Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Looking Into Company Hierarchy and My Place in it

Useful links on games narrative

Useful links on game design

Telltale is an independent digital publisher started in 2004 by former LucasArts employees who were working on the now cancelled Sam & Max: Freelance Police game. Due to their experience in LucasArts' classic adventure games, Telltale specializes in episodic point-and-click adventure. Its business model revolves around episodic gaming and digital distribution. It's best known for titles such as The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Back To The Future, Jurassic Park, Sam & Max and Monkey Island. As can be seen, many of these licences are based on existing films, comic books and games.
Winner of numerous accolades, the studio is the recipient of over 80 Game of the Year Awards, Studio of the Year and other honors for The Walking Dead, a game series based on Robert Kirkman’s hit comic book. Telltale continues to expand its lineup with internationally recognized and acclaimed properties from partners such as DC Comics and others - yet to be announced - that will delight and excite gamers across the world. Telltale is located in Marin County, California, a short drive from San Francisco and the Northern California coast. It is a privately held company with no more than 200 employees.

Unfavourable review to working with Telltale Games.
History of Telltale Games

Pre-requisites for a job as a games writer with Telltale.

Essential Experience: 
  • Five years of disciplined writing, either in a professional capacity or as a burgeoning writer with a large body of work. 
  •  College degree preferred in screenwriting, creative writing, or similar; or equivalent professional experience 
  • Critical understanding of games and interactivity. You must play video games. 
  • Writing samples: Please submit at least two polished samples demonstrating mastery of narrative structure, character development and dialog. Screenplay format is required. Comedy and serious drama are both acceptable; send your best work. All samples must be attached in either PDF or MS Word format. Please do not cut and paste your work into the writing sample section. 
Useful Extras: 

  • Actual experience writing specifically for games 
  • Experience with tools such as game engines, non-linear video editing, Flash, etc. 
  • Any exposure to computer programming 
Responsibilities: 
  • Work with game designers in a writers’ room to create an effective narrative melded with good game design 
  • Generate outlines, story treatments, character descriptions, casting documents, and other support materials 
  • Create and collaborate in the creation of consistent characters, strong motivations, dramatic arcs, and meaningful story content during the development process 
  • Write interactive scripts to accomplish all of the above while supporting gameplay needs. Fantastic dialog skills are a must.
  • Revise and edit own scripts and those of other writers 
  • Assist as needed with marketing and other company communications that require the written word 
Essential Skills: 
  • Ability to craft compelling fictional stories across multiple genres 
  • Knowledge of screenwriting and how to write for the camera 
  • Understanding of how to use narrative events and game design to grow and impact characters 
  • Ability to write snappy and engrossing dialog in different voices 
  • Ability to work in the style of an existing intellectual property 
  • Effective collaboration 
  • Ability to respond to editorial feedback with comprehensive rewrites 
  • Estimation of, and adherence to, deadlines 
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING – IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT A WRITING SAMPLE: By applying for the position and submitting any writing sample (the “Sample”) to Telltale, Inc. (“Telltale”), you understand and acknowledge that Telltale is constantly developing in-house ideas, formats, stories, concepts, artwork and the like (collectively, “Creative Elements”), and that many such Creative Elements developed by Telltale now or in the future may be similar to or identical to those contained in your Sample. You agree that Telltale will not be held liable for any such similarities and that Telltale’s use or development of Creative Elements similar to or identical with any material or elements (including Creative Elements) contained in the Sample shall not obligate Telltale to you in any manner. In connection with your agreement to these terms, you expressly waive any claims you may have against Telltale arising from or relating to your submission of the Sample.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work and accept new employment in the U.S. 
Telltale Games is an Equal Opportunity Employer and ADA compliant.

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

SWOT Analysis and SMART Targets

What are SWOT analysis’?

SWOT analysis is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths (characteristics that give an advantage over others), Weaknesses (characteristics that are a disadvantage), Opportunities (elements that can be used to an advantage) and Threats (things that could cause problems) involved in a project or business venture.

You should consider whether the objectives are attainable using the SWOT, and if they are not a different objective must be selected and the process repeated.
You must ask and answer questions that generate meaningful information for each categories to make the analysis useful.

The best way for you to conduct this is to bulletpoint ideas to capture factors that you believe are relevant in each of the four areas. Once you have finished this brainstorming, create a final, prioritized version of the SWOT analysis listing the factors in each category in order from the highest priority at the top, to the lowest at the bottom.

What are SMART goals?

SMART goals are things that fit the criteria of being Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Based.
The best way to follow and reach these goals are to be honest in what you want to get out of this process, with a certain goal in mind. These must be measurable, with a definite improvement being reached as you progress, and achievable, as if you are working towards something you cannot complete you must repeat the process with more realistic goals. They must also be time based, in which you give yourself a specific time that you accomplish these goals by.

SPECIFIC
  • What: What do I want to accomplish?
  • Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
  • Who: Who is involved?
  • Where: Identify a location.
  • When: Identify time requirements and constraints.
MEASURABLE
  • How Much?
  • How Many?
  •  How Will I Know When It Is Accomplished?
ACHIEVABLE
  • How Can The Goal Be Accomplished?
REALISTIC
  • Does This Seem Worthwhile?
  • Is This The Right Time?
  • Does This Match Our Other Efforts/Needs
  • Are You The Right Person?
  • Is It Applicable In Current Socio-Economic-Technical Environment
TIME BASED
  • When?
  • What Can I Do Six Months From Now?
  • What Can I Do Six Weeks From Now?
  • What Can I Do Today?
My SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS
  • Writing
  • Story-telling, narrative, scripting
  • Drawing
  • Pencils, pens, charcoal
  • Creativity
  • Research
WEAKNESSES
  • Lack of confidence
  • 3D modelling
  • Time management
OPPORTUNITIES
  • PCAD, improve my skills with my weakness with 3D modelling
  • Schedule specific times to conduct tasks and improve my time management at home
THREATS

  • Poor organisation
  • Health
  • Lack of practice drawing, leading to un-honed skills.

Research on Games Companies For Possible Job Opportunities

Irrational Games – Founded in 1997

Ken Levine (former at Looking Glass Studios), owned by Take-Two Interactive, parent is 2K Games.
1999 – System Shock 2
2002 – Freedom Force
2004 – Tribes: Vengeance
2005 – Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich
2005 – Swat 4
2006 – Swat 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate
2007 – Bioshock
2013 – Bioshock Infinite

Studio location: 10 miles south of Boston and about 13 mile drive from Logan International Airport. Quincy Centre Station.
Irrational Games 
125 B Street 
Second Floor 
Boston, MA 02127

http://www.irrationalgames.com/
Art: Character Artist

AVAILABLE JOB – CHARACTER ARTIST
Award-winning studio Irrational Games, best known for its BioShock franchise, is looking for a talented Character Artist. Industry experience is not a prerequisite. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience with modeling, sculpting, and texturing a diverse range of characters, and be well versed in game art-production methodology.
QUALIFICATIONS
A comprehensive modeling and texturing portfolio showing a varied range of character art held to a very high standard.
Extensive experience using 3D Studio Max or Maya for modeling, and Photoshop for texturing.
Exceptional sculpting ability in ZBrush in relation to game art workflows.
An understanding of all current-generation production workflows as they pertain to character-art production.
A keen understanding of the human form/anatomy and structure/silhouette in respect to modeling.
A detail-obsessed eye for creating and manipulating texture maps, and an excellent understanding of the value of UV space.
A great team player: self-motivated, with good communication skills.
Accurately follow common goals and tasks while working under own initiative. Perform other duties as assigned.
REQUIREMENTS
Have shipped relevant console titles as a Character Artist.
Strong traditional-art foundations, including but not limited to figure drawing, photography, and illustration.
An appreciation and understanding of fashion and street style.
To be considered for this position, you must submit your portfolio along with your résumé on the following page.


Rockstar Games

Founded in 1998, headquarters in New York City, Owned by Take-Two Interactive, President is Sam Houser and Vice President is Dan Houser.

Rockstar Leeds – 2004 – Present
– Based in Lower Wortley, Leeds. Created GTA: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories, Max Payne on the GBA, GTA: Chinatown Wars, Beaterator. Also Windows version of L.A. Noire.
Rockstar London – 2005 – present
– Took over development of Manhunt 2, portable version of Midnight Club: LA
Rockstar New England – 2008 – present
– Wii, XB360, PC port of Bully
Rockstar North – 1999 – present
– Edinburgh, Scotland. Famous for GTA and Manhunt, also original Lemmings games.
Rockstar San Diego – 2003 – present
– developed the RAGE engine, Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption, Smuggler’s Run series, first two Midtown Madness games and Midnight Club series.
Rockstar Toronto – 1999 – present
– The Warriors, PC/OS version of GTAIV and GTA: Episodes from Liberty City.

For use in future, use:
AMAQUIST.
GAMASUTRA.
GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ
THE EDGE MAGAZINE.
READ.
MONSTER.

What Makes a Good Cover Letter?


Cover letter is simple, made sure to keep it formal and professional looking. Layout is in standard letter layout with personal information such as address, telephone number, email and name.
Include the date, name of person the letter is to, don’t simply put “dear sir/madam”, company name and address. Includes what the letter is for (ie job code or title). Finished formally and includes CV attached.  Make sure that it isn’t too dull and that some personality comes out in the letter, otherwise it will simply be overlooked due to it being too flat.
Simply laid out what the job is, why the person would be good for it and wants it, and why they are looking for a new job.

Make sure you only include relevant information, anything else will be in the cv anyway, don’t waffle on about things that aren’t important.
Also make sure the layout is correct and not poorly spaced, and that all spelling has been checked beforehand.

Don’t tell the employer what you want, tell them why they should want you. Be specific, but not annoyingly so. Tell them what you will bring to their company (or whatever) and how you can help them. Make yourself sound like a valuable resource that they need.
The cover letter is not designed to repeat what is on the cv, it’s to call attention to yourself, and separate yourself from other applicants.

Taylor a cover letter to the specific job, don’t write a generic one that covers everything.
Keep the cover letter short, you don’t want it being more than a page, and 200-250 words will suffice.

What Makes a Good CV?



In many instances, a bad CV is made from including too much unnecessary information. Potential employers will be looking through a large number of CV’s and including things such as the title (you don’t need a CV, they know what it is) and an address title are just not needed. Other basic things you should always be aware of are that you are spelling things correctly and have a reasonably professional email address for convenient contact. As you can see from the inclusion of the email “boozyfloozy” that this person is not selling themselves as a professional, if necessary it’s very easy to make an alternative email address. Also be sure to add the most pertinent information at the forefront, I.e. your most recent educational or work experience background, as it will give employers a more up-to-date idea of where you’re coming from.



As expected, presentation goes a long way in helping a future employee consider your CV at all. As with this example, each category is clearly separated to show education, work experience etc. In terms of interests the perspective employer is able to gain some ideas about the character of the person applying for the job, and while personally I wouldn’t use something that has “living life” as an example of a good CV, apparently the quality of the piece is more important than your need to sound professional. 

Monday, 11 November 2013

Researching Career Avenues

Narrative Designer

The narrative designer focuses on ensuring that the key elements of the player experience associated with story and story telling devices, script and speech are dynamic, exciting and compelling. Working collaboratively with other design oriented team members, the narrative designer is the primary contact with external writing resources for the duration of a production, and is responsible for ensuring they get the most out of those external resources.

Responsibilities involve:

  • Act as the champion of the story, script and speech for the product.
  • Act as the central resource for all things narrative related, as well as writing content and editing copy.
  • Apply and adapt external written materials, as a representative of that writer's story vision, as it applies to the game.
  • Understand story requirements and deliver on story/script goals.
  • Manage own schedule to accommodate the deliverables of each project and propose solutions for conflicts that arise.
  • Conduct research to obtain factual background information relevant to story/design goals.
Concept Artists

A concept artist is an individual who generates a visual design for an item, character, or area that does not yet exist. This includes, but is not limited to, film production, animation production and more recently video game production. A concept artist may be required for nothing more than preliminary artwork, or may be required to be part of a creative team until a project reaches fruition. While it is necessary to have the skills of a fine artist, a concept artist must also be able to work to strict deadlines in the capacity of a graphic designer. Some concept artists may start as fine artists, industrial designers, animators, or even special effects artists. Interpretation of ideas and how they are realized is where the concept artist's individual creativity is most evident, as subject matter is often beyond their control.