names.

plucky hatch Jan 16, 2019, 6:33 AM

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What's your question then?

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Do you want to know if it's worth becoming a narrative designer?

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or writer

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or are you just pointing out that not many devs care about story?

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I've seen narrative Designer jobs in recent months in Montreal, I think it was for Behaviour Interactive.

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But those jobs aren't too common

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maybe because someone already fills such role in those AAA companies

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Ex: https://ca.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=7d76ee0a10dbf49b&tk=1d1am13eg0g7q003&from=serp&vjs=3

shadow kelp Jan 16, 2019, 7:49 AM

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we have narrative designers and I'm pretty sure the roles were advertised. Just fairly niche compared to more common stuff like programming, LD etc

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 8:44 AM

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narrative designers aren't so common because many games don't need one to be designed

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but that's increasingly changing with a move towards increasingly non-linear and unscripted narratives

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plenty of studios however will have writers they use

steel creek Jan 16, 2019, 3:01 PM

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That one is going to be even more uncommon considering they have to be bilingual French

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:02 PM

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that's Quebec for you

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everyone's gotta speak French

steel creek Jan 16, 2019, 3:04 PM

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🥖 jointup

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:04 PM

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language laws there are pretty daft

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things like signage in shops etc, the French has to be three times larger than the English

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because it's FRENCH

dusk raptor Jan 16, 2019, 3:19 PM

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got something against french ? 😄

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I'd say Quebec is leet

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being able to speak english AND french is awesome

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would love to be able to do that in france

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:20 PM

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no laws in France that dictate your dual language signage etc

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¯_(ツ)_/¯

mortal raven Jan 16, 2019, 3:21 PM

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I love crafting large branching narratives for non-linear games. At this point in my career I can largely condition and script it all myself as well as write it so long as the engine supports those features already, and I have a coder for event handling and ai packages which are outside my scope. I can even create all the materials and most hardsurface 3d models in the scene too! So I never run out of work at a studio. XD

If a narrative design job ever pops up here, ping me immediately.

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:22 PM

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I'm working on a narrative branching game right now

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it is hell

dusk raptor Jan 16, 2019, 3:22 PM

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@lilac walrus except the majority of french dont even know a single english word

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:22 PM

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bugger this for a bunch of bananas

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the majority of French people do though

dusk raptor Jan 16, 2019, 3:23 PM

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well I only know a handful who can 1) do a proper english conversation 2) dont have a shitty french accent

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:23 PM

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accent is unimportant

dusk raptor Jan 16, 2019, 3:23 PM

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which is probably the worst accent ever with the hindi accent

mortal raven Jan 16, 2019, 3:23 PM

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It can be. At least it'll never be for the creation kit, so if you're using Articy and an Unreal dialogue plugin from marketplace (or your own blueprint) you're in a great place.

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:23 PM

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heck, plenty of English and Scottish accents are utterly unintelligible even to native speakers

dusk raptor Jan 16, 2019, 3:24 PM

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yeah scotts can be quite hard to even understand

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:24 PM

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France has below average English literacy, but they're still light years ahead of Spain and Italy etc

dusk raptor Jan 16, 2019, 3:24 PM

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and russia

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pizdiec

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😄

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:24 PM

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that's everything behind the iron curtain though, hehe

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English literacy in Czechia is pretty low

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and largely restricted to under 30s

dusk raptor Jan 16, 2019, 3:26 PM

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yeah people under 30 tend to have grown up with internet, international relations and all

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cant blame older folks

lilac walrus Jan 16, 2019, 3:28 PM

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those who grew up in the Soviet Union had no access to Western European languages at all, so only the elderly speak German as an example

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 7:41 PM

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I’m gonna blame older folks anyway

barren lotus Jan 16, 2019, 8:13 PM

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On the subject of story, we're an indie game with story (linear with some branching)! Our narrative writer came from The Onion satirical news site, our narrative designer worked on Skullgirls, and our narrative editor was QA / marketing at Activision. Definitely not big names like AAA games writers but I'd like to think we have just as big of a heart as they do.

And our narrative team don't just write the story either. They also write / edit dialogue lines, work with voice actors in recording sessions, edit voiceover recordings, direct animation team on scripted moments or level designers / artists to frame how they want a space to look like for that moment, meticulously coordinate / watch our external playtests, and ensure the game has continuous verbal and visual integrity.

I'm a designer too but not narrative specifically, and while I do help them out I wouldn't say it's something anyone can just do and pull off the quality our narrative team does, they're really passionate about storytelling and actually good at it. I guess it's like screenplays, everyone has an idea for a good movie but the hard part is writing it so someone else can read it seeing the vision you have.

fickle hatch Jan 16, 2019, 8:26 PM

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We took real safety records as a basis for a story for our simulator 😄

slate wren Jan 17, 2019, 12:10 AM

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Imagine this conversation of narrative writer at old Atari times xDD

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''you see that pixels there? so hes name is John, he's gonna marry this other pixel here, theyre gonna be hapy beucase thats their son now, little pixel'' - pong game

lilac walrus Jan 17, 2019, 9:35 AM

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there are games like that

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¯_(ツ)_/¯

brave owl Jan 17, 2019, 9:40 AM

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not technicall careers advice, but kind of similar, and you dont have a channel for this:
if i wanted to get my game on metacritic when its released, which is the easiest place to get a review on, that metacritic aggregates from?

karmic kayak Jan 17, 2019, 4:42 PM

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the ones you pay to get a review score.

flat gazelle Jan 17, 2019, 4:53 PM

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Ooooooohh.gif

frozen scaffold Jan 17, 2019, 9:43 PM

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Do you guys still feel like modding is still a viable way to get into the industry i.e. Skryim modding?

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For a level designer?

flat gazelle Jan 17, 2019, 9:49 PM

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Sure

frozen scaffold Jan 17, 2019, 9:57 PM

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Would you say its more viable than say creating a portfolio in Unreal? Where you would assumedly have to implement game systems to have a coherent experience versus modding a game like Skyrim where the gameplay systems are already implemented

flat gazelle Jan 17, 2019, 10:02 PM

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It depends what you are aiming for. Narrative or straight up level designer, a mod is probably more straightforward. FOr a more technical role it'd be better to build it all.

fickle hatch Jan 17, 2019, 10:20 PM

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A mod will be harder to present

frozen scaffold Jan 17, 2019, 10:24 PM

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@fickle hatch true

brave owl Jan 18, 2019, 7:49 AM

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@karmic kayak ooooh burn lol, thanks... but im not bethesda or EA, i cant afford the bribe :(

lilac walrus Jan 18, 2019, 3:31 PM

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generally speaking metacritic isn't worth anything

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people will only go there and look up your game if they're already aware of it

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so if you're at the point where you need to actively try and find people to review the game, you really shouldn't worry about something like metacritic

fickle hatch Jan 18, 2019, 7:54 PM

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There is no trivial link between sales and reviews

plucky hatch Jan 18, 2019, 10:14 PM

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so i just started unreal engine

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and im confusion

plucky hatch Jan 18, 2019, 10:58 PM

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why pizza?

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...

hybrid phoenix Jan 18, 2019, 11:01 PM

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Basically, because you said "I'm confusion" which is a funny grammar mistake

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And you're saying these things in completely the wrong channel

plucky hatch Jan 18, 2019, 11:01 PM

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/r/wooooosh

hybrid phoenix Jan 18, 2019, 11:01 PM

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😛

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And you're saying it without any context

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So basically, it's out of place and funnily written (unintentionally)

plucky hatch Jan 18, 2019, 11:02 PM

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did u get the joke tho or are you just gonna poop on me

hybrid phoenix Jan 18, 2019, 11:03 PM

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Why not both? :3

plucky hatch Jan 18, 2019, 11:03 PM

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...

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ok bye

hybrid phoenix Jan 18, 2019, 11:03 PM

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Alas, #lounge this is

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:02 PM

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Hi all, Maybe already asked this question, so:
Where / how can I find people in a startup team? Among the familiar ones are web developers?
For example, I need a 3D artist for the demo of the game, in order to publish it on crawfund

vivid pivot Jan 20, 2019, 11:03 PM

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Try #looking-for-talent 😉 Read the pinned messages + use the bot

west sonnet Jan 20, 2019, 11:07 PM

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Market it, provide a vertical slice, show that you can walk the talk basically. Artstation and 3d art centric channels are also a good place to look.

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:08 PM

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It's just that I have been postponing my dream for 3 years due to the lack of like-minded people (

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:13 PM

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Why? What is your skillset?

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@azure tide

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If you always depend on others to get stuff done, chances are... you'll never get anywhere.
If that dream, you really care about it, hopefully you'll find the strength to learn it all and do it all.
And then, the others that will be willing to help you will halp you save time.

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:15 PM

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Skeleton, game logic and stuff almost done.

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Need only 3D models and animation for Demo

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:15 PM

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Download Blender, get to work

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:17 PM

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I have a basic knowledge of Maya (for example, I can make a chest), but it's hard to master the character creation.

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:18 PM

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If you use references, photo refs, etc. You can be smart about it, then it's not so difficult. You just wokr on it until it looks similar enough to the ref.

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Same method Todd mcFarlane used to make his toys

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Anyone could have done it.

west sonnet Jan 20, 2019, 11:18 PM

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Remember, you're asking people to commit a lot of time and money to help make your game. Regardless of if you're planning to sell it, any sane person joining the team will view it as a financially net negative venture.

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:18 PM

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He just took the time to do it

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@azure tide what kind of game are you making

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What kind of art style are you shooting for

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:21 PM

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Third person cyberpunk-noir detective with hand-to-hand combat

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:21 PM

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If I were you, I would either find a volunteer or hire a concept artist to make the concept art for the game.
Establish the characters, weapons, vehciles, environments, whatever is essential.
And after, you'll be able to reproduce those concepts in 3d all by yourself.
And good for you if you can find helpers or get money to hire people.
But at least, you would be good to go

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Designing the visuals is the most challenging part.

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Anyone can reproduce a concept art

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in 3d

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At the end of the day. You got 1 life. You decide what you are going to do with it.

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If you really care about that dream, you can do most of it yourself

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Or wait forever for others to help you

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or get money

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But usually, to get money you need a prototype, meaning you need a team.

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:24 PM

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That's why I ask

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:24 PM

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And to get a team, you need money or volunteers

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@azure tide you can do this

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:26 PM

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I need a team to create a prototype. I was ready to pay for the 3D model, but it’s difficult to pay for a product for $ 1000, when the average purchase in your country is $ 300.

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:27 PM

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What can you do yourself?

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game design? level design? coding?

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:30 PM

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Game design, level design, script, coding(I'm C++ dev)

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I already have a "naked" prototype

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:31 PM

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And you dont want to learn 3d, texturing?

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:31 PM

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Fight system, AI of enemy

west sonnet Jan 20, 2019, 11:31 PM

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#work-in-progress

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show off your stuff

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:35 PM

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@plucky hatch Easier said than done. I am taking a course at the moment but I don't know if I can do something good and how long it will take

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:37 PM

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It's doable. Of course, you can't replace a full dev team, so you'll have to work smarter.

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You can make a game that looks great by going for environments that are a bit low poly like the environments in HALO 3: ODST. And you can skip PBR texturing by just using color maps.

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Low poly - Environment

📎 Tayari_plaza.jpg

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:41 PM

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My plans are mostly closed spaces.

plucky hatch Jan 20, 2019, 11:41 PM

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no high poly or normal maps needed

📎 MainChar.jpg

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You can totally cut corners and still end up with something that looks great for a solo dev

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The lighting in UE4 does a lot of the job for you to make everything look great.
Ive been waiting for this tech for a long time lol.

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The lighting in UE3 wasnt that great just yet

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But it's there now.

azure tide Jan 20, 2019, 11:43 PM

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I'm waiting for artv2, artv1 doesn't work too well on newer versions of maya

plucky hatch Jan 21, 2019, 12:01 AM

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Well, enjoy the dream. Good luck with your project.

azure tide Jan 21, 2019, 12:08 AM

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Ty)

plucky hatch Jan 21, 2019, 4:14 PM

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Anyone hiring level designer?

tacit siren Jan 21, 2019, 4:18 PM

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try #looking-for-work

plucky hatch Jan 21, 2019, 4:20 PM

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Always get royalty goons there

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Been a part of plenty daydreaming projects

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RTS, RPG, Horror and BR daydreams

narrow vigil Jan 21, 2019, 4:24 PM

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@plucky hatch You could try looking in #looking-for-talent I know that there was a paid level designer in there maybe last Wednesday. You have to scroll back a bit to find it.

plucky hatch Jan 21, 2019, 4:34 PM

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Checked that

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Email links - no response

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2 posts, 1 is over the top requiring coding

ashen lynx Jan 21, 2019, 4:36 PM

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@plucky hatch Start by posting in looking for work.

hybrid phoenix Jan 21, 2019, 5:28 PM

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To be fair, most LD jobs require some degree of coding

plucky hatch Jan 21, 2019, 6:02 PM

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It's a personal choice as well if some self-made tools can help in many situations, better make them yourself today and speed up the process

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Functional doors being a familiar example

plucky hatch Jan 21, 2019, 8:48 PM

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@plucky hatch do you decorate maps with meshes?