#DD2000 Assignment 2

[cameronmallen1futureworks-blog]

DD2000 - Research Blog Naughty Dog

The first place that I went to research is a company that I admire after playing some of their games. Naughty Dog. I went to research into the roles of Character Artists and what responsibilities they had as well as the skill I would need to gain the job as a Character Artist at Naughty Dog. As someone who wants to specialise in creature art, I loved their artwork (both 2D and 3D) when making the creatures for The Last of Us. Their requirements and responsibilities for a 3D Character artist job are as follows:

“Summary:

This artist will be primarily responsible for creating realistic animal game assets from scratch. Secondarily, they will also be working on human assets, including clothing and faces.

Responsibilities:

Sculpting/modelling different animals and people as needed for a realistic world setting

Texturing

Retopology and efficient UV layout

Creating hair cards/fur and setting up shaders

Working with other departments such as Concept art, shading, and rigging to develop a high quality animal production pipeline

Additional responsibilities may be assigned as needed

Requirements & Skills:

Very detailed knowledge of animal and human anatomy

Understanding of game production pipeline

Good eye for color and texture painting

Relevant software proficiencies: Zbrush, Maya, Substance Painter, Photoshop

Ability to both work independently, take feedback, and work on a team

Bonus Skills:

Experience working on AAA titles as a character artist

Experience creating animals for AAA pipelines

As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test.”

There are a lot of skills that I do lack, lots of practice and learning new skills/techniques will be needed to acquire a job at Naughty Dog. Firstly and most importantly, I will absolutely need to learn how Human and Animal anatomy. Human anatomy will be a priority for me if I want a Character artist role anywhere, so learning many different body types and how to sculpt them in high quality will be the most important step. After that I will move onto animal anatomy, specifically mammals as most mammals anatomy have the same base structures. Once comfortable with mammal anatomy I will move onto different creatures such as fish, insects, amphibians and so on. 

Another thing I would need to learn is creating hair cards/fur as of now I have no experience in doing such a task. Clearly, these are extremely vital tasks when being a Character Artist so to learn these skills is definitely something I should work on as soon as I learn Anatomy. 

One of the methods that I plan to gain experience in the industry so that I will learn how to work as a team as well as the pipeline of creating characters with Concept Artists and Riggers, is by applying for a Trainee program at a AAA company.  

[elidecarteretfutureworks-blog]

DD2000 Assignment 2 Research blog

Introduction

The job role which I would like to go into post Futureworks is a Level Designer role. In order to create my presentation, I had to do a lot of research into different companies I could work at and what the role of a Level Designer actually involves. I also had to look into different studios and key designers who have influenced my decision to become a Level Designer.

Sections to discuss

I had a list of different sections which I wanted to talk about. Due to this, I have ordered this research blog in the same way as the presentation.

Inspirations

There were a number of games which inspired me growing up to become a Level/ Game Designer. Some of these games include:

Black

Far Cry 3

Pokémon Ruby Red

Sea Dogs

Spyro

Before Futureworks

Here I will be discussing the different games and things which I created when I was at college and just after college.

During Futureworks

This section will be discussing what I have learned in my time at Futureworks. 

• Modelling in Maya- I have vastly improved my Maya skills, having gone from never used Maya before I came to Futureworks to now having the ability to build semi realistic worlds in a few weeks.

• Blueprinting- Before I joined Futureworks, I had never used Unreal Engine before. Now I am creating working Multiplayer games using Steam integration and building fully working levels with a number of mechanics involved.

• Level Designing in UE4- My level designing skills have improved massively since starting at Futureworks

• Tell successful narratives- First year taught me a lot about narrative design and how to tell narratives in both games and in Twine. 

• Gather feedback- I learned that feedback is vital in this industry and any piece of feedback could change the dynamics of an entire game or improve it dramatically.

• Work to deadlines- Although I had to work to deadlines at college, I feel that the deadlines at university are a lot tighter and stricter, as of which, I have had to learn to deal with them more professionally. 

• Work both individually and in a team- I have learned how to work more efficiently as both an individual and a team for different projects and getting them finished efficiently and on time. 

 Self reflection

Main area of interest?

Level Design

Most enjoyable creative disciplines?

Level/ world building

Narrative writing

Blueprinting in UE4

Strongest skills?

Creating fun games  

Perfectionist

Meeting deadlines

Working in a team

Self motivation

Technically: Designing worlds/ Blueprinting

‘Get a bit of freedom with your designs. Sure, the Game Designer and the Art Lead will tell you the theme and the art direction of the game, but you’ll have wiggle room to create within that framework.’

Level designers and editors can also be tasked with developing the gameplay of a level. In a genre like platformers, you’ll be designing a large part of the challenges that players of the game will face.

 Kind of environment enjoy working in?

Enjoy working in a team if ethos is right

Enjoy solo tasks

Long term ambitions

Ship a game people want to play

Work for a company I am happy at

Challenging but fun projects

Working with charismatic and hard working people

What required to achieve them?

Keep working hard

Apply to places who make games I enjoy playing

Apply to places who make games similarly to what I enjoy making

Keep honing skills

Ethos: Everyone wants to work

Everyone working towards same goal

The beliefs of the game creating are similar to mine

 Considerations

Location

Would like to be close to family

Prefer to be near countryside to city

Other commitments

Friends and relationship

Particular studios

Double Eleven

Ubisoft

Sumo Digital

Other avenues (networking/ competition)

Game events such as EGX, Manchester Gamer Unite or Tranzfuser

Research: How can you get to the job want?

•       Begin as Junior Level Designer

•       Move to Level Designer

•       QA

•       Graduate programs

•       Indie companies

•       Mods

Is it achievable?

These are the most common ways into this position.

Gabe Newell- “Traditional credentialing" has little "predictive value" to how successful someone will be or what they can do with their skillset.

Valve have hired people based on their mods (Team Fortress 2)

Gabe Newell- What he is saying here is that you could have the best qualification in the world, but if you cannot do the required work, not going to fit.

Do the work, more likely to get the job.

Pretty much every studio requires a level Designer

 Rob Kay (19 years in the industry)

Lead Designer of Guitar Hero & Rock Band.

• The best training is definitely to make your own game/s, ideally small ones.

• Being capable of actually making (and not just designing) games.

• Getting your first break in the industry can be tough, but also totally doable.

• Everyone has a story of persistence towards their first break.

• Don't take rejections personally, stay positive, and be persistent.

• A University degree makes it easier to get first break.

• Starting in QA is the classic route into the industry due to "cultural fit“.

• Another route is to offer your dev services for free - i.e. intern.

• Game design is as much craft as theory

• Small games- You can make more faster and learn faster as a result. As almost every studio these day's uses Unity or Unreal, so I'd recommend focusing on one of them (probably Unity given it's the most popular and you've already got started on that learning curve). It's good that you're doing some scripting - I'd recommend doing that in Unity. If C# or JS are too much, look at Playmaker - a visual scripting plug-in for Unity (I've used this on 3 games now, and recommend it highly).

• Making games as well as designing also wins you huge kudos from skilled artists and coders.

• Spend time honing craft

• Learn crafts through practice.

• Even seasoned professionals have to deal with rejection

• They do this because there is usually a far higher demand for each entry level job position than the hiring manager can deal with, so they have to add requirements like "University degree" just to filter weaker candidates out and get a smaller pool of candidates. This is tough on people who have strong skills but no university degree of course, but it's the reality. By all means apply for positions asking for a university degree (it's so low cost you may as well) but don't rely on this path. Typically a recruiter will filter you out of the running for not meeting requirements before a hiring manager even has chance to see your resume.

• I know many many developers (inc game designers, producers, and programmers) who got their break at a game studio in the QA department. It's a great way to get to know people in the company / industry, and usually hiring managers at the company find it safer to promote someone internally from QA, than take a risk on someone entirely new to them, even if the outsider is more qualified on paper.

• So if they can show some design / dev skills, they're seen as a good bet and will get onto hiring managers radars. From what I can glean from your email, I'd recommend applying for QA positions - with the career strategy of transitioning into game design once you're in

• I knew a self trained 3D artist who got his break this way. He basically pestered his way into an interview, by visiting our studio at Infogrames Manchester with his portfolio everyday and offering to work for free. My manager at the time, said no several days in a row, but this guy kept coming back and politely offering to work for nothing. Eventually my boss asked the rest of us artists to check out his portfolio, and asked if we felt he could do anything for us. His portfolio was only average, but he seemed so willing and capable of some jobs and we had a lot on our plates, so we said yes. He's now been in the industry for 16 years (here's his LinkedIn). Persistence and a willingness to learn may be your biggest assets.

 Key designer

Max Herngren (Level Designer)

• Student of game and level design at Futuregames, Stockholm

• Worked at Right Nice Games (Indie studio) as a Level Designer. 

• Level Design intern at Mojang

• Level Designer at Mojang in Sweden

• Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island – Game made

• The Solus Project, a survival exploration game where I helped out at the end of the game’s development along with some other students in my class. 

• Key Designers

 Fundementals

• Have great sense of pacing and player experience

• Understand what a player wants at any given time

• Understand how they’re affected by the pacing curve

• Master composition

• Have an artistic eye

• Analyse games

• Flexibility

• Be able to do background work

• Use mechanics and space wisely

• What does it take to secure role of choice?

• Composition to guide a player through the space

• Won’t be able to make a level look appealing

• Guiding players arguably the most important thing to do

• Take it from me, you don’t have to be able to draw or make 3D models but you have to have an eye for it. Building a good structure can give environment artist more idea of what you’re wanting to achieve.

• You have to intuitively be able to look at a space and have an idea of if it looks good or not and how you can make it better

• Analysing these games can give better idea of space and improve own levels

• If waiting for mechanics to be built, possibly become a tester or help the artists or scripters if required or keep building to the space and tweaking until feels right.

• Try to understand why they put that rock just there and why that cave is laid out in this or that specific way, and how would I have done it differently and what would that mean for the player?

• Coders and scripters working on grey whiteboxed level, as soon as events begin happening in the background, becomes a lot more alive which can inspire people.

• Learning how to make a set of mechanics work for 20 hours without the player getting bored etc. Keeping it fresh and interesting for the players.

 Main objective:

• Pre-production: Build a good foundation and base

• Figure out goals

• Work out an initial strategy

• Draw out ideas

• Research

• Block out with BSPs

• Replace with actual assets

• Learn engine inside out

• From which you can later build the game into a sequence of levels that are good and make sense in the context of the game.

• Work out an initial strategy of how going to reach them

Best options:

Sumo Digital

Rockstar North QA

Ubisoft Graduate Program

 Rockstar North tend to have a few openings asking for game testers and QA. As Rob Kay said, may be the best way in.

The Ubisoft Graduate Program offers successful applicants the chance to spend two years working on production teams in two different Ubisoft studios in order to hone their skills in a variety of professional disciplines, essentially making them employees.

The Ubisoft Graduate Program is a two-year international program for fresh Graduates who expect a career accelerator into the games industry. Over two years, Graduates will have the opportunity to work in two different studios in different countries. 

Sumo Digital

Location

Sheffield

Near Peak District National Park

Team size

Around 250

What games do they make?

Little Big Planet 3

Helped on Forza Motorsport 7, Hitman Episode 5

Mission statement

‘Sumo make games we're proud of and passionate about: everything from driving games to platformers’

Main perks

Group Life Assurance Policy, Group Income Protection Policy, Holiday Pay,

Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Pension, Flexi Time, On site free gym, Days out.

Student placements

Internship

Reviews

‘Friendly atmosphere, good people to work with’  ‘Hands-off approach can make you feel like a small fish in a big pond’.

What kind of studios offer these positions?

Sheffield- Family not far away (1 and a half hours)

Peak District- Countryside and city is not as big as Manchester etc.

Team size: Mid sized company to gain the step into the larger one later on.

Fact that they make all types of games is interesting because would give opportunity to see what really enjoy making and make what I really enjoy playing.

Enjoy all types of games and they have helped create games I have grown up playing

The benefit is payable to a designated beneficiary in the event of death by a lump sum of 4 x annual basic salary.

The company provides a Group Income Protection Policy which protects the employee and their family for long periods of illness by paying a portion of income equivalent to 75% of basic salary, for a set timescale.

All employees will receive 24 days holiday, in addition to the UK Bank holidays.

EAP is a free, completely confidential source of support for employees and their immediate families, which is provided by a professional independent body.

The Company will provide access to a Group Personal Pension Scheme, administered by Scottish Widows.

Sumo offers a flexi time scheme, because we understand just how crucial it is that staff are able to maintain their work/life balance

What is missing/ lacking:

• Need to do more player feedback

• Show more refined levels with process

• Shipped at least one AAA 3rd person action title- Sometimes add this to filter candidates out.

• Hone proposal skills in order to get teams on board.

• Keep working on building games in UE4.

• Keep learning how to blueprint.

• What kind of studios offer these positions?

• What roles actually entail- what actually do

 Over summer

• Update portfolio/ CV

• Create some games similar to Sumo and Ubisoft style.

• Have playable demos on Itch

• Get social media up to date

• Use other engines, e.g. Map editor in Far Cry.

• Keep honing skills in programs

• Keep time management structured

• Network

• Ensure games are at the forefront of portfolio

Update and work on honing skills in:

Website, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook

Programs such as PhotoShop, Maya and UE4

 Bibliography:

Sumo Digital placements: http://www.sumo-digital.com/placements-emma-lintvelt/

Sumo Digital reviews: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Overview/Working-at-Sumo-Digital-EI_IE765707.11,23.htm

Sumo Digital website: http://www.sumo-digital.com/

Ubisoft Graduate program: https://news.ubisoft.com/article/ubisoft-graduate-program-2018-tips-from-our-ubigrads

Gabe Newell quote: https://www.polygon.com/2014/1/3/5270182/gabe-newell-on-hiring-modders-official-credentials-have-no-predictive

Get a job in video games: https://www.gamedesigning.org/career/jobs/

Level Design article: https://80.lv/articles/who-are-level-designers/

Max Herngren website image: https://maxherngren.squarespace.com/the-solus-project

Max Herngren website: http://maxherngren.com/about-1/

Rob Kay LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robkaysf 

Ubisoft logo: http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ubisoft_2017.svg

[catwiltshirefutureworks-blog]

DD2000, Assingment 2, Job Research.

Prop Artist. CD PROJEKT RED is currently looking for talented Prop Artists to join our Environment Art team in Warsaw to work on Cyberpunk 2077. A person on this position should be able to create amazing assets which will make the Cyberpunk world even more realistic. The team is looking for someone that can not only tell a story with their props but can also model and texture props from the scratch.

DAILY RESPONSIBILITIES IN A NUTSHELL

Modeling efficient assets that fit within the style of the game.

Creating photorealistic original textures using various tools and middleware.

Setting up materials and shaders to achieve best possible final quality.

Cooperation effectively with other artists and designers.

Must adhere to technical specifications when creating environmental assets.

Maintain the production pipeline and meeting deadlines.

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

At least 2 years’ experience in working in games industry on at least one AAA title.

Excellent skills in one of the leading modeling packages (3DS Max, Maya, etc.) and Photoshop.

Good knowledge of composition, color theory, & lighting.

Basic knowledge of physically based rendering (PBR).

Experience with procedural content creation packages a plus (Substance, Houdini, World Machine).

Very creative and an excellent eye for detail.

Excellent communication skills and ability to work within a team.

Ability to easily communicate in English.

WE OFFER YOU

A modern and relaxed studio atmosphere.

A chance to work in a booming industry, within an international team.

A competitive salary and project-based bonuses.

Private health care & MultiSport card.

From 20 to to 26 days of paid vacation per year.

An exciting chance to work with the developers of one the most acclaimed role-playing games in recent history.

Step by step assistance and a ‘Relocation Package’ for people willing to relocate to Poland.

Polish lessons for foreign employees.

QA Tester (Temp) 

QA TESTER - TEMPORARYLocation:

2K Vegas

Job Code:

2386

DESCRIPTIONQA TESTER - TEMPORARY**We are looking for Temporary QA Testers for Summer 2018. The interview process for these positions will start in March 2018. Summary: Test video game titles on various consoles, PCs and handhelds to check the software for errors and enter them into the test database. Reports to the Lead and/or QA Manager. Responsibilities:Find defects in the software using established and tedious methods. Accurately execute all assigned test cases. Enter detailed, but concise, bugs into bug database.Regress fixed bugs on each release.Be prepared to provide insight as to the playability of a title. Provide a positive role model, in terms of both work performance and attitude Skills:Technically proficient with PCs and gaming consoles Computer literacy, specifically MS Word, Outlook, and Database Software

Qualifications: High School diploma or equivalent

Minimum age of 18 years and above.

Ability to test both 2D and 3D games repeatedly, while listening and looking for bugs.

Ability to test using a handheld gaming device and various other gaming platforms.

A positive attitude with the ability to work in a team environment.

Reliable, and can be counted on to work all scheduled shifts.

Capable of working any mandatory overtime; which can occur during the work week, weekends, and occasional holidays.

Must be able to communicate effectively in English, in both written and oral forms.

Ability to sit for long periods of time and occasionally lift up to 20 lbs. 

Environment Artist (Junior or Mid-level)

Ninja Theory are on the lookout for a talented junior or mid-level Environment Artist, to help make great assets for our award winning games. You’ll create content for our 3D environments and will get involved in modelling, texturing, material creation and lighting – all to a high quality finish. We’re looking for someone talented, who can stick to a schedule, and who ensures the overall vision of the project is maintained.

Responsibilities

Take an active role in asset creation, producing high quality art content with a strong commitment to deadlines. You’ll get support and direction from senior members of the team to help you do this, as well as the freedom to be creative.

Build, maintain and manage strong working relationships with other disciplines in the studio, ensuring the vision of the project is maintained whilst understanding the project production process.

Take an active part in team discussions, offering advice, suggestions and constructive criticism for improving the quality of environment art.

Maintain a flexible working practice, showing the ability and willingness to adapt to various art styles and tools, and to take advice from other disciplines and members of the art team as required.

What we’re looking for:

Essential

Demonstrable experience in a similar role – with a good working knowledge of an environment art pipeline from start to finish, including optimisation practices.

Good knowledge of industry standard 2D and 3D software packages such as Maya, Photoshop, Substance Painter and / or Substance Designer;

Artistic flare and talent – someone who will inspire us with their work and enthusiasm

An appreciation of how environment work affects other disciplines.

Ability to set realistic time estimates and work to deadlines

Demonstrable creative thinking and problem solving skills

Great communication skills

A passion for visual arts and an ability to work as a collaborative, positive, enthusiastic and ambitious team member with a real desire to be part of the team.

Desirable

Knowledge of Unreal Engine 4;

Experience working with Z-brush & Substance;

VR development experience;

Understanding of modern games development practices;

Competency with environmental lighting;

Sketching skills.

[alexmoorefutureworks-blog]

DD2000 - Summer Plans

Over summer, i plan to develop my skills and learn new software, in order to prepare myself for third year and the honors project. This is to ensure that i can create the best work i can during the honors project and group project.

1 : Re-do my high poly model :

Towards the end of the high poly model assignment, i learnt a lot of techniques that would have helped me do things a lot quicker and more efficiently at the start. I also got a lot of great advice from fellow students, tutors and even  Joe Neville, who works as a vehicle artist for Cloud Emperium, including how i could improve the overall look and feel of the model, but also how to improve my work flow. Therefore, i feel like i could recreate my high poly model to a much better standard in a similar time period, or even less.

2 : Build a library of reusable parts :

One thing that Joe Neville suggested was whenever i have an hour free, quickly model a random machine part, could be anything from an important engine part, to some nuts and bolts, just to keep me modelling, and practicing to keep my skills from going rusty. 

3 : Learn to rig :

With character design comes at least knowing how to rig a model to be animated, and considering i would like to use rigging in my honors project, i would prefer to get the hard part of learning it out of the way over summer so i don’t waste my time that i could spend on polishing my honors project. This would also give me a great skill that could help get me into my desired roles in the industry.

4 : Art Challenges :

With one of my end goals being a concept artist, i decided to do some art challenges over summer, to help me practice and further develop my art skills. An example of one of the challenges is during may, i am going to be participating in a 31 day OC (original character) challenge, in which each day i will have to draw my original character in different poses, clothes, colours, styles and even emotions. This will not only help me to further towards my goal of concept artist, it will help me to have the understanding to help me model characters.

[lauraflindersfutureworks-blog]

DD2000 - Blog 1

In this research blog I will be discussing my route to industry and what role I would like to fill in what company. My interests are in environment design and my goal is to go into a junior environment artist position. As an artist my portfolio will be the key to catching an employers attention. Straight out of uni there will always be people applying for the same job as me who have more experience than me so I have to make sure that my portfolio is laid out in a way that is quick and easy to process and that my work is of high enough quality that employers will be willing to take me on rather than someone who is more experienced than me. Arkane Studios is a games company owned by Zenimax media, a parent company of Bethesda. This studio has 150 employees and is based in Lyon, France. In 2012 Arkane and Bethesda released Dishonored, a game that made me want to work in the games industry, the world that Arkane built made me realise that humans made video games and that a person must have got to come up with all this cool lore and build this world. Arkane would be my dream studio to work for, they are currently advertising an environment artist role at their Texas office here are the requirements.

The ideal candidate will work closely with the Lead Environment Artist and other Art Leads to create 3D props, architecture, and environment assets to integrate them into game levels.

Apart from working with art leads I am currently doing all of these things for three of my modules and creating and optimizing environment assets is something I am becoming very comfortable with. Here are some more requirements.

Proficiency in Maya and Photoshop. Knowledge with other industry standard tools such as Substance Painter/Designer and Zbrush.

I am very confident in Maya and Photoshop is something I am working in for my 3D Modelling module. I know the basics of Substance designer but feel that I have a lot more to learn in that program. Zbrush is something i have yet to touch but will have to do so for my 3D modelling module this semester, Zbrush may be something to work on in my own time or over summer. 

Texture using both procedural and hand painted techniques using a PBR workflow.

Hand painted textures are not something I am confident in at all and this would be something I would have to work on if I was to apply for this job. 

Self-motivated, driven, and able to manage workload independently under time constraints.

Motivation is a big problem for me and a lot of the time it’s my attitude and lack of time spent on a project that holds me back I am quite often at a 2:1 and struggle to put the extra work in to reach a 1st This is something I will hopefully overcome with the help of scheduling and better organisation. 

Ability to self-critique your own work, iterate, and make decisions on ways to improve your work.

This is something I do regularly as part of my assignment briefs and in most of my feedback I��m told that my evaluations are good and that I identify whats wrong my my work and say how I could fix it.

I another post I will go into more detail about the work i would need to do before I could apply for a job like this and I will also look at other companies requirements for a junior environment artist role.

[davidfieldfutureworks-blog]

Games Specialism: Session 22 (16/03/2018)

Following on from the previous post (DD2000 Session 22), I had a brief chat with John on how I should go about creating a portfolio. He confirmed that I shouldn’t be displaying any work of a poor quality (that’s gonna be a tough ask!), but the overall idea was good.

Below is a quick mockup of it:

Art-based work will appear at the top, with design at the bottom. Clicking on an art thumbnail will load a high resolution image slideshow of the model, whereas clicking on a design thumbnail will load up a video showcasing it (perhaps along with a link to a playable demo) Clicking on individual tabs will bring up work made around that year, so my evolution can be tracked. Clicking “Art” will display all artwork, and vice versa with “Design”. Clicking the star will bring up the highlights, ie what I feel is my best work. Straight-forward and simple.

Moving forward I plan on completing my actual XB2178 assignment by next Friday, which looking at my rate of progress, means it’ll be finished by the first Friday back... Hopefully though the international break will free up enough time for me, so I can spend the entirety of the two week Easter break in Futureworks hammering out my XB2001/2 assignment with no worries about John’s assignments.

Plus they’ll be in on time n’all, which is a first!

[robyngoodallfutureworks-blog]

DD2000 - Route to Industry - Presentation/Job role research

For this module, I have decided to focus on a general 3D artist/modeler role (with progression into prop/environment or character artist). Whilst doing my research, I have come across various job listings, portfolios and interviews that have helped assist my research further and give me more of an insight into this sector of the games industry. I have included my intended progression as these are specific to my work and show my clear path of intentions when it comes to job roles I wish to fill. I also haven’t limited my research to only UK job as I am flexible with my job location (I will elaborate on this further).

The definition of both roles:

                                           3D Artist/Modeler:

“You create three-dimensional computer models. Your models represent an object from all angles, and give viewers the ability to digitally enhance those angles so they can better understand the object. Your skills as a 3D Modeler are demanded in all sorts of industries—you might create 3D models of human organs to help in medical research, model potential video game characters”- chegg.com

                                              Character artist:

“A Character Designer creates the look and feel of animated characters. Character Designers are only found in certain cases where characters are complex and important enough to merit specialized attention. When that happens though, a Character Designer is hired to blend skills from across fields to create vivacious, well rounded characters. In this role, you work mainly in video games, animation, and illustration.”- chegg.com

The job listings I have included below are examples of jobs that I would take an interest in and are good representations of what job listings for these roles typically look like:

3D Artist (text taken from bossa studios 3D artist job ad) :

Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Lead artist and taking direction from our Senior members of the team where required.

Able to create a range of 3D assets, hard surface, environment, character etc when required, based upon concepts produced by the concept artist and production team.

Ensuring that all models produced are efficient and take into consideration the limitations of the target game engine or platform.

Collaborating with the development team to ensure that all assets fit their requirements.

Assisting and working on several aspects of the production pipeline, including modelling, texturing, rigging, etc and other art requirements when needed.

Excellent knowledge of real time engines such as Unity or Unreal.

Being creative and having great ideas about the design aspect of our games.

Keeping up to date with latest games industry trends and techniques.

Expert knowledge of relevant software for the creation of game art, Photoshop, Maya, Zbrush, Substance Painter etc.

Traditional art skills, colour, form and anatomy.

Previous experience of working in a games studio is essential, along with a portfolio of released titles.

Able to quickly turn their hand at new skills and techniques.

Requirements:

Passionate about making game art

Excellent time management skills

Focused, but adaptable, flexible and open to change.

You take pride in your work and strive to continually improve your skills.

Be able to supply solutions and ideas to problem

Be interested in many areas of games art and the visual world.

Be a team player who goes above and beyond to support those around them

Character artist (text taken from EA/Bioware careers site job ad):

Who You Are:

The rendering of a character is vital to the believability of our Characters. Creating visually stunning, immersive games is an art that takes a tremendous amount of skill and talent.

The portfolio should highlight the artist:

Ability to present, light and render realistic humans

Advanced surface shader work

Ability to craft low resolution, complex hard surface shapes

Use of character models in low, medium, and high polygon counts

Clean texturing and material work

Ability to work from reference materials, such as concept art or photogrammetry

Assets authored for a physically based environment

Assets rendered with individual material channels (diffuse albedo, roughness, normal, etc)

What skills and qualifications do we look for?

Exceptional problem solving skills

Experience with shaders, physically based rendering and material authoring pipelines

Excels in Maya, experience in Max, XSI or Modo is a plus

Exceptionally skilled in Substance Designer/Painter

MEL, Python, HLSL scripting knowledge is a plus

Strong organizational skills (pipeline optimization, goal setting, writing documentation, etc.)

Strong ZBrush or Mudbox experience

Experience with organic and inorganic modelling

Frostbite/Unreal experience

3-5 years or more experience

Education required: completion of high school, some college, vocational training or University or equivalent work experience/training

Companies of interest:

There is a quite a lot of studios in the UK and abroad I would be ecstatic to work for. As I am aware that I will need experience for more high paying and specialized roles, I understand the fact I may need to put taste and preference aside for a good role at a studio that will take on graduates and people with my skill set. I also believe dedicated Character artist/Prop artist roles in smaller scale/indie studios are more rare as they normally have an all rounded 3D artist to work on not just characters but props, environment etc at the same time.

 I believe this sort of specialized role will be reserved for bigger scale, bigger budget/AAA title related studios who have dedicated artists for each individual part of the modelling pipeline e.g. Concept artist > Character face sculptor/modeler > Body sculptor/modeler > Hair sculptor/modeler > Clothing sculptor/modeler etc. 

Companies of interest I have decided to look into/research their roles are:

Bioware 

Bossa Studios

Blizzard Entertainment 

Playground Games

Pixel toys

As well as the above studios, I will also look into freelance roles and examples of freelance artists who have accumulated decent portfolios without being employed by a studio directly/salary style. 

Research into portfolios and 3D artists: 

For research, I have also been looking at online portfolios owned by industry and freelance 3D artists. Some are a more general example of 3D modelling whereas some are more of a specific type of modelling e.g. Prop/Character/Environment etc. Some of the names are:

3D artists: 

Sengjoon Song (Blizzard Entertainment)

Kyle Hall (Junior 3D Artist at Clever Beans)

Julien Kaspar (freelance)

Zacharias Reinhardt (3D Artist & Certified Blender Trainer)

Joern Zimmermannm (Designer / 3D Artist) 

Prop artists: 

Clinton Crumpler (Microsoft Studio's)

Michael Fleming (freelance)

Kimmo Kaunela (3D Environment / prop artist at Planetrism VR)

John Valenti  (‘World Artist’ at Bethesda Game Studios)

Nathaniel Flower (freelance)

Character artists:

 Patrik Karlsson (Principal Character Artist at BioWare)

Andrea Orioli (DOTA 2 skins specifically)

Shane Hawco  ( Lead Character Artist bioware)

Jude Leong (Character Artist – EA)

U Ri So (Senior character artist at BioWare)

Kelvin Tan (Senior 3D Character Artist at Blizzard Entertainment)

Sulhwa Hong (freelance 3d Character Artist), 

Artur Tarnowski (3D Character Artist/3D Generalist)

 Vimal Kerketta (Freelance Digital Sculptor/Character Artist)

 Kris Kelly (Lead Character Artist at Synchrony Studios)

 I also plan on messaging some of the artists for help and advice for this assignment. I hope to be able to communicate with them and be able to ask questions about what it is like as a character artist/3D Artist and ways to build a portfolio tailored towards this specific roles. 

[matthewjenkinsonfutureworks]

Matthew Jenkinson Contemporary Contextual Studies rough Assignment 2: Route to Industry DD2000:Niall Taylor

Key Designers

Aaron Jungjohann

Aaron Jungjohann works for The Behemoth Studios. He has worked on the game Castle Crashers and was the lead level designer on Battleblock Theatre. Battleblock Theatre is a 2D co-op platformer where the players must work together to solve puzzles. In an interview with Gameranx he was asked “I imagine that must have taken an enormous amount of communication between yourself the rest and the rest of your team” Jungjohann responded “Absolutely sometimes the smallest tweaks would throw the entire experience off. Everything was so fine-tuned that if you even slightly shortened how much movement there was in the lateral jump it would destroy half the puzzle in the game. That happened once. Once small “fix” broke a lot because everything is so interwind. This shows how involved the designers must be when it comes to making the level as one small change can break the whole game and shows how important communicating with your team is.

Job Prospect

After studying at game design at college and Futureworks, the topic I have enjoyed the most is Level Design. As well as Level Design I have also enjoyed coming up with mechanics for a game and making them a reality. After doing research on what job I would like to have within the games industry I found a job called a Level Designer/Level Editor.

A Level Editor is charge of creating interactive architecture for parts of the game this includes the landscape, buildings and objects. A Level Editor in charge of creating a general layout of the spaces in the level, making sure the lighting and texture makes the level look good as well as match the tone of the game. A level editor also develops gameplay for the level which can include challenges the player will face and how the mechanics that lets the player overcome these challenges. They will set up the level by deciding where the assets will be placed in the level to either help or hinder the player such as obstacles, places for the player to hide and where will have to use their skill within the level as well as any other elements the player has to interact with. Using level design the Level Editor also gives clues on how to progress within the levels and the game.  

A level Editor usually sketches out their ideas on paper or 2D software’s like Photoshop, where they imagine how the player will interact with the level and put themselves in the player’s shoes sorting out all the possibility’s the player might use. The Level Editor will then make a simple 3D version mock-up of the level and test it within the game engine. The Level Editor has to work closely with other members of the team so they have to be able to communicate clearly and work well with others. Whilst working with the programmers and artists they come up with a detailed inventory of the level and assets that are need for it. As well as understanding the possible constraints that comes with making the level, for example how many objects can be on screen at once without affecting the frame rate. When looking into how much a level designer salary in the UK the average was in between £20,000 and £30,000 a year. This depends on the company and the area that you live in.

My route to Industry

There is no set route to go into the game industry, there is a chance that you can be employed by a triple AAA studio but it a very small chance, and there are a lot of people that going to be a lot more experienced. The best thing to do to start off with is build my portfolio and constantly keep adding to a good portfolio. Trying to get your foot through the door for the game industry is hard so a good place to start is game testing trying to find connections within the industry by networking. When it comes to finding work for game industry there a few different option working freelance, working for an Indy Studio or a Triple AAA Studio, when it comes to all three I will have to keep developing my skills and improving them. I will have to send my portfolio, CV and a cover letter to different studios and keep applying by being persistent until someone will hire me.  

Portfolio

Every game designer needs a portfolio no matter what role they have within the games industry. Having a good portfolio could be difference of weather you get a job or not, even if you do good work If you but have a bad portfolio no company is going to take you seriously. Your portfolios allows show of your best work and present it to companies that may hire you in the future, this allows companies to see what you are capable and helps determine if they would like you to work for them.

As I want to be level design/ editor a good thing to show would be find games with level editors and make start making my own levels the reason for this is because I don’t have any experience with the software that Triple A studios use this is the next best to getting real life experience with the level editors that they use.  

Showing of Prototypes that I have worked on in the past this would show off my own levels I have created this would allow others to levels that I have made and play it themselves as well as showing of my level design. I will also be able to show off my scripting skills as when people play the game this will be using the mechanics that I have added to the game.  

Even though I want to be a level designer/editor it does not mean the only thing I have to show off are projects to do with level design although level design should be the main focus of my portfolio I could also show of other pieces of work that I have done like 3D models having a variety of work could show companies that I’m more than a one trick pony and that I have a variety of different skills for a smaller studio this could help a lot as they often can’t afford to look for a person who can only fill one specific job role.  

 Example of a portfolio

Networking

Networking is a gateway in to the industry it allows you to make different connections with other people within the industry. Weather they are someone who works for a triple AAA company or an Indy developer any connection you make within the industry is a useful one as you don’t know if they might be able to help you in the future for example it could lead to a new job or you could get help on a project that you are working.  

 As well as that when you make a new connection you’re not just making one new connection your new, connection will have other connections within the industry and depending on how you get to know your connection they could recommend you to their friend. By meeting more and more people you’re expanding the web of people you know and making more connections will offer a lot of different opportunities.    

How I can I network with others one of the simplest way to network is using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter this allows you to show off your work you have made and parts of you portfolios other people instead of waiting for them to come to you. Over time there is a chance that you could attract a small gathering of people who follow you and may share your works with the people that they know.

Other opportunities to network are game jams, game jams allow you to meet a variety of different people you could meet people who have been making games for a long time as well as people who are just starting out that our in the same situations as you. Game Jams allow you to show off your skills in a small amount of time and produce a game based on an idea.        

Another way to meet developers is going to gaming conventions, gaming conventions like this allow you to meet different developers and here are a few different conventions that I could go into the future EGX, Insomnia and Play Expo.

Key Games

Dark souls

Dark souls level design has an interconnected vertically stacked world this adds challenges and narrative element in a way that radically different from other games. Even some of the weaker enemies can deal massive amounts of the player’s health with one hit, but after an attack the enemy will leave themselves open for a one hit kill. All challenges in the game can be spotted and with planning the player can take advantage of the situation and exploit the enemies’ weakness.

The placement if the enemies, pitfalls and traps have all been placed carefully so that the game is fair and can be beaten. This makes most combat situations memorable the levels have been designed so that sometimes even the enemies you are fighting are not the biggest threat sometimes the ground that the player is standing on.

An Example of this in Anor Londo you will come across a narrow path where two black knight and dragon arrows are shooting at the player if the player does not block the player will be killed instantly if the player blocks they are knocked of the narrow path the player must run full speed dodging the arrows to get close to one of the archers to push them off and at the same time be out of range of the other archer.

The player can use the levels to their advantage you can separate groups of enemies so that you are not overwhelmed, enemies can all be tricked easily from a narrow corridor to a large open space the player can also use the traps in the level against your enemy.

Overwatch

Overwatch uses asymmetric level design, this means instead of the level being the same for both players there are multiple different routes for the player which gives them variety instead of repeating itself as well as providing different tactical options for the player but this could make the game seem unbalanced depending which side a player is on.  

Example of Symmetrical Design  

Example of Asymmetrical Design 

Most of the level in Overwatch are asymmetric and offer multiple routes for the player to choose and this allows the action to flow through the map. The action occurs at multiple points called all over the map, as the player will have to adapt to new situations as the players move the payload or moving to the next goal. As the player flows through the map the map is always changing as well as the team that had the advantage for example at the beginning of the game the attackers will have the advantage because of the spawn location they have less distance to travel to get to their goal and are able to push onto the next goal but as the attackers are reaching the end the situation changes and now the defenders have less distance to travel allowing the defense to regroup quicker and hold a final stand until one team wins.        

However, in Overwatch, as well as offers multiple routes for the player to take as whilst also considering its huge range of characters the levels must be made considering the character’s play style, offensive ability, the mobility options and the tactical affect that the characters can have on the game.

For instance, characters like Pharah and Winston can fly or jump high over walls and buildings, Hanzo and Widowmaker need sniper spots with clear sight lines, Tracer and Reaper need flanking routes that they can take to get behind the enemy. Lucio and Genji both use walls to get to place quicker or to try and get to certain locations on the level quicker. Attack heavy characters need cover that can hide behind for cover whilst defensive characters need well guarded of this adds interesting features on the level and offers a unique playing experience for the player as well.

References 

Aaron Garcha

http://www.aarongarcha.net/

Arron Kelller Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYtcxNWV5rk

Asymmetric Level Picture

https://images.nowloading.co/images/c_limit,q_auto,w_710/rykrl8phc5hk66ofcac6/who-are-the-most-annoying-overwatch-characters-to-face-ranking-all-21.jpg

CLÉMENT MELENDEZ

http://www.clement-melendez.com/portfolio/

EGX Website

https://www.egx.net/egx

Entry-Level Editor in London, England: London Salary

http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Editor/Salary/573c57bb/Entry-Level-London

Entry-Level Editor Salary

http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Editor/Salary/fc1620c0/Entry-Level

Gamasutra Article Bloodborne

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/240839/Bloodborne_You_are_the_experience_points.php

Gamasutra Article: Level design: Doom's "horseshoe"

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/HamishTodd/20150217/236516/Level_design_Dooms_quothorseshoequot.php

Gameasutra Video Bill Gardner Level Design

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/281583/Watch_Gamasutra_play_BioShocks_first_hour_with_level_designer_Bill_Gardner.php

Games Industry Jobs for Game Design

http://jobs.gamesindustry.biz/by-category/game-design

Gaming Event Blog

https://blog.printsome.com/gaming-events-in-the-uk/

Gear of War harbour pictures

http://gowportal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/gears-of-war-4-harbor.jp

Global Game James

http://globalgamejam.org/2017/jam-sites?title=&country=GB&locality=&field_site_address_administrative_area=

Indie Game Jams

http://www.indiegamejams.com/

Jeff Kaplan Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DynhzEQtog  

Jeremy Raymond

http://jraymond.squarespace.com/resume/

Level Architect

https://jobs.zenimax.com/requisitions/view/720

Level Designer

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131736/beginning_level_design_part_1.php

Level Designer articles

http://level-design.org/

Level Editor

http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/334_level_editor

Level Designer Salaries

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/level-designer-salary-SRCH_KO0,14.htm

Mad Labs

https://madlab.org.uk/

Manchester Game Jam Twitter

https://twitter.com/mcrgamejam?lang=en

MATEUSZ PIASKIEWICZ

http://level-design.org/seir/page.php?id=page_about_me

Norwich Gaming Festival

http://norwichgamingfestival.com/

Overwatch characters Picture

https://images.nowloading.co/images/c_limit,q_auto,w_710/rykrl8phc5hk66ofcac6/who-are-the-most-annoying-overwatch-characters-to-face-ranking-all-21.jpg

Overwatch Q and A

https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20748786270

Play Expo Manchester Website

http://www.playexpomanchester.com/

UK GAMES EXPO LIST OF CONVENTIONS

http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/conventionlist.php

Video Game Designer Salary

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Video_Game_Designer/Salary

Video Game Level Editor Salary

https://www.sokanu.com/careers/video-game-level-editor/salary/

[elidecarteretfutureworks-blog]

DD2000 Contemporary Contextual Studies Assignment 2 (500 word proposal)

The job role which I will be researching and hopefully going into upon finishing the course at Futureworks is one in a Level Design position. The reason I would like to become a Level Designer is because I am very interested in crafting compelling gameplay experiences, crafting narrative stories for players to follow and intriguing quests for players to complete in unique and immersive worlds which players can get lost in.

Due to my interest in this role, I will be researching Level Design jobs and key Level Designers, one of which, Rob Kay (Lead Designer at companies such as Harmoix, Anki and VirZOOM) I am already in contact with and have discussed previously how to get into the Games Industry, knowledge which could prove me with a better chance in the future. Rob has experience as both a Level Designer on games such as ‘Looney Tunes: Back in Action’ (2003) and ‘Animator, Loons: The Fight for Fame’ (2005) and as a Lead Game Designer and with over 19 years’ experience, is a vital contact for researching how to get into the industry.

I will also be researching job roles for companies who are fairly local. This is due to family commitments and not wishing to stray too far from them. The companies I will be looking to start out at will also have to use UE4 as their primary engine, as this is the one I have most experience in until I have spent more time looking into Unity.

My 2 main areas of interest are Level Design and Narrative Design, both of which I have had an attempt in completing for my Games Specialism assignments. However, I have decided that Level Design would work better for me due to the fact that not only does it incorporate all of the elements I enjoy doing in Level Design such as building and crafting multiple levels, using blueprinting to craft mechanics and sparking ideas which would lead to interesting gameplay, but it also overlaps into the narrative aspects, as most Level Designers get a hand in designing the quests which creates the story and narrative arcs behind the games.

My hopeful end goal is to one day work for Ubisoft, however, as it is a massive AAA company, I will need to have at least one step in between Futureworks and Ubisoft to gain required experience and industry skills before stepping into a company of this size and standard.

In conclusion, I will be looking for games companies who are smallish to mid-sized as a stepping stone to getting to possibly reaching that end goal of working for Ubisoft. However, if I found a company which worked well for me in the meantime, I would be open to stick to this company as I feel that loyalty is one of my key skills. This company would also need to be local to where I am living now or easy to get back for family reasons.

[cameronmallen1futureworks-blog]

DD2000 - Research CD Projekt Red

CD Projekt Red is definitely a company i am interested in working in as I am very invested and interested in their twists on certain genres of games. To obtain the Senior Character Artist role, the responsibilities and requirements are:

“DAILY RESPONSIBILITIES IN A NUTSHELL

Creating high-quality humanoid characters and item assets.

Working closely with Animation and Technical departments.

Maintaining the production pipeline and meeting deadlines.

REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

Solid experience as a Character Artist – at least 5 years inhouse work.

Proven success in creating outstanding characters in AAA game.

Strong modeling and texturing skills in a diverse visual range of characters and creatures.

Strong understanding of human form and anatomy.

Software: Zbrush, Maya, Photoshop, Substance Painter (or similar programs).

Excellent communication skills and ability to work efficiently within a team.

Ability to easily communicate in English.

Traditional sculpture, drawing or painting skills are a plus.

Skinning rigging and animating skills are a plus.

Once again it is quite similar to other Character Artist roles that I have looked at in different AAA companies. However, this one requires at least 5 years of solid experience as a Character Artist, since it is a senior role. Therefore, I will need be working within a different AAA company or companies for me to require the experience that they ask for. One of the skills that I wish to gain is to be able to model and texture high quality characters and creatures, so CD Projekt Red does look like a good end goal for me to work towards. Being able to do traditional art is a plus, so I feel to stand out from the rest of people who are applying for the Senior role, I feel that I must add these to my skills as there are probably many other artists that are able to do traditional sculpture, drawing, painting and 3D modelling. The same goes for Rigging and animating skills. I have had a large interest in animating however, I feel that diverging from sculpting too early will rather than broaden my horizons in skills. But, instead weaken my time in perfecting one skill that I in my case would be sculpting and texturing creatures. 

WE OFFER YOU

A modern and relaxed studio atmosphere.

A chance to work in a booming industry, within an international team

A competitive salary and project-based bonuses.

Private health care & MultiSport card.

From 20 to to 26 days of paid vacation per year.

An exciting chance to work with the developers of one the most acclaimed role-playing games in recent history.

Step by step assistance and a ‘Relocation Package’ for new staff willing to relocate to Poland.

Polish lessons for foreign employees.”

[cameronmallen1futureworks-blog]

DD2000 - Research Character Artists

Through a friend known as Harris Iqbal, I found a Character Artist that creates 3D characters almost exactly to how I want to create them when it came to game art. He is known as Yosuke Ishikawa and by researching the models that he makes I can understand some of the workflow and how he models the characters. Ishikawa has worked on the published title “Psycho Break 2″ or also known as  “The Evil Within 2″ in western countries. This means he has both done body-horror models to a high quality extent as well as optimised them to work efficiently within a games engine. Meaning Yosuke is an excellent reference for the models that I create. 

Here is a model they made modeled after the character known as “Venom. This relates back to my main interests in modelling as it is a body-horror creature, therefore I am able to use this as great reference in the workflow of creating body-horror characters. 

One of the examples that I can learn from Yosuke is how he retopologises his slime and other thin parts of the model. “Does he create a few planes and bake down the high poly onto the planes?” Is one of the questions that can be asked.  

By using the Marmoset Viewer he set up for the model, I can tell that he either quad drew all the thin parts himself or Zremeshed those certain parts to keep the geometry looking the same and not becoming flat.

By looking at other Artists works and how they might have created their 3D models, I can understand how to efficiently create them myself to improve my portfolio and land the desired job role that I want. 

Another artist that inspires me and can also help me with my 3D models is definitely Jia Hao. Jia is a Animal and Creature designer that also digitally sculpts. From what I can find, he has not done anything on games, however I can definitely use his models or even concept art for creative reference as he sculpts them without any limitations. Allowing him to get the full vision of what he wanted with the model. This gave me the idea that within my portfolio I could do a full body or a bust of a 3D body-horror creature that is extremely high poly and to the best quality that I can make the sculpt, so that I can show my sculpting skills without any limitations of engines. Furthermore, this could even push me into a different job role at some point where I am a 3D concept artist that sculpts without limitations and then Games 3D artists create them efficiently for Rigging, skinning and being well optimised. 

His creature designs are fantastic and they show a clear understanding of anatomy and also how animals adapt to survive in the wild. I can only assume that Jia Hao Polypaints his sculpts as they are not retopologised.

A third artist that will allow me to learn a lot is definitely Yibing Jiang. She has worked on the hair cards and fur in the game Uncharted 4. Through her work, tutorials and advice that she has posted before in a presentation format on working on clothing, fur, and hair. I can begin to learn how to do these tasks and then improve on myself to create high quality hair cards, fur, and clothing. All of which are extremely important to adding to my portfolio onto any Human, Animal or Creature models that I create. 

[cameronmallen1futureworks-blog]

DD2000 - Research Blog Creative Assembly

After researching many AAA companies looking at their Trainee programs, I have found that Creative Assembly offer me a good chance to improve my skills in industry. 

TRAINEE CHARACTER ARTIST

Key Responsibilities

You will create in-game character models from start to finish, with polished, working in-game models as the final goal.  Work closely with your Character Art Lead, you will learn to work within set time constraints and to hit the quality benchmark. You will implement feedback as appropriate.

Knowledge, Skill and Experience

Essential

A portfolio showing an understanding of anatomy and clothing/prop modelling for games, including high and low poly modelling.

Working knowledge of Max, Maya or similar

Working knowledge of Zbrush

Positive, can-do attitude

Desirable

Some Knowledge of Marvellous Designer

Some knowledge of rigging and skinning

Proficiency with Quixel or Substance Painter

There are two main reasons as to why I wanted to work as a Trainee Character Artist at Creative Assembly. The first reason being because I do not need any experience working in a AAA company and they favour graduates over any other applicants. A friend who had already contacted Creative Assembly got a reply and they favour graduates when it comes to training over anyone else. 

To acquire a job at the Trainee program I will need to once again work on my anatomy, clothing, and hair cards. Although, I do not think I need to know how to model animal anatomy, I feel that I would need to have a high quality high poly and low poly character rather than just average ones so that I will stand out from the rest of the graduates that may be applying for the position. Something unique and creative is definitely needed to obtain the Trainee role. What could also help me obtain the role is to 3D model a concept that may interest me off of Artstation so that I can show that I can work to concept art closely. 

Learning how to Rig would definitely be important for the Trainee program as I can learn the workflow of Rigging and skinning, then improve those skills and understanding of those pipelines for when I focus on Character Art, allowing me to work closely and efficiently with my coworkers. On top of that, learning new programs will also be required as other AAA companies use Marvellous Designer and Quixel Suite 2 in many occasions. Learning these programs will not only help me get the Trainee position, but also the job as a Character Artist at Naughty Dog or any other AAA company I’m interested in. 

Creative Assembly’s supposed main focus and culture, is to help inspire and educate the next generation through something they call The Legacy Project.  “The Legacy Project is our commitment to inspiring and educating the next generation of games development talent. We aim to create incredible worlds in our games and also to enhance the world we live in by making significant and enduring contribution to local education, community and charity. We choose Legacy Project activities that our team care deeply about.” For me, this is an excellent opportunity to join a AAA company and improve my skills within a company that wants to help improve me and the rest of the next generation. With their help in educating me in improving my overall work this also including improvements being made to my portfolio.

A good benefit to working at Creative Assembly’s is that they are based in the UK in Horsham which, still allows me easy travel to visit my family and I am based in a country that I am familiar with. When I have a better portfolio and better understanding of the industry and how it works, then I will wish to travel to different location in the world to work so that I will be out of my comfort zone, but still with a safety net. 

[catwiltshirefutureworks-blog]

DD2000, Research For My Essay

When I began this assignment I had so much I wanted to apply to this essay that I eventually realised I had two different types of essays questions to be answered, so what I decided was to focus on the Architecture and civil engineering when talking about structures and the functions of them and how they all link into each other and what we can learn from bad design.

I found a book called ‘’Why do buildings fall down.’’ which gave me some more information then what I had previously found online. This book went into detail of what caused it whether or nothing these issues were fixed and how it effected everyone involved.  

I also cut down the amount of references, I wanted to talk about games that when you look for broken games or games not complete online I went for games that had a big series already.

Trying to find the bug reports and the reception that the company received from the public and showing reviews from big sites like IGN as references.

I looked into early access games and how the community and technologies of gaming have changed whilst also looking at the functions of design, why they are important and why when it comes to the health and safety we have to question why none of the procedures where taken to prevent tragedies that occurred.

I explored several types of design as I wanted to show a broad look into it, as design is not

I made sure to look into recent events such as the Grenfall Tower which happened this year as that was down to human error by the use of cheap materials. I wanted to show how design always needs to be taken seriously what happened in London didn’t just cause people to loose their home, lives were lost and how because of this all of a sudden these building were being checked, bad architecture like this is gambling with people lives.

Looking closely it did make me question how one small things, weather it be a change to a plan, human error can caused such things as a walkway plan to collapse.

As I got further into the essay I saw how I focused on buildings and games and need to widen my design and seriousness question to something else. I picked a bridge and how the functionality of a bridge doesn’t abide by the same rules as in real like and tied it into design by trying to find information of famous bridge collapses and showing how a mix of human error, environmental issues we need to also be aware of can effect design. When comparing both together I had to look at what we have as game designers to fix problems with patches and bug reports whilst mention that we have not always had this available to us. I wanted to show that design was more then an aesthetic and the dangers of bad design. My Bibliography for my essay.  Cover Image – RIBA, (2017) Website (Image): https://www.architecture.com/, Accessed; 10/10/17. Uncharted 4 Image – Image, Website, Titled: Breakdown of Character Design in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End,  https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/breakdown-character-design-uncharted-4-thiefs-end Published By: Plurasight, Published On: 08/01/15 Bethesda Screen Shots – Images, Video Tour, Titlted: Tour Skyrim's Bethesda Game Studios With Todd Howard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8UmVUXpfEE, Published: Game Informer, Published On: 20/06/11 Rockstar Games Career Page: Image, Website: Rockstar Games Career . Link: https://www.rockstargames.com/careers/openings, Published by: Rockstar Games, Published on: Origin Unknown, Accessed on 04/12.17 The Walkie-Talkie Skyscraper – Image, Website, Titled: ’Death Ray’ Walkie Talkie is crowned Britain’s worst building, https://inhabitat.com/death-ray-walkie-talkie-is-crowned-britains-worst-building/, Published by: Lucy Wang, Published On: 09/02/15 Melted Car – Image. Website, Titled: Plans unveiled to stop 'Walkie Talkie' skyscraper from melting cars, http://www.itv.com/news/2014-02-13/plans-unveiled-to-stop-walkie-talkie-skyscraper-from-melting-cars/ Published By: ITV Report, Published On: 13/02/2014 Mass Effect Patch Statement- Blog Review, Titled: Mass Effect: Andromeda becomes an early access game after launch,  https://www.polygon.com/2017/4/5/15190250/mass-effect-andromeda-patches-animation-early-access, Published by: Ben Kuchera, Published On: 05/04/17 Mass Effect Glitch – Screenshot. Video. Titled: Mass Effect: Andromeda Glitch (SHE JUST STABBED ME), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz36w6qo91s Published By: Chaos Productions Inc, Published on: 20/03/2017 Assassins Creed Unity- Image, Published By: Matt Whittaker, Published On: 14/11/14 Website: http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2014/11/14/assassins-creed-unity-a-tale-of-broken-promise/117232/, Accessed: 13/11/17 Ubisoft Statement – Online Blog: Website: https://www.polygon.com/2016/2/11/10966664/assassins-creed-no-new-game-2016 Published by: Allegra Frank, Published on:11/02/16, Accessed: 10/11/17 Assassins Creed Origins Review- Review/ Article, Website: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/10/26/assassins-creed-origins-review, Published by: Alanah Pearce, Published on: 26/10/17, Accessed: 10/11/17 Steam Update: Published by Techkhoji (24/07/15), Image, Titled: How to move Steam Games to another PC or Drive, Part 2 Titled: Install Steam client on the PC #2,  Website: http://www.techkhoji.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Pause_Download_Steam.png,  Accessed; 06/11/17 The Forest Main Menu – Image. Website- Steam, Titles : Cheat Codes for the Forest, How to…, Link:  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=390775112, Published: 11/02/15, Updated: 10/08/16, Published by: Syntax555, Accessed: 04/12/17 Hyatt Hotel Walkway Collapse (1981); Cover Image: Published On: 01/08/? , Published by; Stephanie Buck, Titled: ‘When this hotel skywalk collapsed, it was one of the deadliest structural failures in US history’, Website:https://timeline.com/hyatt-regency-skywalk-failure-8240bff34fa6, Accessed: 07/11/17 Hyatt Hotel Quote; Book:                         Levy.M, & Salvadori, M (2002) How Structures Fail: Why                                              Buildings Fall Down. - Chapter 15 The Worst Structural Disaster in the United States (page, 227) W.W. Norton & Company, 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y 10110. Hyatt Hotel Walkway Plan; Image, Published on 11/07/11, Published by: CHRISTOPHER NAUM, Website, Titled: The Hyatt Regency Skywalk Collapse 1981; The Beginning of Urban Heavy Rescue., Accessed 07/11/17. Grenfall Tower – Image, Wedsite: Wikipedia, Titled: Grenfall Tower Fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenfell_Tower_fire, Published by: Wikipedia, Published on: Unknown Just Cause 3 Bridge – Image, Website, Title: Just Cause 3: 11 things you need to blow up during your adventures across Medici, https://www.pcgamesn.com/just-cause-3/just-cause-3-11-things-you-need-to-blow-up, Published by: Jordan Forward, Published On: 30/11/15 The Cost of Tacoma Bridge: Book:                         Levy.M, & Salvadori, M (2002) How Structures Fail: Why                                             Buildings Fall Down. Chapter 7 - Galloping Gertie (Page 120)W.W. Norton & Company, 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y 10110. Tacoma Narrow Bridge – Image, Website, Titled: DEVASTATING DISASTERS  http://devastatingdisasters.com/tacoma-narrows-bridge-1940/ Published By: DEVASTATING,  Published On: 19/06.15