#career-chat
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Once you know how to think like a programmer, you can pick up any language/scripting.
So I highly recommend the Stephen Ulibarri courses on Udemy. If you join his Discord, he gives coupons like every 2nd week - so they are also very cost effective. He has a intro to blueprint, followed by intro to C++ for game devs, then goes into a detailed C++ course followed by a c++ multiplayer course. I'm doing them at the moment - and they are exceptional value.
I see, I'll look into finding some. I wasn't sure if I needed to learn C++ if I used exclusively blueprints but it may help me understand them better as you say. That does sound like my issue on why I'm not understanding why a blueprint does what it does, even if I know what blueprints to use.
You dont need to learn C++ to make an Unreal game.
Commercial games have been built only in blueprints
just do the Intro to Blueprint course(s) available - some are free on YouTube - that will give you a good feel for it
Oh? That sounds promising! I'll check this out for sure if it seems I can afford it, and I'll definitely check out the free bits!
Well I learned basics of data tables, variables, loops, and conditionals with RPGMaker. So I would figure the algorithms and how another language works would be what's left?
Probably dont need to worry about another language. Making algorithms is just "i want my software to do this. How do i convert my design logic into code logic".
I would say take the udemy course Afrayedknot recommended.
I used Mathew Wadstein's YouTube channel all the time to learn the blueprint api, and get a better understanding of what the functions do. Then it slowly comes together to where "oh i can use these sets of blueprint events/functions/macros with these variables and data structures to make these algorithms to make this game mechanic"
Thank you so much. I will keep this in mind as well and check on his channel!
Linked in learning has unreal pathways. Anybody have any awareness of their usefulness
learn.unrealengine.com is a great resource
Why do recruiters on LinkedIn say "LOL HIRING ALL ROLES URGENT URGENT SEND MESSAGE ASAP" and things and not respond when you message them. I generally only message if I'm qualified and have the experience for the role, it feels like they don't even look at the message half the time.
that's just how a lot of recruiters work unfortunately
especially external firms that do recruiting for others
Don't think I would really recommend making a full game completely in BPs
It is definitely possible tho
While it is possible to make games in bp only, it is not something i would reccomend for the majority of projects
The best combination imo is using both
E.g. complex systems and helper functions in c++ that you can use in bp
Not only is it better to prevent the whole bp spaghetti mess, but it also helps the ol hardware
Ive seen job postings for unreal game designers where they only need to know blueprints. The engineers do the c++ work. Not every indie team/ game needs C++.
I think there was UE talk for one DarkSouls game. I remember they doing it mostly in BPs.
Indeed, in my company we sometimes hire people only knowing Blueprints they don’t need to know C++
I can’t imagine a studio/team that doesn’t have that knowledge however. But as an ‘employee’ or a ‘freelancer’ you can easily get by without knowing how to code, certainly as a designer, and depending on the project also on the technical side depending on the studio.
very true, but that doesnt mean the games were built entirely in blueprints, i wasnt saying you cant get a job only knowing blueprints, i was just suggesting that most games do include c++
I don't think DS uses UE 🤔
they were considering making elden ring in ue iirc
I remember it, I think it was even on community spotlight
I mean there are exceptions ofc
But it is not something I would recommend, for example fixing critical engine bugs which happen becomes impossible
Ah, yeah... Definitely, C++ is "helpful". It just fluctuates with the needs of the project and the team capabilities.
Hey, I’m looking for a place to get professional experience.
I have been programming with C++ for 3 years on small projects. I’ve written a linux X11 window manager, a genetic neural network to play snake, and used system level sockets to make a multiplayer pong game. I have a work in progress program that works like hamachi but uses P2P. I have come up with a method of compression that uses combinatorics, it doesn’t currently work but I believe I’m on to something. It uses a lot of math, so if someone is interested, reach out. I’m really enthusiastic about neural networks for physics, and have a small start in developing it.
I believe I have the skill and ability to work a real job, but I don't know where to start. I’ve just graduated high school and am going to college for computer science. I have nothing to show my abilities other than my small projects and what teachers have told me. My teacher, who is working on their masters degree at Georgia Tech, says I could pass his classes easier than him. If I truly have that ability, how can I prove it or what can I do to get meaningful experience?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
It sounds like you have just graduated high school ( in the US) so are very young, without any sort of portfolio it will be difficult, why don’t you get all the work you have done so far into one place (a portfolio or showcase) and go from there ?
Then try and work for a studio while you study at college to get some real world experience
hey! my name is daniel, and i was hoping to get some advice. im now a highschool sophomore and have big dreams for the future, but i don’t know what to do or how to achieve them. for context im a 4.0 GPA student who takes all honors classes, and strives to succeed in school and in extracurriculars. my real dream is to go into game development / game art, and possibly start my own company at some point. it’s been my dream since 2nd or 3rd grade and i have tons of works and prototypes and renders to show for it. my dream college is the university of southern california, but the big problem is it’s really expensive and a private school, and really far away… i really want to go there for it’s beautiful campus and world renowned game development program, being in LA with huge studios i could go to for internships and jobs possibly, but i have no idea how to make my dream come true, or if it’s even something i need to worry about right now… what should i do? do i even have a chance?
I would just focus on learning the craft, you are far too young to be thinking about starting a company, have some fun while you are young and learn about design 👍 so in summary, nothing you have to worry about right now.
im just worried im not good enough to make it into a school as good as USC, my family loves the things i have made, and i look at what i make with pride, but when i show it to my friends and stuff, they’re a little disappointed and always kinda just ignore me or move on… i guess my work isn’t good enough
What is it you want to do, why have your heart set on USC? For starters, to work in design you don’t need any qualifications, secondly if you are in California there are better design schools. Last, it’s likely your design is not at that level, but you are still in school and that’s expected 🤷♂️
So you may have your heart set on USC but remember your competition doesn’t, and many of them will be honing their craft and working as juniors while you are studying, you will enter work at least 3 years after them and they will be your competition, with three years more than you in the portfolio.
i live in Tennessee, and don’t really leave the state much, USC and LA are kinda like my dream places, surrounded in an environment with like-minded people, where as in Tennessee i don’t really fit in, and it’s not really design i focus on, more-so programming/3D art, which a lot of the nicer schools with programs fit for something like that are way out west
My point was, you don’t need to pay to go to school in this profession.
Its almost entirely portfolio and performance based.
but wouldn’t school give me the work experience/portfolio i need?
No
Some schools more than others of course, but generally no, especially in this post Covid world.
Experience is far more valued than any degree
Someone can have a degree and be worse than someone without it
Its more common to pay for a short skill course such as one year at Gnomon etc. Skill up, portfolio up, be confident, get a job.
The last 6 people I hired don’t have a degree, they all did short 1-2 year courses.
then what the hell am i supposed to do after highschool? i can’t just stay with my parents for years
Get a job like I did, practice and hone your craft, then when your portfolio is ready go for the big leagues 👍
Also I would rant about the whole idea of having to move out from your parent's place as soon as possible that people try to force on you
It's stupid
Yeah, unless you don’t get on with them and you live in a tiny house take it as a blessing 😂
I long for the days when I didn’t have to give a hell 😬
And here I am wishing to move away even further from my parents as soon as possible
My electricity went up 12% this year, Im Regretting these 3090’s 😩
I don't mind paying for electricity if it means better mental health
I dropped out of University and in 15 years only one job asked me for qualifications and I got that job anyway because my portfolio was ok.
so, school is basically worthless if game development is the career im after?
And that’s not an uncommon thing, it was just the company I was hiring for was very old school and didn’t understand how a designer would not have a masters since it’s the normal in this country since BA and MA is free.
Depends on what the relationship with your parents is like
I have a good relationship with them (I'm 22 btw), we were broke (lived relatively fine but couldn't afford anything) pretty much throughout my whole childhood and I'm now finally able to financially help them and provide a normal life
Planning on building a new house for myself and them in the coming year or 2
For me that's a much better option than moving out and living on my own
Anyone giving this sort of advice has to be giving potential options rather than saying one thing is better than another because none of us know an individual's situation. Some people will be fine staying with their parents and just didn't even think of it as a possibility. Some people won't do well. It really depends on the person and their family.
More hate than love, really. My mental health got bad because of them and their anger issues on me.
Indeed this is correct, thats why I was saying at least ‘Yeah, unless you don’t get on with them and you live in a tiny house take it as a blessing 😂’ but my advice would still stand, get a normal job ( I worked in a pub for two years) to become self sufficient and concentrate on your 3D until your portfolio is ready.
I wouldn't say it's worthless. Just to offer an alternative perspective, I found that some of the relationships I made in college were pretty important. Even outside of general learning, having a space that you can try to work with like-minded individuals (hopefully) without the stress of a real job can be a good thing. Is it worth $$$$? Depends on you and where you end up going.
It also depends on how self-driven you are. Some people do an amazing job at building things and learning on their own. Others may have the same potential but don't match it unless in an environment that fosters such a thing.
This is also true, you need to work out what your projected earnings will be against how much debt you will get and how you will pay that back realistically. Even though I dropped out it still cost me about£45000
I just said that the idea of having to move out as soon as possible that people try to force on young people at least around where I live is stupid
You shouldn't move out because that's some imaginary standard that everyone has to follow, it should be your own decision, depending on your own situation
Right, I agree with you.
Indeed I think we were all in agreement just clarifying for the others,
I also made some very good links, friends, social fun despite dropping out, I don’t regret the three years I spent even though I didn’t end up with anything on paper, but that was my route at least.
I would do it all again given the chance,
Only that it’s never mattered if I did or didn’t, and as a hiring manager now for almost 8 years in three countries and many companies we never even ask about qualifications.
Not to say that’s universal, I know in certain places it’s more of an issue.
I'd say once you get your first "real" job this stuff stops mattering. Getting your foot in the door once is the hardest part.
Indeed, and when I became a University lecturer despite not having a degree that’s what I always said to my classes, this is to get you your first job, by the second they will never ask, and if you get a good offer while you are here don’t thing twice about dropping out (if you weigh it up and it works)
Most schools will also do something called ‘interrupted study’, at least in the EU, where you can basically freeze your education for 12 months and come back where you started.
At the discression of your tutor of course, but what I have learnt working in education is that its all negotiable 👀 they just want the cash at the end of the day
I always wanted to do game art, but zero colleges that did that at the time here. I chose Product Design instead and learned by myself meanwhile, then got jobs in 3D, related, until I found a studio. Nowadays, that studio hires a lot of people after internships / summer training camps or courses they hold for 2-3 months at universities
the good thing about degrees is, it makes it a lot easier for international visas and stuff for international jobs
just a little extra thing
Unfortunately for a lot of people they still net more interviews overall, even if it is outdated
hey guys
my classmate said that he will probably treat game dev as a hobby instead of pursuing a career into it
why do you guys think some people don't have the confidence to pursue a career in the game industry?
This sounds like a question you should have asked your classmate
I know its gonna be hard but I might aswell try and I have a Plan B if it doesn't workout
damn
I have heard horror stories about the working conditions but Im assuming its not like that everywhere
Places exist. They're few and far between, and even at a studio that pays well there are often contract positions that don't (which makes getting a well-paying FTE position difficult).
Yes its good to have a Plan B and goto school to learn skills that are applicable in multiple industries (tech, marketing, finance, business, vfx, etc).
Not everyone can break into games because its art/entertainment, and entry level / intern positions are highly competitive.
On the creative side, companies are looking for a particular technical or artistic skillset, which is why portfolio is so important.
Yes, you tend to make more money in tech or bank/finance and the work is more stable.
Working conditions vary from company to company.
The most common reasons people leave are compensation or working conditions.
I left games QA because of the super low pay, and i didn't want to pursue a that career further.
well my plan B is QA testing 😂
when you say super low do you mean it never goes up with time and experience
?
people in games just get paid less than people doing similar jobs outside of games
cause games are passion
At least here, for 3D art it's not applicable 😅 it's either gameart, product renders or archviz. I did the last 2 and they paid less
well i cant see myself doing something that i dont like
but im assuming 3D artist pays more than QA tester
QA testing is not as fun as you probably think it is
Got that myth dissected a while ago personally
I was told its less
"Play games before everyone and earn money"
And more
"Run into these specific corners for 10 minutes and see if you clip. Once youre done fill in the feedback form"
of course
you're meant to explicitely try to break the game
you don't just play it
you test every possible scenario a bunch of times
Yeaj
Like normal software testing
Try and break it
The feedback is for "This playstyle is my favourite" i imagine is left more for public betas
I imagine
I did it for 2 years
lol
It was ok I kinda enjoyed it but the company I worked for was wack
I always advise if you are in a creative field to peruse what you enjoy, rather than the money. If you are enjoying it then you will be putting a lot more effort it (effortlessly) and the financial rewards will come naturally, or at least easier than if you want to just 'work in games' for the sake of it.
You can get a lot of money on the design side, moreso if you are very passionate about it. However working in non-games (Enterprise) is a lot lot more money but basically doing the same thing.
Becoming a 3D artist is also very difficult and competitive no matter what field you work in, you will need to get your graft on for several years before your even at a junior level. In 15 years I've seen less than 5 people get real work with less than 2 years hard practice.
Also some enterprise work (I think largely depends on which department you're working on) can have more crunch, and it can affect your health.
Yes, that’s been my experience when working at some companies, especially certain OEM’s.
State minimum wage went up two dollars in the time i was a tester. Internal raise at highest level compared to starting tester was like 75cents. There was also some bullshit internal merit system that i somehow didn't qualify for that gets you like another 50 cents.
Hundreds of ppl from all backgrounds and levels of education (high school to masters degree) who wanted to work in games so they put up with the low pay to do it.
Got promoted to qa prod and made like 5 more dollars than my qa tester peers for more work and responsibilities. I also didn't get the training or support i needed to do well in my new position. So i left and got a software job so i could start paying off my student loans.
Good news there's a ton of resources nowadays for online learning...and youtube and access to so much stuff. I still have my stack of gnomon dvds, there wasn't much else at the time
Hey guys I'm going to school for game development. Does anyone have any advice to get into an apprenticeship? I'm in West Virginia so tech jobs are scarce and it's proving difficult finding anything remote.
I just wanna do something I like
Im sure i wont be living in a box while I work as a QA Tester lol
Don't be so sure.
Most of my qa tester peers were living pay check to pay check. If i learned anything from my qa leads. Avoid working for EA qa like the plague.
They pay might be better now cuz of the recent unionization efforts / corporate counter union efforts. But cost of living has gone up as well.
I have a question guys. Who has an idea of how it is to work at ubisoft atlanta? Do they have crunch times?
AAA company? Most likely. Especially Ubisoft.
Crunch is a staple of the industry. Go in with the idea that you will be crunching.
Hmm.. Okay. So in a crunch period, around how many hours should one expect to work in a day on average? Just for example
Can vary wildly. 12 hours, 18 hours, etc...
Wow!! 18?? Getting into the studio at 8am and leaving at 4am in the morning? 😅
wow!
lol!
How about lionheart games?
That's a bit on the extreme side, weekend work with only slightly longer regular days is probably a bit more common.
Still not a good thing, but 12+ hour days shouldn't be that common.
Absolutely.
So 12+ hour days is the norm right?
No, it's not the norm.
Crunch in general isn't the norm. It's something that generally happens over a limited period of time, but what "limited" means depends on the studio.
How often are crunch times? Like twice a month? once a month?
it's not a recurring thing
it's generally in the time leading up to a release
A couple of weeks leading up to release is incredibly common no matter where you are - and I wouldn't say that's even a bad thing. The issue is studios that do it for over a month at a time (if not month_s_) and not just for release.
So for a studio like ubisoft for instance, how many times in a year can one expect crunch for instance?
It's impossible to say without asking someone who works there.
None of us are going to know the exact details about Ubisoft's work culture except from hearsay. Go look at glassdoor or similar, or find someone willing to talk to you that works/has worked there.
This is also the purpose of interviews - if you're actively interviewing for a studio you need to remember that they're not just trying to see if they like you, you're also being given an opportunity to ask them questions.
I wouldn't take a recruiter's word on this stuff but it's one more data point.
still in school here but i will say it seems people at ubisoft like working there. i think the only complaints ive see nfrom research is its a little underpaid for a company that size.
I agree - that's why I said "it's one more data point"
Yeah, it's more a question of whether you're underpaid relative to the industry. You're almost definitely underpaid compared to tech in general.
Outliers notwithstanding.
I'm guessing ubisoft is an outlier?
Why would you guess that?
I don't think we've said anything either way here, so unless you personally know something about them I wouldn't assume anything.
I saw them write on their site that they offer competitive salary
Wow lol
Almost every company has something like that on their jobs page
ubisoft seems like a really cool company to work for. they really push for development in the industry evn for no employees like setting up communities for game devs. having said that it seems people still complain about workload vs pay. alot places ive seen complain about leadership and top down stuff but ubisoft its mostly just pay
Unfortunately for Colorado there are very few tech companies and studios out there so it didn't do much. Maybe for other industries, idk.
Atlanta, so USA, so like no worker protections 🤣
They probably didn't. And they're still trying to push NFTs last I heard.
I thought they gave up
Do you have an idea of ordinary working hours for ubisoft? like how many hours a day is the norm?
Last I heard, April, they're still pushing NFTs.
all that could be focus on the cleanup tbh i just started looking into them about a year ago
Do you guys have an idea of ordinary working hours for ubisoft? like how many hours a day is the norm?
i saw something to do with this today
sad
If you ask 3 more times, maybe a genie will come up and tell you.
hahaha! @shut token
i have no idea but id say probable what other people are saying about crunch time
I'll repeat the answer I gave earlier: no one here is going to be able to answer about exact working conditions without having worked there. Not to mention "ubisoft" is a big company and experiences will vary depending on location and position.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is also a good read
no one here is going to be able to answer about exact working conditions without having worked there
if you're not understanding the implication, none of us talking now have worked there or are willing to say whether we've worked there
so we don't know
By the way, i've always wondered on this
How come non-gamedev is usually better paid and got more decent working hours?
Because gamedev, for better or worse, is a "passion" driven industry. Lots of people want to get into it, not a huge number of "good" positions.
The result is companies can pay less.
This isn't quite true for super specialized positions or when you get into much higher level bands, but at entry to mid-level this will generally hold up.
i see. That explains the pay. How about the non-game dev hours? How come they are more decent than game dev?
Same reason.
Companies don't need to push back their timelines because they know people will work them.
Well, I'll give you $5. So, if that's, generously, 60% of what you normally earn - then I can bump that $5 up to $16.
Hmm... makes sense
i still need a bit more clarificatin here though. Does this mean that if people weren't procrastinators then crunch times would stop?
no
not even remotely
specifically, it's a failure of planning and reacting to changes during development
planning isn't always perfect and that's fine, but not having that accounted for in a schedule is a problem. And not delaying or cutting things when it isn't accounted for is when you get crunch.
So non-game dev companies have better planning......
not necessarily
the kind of gamedev jobs I usually get
You get spammed with low-paying jobs (IE - mine would be $5). 60% of 5 is 3. So you normally get paid $8. So I will double that for $16.
but gamedev tends to have long unpredictable timelines, and are less willing to delay something.
i see
gamedev also has a lot of external moving parts (such as already planned marketing windows)
Which is true of other software industries too, but they tend to not be as reliant on a sometimes-rabid fanbase.
Good talk. Very informative. Thanks y'all!
im still in school and this is some of the best research ive come across lol im just absorbing right now
Yeah. Guys here are gurus!!! Very helpful! I love this fam
Btw... any leads on discord groups with software dev opportunities? Especially C++
discord definitely wouldn't be my first choice for looking for a job. Outside of like random tiny commissions.
what do you mean investments? im mostly just looking for a job to start getting my foot in the door with some experience
im so sorry you lost me. in relatio nto whta exactly
Stock market and things like that.
oh yeah i was in the air force for 6 years they made us do classes on being money smart lol im the second income in the house so money isnt to big of an issue id take a unpaid internship at this point if it meant id learn some more practical stuff
unpaid - gross
lol im in WV so pickings are slim
Dang - you actually have internet in WV?
lol 150 is max here. fiber one day i hope. or get a job landed thatll let me move
In the like 25+ years I've been on the internet...I think I've met like 3 people who live in WV.
i got out and worked for NSA in maryland and then for some reason came back. ragrets
So where would you find the C++ ones? Also, do you work in a non-game dev firm? 😉
my schools discord some people recommended me working for non game dev to get some experience since there is no devs near me. is that a good idea?
Remote work for a junior is already difficult enough to find. And that's for non-gamedev. Gamedev remote work is even more rare from what I've seen.
nice. Maybe you could inbox me the link? 🙂
Nice. Was looking to start with a few remote. Any leads?
its like an official school discord they vet you before they put you in any rooms. they use it for classes
oh okay. No prob
thats what i was wondering when i applied to ubisoft in Cary NC it was remote but i was wondering if you still had to be in NC
Nice!
one of EAs battlefield 2042 temas were doing remote internships i think the deadlines passed though
ripple effect formally dice la
It's hard to say what "remote" means because it's really up to the company to figure out what laws they want to deal with in what localities. Bungie, for example, has an explicit list of where they support remote right now because they know they can support whatever laws apply in those locations.
So whether you need to move or not entirely depends on the position and company.
i kinda wish all companies had that would make it easier to find jobs to apply for
I expect it might become more common, but its a very new thing for many companies.
im only halfway through my degree its more game dev focused than design so i havnt even seen Unreal or anything but vis studio in my classes. should i teach myself unreal or focus more on other coding stuff like sql or getting better at using Git?
Anyone else feel like, you wanna go back to the office, but you wouldn't want to work somewhere that was MAKING people go back to the office?
absolutely
Definitely
It should be optional but offices can be cool
I prefer working in an office but like having the flexibility of not having to be there all the time.
anyone who works as a C++ developer what tools do you use on the daily?
or C# i guess
yeah but what about vs
pretty much solely?
I often use my keyboard
lol
My job was pretty flexible before and I almost never worked from home ever.
I just feel like, making employees go in when they don't want to says a lot of bad things about a company, even if i"m personally ok with that specific order I dont wanna be bossed around
Actual answer: for UE dev we generally recommend using one of the 3 different paid intellisense replacements
I agree
I guess he did just say c++
what VS version do people use?
whatever version the studio requires, but probably 2022 + whatever compiler
I mean like, ultimate or whatever
right i guess im just curious what a day in the job looks like so ik now what im getting into and when i feel im ready to start applying.
if you're working solo you use community
Community until licensing says no
if you're not you use whatever license the company provides
Nah I'm on my own for now
then use community
ive got professional through school
Plus even when I'm not, I'll probably be the only code guy for a whiiiiile. I need to hire artists mostly.
youve been awesome thank you so much.
iirc the community license is <= 5 people actively using VS. Artists wouldn't count against it.
But please don't take my advice on that, read the license yourself because iirc it says this pretty clearly.
there are some other limitations around how big the company is
yeah
only the devs part really affects anyone doing indie/solo stuff. Still good to read the license though.
Does publisher funding count as revenue?
first page of the license lays it out pretty clearly https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/license-terms/vs2022-ga-community/
Thanks. Generally I like blueprints a lot but there's a couple here that should realllly be transcoded to C++
I just didn't wanna do it before the UE5 upgrade
Oh nothing at this point.
if anyone's working on any personal projects they want to let me help with let me know. like i said im just looking for some practical learning outside of school.
If anything ill probably be working in QA while I work on my portfolio
ill try to apply in an actual game dev company
So i can start making connections? 🤷♂️
but then again
You can argue that getting a QA job in its self is not a guarantee
I mean would it not be better to just get a regular stress free job and work on your portfolio rather than work QA, have a high workload and low pay and have even less time to work on a portfolio?
Its more sensible to make a 2-5 year plan and stick to that rather than trying to do two competitive things at the same time.
wait how is QA high workload ?
there's a studio that wants to hire me actually
they said whenever you want give us a call
its full time
40 hours a week
so you're telling me I wont have the time to work on my portfolio after work and weekends?
they will pay me more than minimum wage they said
since I have 2 years of experience already
but again
the pay doesnt matter much rn cuz im planning to do some things behind the scenes for extra cash
lol call me crazy but I actually enjoy doing QA work
Crazy.
Does anyone know, if I'm working on a game prototype that I'll pitch to publishers but I haven't yet registered an LLC, can I write off business expenses when tax time comes?
No you cant because without the corporate veil/ a business bank account you cannot show that they are your business expenses and that you are not comingling funds.
The entire point of said llc.
Yes you can the same way a contractor can write off business expenses without establishing an official entity. Its just easier to manage with a business bank account if you have many transactions
might want to talk to professionals about this instead of a gamedev discord
Yep this depends 100% on your local tax legislation^
Does anyone know an experienced UE5 developer/engineer in Queensland, Australia (or just Australia as a second choice)?
You can check on the dedicated job channels, #instructions
Thanks @steady pewter
hey I was wondering if there's any game devs that have experience working/getting a job in the industry if I can just ask a couple of questions for my portfolio, if you have some free time id appreciate it if you messaged me thanks
I would make your link to github more prominent, it's hard to notice, I thought it was just a footnote at first
e.g. just adding the github logo in front of it might already help
also I think you need to be more concrete about what you learned and what you used, more in bulletpoints than in one long text
you could maybe even make a subpage per project to showcase more details and maybe videos/screenshots
having a video instead of a gif is nice cause then you can pause/rewind stuff if you want
also, typo in your about section
As a student I'm a beginner programmer and developer but trough my time
should be through
but even better would be "during my time"
I think it's just a lot of text at once
and ideally you'd have some more content on it in general
one unity feature and a GM game is very hard to judge someone's capacity on
of course this is all subjective
based on what I did for my portfolio
if you want some inspiration https://dietertack.wordpress.com/
(a bit outdated by now)
@charred sentinel So i've seen microsoft also have game departments. Do those departments have crunch times as well?
how is she supposed to know?
Just go in with the idea that crunch will exist. Ask about it in your interviews. Then decide based on that.
"Aah, yea, we crunch hard here - you will like it"
tbh sometims they put out the feelers like "Well if there's a deadline coming up we really try our best to reach our goals" or some shit like that
How often is the question though...Coz i've heard it usually only happens when game release dates are near and games are released like in 2 or 3 years
lol! Where do you work? Also how often?
CDPR did like a year long crunch. A bit on the more extreme side, yes. But it can still happen.
Crunch. Will. Happen.
Just expect it.
The only way for you to know if company X does no crunch, good crunch, or bad crunch, is if you work for them directly. Or if you can meet someone who actually works for the company.
Crunch time doesn't just equate to a game shipping, there can be many periods of time along the way that require it, getting to a certain milestone on time, a beta, a gameplay trailer etc etc. Depending on your team you can easily find yourself up against it more often that not, especially when you throw bad management into the mix.
interesting..
Insightful as well. Thanks!
Do people in gamedev live so much paycheck-to-paycheck that they can't afford to just say no to unhealthy crunch...
at least at my old studio, most of the time it was pretty great, but yes, occasionally poor leadership decision and there was a bit of overtime. We did it because it was 1-2 months at most and it always returned to normal
depends tbh, we had a contract with wargaming where they wanted monthly updates, pretty much every month there was crunch lol
but I didn't have any social life and they gave free pizza and you could use that overtime as holidays so was happy to oblige
I personally think just showing your work visually with a quick summary is best. I did that in my site https://megafunk.github.io/ which was inspired by https://www.orfeasel.com/tech_demos/ (It was the first thing that came up when I googled unreal portfolio)
after 4 months and a bit I took up 2 full weeks of holiday just on overtime
easy
but I wouldn't do that anymore
Yeah personally I wouldn't mind overtime if it doesn't get ridiculous and I got paid for it... unpaid overtime? oh yeah no, not happening lol
yeah unpaid overtime = bye bye job
It's interesting you should mention that, I talked to an EA dev once and he basically said the same thing, 50-60 hrs a week, stuff like that.
Apologies to @trail flint if linking your portfolio is rude
thank you
Wow!!
I just checked ubisoft on glassdoor and it says the average for a gamedev is around $100k a year. Not too shabby to me. Unless people here consider this underpaid? I dunno. It looks quite decent to me. I don't understand...😅
Depends on where you live and what you're comparing against
And what's the work life balance
making a 100k where I live would be some king shit
in SF Bay Area 100k is not terrible but not great, but in a lot of places that is a ton of money yeah
is that net or gross?
Thats only specific to America really and even then location specific.
100k is lower than entry level for a full time position at any of the big tech companies on the west coast. It's not bad, but it certainly isn't good.
everyone assuming everyone works in america at FAANG smh
Given the context of SF and what COL is like there it's really not a stretch.
Yeah I was just using it as an example of where 100k is not that great
as said, depends on location and what it's being compared to :)
for comparison I think one guy that was a jr level intern at our company (in Vancouver) got a job at Amazon for around 160k I think
We can't really match that so it's a bit of an issue sometimes with what people expect to be paid :P
(not a games company)
But unfortunately - it's Amazon. lol. I'll take my boring non-FAANG job that pays pretty well.
Yeah I wouldn't expect smaller companies to always match that kind of pay but it's worth noting the $100k figure wasn't starting salary, they said it was average salary.
Which is much worse.
Though I guess it depends on what positions that includes.
Some lower paying positions are probably skewing that
Yeah
what kind of notes
Learning a lot here from all this conversation. They've been very insightful!
faang good money, games bad money ✅
faang decent work time, games bad work times ❌
That's another thing I've picked up from these discussions
it all depends where you work though
What are your thoughts on working in microsoft game department? " i.e working on games in a faang company
how am I supposed to work
I have worked neither at a faang or faang-like company, nor in a AAA games studio
cool
There are also many companies using Unreal that are neither game studios or faang and pay very well dont forget. So dont limit your choices depending on what you want to do.
Xbox generally pays FTEs the same as the rest of MS (ie generally very good compared to the rest of the industry). Work culture and crunch heavily depends on team/studio as it does with any big company.
Nice! But as for the xbox crunch, it's still more than the rest of MS right?
It depends on team. There isn't really a generalization to make - a large part of Xbox isn't even working on games.
Platform, services, developer experience, APIs, etc... Studios is only a part of the division.
I see. Very nice
Hi, I got offered a Unreal Engine Developer position and was wondering if I can find articles of people talking about their experiences working on Unreal. Thanks.
I am talking about actually working on the Unreal Engine codebase
The whole server is mostly sharing experience: "Welp! Wtf? Nice." etc.
But you may check out also the Epic's YT, sometimes they invite devs.
Do graphics programmers also experience crunch times?
Last question for today i promise 😄
Crunch time is not a new thing nor is it just related to working with games. All deadline based tasks can suffer from it, everywhere I have worked for 15 years has had it.
Its all dependant on the company and the management, that will dictate how bad the deadlines are.
Yeah. It's everywhere. But what i was asking is if it's as bad as it is for gameplay programmers since I hear they are the ones who experience the worst crunch times as compared to other industries
Again, depends on the company and management (and to some extent where you worked).
Some companies can be ruthless with unpaid crunch and some region won't protect you from it, other companies can be more lenient and other regions can have crunching companies be held accountable.
I had crunch time working restaurants 6 days a week, 15 hour shifts. Crunch time is relative.
I'm not sure the point you are trying to make. "That industry is worse so no industry should improve"?
Anyway, it's true all jobs have busy periods. Accountants at tax time, couriers in the holidays. The key thing is make sure it's kept as short as possible, and it's paid.
There's a reason I specifically said "unpaid crunch"
Aside from me experiencing it myself, unpaid crunch can take a toll on both physical and mental health.
I have a feeling you have someone blocked. I was responding to someone else with that first comment
Nope. I actually referring to both of you.
I only block those who are directly being a jerk.
my point is, this is a human condition, not an "industry" problem.
being short staffed, or poorly planning a deadline and then expecting staff to stay on for weeks or months on end sacrificing their health and relationships is a "human condition"?
I believe overtime and crunch are different and sometimes overtime is unavoidable. But I believe people should be paid for their time on the job, which both reimburses people for their efforts and provides an on-paper penalty for employers to avoid crunch. Crunch is much easier to justify to bad management when there is no tangible cost
This was also a discussion about the game industry relative to other similarly-staffed industries. Working restaurants is not relevant to that discussion.
Yes, "crunching" in a restaurant sucks. No, it's not relevant to whether and why the game industry has more crunch than other software industries.
Additionally, restaurant workers (frontline workers, not administrative types) are not "exempt" in the US, meaning they get overtime pay. Programming jobs are exempt which means overtime pay is not required when salaried.
also, if you have crunch and you don't like it, just get another job if you can
you only have to endure as much as you accept
note the "if you can" part, of course if you're in financial struggle and can't have a new job within a short period, that's a different story
@royal lintel , i have another question just popped up!!! Since we're talking about crunch. So i get that the crunch times for people in the game industry is intense, especially for gameplay programmers, artists etc people who are directly involved in the gameplay mechanics and stories. So how about people like the server backend engineers? The guys who work on the game database and all. Are their crunch times as intense? Thoughts?
well there would be deployment needs of what the others are doing as well I guess
I'm also willing to listen to other people's thoughts on this 🙂
so it depends
but we have some devops server people that would literally sleep in the office to make sure the servers were up on time and stuff
Jeez. Which makes it even worse
It's worse if it's unpaid.
I'm not even looking at pay by the way. My main point is just looking at how the crunch times are
I had my moments of sleeping in the office because of crunch, just to get shit payroll, which means those midnight crunch worth nothing.
it all just depends a lot on where you work
Well, at least in eastern part of Asia, crunch work is somewhat expected. Hence my opinion that crunch is not too bad if it's paid accordingly.
I guess crunch work is less welcomed in Far West even if it's paid well.
Mind you, I'm not glorifying crunch work, but the extra work time has to be rewarded accordingly. Unpaid crunch, however, shouldn't be okay.
cool
Yes, considering the person who planned it is a HUMAN who made the problem in the first place.
Not just restaurants. I have worked sales, warehouses, restaurants, software companies, etc.... This is a human condition problem. Slavery is a thing that is still prevalent. HUMANS will ABUSE other HUMANS and justify it ALL THE TIME. It is a human condition.
Ok, but we're not talking about trying to solve the problems of the world.
sure, and you have argued this point? LOL! GOOD LUCK!
yes you are actually. Software development is pretty much world problem solving
but trying to boil it off to "games dev bad!" because of things like crunch -- nah, that is a global issue
That's incredibly reductive.
I guess we shouldn't try to solve any problems in the industry because lots of others have it worse! What kind of BS is that.
as is the entire argument about it being a game dev problem
I never said that LOL
stuff words in mouths is not arguing
No, it's about it being a gamedev problem relative to other software industries
What's the pool prize for the most accumulated work suffering?
Holy shit man, we're not talking about all industries.
20 acres and a mule
If I'm a software engineer then there are a few industries that I'm likely to go into. In general, the working conditions for the game industry will be worse than the other possibilities open to me. That's what we're talking about.
Restaurant industry, warehouses, anything else is completely irrelevant to the conversation
I mean, this convo is starting to get nowhere, you guys.
banking, markets, retail, wholesale, medical, games, .... those are a LOT of indutries
Yes, there are.
but yes, talk about reductive. SWE is not just GAMES. LOL
No one said it was.
If I'm a software engineer then there are a few industries that I'm likely to go into.
auto, aero, space, security, ...
Sure
Software is everywhere
And generally software engineers are very well paid and treated well (with localized exceptions of course). On average, the game industry is worse.
in your experience. My experience is not the same. If you want to start using actual stats, we can do that instead of feels
And seeing as the original question was about gamedev wouldnt it be more appropriate to use that, as we have been doing rather than saying "but aerospace"?
I mean, just about every industry survey shows lower wages than other "tech" sector averages. And I'm not the one bringing up working in warehouses and restaurants as comparison to... being a software engineer.
except for the broad generalizations that is mostly just game dev. It isnt. Dont fool yourself 😄
No one claimed this is purely a gamedev problem.
Saying that it is more prevalent somewhere is not saying it isnt in other places
A butchers sells more meat than other shops, does that now mean only butchers sell meat?
who said it was only gamedev lol
I dunno
2:27 PM] Echaminya: Do graphics programmers also experience crunch times?
sorry, I moved on with the conversation
all that was said is that in general gamedev people make less money than "generic" software engineers
I also find it weird two other people pointed out the same observation, yet, here we are.
you're having a conversation with yourself at this point though
???
this is the conversation I am referring to -- if you responded cause you took something out of context, /shrug
there are many "conversations" here
You went on a tangent about the human condition when we were just saying it tends to be worse in games...
it was a tangent to prove the point I previously made after being attacked on it
You specifically brought up restaurants and warehouses in a conversation about working in the game industry.
what point?
literally the one I just posted
We have very different definitions of attaxk
no one in that screenshot said what you claim
I echod that it ISNT JUST GAMES
And that wasnt relevant to the question
the last message which I guess you're talking about is litearlly a question
!: my point is, this is a human condition, not an "industry" problem.
literally said as an echo to the conversation I already re-posted
Which isn't relevant to the conversation because the question is whether some positions in games are worse than their equivalents elsewhere.
And it is
Even if it wasn't that response wouldn't be appropriate.
the fact you cant follow that, then had me "explain" what I meant to get here is the problem you think you have 😄
but here is a thought; since you are all hot and bothered by what I said, is there a reason you keep going with it? Or is there some new game in career chat I missed?
I dont get all the psuedo-toxicity but the point remains that what you are saying is not answering the question
I think you overestimate people's reactions to what you are saying
Attacking others because you don't like their response isn't a great way to go.
well, you bring up relevance in here. And yet, the relevance of this conversation is 100% worthless in the career chat
getting strong 14 year old vibes
you do that all the time, broski
as is evident here
Opening a dialogue is not getting hot and bothered. I get typing is often misunterpreted in terms of emotions
Questioning your response's relevance to a discussion is not attacking your person.
Asking questions and talking is not attacks, your pseudo toxic attitude is
I made a statement; someone got upset it wasnt on "their" topic. stay mad I guess
I guess we're not allowed to disagree with you
Because otherwise we're attacking you.
nor I with you apparently
You're perfectly allowed to disagree with what I said, but calling people mad over it isn't furthering any discussion.
I didnt call you mad, I said stay mad 😄
Basic skills of inference say that is calling someone mad
Mad can mean crazy
You cannot stay mad if you are not already mad
dictionary.com its a thing
More of the pseudo toxicity
that literally changes nothing though
just like you are doing
How have i been toxic
stay mad implies that you are already mad, no matter the definition
you do understand that you are doing what you claim I am?
you are doing nothing here now other than trying to provoke 😄
My responses were collected and factual, i never dropped a 'stay mad broski'
you can stop anytime. promise. Like me, right now, going to actually do adult work 😄
didn't know 14yo did adult work
yes
that isnt toxic, at all
"Hey ya'll, how bad is crunch in the game industry?"
"I did crunch in the restaurant industry"
🤔
If ya cant beat em join em
its everywhere, argue all ya want
<@&213101288538374145> uncivil convo
We arent saying it usnt
Someone asked if it is worse in gameplay compared to other tech industries
yes, I was told I wasnt in the lane of "game dev" so
I ain't arguing anything.
correct, they did.
And restaurants are not tech.
At the very least, a graphics engineer isn't going to go work at a restaurant as a normal career prospect.
And you argued about the human condition and got toxic about it
The restaurant "industry" was clearly used as an exemplar.
as I pointed out again, the numerous industries that have CRUNCH
Again doesnt answer the question
Yes, and those have nothing to do with an engineer's career prospects.
No one denied that
In fact he said "Yes i get its everywhere"
This was well established
The human condition is toxic. It created all the things that are toxic 😄
I mean you arent wromg, but again no bearing on the topic
That question was about Crunch -- crunch indeed affects your choices.
neither does any of this, but #lougue2
Career prospects and experience in relation to games is certainly on topic.
as is observation that all industries suffer similar problems
"Yeah. It's everywhere. But what i was asking is if it's as bad as it is for gameplay programmers"
Saying something true doesn't make it relevant.
It's like complaining that rents are too high and someone else saying that children in another country are starving. Yes, it's true. No, it's not relevant, and it's even insulting.
Quote from who asked the question
See how the restaurant industry has nothing to do with that
Hm
Hm
Hm
Tricky. I mean it's not the end of the world for them to also discuss similar industries as comparison, if that was the intention.
No, it's not, but when questioned on how it was relevant to the original discussion they got very defensive about it.
No but when we pointed out it doesnt answer their question they got all toxic
Right
Esoecially seeing as their inital response was already acknowledged in the question
lol, they got all toxic? I literally have been non-toxic until I started getting bashed in here. Its not that hard to read
You werent getting bashed
If you feel an opposing view is bashing then thats on you
peacefully
You came in here previously with the opinion of how crunch is a management failure, now your saying "it's just everywhere". I think this is where the arguments are stemming from
I need advice on schools in Pyongyang
I will be living in North Korea with my sister for about 2 years, would like to go to school while im there
this seems like the best choice
but I wanna know the alternatives
g8 b8 m8
scam link?
its a real school
a lot of america and EU is unaware of the fact north korea is open to other countries for education
What does this have to do with unreal engine?
i was asking about schools related to game design
@scenic moon it may be an uncomfortable question but try not to make a stink of it im hoping to get an actual opinion or answer on it on topic
lol
No that's my bad not trying to combat it just seemed not related to unreal engine at first
since its about language
i dont think there is a school for unreal engine lol
I didn't think anyone would actually take this question seriously lol
i dont know any universities that teach unreal and @craggy nacelle yeah most people wouldnt take it seriously, very few people are aware of the subject at all
its not a bad thing, its rare to talk about north korea in terms of education
Probably 'cause they're more isolated from the world than some tribes that haven't hit the bronze age yet
they are very isolated, her first semester I was sitting in the cafeteria and there was a class marching in (literally marching, like feet swinging up and everything) when she came to the table and sat down she told me it was a patriotic song
We don't talk about politics here
it was pretty cool but definitely weird for me
then why did you start the discussion of politics if that is not okay lmao
not you but him
the guy who was talking about isolation and what not
i just wanna know about programming schools in the country ill be stuck in for 3 years
I wouldn't take 7801's word as gospel.
That's not political, that's saying "we don't know about something nobody else knows about"
I don't think you're going to get any info on "schools related to game design in pyongyang" if that's what you're asking because as far as I'm aware any use of common tools in the game industry is going to be entirely restricted there.
but everyone keeps changing the subject to politics lol
this school teaches unreal https://www.digitalartsandentertainment.be/
idk about korean schools
@royal lintel there is no software related to cg or game design restricted in NK
I'm not talking about what's restricted there
I doubt any companies making common tools outside of NK are going to be selling those tools to NK.
this is just propaganda you might have been fed
lol
My sister is working on a list but i wont see her for about 2 weeks
hopefully she finds something, id like to get some edu while im there
I know Pyongyang has some great schools, but really I doubt much people in here know anything about it except maybe that it exists
a lot of people are surprised when they find out any of them exists haha
I wonder what I said to prompt that? Just about everything I say in this server I say take with a grain of salt?
We don't talk about politics here
then why did you start the discussion of politics if that is not okay lmao
Just responding to this part. Not saying what you say isn't right or wrong.
a lot of people dont know the whole "isolated from the internet" thing is just an HTTP proxy, but no content-filter for your access to the internet. We can still access most sites, discord, steam etc
how else would i be talking to you all rn lol
@shut token its not anyones fault my guy its just a very weird subject
Those are 2 posts, mine is the top and Johns is the bottom of that quote. I said we don't talk about politics here, because I thought that was part of the rules here, looks like I was wrong about that, sorry about that, could have just let me know
Huh?
There is no blame being placed anywhere.
well, a lot of what people in the west and the east of NK believe about the country is just totally false and regurgitated by the media in both countries
so yeah they should take the blame for that, but lets not continue this discussion, no politics for rn
What are you even going on about
well japan is pretty educated on NK
but this isnt the place for politics lol, if anyone is interested in how living in north korea is for an outsider then i welcome PMS
love to talk about it because its definitely interesting
but japan would fall under the countries to the east no
just saying it was weird wording lol
i didnt mean every where else by west and east i mean EU and US
oh and russia lol they are pretty propagandist against NK
So I've been working on a game demo that's almost getting to the point where I'm gonna want to pitch it to publishers. The problem is, I'm a dumbshit and I don't know the first thing about any of that. I don't really even know who to ask, I don't personally know anyone in the games industry either.
Are there like consultants who I could pay for a couple hours of their time, just to lay out where I'm at and the goals, and have them say something like "oh yeah, you gotta form this type of company, start doing this with your expenses, talk to these people at publishers and submit your demo in this form"?
Hey y’all. We’re a product team from the bay area that recently got funding to make something dope to promote the craft of indie game devs. We’d love to hear about your needs and frustrations with the current system and there’s some amazon/steam gift cards in it for your time. If you’re down, heres a survey https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9vAwH8TKoX9DjWCSsnPKoW8_6si3-VXuPrSrK1wkPyAEBuA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Thanks!
Hi, quick question. How standard it is if I would get and sign my contract on the first/second day of the probation period?
As a sidenote : I do not distrust them and there was no redflags or whatsoever. And the HR said they usually prepare the contracts for the first day, but they can send it earlier if I want.
Juts curious about that how standard procedure that is.
well standard would be at the end of probation
but if they see you are doing really well and they like you it's not out of the ordinary to do before
but you can always ask them why they decide to give it to you already
Usually there is no contract for probation period?
It's a little unorganised but it happens. I've had jobs where I don't get the paper work till the first day, and they want me to sign it that day, but I push back and hand it over signed on day 2. Always take it home and read it.
there should be
Probation period is paid and legal work, just less obligations for notice period. There is absolutely a contract
I assumed you had one for probation and they were giving you a fulltime now
my bad
but it does happen that they give it too late
not that big a deal if it's just 2 days
I got mine done before I started
except if you were to break your leg at work for example
then you're not ensured
usually you would have it before you start though
That's ideal. But some companies are less organised
I believe that would be the contract for the probation period. I think at least.
I wrote to them I would like to get it sooner so I can read through. There is almost a month until I start.
well shit if there's still a month to go why would they wait till then
maybe if they want your physical signature you can do it on the first day before you start though
That's less common. Usually if you aren't getting it for the first day or 2 it's a more immediate start
There's no reason it can be prepared in that 4 weeks
Yep, even if they want physical signature, no reason you can't review an e-mailed copy
That is a full remote position, so there is no real reason to wait.
It's strange (to me) you have a separate contract for probation and full time. In Australia the probation period can be written into the one contract, so it just rolls over after the 3 months of probation
yeah that's possible
is anyone here form UK
You should sign your contract BEFORE you start working, your probation period is still full time paid employment. The only time I've seen otherwise is when its an unpaid intern who is offered a job and then can be overlap while they negotiate.
this is not the chat for that check #instructions
<@&213101288538374145> crosspost in #animation
:triangular_flag_on_post: LEX#1884 received strike 1. As a result, they were muted for 10 minutes.
seriously though, youve been here for half a year +, you should know the rules.
Depends entirely on location, studio, seniority, whether it's a contract or full time position, etc.
But yes, in some locations that's perfectly reasonable for a mid level engineer.
Then I imagine all the projects you make and market in your offtime if any.
Some people make like $10/week per app they make and they make like over a dozen. Not much but enough to earn something.
What would you guys consider "entry level" in unreal?
Like I get there are a ton of fields to answer for, but break down the fields you know I guess
Having the basic knowledge, not yet knowing into the more lower level stuff.
Do you mean the pay?
I meant experience level, trying to figure out where I fall without falling victim to dunning-kruger
but yeah also pay ranges would be relevant
Kinda hard to quantify
I'm kind of a junior level programmer and here's my portfolio I guess https://megafunk.github.io/
You could troll around linkedin I suppose
I just searched "UE4 Portfolio" and aped what I saw in terms of layout for the site
Thanks, I'll look into that. Making a portfolio has always been my weakness lol
Feel free to copy my javascript stuff, just be warned the VUE.js version is not the production version
contains crypto miner
I'll just change the wallet address 😉
When I hire a junior artist or developer they never have less than 2-3 years of experience/practice. This can be time spent in school or self study or a mix of both, its only the portfolio that interests me not qualifications.
Time doesn't equal quality of course, but its rare to find someone employable who had been working with it for less.
This definitely makes me a bit more comfortable about applying somewhere once I get a portfolio site up and running
do you count school in that experience/practice
cause otherwise that's kinda dumb
how is a person supposed to get 2-3 years of experience if everyone would hire juniors like this
not complaining about me, I have a job, but that's just a strange quantification for a junior profile
ah I see you did mention school
my bad
Hi there
definitely portfolio is most important
I am kind of interested in knowing about Unreal Engine
I am a unity dev and want to switch to unreal engine
But i want to use unreal engine 3
So does it have blueprints?
Does it work with a modern windows 10 system?
Also where will i get the engine from
is there a reason for using unreal 3?
Unreal engine 4 and 5 are really demanding
And I dont have money to buy a new system
I would still go for at least 4 tbh
there's a very big gap from 3 to 4
also 3 is no longer supported
Isn't 3 also closed source?
and you don't have source access
also, no one uses it anymore, so good luck getting any help
you can still use unreal development kit 3
but that's far from what ue4 has as features and stuff
But ue4 is really demanding
depends on what you do I guess
have you tried using it already?
don't knock it till you try it
but imo, learning ue3 now is a waste of time
unless you have a specific old project that you want to create mods/maps for for example
Those devs are probably also experienced in using that specific engine. Coming into a new engine you'd want something with more resources available to you
I want to use UE5
But it needs 64 gb ram and really high end specs I can't afford
The editor scales really well actually, but you will have to fight it a bit at first to get it running well
It will not work on my system for sure
I suggest you first try using unreal 4, on the lowest settings if that helps
don't knock it till you try it
But then i will not have the metahuman of UE5
well or ue5
try what works for you
I don't think ue5 has much higher requireements than 4
it's basically the same engine with new UI and some extra features
I don't know where you got this 64g ram number from
recommendend specs is literally 8GB Ram
and that's even recommended
not minimum
I have a ASUS TUF F15 laptop
I5 10gen
8gb ram
4gb gtx 1650ti graphics card
that's definitely decent enough
For UE5? or 4?
both
just don't go crazy on stuff like megascans in your projects and you should be fine
So how big are both UE4 and 5 in size
Damn thats huge
my ue4 is 47.2GB
that's not really huge lol
that's like 1 AAA game installed on your system
or 1/4th of call of duty modern warfare install 🥲
uninstall it?
Ok then
you can try ue4 if 5 doesn't work
if that doesn't work, good luck
cause UDK doesn't even have an official download page anymore
I don't mind if people went to school or not, many people including myself are self trained with no qualifications but instead practiced for many years on their own at home. I accept juniors with degrees, masters, online courses, self taught, doesn't really matter to me I will only judge them on their portfolio.
Ive seen people coming out of game dev education with 3 years BA and 2 years MA and they are still rubbish. Ive seen people just knuckle down and focus and be much better in half of that time. Thats why I only really judge on portfolio, there are also many terrible schools.
Hello everyone ! (I really don't know if it's the right place, but)
I'm looking for feedback on my portfolio (Junior Artist), as I'm having trouble trying to find a job in the industry.
What is good, what is not, what should i change ? Should I dump the website and only use Artstation ?
I'll take any kind of feedback as really need to improve.. thank you !
well first issue would be, the site takes forever to load 😄
like legit, image is still loading now
the video vor icarion is just black?
ah it finally started
would be nicer if it was something you could play/pause yourself or skip time
this sounds so weird
" my collegue mainly worked on the rigging and animations and finally myself."
sounds like your colleagues worked on you
also you spelled colleague wrong
also you say "Based off the concept art of Fernando Correra "KAP-40"."
but you don't add a link to that
and you spelled their last name wrong
Fernando Correa
no extra r
also about that specific gun, that looks very thin tbh
biggest issue with the site itself is that it load so extremely slow
the work itself is okay
Try to add more stuff on your portfolio though
also you only show renders, show clay shots and wireframes as well
and yeah afaik most artists just use artstation, so that would work
can't really give much comment on the art cause I'm but a humble programmer that hasn't done 3d in a few years 😄
The main thing that jumps out at me is that you mention multiple things that you did but don't actually show those things. For example you mention optimizing topology and yet there's no images of the topology, or you mention compositing and yet there's no breakdowns of a composite you did, etc.
While it's nice to see the final result I would be far more interested in seeing how you achieve that result
I think the website itself is fine, loaded fast for me so might be a geographic issue? idk. I don't see a particular reason to use artstation instead of that website as it generally seems to look and work just fine - any issues with your portfolio are mostly with what you're writing/showing as was already mentioned. I can't comment on the art either but definitely proofread and spellcheck the writing - there are a few very obvious errors ("Thank you for looking all the way trough" is missing an h) that will generally turn people off from going any further.
@abstract thunder btw
First of all, thank you all for the feedback, i've asked on multiples places and barely ever got any feedback. I'll get to work ASAP and correct the issues you mentioned !
For the spelling I will redo a double check as my main language is FR and I indeed misspelled a lot of words.
I am aware of the loading issue (caused by all the videos in autoplay) the loading speed may vary depending on your connection speed.. So maybe I should turn off all the auto play and let the viewer decide ?
And the last point being the lack of details in any of the project shown is because I wanted the recruiter to be able to fly fast through all the projects
Then should i do something similar as Artstation, and use thumbnails and click for a more detailed breakdown of the process ?
that's a possibility, just something where you can show the more art technical stuff like topology and stuff
While having the ability to click and go into more detail would be nice, I'd still recommend have some of the breakdown images as part of the preview images on the main page. How you achieve those results is a core part of what you'd be doing if hired so you should be demonstrating that as clearly as possible
Yeah I really think too many portfolio pages force you to "enter" the page first. Show your stuff right when the page opens!
I agree, I also find tedious to jump from one portfolio to another as they are all different and takes time to get use to
So I am gonna keep the "one page" style but try to figure out a way to better separate work.
The problem is that if I add to much stuff, the site becomes reliant on using the Nav Bar at the top and I don't think many people use it
Its best to have everything on one page, and not have too many projects (unless they are very good). 3-6 is enough for an artist.
Ok thank you I will be sure to keep the best, either way I don't have much 'quality' projects since I am a junior artist my choices are limited ahah
Junior doesn't have to mean bad, its all about the amount of time you put in, and that will always show in your work. So its evident when you spend a lot of time on one thing, rather than less time on many.
Noted, Based off your portfolio i see you're into 3D as well can you critique my work ? What needs to be improved and what is bad ?
Yes, 3D is my hobby but for my job I am Creative Lead for a studio. A few things I would change, overall its not great (the design of the site, your work is ok for clarity) but what stands out the most:
- The work is not on the first page, I don't really care what your name is, if I like the work enough ill go and find that information in your about or contact section.
-You have a lot of media on the first page so its not the fastest to load as others have said.
-The fonts and alignment are all over the place, I expect all my artists to be able to present their own project work so having at least some discipline is important, when in doubt keep it simple and stick to a grid.
-I would try and stick to neat galleries rather that so many videos.
-You mention work and skills that you do not demonstrate such as topology etc.
Here for example you have fonts in two different weights, a widow in the text, media frames of different sizes, not to mention nothing is aligned, if anyone, even a junior was applying to me for a design related job, that would disqualify them.
So anyone have any tips on how to make game development a career?
Ok so less heavy loading media, and have consistent fonts, about the alignments, it's a tricky job as I try to make it work for every resolutions and it often breaks.
I made the site on a WQHD display, what is your screen resolution ? So that I can try to fix it
If you are not able to implement the design properly then just use a template
I do that myself so I know the experience is consistent on all devices and is simple.
This is mainly what the topic about my portfolio is @uneven drum, I'm trying to get feedback to finally get into the industry.
I'd advise you to have a portfolio to show your work (Artstation / personal site) and reach out to the HR, Talent Acquisition team, or go in person see the studios to make yourself stand out.
If your profile is interesting and you have what is required to be hired chances are the studios will reach out to you.
You're right, I'm shooting a bullet in my foot trying to do everything by myself to be unique, I fail on my main objective. i'll scrap the site and redo it clean with all the missing skill that needs to be demonstrated
Don't worry so much about being unique as a designer, just worry about being good. There will be time to hone your skills, specialise and become great later.
Ty for responding back I will work on growing my portfolio and looking around. Thank you for you advice
@abstract thunder You say hard surface and texture artist, I don't expect to see stylized stuff, even buildings, but more complex props (classic examples: bunker door, radio, light fixtures, fire extinguisher, pipes, etc). For texture work, I would pick varied objects (wood, metal, stone, etc). A whole building is kinda hard for a junior to do all alone, perhaps you can focus on a part that also showcases hard surface modeling / baking / texturing (something like a victorian window/facade maybe with details and trims). I do suggest you use artstation and also put up marmoset viewer files for assets like the pistol (for viewers to check topology, baking, etc).
I can't tell if you mastered high to low baking and all its quirks, or really analyze topology (for example pistol doesn't have even distribution of edges, some parts are too high res , some don't use enough triangles), a lot of edges are razor sharp
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/oOaRYm here's a great example for everything, really shows technicall skills, texturing work, presentation, etc
or for hard surface: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/PeOYLy
O M G.. Thank you so much for this detailed response concerning what I show VS what is expected, yes i also find the pistol extremely outdated in therms of topology, you gave me a clear path as far as what i'm supposed to work on for the jobs i'm applying to.
Thank you for theses examples as well, I now know exactly what I have to do, I have focused on the wrong things all along !!
And yes I had plans to embed the marmoset viewer file on my website, but had troubles doing it. Again for time and efficiency reasons I think that i'll use Artstation as my portfolio for now, and when I finally have a job, work on the website which make me lose so much time.
I can't believe how much things I learned on one day compared to 3 years at art school lol... Again thank you all very much for the replies I never felt so relieved
Did you not read my reply in industry chat? <@&213101288538374145>
So is it worth it to try and jump from a boring but good payment JS API developer into a games studio, I hear a lot of bad things in this industry
I just think because I like games it would be less boring
also, just fyi, making games is very different to playing games. So "I like games" might not be the correct motivation.
Don't jump ship until you tried it on your own for a while and like it
I've been trying, so far it's pretty interesting to learn
Hey hello
im trying to find some entry level job as a character concept artist
any tips or leads?
Portfolio 👍
instagram: elsoto99
try posting in #looking-for-work by reading the #instructions
protip: for artists its best to set up an artstation page.
yeah..
instagram is not a portfolio
the thing is that i have like 90 something drawings
and i got lazy getting into artstation
i have a profile tho, its on my discord bio
ill appreciate some feedback
A good portfolio, for a junior, only needs to be 4-6 pieces. Quality over quantity.
It needs a lot of work, it doesn’t demonstrate any ability as a character artists, you list Zbrush as a skill but don’t show any sculpts.
yes, my sculpts get stuck into the sculpting part, im learning now poly paint and rendering on photoshop
I would not list Zbrush on your portfolio then, I would say you need more practice before you are ready for a junior role.
on the drawing part you mean?
Drawing and sculpting.
you see any really big problem with the drawing part?
Yes, it needs more work and practice.
Most of them are very much the same, both in style and also the fact they are all busts.
You are not showing any ability or range to work with different styles or concepts. The style you do have is not very refined.
Yes they are very loose, they lack details and clarity. They do have a clear style, but it’s not really a marketable style, and if you want to work professionally that’s what you need to focus on.
If you can only do one style, you will have to be extremely lucky to find a project that is also working in that exact style, the chances of that are slim and you are just narrowing your options.
Being a character artist is more that just sketching some designs, it’s being able to take an idea from conception to reality, the key skill here is illustration in general. If you practice with more styles and give yourself a greater range you have more chance of success.
do you know where i can get an internship or mentorship?
To learn from professionals
That’s entirely location dependent, it’s also extremely competitive to get an internship so your portfolio will have to be up to scratch too.
To get an internship you will be competing with people who will have been studying/practicing character art for 2-3 years
Well don’t give up I am self taught and many people I know too
thanks a lot for the help, ill step up my anatomy then
Any idea of who I may contact or an email I can use to speak to anyone at Epic Games about their Grant Program? I'm an educator who has a time sensitive question and wanted to speed up the 90-day response time process.
i would try to reach out to one of the unreal engine evangelists
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/unreal-indies
scroll down and you will see the twitter handles you can try and DM them on. Chris Murphy is one who handles most of the Australia side of things
Bless ye, thank you!
Hello everyone, i don’t usually get into chat with random people but i need your help guys, i’ve been into game dev for about 6 years and recently i lost all my data and passwords. I had to buy a new PC and leave my past work and contacts behind, now i’m struggling with getting back to industry and finding a job, i always had job offers from people that i know but now i feel like i’m starting from scratch and i have to find a job due to some financial issues, this is my darkest period of game dev sadly and over the years i heard many similar stories, i always tried to help but i never thought that i might get into that situation myself, now i'm here and i'm looking for that good person that might help me out. This whole year was really bad for me, now i'm aware that if i don't find a job in next few days i might have to leave game industry forever, so yeah, this is my last shot 🙂
Well, my largest problem is that i'm not looking for fully commercial jobs, i like to do multiple jobs and like to be on multiple positions, i've spent many years working with indie teams and that's something that you just don't forget, i'm looking to become a real part of a team, to make bond with my colleagues and accept game idea as mine, simply said i'm looking for passionate but paid projects, i'm a bit weird type of person and professional industry just doesn't make me feel comfortable. I tried to be a part of professional industry but it didn't go well, honestly it just felt like an ordinary job, i won't name companies where i worked to avoid problematic situations
To apply only for one team position is not really something i feel comfortable with, i hope that what i say make sense because it's very hard to explain
I would accept single or short-time job if someone contacts me for it probably if salary is good, but i don't feel good about applying for such jobs myself
then you need to go for #hire-a-freelancer
this isnt the place really for advertising yourself
This is one of those things where linkedin is handy :P just add all your professional'ish contacts there and you can wipe your pc and it's still all there lol
but what if your pc is the linkedin servers 😅
Ruff days @ the day job put more gas in my fire
Probably a good thing while asking for help, to also post your portfolio, then if someone likes it they may indeed help you out by offering you what you are looking for. Otherwise you have not really offered any incentive for someone to help you.
This is less career advice and more life advice.
i lost all my data and passwords
Contact customer service to recover login access to accounts.
Back up your data using cloud storage like Google Drive.
Use a password manager like BitWarden.
i always had job offers from people that i know but now i feel like i’m starting from scratch
Reach out to your professional contacts via email, phone, discord, twitter, or linkedin if you remember who they were.
if i don't find a job in next few days i might have to leave game industry forever
Then get a job or freelance work that will hire you in a short timeframe and get financially stable asap.
i never thought that i might get into that situation myself
Always prepare for the worst and have a backup plan and emergency funds.
portfolio is probably the most important
I've been alive for 25 years, doesn't mean shit honestly
Really though I've been programming and trying to make games for years and unreal makes me feel like I don't know anything. I'm constantly relearning stuff and feeling like everything I learnt outside of unreal doesn't apply. I have no formal training or qualifications so that statement might not mean as much but it's a struggle
It's the same for everyone, except the small minority!
Unreal is its very own little cosmos...
It's a truly absurdly huge bundle of trivia
ok, but they said they've been doing game dev for 7 years, I mean you must have done something in that time instead of playing with your fingers right?
made a small game, or a prototype, or a tech demo, or at least testing some extremely small things like a specific component or something
saying been doing this for 7 years implies you did something right
didn't say it had to be unreal specific
a team of us are putting together a game at work and it's our first game - we agreed the most challenging aspect would be the game design aspect. Could someone give a good pointer to a framework they use for game design that dictates the steps in the process one should take when designing their game?
Hi guys. How do you know you are burned out? I have finished 2 game jams and I can't stand the urge to search for game ideas even tho I feel exhausted.
That's how you know.
If you just have a meh feeling and don't really want to do it at the time, after doing it quite heavily for X amount of time - pretty good indicator that you're burnt out.
I don't get game jams...usually I've seen "weekend" events where people work all day all night almost...sorta like crunch..no wonder it's exhausting 🤔
Hey guys, I have one questions regarding books to learn. Which gamedev books should be must read for any gameplay programmer? I am looking for good c++ books and game programming books as well. For starter, I use internet as my gamedev resources for ue4 tutorials, but I have never purchased any books for learning. Therefore, I am looking for good suggestions.
idk game programming books specifically, if looking for c++ though you can check out https://www.learncpp.com/, for some books on "base" c++, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list.
For unreal specific , this is an interesting free course https://learn.unrealengine.com/course/3441566, and these doc pages are pretty interesting as well for starters https://docs.unrealengine.com/4.27/en-US/ProgrammingAndScripting/ProgrammingWithCPP/IntroductionToCPP/
like, generic gameplay programmer books, I don't really have agood view on
only game specific book I ever read was "Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 12", but that's about rendering
I would also recommend some general programming books, like Pragmatic Programmer and Code Complete... they don't deal with any specific programming language, but more general advice on how to write good code
But if you're a beginner probably focus on getting to grips with your tools of choice first, and once you find you want to get more in-depth, then those are good to also consider :)
Thanks for the suggestions @woeful iron and @craggy nacelle . I will check out those links and those books.
Does anyone here have any Unreal Engine free environmental courses?
<@&213101288538374145> crossposting
What do you mean?
@hexed gust this means you posted the same question in 4 different channels, all within a few moments of each other, and generally against the rules of this discord.
This community has a remarkable amount of people, talent, skill, experience, knowledge and answers, and if you want to be a part of this community and be a benefactor of this, you will need patience and consideration that people answer freely of their own will and support of each other. Please do not spam multiple channels with your question as you did, it's disruptive, impatient, and against the rules.
I see you're new here, I advice you read the #rules and abide by them. I will not issue a strike this time, but next time will come with a strike, which will temporarily (30 days) restrict your access to certain features of the community, and with 3 of them, you will be permanently removed from it.
Thank you so much, I will take this into consideration next time
I also recommend you check out https://learn.unrealengine.com as it is the best source online for unreal learning courses and are free
Thank you so much for everything
enjoy and hope your learning process is great, it'll be rough, but it'll be rewarding if you stick to it
Thanks
hello hello! Im trying to post a job, but i can't seem to be able to send a message successfully to Manny. Is there something I might be doing wrong?
@charred sentinel, :8ball: Reply hazy, try again.
yes
Worked fine here.
ahh, that did it. many thanks!
hey guys
not too sure if this is the right place to ask
but I have to do about 4-5 projects for my portfolio ready for at least end of september
what would the best and quick projects I can do in terms of environment art ? assets , textures , scenes,... ? etc..
would an asset made in Maya and textured in substance painter alone be considered a project?
just look at other artists portfolios for examples?
Now you're being told to see #instructions on how to post to the job board channels.
What is the id number?
good. I'm month full time
props to those who can do indie and support a family at the same time
How much actually a FT deisgner and programmer can make in a Start-up Company monthly?
Depends on the definition of startup and the location of the startup
2 person team in a garage is a start up, 50-100 person company with vc funding is also a startup
This practical discussion led by Senior Dev Rel Tech Artist Zak Parrish presents an overview of common issues that arise during a studio’s first six months on a UE4 project, focusing on solutions. Topics include general best practices, optimization guidelines, and how to avoid common pitfalls of game development.
Learn more at http://www.unreal...
tyvm man
Is anyone else difficulties finding freelance VFX artists?
Thanks @charred sentinel , this discussion does not seem to have had any helpful conclusions
Heh indeed
I'm having the same trouble as Partikel. Everytime I put an ad for a VFX gig, there are very few applicants and even less "good" ones. Every time I painstakingly sieve through art station and twitter for quality pros, they are of course happily employed and don't do freelance. Seems like it's either unsustainable to be a game VFX freelancer, or there just aren't that many. Or nobody is interested in my particular project maybe.
small violin noises
It is actually not that involved. You are sieving a bit too actively. Drop your expectations a notch or two.
@ashen lynx you're probably right
But from what I've seen there's a big jump from people just starting out with super basic vfx, to high end accomplished artists. I couldn't see much in between
It is not uncommon to get contacted by someone having unrealistic expectations with respect to scope and complexity of project and benefits provided. Too uncommon in fact. Not so much in respect of benefits, but more about expectations.
o high end accomplished artists. I couldn't see much in between That is actually almost everywhere that way.
If only there was any contact at all and they would tell me "yo you're being unrealistic"
Ye, but overall, I get your sentiment. Had to refuse quite a bit in the past. Always feels unpleasant. Still have serious regrets about few select ones.
You're a VFX artist?
do you guys know of any big team of game developers willing to take in newbies?
Technical artist / rendering programmer. Just happen to spin around VFX a bit.
Maybe it's just much harder to be a freelancer in VFX. The assets are much more integrated than something like a 3D model or 2D art
Hard to have small scope quick projects
that would be ideal but I am traveling to Mexico this week and staying there for a year 😂
No, it is not that much different. Just generally availability/demand ratio is lower.