Industry and Education

Why only Adelaide and Melbourne? *sigh*

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

Adelaide on my birthday, although I'm not even an artist... oh well.

y is it $450????????
i dont have that kind of money... just get a good tutorial

You *DO* get a book with that.. [;)] Actually, I wonder what type of people would pay for an expensive tutorial like that too. Students are poor, and modellers in the industry would know their stuff already... maybe those level designers in the biz want to broaden their horizons, perhaps? [:)]

it depends what you mean by that exactly.
We do have a few members that works for houses like microforte and some others. (Souri would be able to answer this Q a lot better than me me)

It is infact ants who are the true rulers of this world!!!

This is the first i've heard.
CYer, Blitz

I've been a web designer/developer for years, and I have to admit that I didn't even know AIMIA existed [:)].. 'Interactive Multimedia' is a very, very broad term, and it yes, you can stretch game developement under that as well. However, looking at the AIMIA memberlist and website, it feels like the organisation is more focused towards design studios/internet developement and that industry.. There aren't any game studios in that memberlist either, except for Eyecon (who also do web developement), so I guess it would be a rather safe bet that not a lot of the students/developers/visitors on this site would know of AIMIA. A post at australianinfront.com.au is propbably more appropriate than a place like this, but if the AIMIA are planning to broaden their scope to cover game developement more, then I'd like to hear more [:)]

Never heard of it before.

Yep, know of AIMIA. Hosted a few conferences and such up Brisbane way (like the 3DSMAX 4 launch). Was considering joining up, but the rest of life took over.

I heard of it via QANTM. If I remember correctly, we had a fair few employment opportunities passed on to us via you.

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

I agree with you interactive multimedia is a broad term, In-fact at one stage there were considerations to shift AIMIA?s approach to solely web developers.

However most of the members and industry authorities within AIMIA work with as many, if not more software development companies than they do animation and graphic design studios.

Krome and Auran are a long standing corporate members of AIMIA and continue to work with AIMIA to cross promote their work as well as the industry itself.

I wouldn?t say AIMIA is totally game focused due to the majority of its members being in e-commerce e-learning etc.

The closest buzz is our interest in web based gaming. ( director, flash, java etc )
That?s something I?d like to keep an eye on because of its potential to be one of the only game?orientated platforms that will produce reasonable returns independently within the Australian economy

____________________
Andrew Fitzsimon

She organised the PS2 devkit program, among one of the first things that came to my mind. I think she does another thing as well, her major stuff has been mostly the aid of several programs organised by the GDAA/V

I played poker with a Tarot deck the other night. I got a full house and four people died.

--Steven Wright.

She also worked at Melbourne House / Beam Software well before it got bought out by Infogrames. Nice person by all accounts (she worked in the same office as the one I telecommuted to every day) :)

That article was a good read. It seems a rather daunting task to start your own dev company, but if thats what you want to do its certainly helpful to know what youll be getting yourself into. Its good to know you can get support from the government.

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Can you type up some more info about this from the application? I'd like to post this on the main page (or you can do it if you like).. the GDAA website has nothing on it, unfortunately..

I would... but I sent off my application *grin*
I couldn't pass up the $11 membership fee.

I know there are a few others out there who might be able to supply you with more details.

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

I think you can always join the GDAA, its just that they put in the applications into each satchel just in case. Somehow I don't think the GDAA website is very well updated / maintained.

Damnit I need more cash to join all these organisations etc.

AFAIK the student membership is fairly new.

My understanding what that IGDA was trying to pull in some of the Aussie studios but they were not keen on jumping into the IGDA. So there was talks earlier this year about trying to open up the GDAA to students.

It is good to see that they have. Now to find out what it is that they can help students with :)

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

Let's hope it makes us more employable :-)

That would almost be enough, and if not that then to allow us to start another indie studio, as that would give back to them when we have to pay the full price :-)

Which one was he in? [:)]

Its the third picture down - ADGC Best Unsigned Games
Facing toward the camera - he's on the left at the front pc

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

Oh, and I'm curious as to what Auran's announcement is as well, so if any of you find out, post it in here too please. [8D]

Hey :)

Day one has finished and what a blast! Managed to meet up with some of the Sumea people today!
So far we all look to be having a great time. The talks have been wonderful.
Ray Muzyka had a great presentation for NWN as well as Adam Lancman with "Lessons I have Learnt"

The party went well - too bad the weather did not decide to follow.

-Jacana

"I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear"

Today was a blast :) Too bad most people were hungover from last night and missed the first talk of the morning. Battlefield 1942. Today seemed to spread people out a bit more then yesterday (interest areas).

We caught up with Blitz today - and I didn't get a picture! Sorry Blitz!

Today was a great learning day for me. Talking with people and asking questions about what they look for in hiring people, about how to approach people, and other little tidbits.

"I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear"

Today (the only day i can afford) was great. Starting with the talk about how refraction games and then DICE have evolved, and some of the issues getting a publisher, meeting milestones, etc. was great. There was some very fun movies in there that had most of the audience laughing heartily.

Afterwards i went to the "How to get into the game industry" talk, which ended up being pretty much a promotional for the AIE's Cert4 3D/animation course. Talked about the assignments completed throughout the year, goals of the course etc. Not so interesting for me from a programming POV :)

After that i meant to go to the MMOG design talk, but got my numbers mixed up and wandered into the Flexible Game Engine talk instead, which was quite packed. It was a really good overview of whys, and a few hows, you should implement an engine that will be easily exchangeable between various platforms (he mainly compared consoles). Also talked about certain differences/constraints between consoles that have affected their development.

Lunch time, wandered round the expo, checked out some of the unsigned games although didn't really get a chance to play them. Wandered over to the auran booth to find out what their "big announcement" was. Check http://www.nextyearsgame.com for the answer. Played some xbox, then back to the talks.

Tales from the frontline was changed to Designing for a License at the last minute, quite interesting, advantages and disadvantages of designing for a license. Oh, and we got minties!

Lastly i went to the making of hail. Reasonable presentation on what went into the game, although it was a bit unorganised :) (Due to spending time on Hail instead of the presentation). Well done to the guys and girls who worked on that.

The arvo keynote was interestingly a rallying cry to the world of game development. It's hard to expand on that, but basically the talk was about differences between games and other entertainment media, why games aren't as popular etc.

All in all a great day. Hope to be there again next year!
CYer, Blitz

I did not keep a list so I am going off memory!

Career Achievement Award -
Adam Lancman

Award for Outstanding Innovation -
Micro Forte Big World Technology

Award for Best New Start-Up -
Evolution Games (released Rocket Power: Beach Bandits for the Gamecube - Sept 02)

Award for Outstanding Industry Contribution -
Camille Wall

Award for Best Game of 2002 -
Grand Prix Challenge (Infogrames Melbourne House)

Award for Best Game for PC -
Freedom Force (Irrational Games)

Award for Best Game for Next Generation Consoles -
Grand Prix Challenge (Infogrames Melbourne House)

Award for Best Game for Game Boy Advance -
Duke Nukem Advance (Torus)

Award for Best Character Design -
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (Krome Studios)

Award for Best Game Audio -
Grand Prix Challenge (Infogrames Melbourne House)

Award for Best Game Design -
Freedom Force (Irrational Games)

Award for Best Level Design -
Hotwheels Bash Arena (Micro Forte)

Award for Best Unsigned Game -
Wicked Witch (did not get game title)

"I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear"

Erg, its too early in the morning to talk about how good the conference was, I am just back in Adelaide now and trying to recover after 5 days of very little sleep.

Jacana should be able to post some interesting pictures of the people that we met, and when I get the roll of film finished I will travel up to a friends place and get them scanned in as well.

Meanwhile I'll just sit here idly thinking about stuff, trying to remmeber more stuff, and thinking about what kind of articles I should write. I've already written up a summary on paper of the stuff that I did during the three days, but I don't know if that interesting enough to put up here. What do you think Souri and Jacana (Or should I call you Cheryl ?)

Actually a fair amount of my pics came out blurry :(
I was told that I should not need the flash inside the lighted areas but really needed it.

Most of the keynote speaches were over exposed and blurry :( As well as a few "fun" pictures.

One of the two pics I took of the group with Lars and Ray came out while the pics of me with them did not.

We need to work out how to consolidate all the pictures :)

"I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear"

Heh, let's hope we can use enough of the Photoshop "Sharpen" filter to fix those pictures. And I hope mine did not turn out blurry either.

Hrm, need sleep...

Also just like to mention the people that I saw there on at least one day from the site at least:

Me(Daemin)
Jacana
Blitz
BradB (Tycom)
AndrewM (Tycom)
David Coen

Also a bunch of guys from Melbourne Uni, and also a bunch of Guiys from the AIE.

BTW Congrats Jacana and (possibly) Blitz on getting into 2nd year of the AIE course next year :-), there's better be some damn cool games created.

quote:Originally posted by Daemin

Heh, let's hope we can use enough of the Photoshop "Sharpen" filter to fix those pictures. And I hope mine did not turn out blurry either.

BTW Congrats Jacana and (possibly) Blitz on getting into 2nd year of the AIE course next year :-), there's better be some damn cool games created.

I will get the photos up soon. I have been a total bum today! Sleep is good :)

I was actually accepted into 1st year of the course (not 2nd). I have only programming with C++ for about two weeks now, so there is still a lot left to learn.

*update* Here are some photos:
http://au.photos.yahoo.com/jacana_s

Those were the best looking ones of the lot :) Most were blurry!!

"Yes I Code"

quote:Originally posted by Jacana
"Yes I Code"

That's a classic :-)

Yeah, I've just woken up again for the second time today (not counting the numerous times on the train).

quote:Originally posted by Jacana
I was actually accepted into 1st year of the course (not 2nd). I have only programming with C++ for about two weeks now, so there is still a lot left to learn.

Ahh, well then, we may see each other again in another year's time if I end up going to the AIE. Still, you got in, and that's what counts in a way.

Actually, Jacana, were you the female programmer who requested a journal a while ago?.. I've had a couple of requests for a Programmer section (like the modeller, 2d artist, mapper sections), so I might put one up if there is a demand for it.

quote:Originally posted by Souri

Actually, Jacana, were you the female programmer who requested a journal a while ago?.. I've had a couple of requests for a Programmer section (like the modeller, 2d artist, mapper sections), so I might put one up if there is a demand for it.

Yup :) That was me. I totally forgot about that.... :) I think it was more that I thought maybe there was super special "hidden" areas of the site that I needed to login to view...

A side note - The shirt I picked up on Sunday was just fine :) (you'll know what I mean)

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

Hrm, yeah, I would also like to see a programmer section to be added to the existing Art-Heavy secitons. I'm sure some of us can contribute articles and such to it.

(Jacana - hehe now you can just walk into their offices and into the lead programmers room and ask for a job :-)

I wouldn't mind seeing a section where programmers could post .plan files and stuff like that...
CYer, Blitz

Ok, I'll put up a programmers section in a couple of days.. I hope some of you guys will help out with the links and programmer related news there sometimes.. [:)]
Curious - what were Ratbag up to? Did anyone get to see anything of Ikon or Ratbags other secret titles? (they're very quiet!).. thanks for the AGDC awards results Jacana.. I've chucked them up on the Sumea Developer Awards page... if anyone knows what the Wicked Witch game was, let me know!... and hey, didn't Grand Prix Challenge really clean up there [:)]...

I found this comment at Slashdot from the AGDC topic.. http://slashdot.org/articles/02/12/09/0126222.shtml?tid=127 .. pretty interesting.. [:)]

quote:The most striking fact from the conference was examining the behaviour of different programming houses. Infogrammes (Melbourne House) were so big, that they didn't care about anyone else, so they always clustered together. It took a bit of effort to isolate a few of their developers to have a serious 1-1 talk. Ratbag developers seemed like the most compotent of the lot - they know their stuff, and are hungry for success. Watch out for these guys. MicroForte were the loudest at the party, they know how to have a good time. I felt sorry for one of the houses (who I will not name), they were like 'we will code games for food, give us a project, any project'.

quote:Originally posted by Souri

Ok, I'll put up a programmers section in a couple of days.. I hope some of you guys will help out with the links and programmer related news there sometimes.. [:)]

I have a fair few links :) Would be happy to supply you with a very long list.

quote: Curious - what were Ratbag up to? Did anyone get to see anything of Ikon or Ratbags other secret titles? (they're very quiet!)..

I did not talk to too many local devs (see response later) but I know Dave talked with Ratbag and sat with them for the Alien Infestation dinner.

quote:thanks for the AGDC awards results Jacana.. I've chucked them up on the Sumea Developer Awards page... if anyone knows what the Wicked Witch game was, let me know!... and hey, didn't Grand Prix Challenge really clean up there [:)]...

No problem :) I hope I got them all correct *grin* Infogrames did very well this year. There was a short demo of the game in one of the talks and it looked good. They have a title to be proud of.

quote:I found this comment at Slashdot from the AGDC topic.. http://slashdot.org/articles/02/12/09/0126222.shtml?tid=127 .. pretty interesting.. [:)]

Interesting you should notice that Souri. I made a similar comment in an email to you.
I honestly found most of the international speakers easier to talk to the those already involved in the Australian community. I found a fair few studios were keeping into groups of their own house - and that?s a bit intimidating to break into a group of six or so people.

When you keep to your own you miss a lot. There was a wealth of knowledge there over the weekend and I tried to take in as much of it as I could. Not just from the talks but from the people. I really apprecaited that after the last talk of the conference Derek from Mirco Forte (Xbox project) talked with a few of us for good hour. He missed the closing keynote as did we. But in that hour there was a lot of knowledge to be had.

Also when you keep to your own you can miss out on a lot of experiences. I ended up in a talk sitting next to Lars Gustavsson. I had talked to him earlier that day about a few topics and I guess that made me a familiar face in the crowd. So when he walked into the room he then saw a familiar face. While that may not be a big thing to others as a student I apprecaited that. I took that as a sign that I had not made a total fool out of myself :)

With the experience I had this year I would be more inclined to talk with international dev's and give them my work. The down side of this would mean that local talent would then be going overseas to work.

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

Erm, well from what I know only a small contingent from Ratbag were at the conference, and that was due to the other team (s?) having a milestone that they had to get done. Ikon as so far as I know is a game where you drive around and shoot things, sor of in that Genre, but they have not released anything yet. (Maybe they don't want to pull something like Duke Nukem Forever has done). Also the Ratbag guys were the most drunk on the friday night party I'd say, they partied a lot, I heard that they were at the Barcode club till 2am on saturday night after the dinner. ;-)

As for the Indie Game that won it was "Melodie Mars", a music shooter I believe it was described. So you could score points by shooting, and also by doing something with music (although I didn't have my headphones on etc), you could also walk on any surface and fly etc so it was quite innovative. There were some other interesting games there, I think Pax Galactica has some merit, and could be a great game but it still needs some work on it to get the interface and the "World" integrated into one application. Pyzzle was a myst clone using python as the programming language, which I think is a good idea instead of just using C/C++ constantly, since it didn't need super fast anything it was a good use of available resources by that team.

With the programming site I'm sure we can provide enough links for you, I would also like ot request a plan file thingo too.

quote:Originally posted by Jacana

I honestly found most of the international speakers easier to talk to the those already involved in the Australian community. I found a fair few studios were keeping into groups of their own house - and that?s a bit intimidating to break into a group of six or so people.

I agree, but I think it can be addressed to some degree. At the GDC in the USA they usually have very large round tables around the conference (for sitting at between sessions and while eating lunch). These seat 12 people (approx) which means that you end up with a mix of people from multiple studios (and students, etc)
Perhaps the organisers need to do more to encourage mingling - some three-legged races [:D] or maybe the cocktail party should encourage more mixing?

I had the chance to speak to some great people at the conference from all over the place (Sony/Xbox/AIE/Students/etc) but I could see the problems with the larger studios grouping together (technically it was probably friends grouping together, but its the same thing). IMH suffered from the problem that it accounted for more than 10% of the crowd (probably closer to 20% if you include all the people who had worked there at some time in the past!)

I'm really impressed that they keep getting big names to come in from overseas, I had a chance to talk to Ray Muyzka which was very cool, and I loved the guy from Sweden (or somewhere like that) who talked about the game experiment crossed with reality that he ran at his Uni.
Unfortunately I missed the BF1942 talk - as did many others... holding a cool keynote at 9am isn't going to work [|)]

Zaph

quote:Originally posted by Zaph
I'm really impressed that they keep getting big names to come in from overseas, I had a chance to talk to Ray Muyzka which was very cool, and I loved the guy from Sweden (or somewhere like that) who talked about the game experiment crossed with reality that he ran at his Uni.
Unfortunately I missed the BF1942 talk - as did many others... holding a cool keynote at 9am isn't going to work [|)]

LOL! Most people were nursing hangovers at 9am.

The guy your talking about was Steffen from Playbe - German company. I had a talk with him during one of the breaks. I was very interested in that talk but it was too full to get in. He did mention that most of the information he gave on the speach can be found on their website.

I might be worth a suggestion to Pon about trying to mix up the attendes a bit more.

I am very interested in IMH as I am in the Melbourne area. There was a great talk about creating licenced content from one of the guys there.

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

quote:Originally posted by Jacana

The guy your talking about was Steffen from Playbe - German company. I had a talk with him during one of the breaks. I was very interested in that talk but it was too full to get in. He did mention that most of the information he gave on the speach can be found on their website.

Ahh, my notebook! (paper that is):
MadCountdown: http://www.madcountdown.com

and the Aussie link he mentioned:
ARQuake: http://wearables.unisa.edu.au/arquake/

quote:
I am very interested in IMH as I am in the Melbourne area. There was a great talk about creating licenced content from one of the guys there.

That was Mark Morrison - an excellent public speaker (and he had free minties!). I felt sorry for the guy in the audience who had actually shipped a Barbie(tm) game [:p]

quote:Originally posted by Zaph
That was Mark Morrison - an excellent public speaker (and he had free minties!). I felt sorry for the guy in the audience who had actually shipped a Barbie(tm) game [:p]

Thanks for the links! :)

Free minties is always a bonus! The guy who shipped the Barbie game works from Krome. I am sure he was very happy about that talk.

*edit*
Just had a look at your site. I went to the pictures page - are you the guy from IMH that had the big dreads?

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

You know, Lars Gustavsson (Battlefild 1942) from DICE (which stands for Digital Illusions DC) ..

Some of us may remember Digital Illusions for their *INCREDIBLE* Pinball games on the Amiga.. Pinball Illusions, and my all time favourite, Pinball Fantasies!!! Lars wasn't on the team, (his AGDC details say he joined Refraction Games back in 1999 which later merged into Digital Illusions), but those games were *unreal*.. full screen, fast/smooth scrolling graphics on a crusty 7mhz Amiga 500.

Just a little trivia, I think Digital Illusions were started by a bunch of The Silents demo group people.. demo groups were like what mod groups of today, except the programmers did all of the code, and the 'product' was something akin to a video clip - with music, special effects, and art.

Anyway, Jacana if you're interviewing Lars later on, I have a few questions for him [;)]

quote:Originally posted by Jacana
Just had a look at your site. I went to the pictures page - are you the guy from IMH that had the big dreads?

No [:D] I can see the connection there though (I shaved the beard many years ago...) I do have long hair, but not in dreads, and Alex (the Dreads guy) is about a foot taller than me (well, it feels that way!)

actually, lars showed off some very, very cool video's during his sat morning keynote, which included one that was like a video biography of refraction/DICE. I wonder if those vids are available on the net somewhere, they're definately worth watching :)
One thing i WOULD like to see at next years AGDC is more Game Dev's showing off the games they've released. Auran was the only Dev with a booth, and i'm guessing they had the booth mainly to show off Jet and nextyearsgame thing, rather than their actual games.
CYer, Blitz

some random quotes not in full context

John Passfield (krome) denied that they will be making a game called 'chooka the occa chook'

Graham Edelsten (CEO Auran) regets not getting to make darkreign2

Raymond Muzyka (bioware) is enjoying australia and does read www.megatokyo.com

John De Margheriti (Microforte) is very happy with 'bigworld' tech, and listed some interesting korean online games ;_;

and 'melodie mars' won the unsigned games (Wicked witch software). a music based FPS which also had surface dependant gravity (fly close enough to a wall and you would turn around to stand on it, makes for interesting levels)

_what, i should not have sugested the 'barbie game' in Mark Morrison talk? >:)

I think I read it off a the Gamespy site, but Ray Muzyka is actually doing a driving holiday in Australia, and probably around South Australia by now.

Anyway, good quotes IMO :-)

One lesson I learned over the weekend:
Have business cards! Even as a student.

You can get 100 of them made up very cheap - besides being a student I am not sure people expect amazing cards.

"Yes I Code"
As found on AGDC name tag 2002

Yeah, that would be one of the things i'd prepare for next years conference - if I don't already have a job - the other thing would be to try and buy and bring the cd's of games that the international and national people have made for them to autograph them. (Like someone did this year :-)

Auran was the only Australian developer showing off their game ?? Are you serious? There were so many Australian games released last year, I would have thought they'd all have a few computers/consoles in each of their booths running their games.. I know I would have loved to actually check out Ty, and Grand Prix Challenge and other titles myself..

Well technically Auran weren't there to primarily show off their game, they got the booth to announce the "Next Years Game" competition thing. The independent games booth actually took up #6 and #7 which made it the largest booth there, and yeah. They had a few games showing off in the "viewing area" of the lanfest, which were the xbox titles.

Personally I don't think its worth it showing off a game at the expo, since there are demo's that you can make, and its rather expensive and there aren't that many publishers around either. We'll see how it goes next year.

Shall d/l this later on. Can't wait tho @:-D

How'd Industry Night fair?

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

That is a pretty good deal. How much did an Xbox cost when it came out a year ago? about $700! What a difference a year of healthy competition makes! Unfortunately, I'm more of a PC nut, and any future purchase that I make would have to include a Geforce4 and a new CPU.. Doom 3, Silent Hill 2, and (hopefully real soon) Vice City have swayed me into upgrading my PC instead of buying a console - although I'm tempted to hire Vice City for the PS2 if I can get my hands on it at the video store.

Just to add to this, I think PC games are really starting to advance further away from the latest generation consoles in terms of eye candy / technology.. I know it's the gameplay that counts, but damnit, I wonder what those Geforce 5's are going to be able to do! 2x the speed of the 4ti was the blurb that was splashed about.. [8]

There's always the grey market, and imports.

Well what I mean by that is if the game gets released anywhere at all it will find its way into Australia, either by people buying it overseas, or getting the Warez version, or by importing it in.

IMO refusing the R18 rating is a good idea because it will limit the potential risk of exposure to minors. Plus there's already enough p0rn on the net, and anything is acessible if you try hard enough.

"where there's a will, there's a way"

I think refusing the R rating is immature and just goes to show the lack of attention that the ministers etc. pay to the gaming industry. It's also a violation of the freedom we should have to view what we want.
It's also interesting to note the reasons why games are given an R rating (or censored/banned). In the case of bmx xxx it was apparently the topless bike riders (and not the stripper cutscenes etc.) that caused the problem. And if i remember, GTA3 was censored because it had prostitutes in the game. So, minimal sex (the sort of thing that would be probably OK in a M or MA rated movie) is considered R material in a game just because it's an interactive medium. On the other hand, games continue to become more violent, and, as graphics technology improves, are able to convey the violence much more realistically, yet these games receive an MA rating with no censorship. This sends either the message that sex is an inherently much worse thing than violence, or, using Daemin's theory "refusing the R18 rating is a good idea because it will limit the potential risk of exposure to minors" that if minors are more likely to be exposed to legal content, it is better for them to be exposed to extreme violence, than to some topless girl riding a bmx bike.

Of course, ultimately it comes down to parenting. If you're worried about your children being exposed to certain games, then simply supervise what games they do play etc.

Finally, i agree with what the game companies have said. The gaming industry has matured, and these ministers (or whatever) that opposed the change to an R rating are behind the times.
CYer, Blitz

Still as game developers we need to show some respect and restraint, in addition to some common sense. Maybe if we have a game where there's mature R18 content but in a tasteful way, much like some european films, "tasteful artistic" films, then the games industry might get an R18 rating and be even more respected.

The reason GTA3 was censored wasn't just that it had prostitutes - it was the fact that you could hit / kill them, too. Sex and violence by themselves are fine, but you can't combine the two in Australia. Hence the "Non-violent erotica" label on Australian porn nowdays (um, apparently).

The OFLC web site has a detailed explaination of why they ruled against GTA 3, and even includes a call for a R18 rating to be established. Very interesting reading.

An R classification for games in Australia is never going to happen when you get the people who make the decisions giving out comments like these..

quote:Mr. Williams? spokeswoman continued; ?It?s appropriate to have a stricter regime in relation to this area ? [as] the likelihood of children gaining access to adult computer games increases if the material is legally available.?

I can't begin to tell you how naive and backward a comment like that is. And it's a shame that people will have to resort to importing or piracy, as ultimately, it's the local game stores, and game developers that lose out.

And all this news comes on the heels of a stricter labelling system for music CD's - before hand, anyone could buy music, as long there was warning on the cover if the lyrics were deemed course, or sexually explicit. Now there is an R rated classification, so no under 18s can buy that stuff. Personally, I don't mind that at all, but I fail to see why games are so different. They claim that because it's interactive, it could cause greater harm - but I fail to see any studies or evidence of such.

At this moment, you could say it's not a big deal, but I'm sure when some great new game that DEPENDS on mature content (Duke Nukem Forever?), it'll be more trouble than its worth disabling the offensive material.. The trend seems to be heading towards mature content (although some of these developers tacking on nudy bits to sell more titles like BMX XXX will hopefully be a minority), and it kind of peeves me a bit when something like GTA3, and Vice City have to be changed to suit our crummy laws.

If they censor or anything DOAXBV at all, theres gonna be hell to pay!
CYer, Blitz

I don't think there's any sex in that, only implied nudity. So it'll pass, M15+.

Well games are the current scape-goat for everything thats wrong with young kids so obviously they are going to be overly stict with cencorship.
It doesn't really matter that much cause like Daemin says, ppl will get it off the net.
Either an R rating or rating guys who aren't as closed minded about video games. We need ppl who understand games to rate them.

Bloody hell its a giant harmonica!

It's strange that violence isn't as censored as much.. you can see gibs and people writhing in agony in games like Soldier of Fortune in stores, but the minute some game shows topless nudity, it's an instant ban. That's all BMX XXX had, right? Topless nudity, and course language. I guess we're lucky somewhat that violent games aren't censored as much - I'd hate to play a modified game where the blood had to be changed to green and enemies were referred to as cyborgs. I think this happens in Germany with certain titles ?

BMX XXX features female bike riders with no tops, dogs having sex, and cut scenes featuring strippers, as well as the coarse language, but apparently it was the topless bike riders that caused them to ban it...which is just insane.
Germany also has the unfortunate problem of banning/censoring any game with any nazi related stuff in it. So they don't get RTCW, or a lot of WW2 based games.
CYer, Blitz

Germany got RtCW, but the enemies were no longer Nazis but a rogue group called the Wolves.

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

And they had the wolfenstein logos instead of swastikas if I read correctly.

I dont necessarily mind the "no sexual violence" rule, the minute that gets lifted somones going to make a game with rape in it that would be done for the sake of violence, not as say part of character development and story. Since a moronic friend of mine said that redfaction needs a rape button when you come across a cowering nurse it makes me worry that somone would actually try somthing pathetic like that. An R rating should have been out years ago though. Adults should be allowed to make their own decisions on what they want not what somone else thinks is best for the majority. I think a reason that this rating hasnt been made is because video games are still considered childish. People who dont play them assume that only kids and teenagers are into gaming, Which is miles from the truth.
I also believe bringing in an R rating will allow the developers a bit more room for creativity, it must be annoying to have to alter the project you worked so hard on just to meet some stupid guide line.

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

quote:If they censor or anything DOAXBV at all, theres gonna be hell to pay!
CYer, Blitz

That game's just had a R18+ rating in Japan.. they don't show nudity in it at all, but I've read some of the posings may be a little too much. It would be a shame if a game like that is banned, as a few of the reviews I've read have given it a favourable thumbs up.

If they ban it they're gonna have a revolution on their hands!!!! :)
CYer, Blitz

*sigh* and i thought that i might actually get to buy postal 2 at a store next year, not gonna happen now. I guess i'll have to break the law and get it imported, the upside of that is more of my money goes right to the developer.

As an adult, i refuse to be told by the government what videogames i can and cannot play. I'm all for the R rating. Had there been an R rating when GTA3 was brought out it wouldn't have been nuetered, it would have been given an R rating and the 15 and over who are able to purchase and play it now wouldn't be able to.

All sounds good [:)], but i bet [8D] you could have put more [:p] smileys in your post [:D] then you actually managed to[xx(]. But don't worry [;)], i'm sure most people have fallen [|)] after the first line of this post [:0]

100% chance of PAIN, in the GLAVEN

And I bet if a lot of people abuse the smiley system, I'll just disable it. [:)]

Did you grab this from Flipcode.com Image Of The Day Gallery by any chance?

Nope.. it was submitted by Noreha, who's a part of the dev team, and just recently has a profile on Sumea..
http://www.sumea.com.au/sprofile.asp?member=43

Cool, well I think they submitted it to flipcode too.

Well done I say to them, I know how hard it is to make something decent as a hobby.

Also are they entering it for the AGDC award for Best Unsigned Game or not?

no we re not putting it in for the best unsigned game at the agdc...would like to, but it really isn't anywhere near completion yet, and only a month to go until the conference, we would be struggling. two guys on the team are about to start their uni exams, so the amount of time required is greater than the amount of time allowed. phew a long sentence there! i would like to thank souri for putting the "news" up on the page, it was a shock to see it as the lead news item the other day, very cool stuff.

Erg, well I'm doing a game for that conference, only started a month ago, and I got exams in a week. Ahh the joys of a game developers crunch time schedule :)

IMO you guys should try and enter, even if its a playable demo then its still cool enough.

Oh well, maybe next year I take it?

Cool demo.. there's some bugs in there, but I'm sure you're aware of them. The car always turns on a dime, no matter how fast you're going, so that kinda affects the gameplay a bit. I'm in the middle of trying to get sponsorships for more webspace, so if that turns out ok, you're free to have the demo mirrored on Sumea if you like.

The way i understand it you can keep submitting a game for the unsigned game award every year if you want until it gets signed :) So it's probably worth submitting it even if it is far from complete. However, i think you'd be too late now, nominations closed yesterday.
CYer, Blitz

Well there's nothing stopping you's from submitting it anyways, at least you'll get a reply back saying that its too late, at most you'll be allowed in the nominations.

it would be cool to have it mirrored here...i'll talk to the other fellas aboot it...i did chuck it in the nominations, got it in, doubt we will win but it's there. good luck to all involved, hope to see you at the agdc, might be there all 3 days, don't know yet. yeah we know aboot the physics, kinda the hardest thing for us to get done, none of us are particularly strong in regards to physics. we are looking for some help with it, so if you know anyone that would be fantastic. thanks again

oh yeah idletime did get shortlisted...we won't win but we will be painting melbourne RED, RED I tells ya!!! Hope to see everyone there, and good luck to all invloved

Have they gotten a publisher for their new games yet? When can we expect info on their secret project?

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

This is kind of a guess from reading reviews etc. (haven't actually played the game), but is the characters name "Minuteman" ?
CYer, Blitz

Yes, that sounds right.. thanks. [:)]

FOR FREEEEDOM! *WHACK!*

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

was going to try and get the little wrestling game i was working on with a programmer in canada (unless it has to be all australian) but the programmer guy is dragiong his heals about releasing anything to the puublic....

quote:Originally posted by Daemin

Heya

Just wondering if any of you guys out there are working on a game at the moment aiming to submit it to try and win the Award for Best Unsigned Game at the AGDC this year. I'm kinda looking to see what competition is out there ;)

I know there's at least a team out there, using the Garage Games's Torque engine, and they're Australian. So who else is out there?

-Dom

The AIE Dip II team has a game - "Hail" it's called. http://www.aie.act.edu.au/hail/index.html - I assume that they'll be going for the award as well. Some really talented guys on that team.

Hail looks pretty cool, I hope they do well.

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Another unsigned game is Tito, the bouncing Alien, by Dimsdale & Kreozot (from QLD).. http://www.sumea.com.au/sdevelopersprofile.asp?developer=35&game=66

I've seen Hail a few months ago - on the site at least. I don't know if they could submit it, as they could be getting help / funding, or something from a real Game Dev studio, but yeah somebody prove me wrong.

Hopefully we'll release some screenshots soon.

On http://www.sumea.com.au/sdevelopersprofile.asp?developer=15&game=48 I have the release down as 22/10/02 (in four days!).. I can't remember where I got that date from, but I wouldn't make it up or anything.. [:)] Blue Tongue certainly have been pretty quiet... You could fire an email off to Muzboz as he works there, and see if he's kind enough to tell you.. look for him in the memberslist.

Oh, I just had a look at your jurassic park site.. looks like you know much more on that game than we do. [B)]

XBox magazine gives it a release date of november.
CYer, Blitz

Thanks guys! Just wish they would release a permanent release date! Looking forward to it though!! [;)]

Coops

If you find any new details, let us know, ok! [:)]

OK. Tiny bit: Charles "Bud" Tingwell is playing the voice of "John Hammond" in the game ( for those of you who have seen the Jurassic Park movies)![;)]

Coops

JP is now slated for 1st Qtr 2003.

MrEdd.

It would be great to get it here in Australia first, but that never happens with anything decent. The Americans usually get things at least 3-6 months prior to us. I hate it too but what can you do.

The universe is big so don't complain

I believe Warcraft 3 came out at almost the same time, and also a few other games hit the stores here just like 1 day after, or even before they hit the store shelves in America. The popular games at least, I'm sorry if you were expecting something not top of the line though.

I remember when we were first to get Donkey Kong Country. Ahhh.... *blissful reminiscent smile*

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

If your skill is programming, then keep it as your main area of expertise. If you want to branch out into art and such, go right ahead. It's your project, do what you wish.

You could get a mate or few that are artist's to help you out, or recruit via places like Sumea.

Hmm... unsure if that was useful at all... @:-p

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

If you want to know about design I would suggest looking at sites such as GameDev.net and Gamasutra.com, since they have some very interesting articles. And I would suggest you get the book "Game Architecture and Deisgn" by Coriolis Press, they've gone bust now, but if you can find a copy, get it since its a damn good book.

As for the art I would suggest just using simple coloured squares (if in VB) as a start in the art, or smiley faces taken from an Intant Messaging Program for your units etc, until you either get someone else to do the art, or you learn an art program and make more programmer art yourself.

As for the skills set, I'm saying that everyone that develops games should have a broad understanding of all the necessary topics involved, but then concentrate on one particular field and get really good at that. By this I mean for the programmers to learn to use the artist's tools like image editing software, 3D modelling tools etc, but to then just program a lot and get really good at programming, while still being able to resize, adjust brightness / contrast, for the odd image.

As for the game that you have made a functioning VB demo for, I would suggest that you build up on the demo a bit to get a nice prototype done, and then try and get a few mates to do the art for it while you start programming the real game (in another language, C or C++ preferable, although Java is acceptable now also). Then this little demo and project might turn into something cool, and if the source is good enough it might land you a job at a *real* game company. And if it doesn't then you can always try to sell it yourself, or distribute it for free.

Anyways that's my long winded response to this.

I found the AIE it is a few blocks from me, so I am thinking I will do the intro to 3d animation and see how it goes from there. Thanks for your replies, I am trying to hassle my friends into upskilling in digital art ... so far no takers.

I really need to visit AIE sometime. I've been driven past it and went "OOooooo" but haven't actually been in there and checked it out...

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

quote:Originally posted by Brain

I really need to visit AIE sometime. I've been driven past it and went "OOooooo" but haven't actually been in there and checked it out...

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

It's not much to look at from the outside. It has the same tan/brown bricking that Australian buildings seem so fond of [:p]

It's the old Watson High building; going there is like going back through a time warp.

I'm looking forward to Daz's texture talk and the Xbox one as well. It's a no brainer that the keynote speakers will be ones to watch. Xbox Live and the game design ones appeal to me.

Does anyone know what the conference dinners are like?? Alien Infeastation?

Jono

I'm more interested to go and see the non-console talks, especially the one's in the business track that deal with startups (not getting into the industry, but once you're started). I feel that we should actually have that console development kit, or at least that console in order to fully appreciate those talks. Now I gotta get the cash together to attend the damn thing. *sigh*

If I were attending (and I wish I could!), I'd pretty much be seeing as much of the lectures as I could.. some very, very interesting talks there! I would love to sit at the PS2 Character Animation (by Gareth White/Ratbag Games.. I'm guessing that he'll be talking about Ikon or one of the new projects, since it's about character animation), John Passfield's talk, The Making of Neverwinter Nights, The Art of Directing & Creating Cinematics - I'd definately be in for this one. Oh, and Cruelness Under Fire: Tales From the Frontline of Game Design (Mark Angeli - Infogrames Melbourne House).. that definately sounds interesting.. Romero on the future of mobile gaming - I'd prefer to hear him talk about Doom, Daikatana, and game design related issues instead.. [:)] ..And with the dinners and parties, it certainly is something worth going to!

Hrmf, looks like we might just make it for the "Best Unsigned Game" if we hurry and do some heavy programming Blitz ;)

It would be interesting to say the least.

Hey, that looks pretty interesting.. I'm pretty eager to see what the developers vote on. Did they have this last year? Sumea's already got it's own record of Australian games released in the last 12 months, so having a look at that, I'm guessing Ty will get a lot of nominations.. along with Freedom Force.

My votes would go to:
Career Achievement Award - Touugh one..Could be any of the Krome co-owners. I'd vote for Gregg Barnett though! C'mon, he's responsible for many huge titles for Beam! [:)]
Award for Outstanding Innovation - Irrational Games.. definately no cookie cutter game
Award for Best New Start-Up - No idea
Award for Outstanding Industry Contribution - John De Margheriti, responsible for the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, Game Developers Association of Australia
Award for Best Game of 2002 - Toss up between Ty and Freedom Force
Award for Best Game for PC - Freedom Force, definately..
Award for Best Game for Next Generation Consoles - Ty, for certain
Award for Best Game for Game Boy Advance - Duke Nukem Advance
Award for Best Original Character Design - Ty, that's a sure bet
Award for Best Game Audio - Dunno, although Ty is supposed to be really good in that area
Award for Best Game Design - Freedom Force I'd say, since Ty isn't quite out yet to judge [:)]
Award for Programming Excellence - No idea
Award for Outstanding Visual Arts - Ty
Award for Best Unsigned Game - Dunno

Hmm, i think Auran could be in with a chance for innovation with Trainz...
I think you'd have to be spot on with the outstanding industry contribution...unless he's already won it before, or something else making him ineligible...As far as all the things he's done, i believe it was also his fault that the AGDC exists too?? :)
CYer, Blitz

Award for Best Unsigned Game - Ours (Me and Blitz), Hopefully.

I don't even think any new companies started up / released their first game this year, so I don't know if that award is valid this year?

Award for Programming excellence - I think that would go to one of the Trainz or Auran jet people, simply because its a good piece of software engineering / programming IMO. And because I haven't seen any other industry type code that has been coded in Autralia.

Career Achievement Award - I'd put one of the Ratbag founders, simply because they've started small in Adelaide (like me), have gotten big and stayed big still all in a small town such as Adelaide. And they've also produced some decent games.

That's about it.

Programming excellence could also go to MF for Bigworld tech...
Maybe... :P
CYer, Blitz

Nah, it's not released yet. [:)] But yeh, Trainz certainly sounds like a good candidate for that award [:)]

Actually i believe the Bigworld Tech V1.0 has actually been released. There may not be any games built upon it yet however! :)
CYer, Blitz

NO lens flares, flying logos, school projects or anything that doesn't show off your potential. If it's short don't try to fill it out, just stick to your best stuff. There's no magic number of items, but too short is probably better than too long. A demoreel with 40 pieces is definitely too long. 10 is probably good but go with what feels right. That "30 seconds of greatness" chestnut can't be said enough. Make sure every piece has a purpose and demonstrates some skill. Even if all of your stuff is great some will be better, so put it on a looping .wav and listen to it while you decide what to use. :p

If you're focussing on texturing and 2D maybe lots of slow pans, wipes from concept art to finished project, that kind of thing. Show off what you're good at and hide your crappy bits. Slideshows are good for 2D stuff too. The sketchbook is a good idea to carry around and show off but you need something they can take away with them.

Cheers.

What I've got is 2 (or more) folios.

One is for:
- Print Based media. ie - illustrations, concept, designs. This is in an originally designed folder all done up nicely. Any sketches that I feel are worth including are in here (scanned and some coloured).

- The reel itself - home for the 3d stuff and now some of those pan/wipes you mentioned. I don't have Adobe Premiere but I assume the wipes/pans can be done in Video Post in Max? Admittedly, my post production skills are a tad rusty.... hmm

Now my only prob is what to do with my sketchbooks. I'm into my second A3 Bockingford so I'll show my fancy folder first, and if they want to see the skody sketchbook, they'll be on hand, I guess.

quote:Originally posted by Bunny

Slideshows are good for 2D stuff too. The sketchbook is a good idea to carry around and show off but you need something they can take away with them.

What I'd like to know now is: how to present the print based stuff.

I've got this idea for how I'm going to present my folio and reel (but I'm not telling you guys yet ;) ) but do people want to be able to look at (say) mounted boards and be able to arrange them on a desk in any way they like OR would they prefer a booklet that they can leaf through. The mounted boards/booklet would be secure in the packaging that I'm designing, but it's how they are presented OUT of the packaging that interests me.

Anyone?

So basically it's 'bound' vs 'free'.

Also I am pretty sure that there should be no SpaceShips, or simple space scenes, because anyone can create spaceships really.

Can anyone help me out with the Free vs Bound possibilities? I kinda need to know as it will partly determine the costs of printing and the layout of the designs and pages.

Thanks to those who've replied so far.

Jono

yeah? well here one. do you want to give me a job. sample of my best work here http://www.websamba.com/davidcoen/best.htm

:)

Mmm, ditto. @;-)

Helpful, aren't we?

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

How about:

1) Would you guys (Krome) be more likely to hire an Australian, or some other foreigner if everything else is equal between them?

2) Is there a limit to the number of figurines that a programmer is allwoed to have on their desktop (and monitor etc)?

3) How important / good (can't think of a better word atm) is the AGDC with respect to making contacts and hiring of staff to you?

4) What are your usual hours working, I know some developers stay from about 2pm till 4am, some stay business hours, some a bit longer, so what are your usual hours working at Krome?

5) Do you guys get Mountain Dew imported from the States, where there's actually caffine in it?

Erm, I think that's about it for now... Although you don't have to ask him every question here :)

No offence Daemin, but I think that's getting a bit ahead of things...:)

It's like starting in golf and then asking Tiger Woods what's the best airline to use for travelling between tournaments, y'know?

And to hell with Mountain Dew, it's Coke that's important ;)

(Though I do think the number of toys you can have is pretty important...I cant go anywhere without my Ape Escape monkeys) :)

From what I remember from my visits to Krome most artists have their area pretty much covered with doodads and whatsits. Yay!

What I would ask...

What are Krome looking for from their artists? Do they value technical skills over artistic flair (ie: knowledge of how to rig a model in max versus being able to make it look pretty)?

What makes a showreel stand out from the crowd?

What type of people are Krome looking for? What are character traits that are a benefit? (ie: not needing sleep or sunlight)

Are there any particular styles that aspiring Kromers should focus on? (ie: cartoony style of Ty, or the Manga look of Blade Kitten...or reaslitic look of Surf Boarding...)

What is the one thing that you wish potential artists would stop putting in their showreel? (ie: exploding teapots...heheh)

2D skills - essential, totally essential or Oh My God You Wouldnt Believe How Essential?

And finally...

What do I have to do for you to hire my fat ass and save me from this journalistic hell?! :)

Can I have a company car, larger desk, leather chair and personal secretary?

http://www.jasondalton.com

Hey Gazunta, these are just questions of the top of my head at the time, and I was kinda trying to ask humorous / importatn questions too. Maybe the Question about the toys could be for all people, not just programmers. But yeah...

And the deal with mountain dew is that here in Australia it doesn't contain any caffine in it, that's why it sucks, and in the states it contains a heck of a lot of caffine that's why it rules over there. Coke is good too but only because its got caffine everywhere.

Plus I think Souri will ask all the important questions anyways, I'm just putting in some humourous questions that I think are appropriate. Still if you feel that way...

Ok, questions done and sent.. looking forward to John's reply! (He's currently over at the states right now doing press for Ty)

I have the responses to the questions sent to John, so make sure you check back here real soon when I put them up, ok! [:)]

Cool :)

Ok, the interview answers are up, so if you have any thoughts and responses about it, write about it here [:)]
One thing I have to say is *wow*.. The art for Flight of the Amazon Queen was done by *1* person! Backgrounds, AND animation - everything! That's quite an unbelievable amount of work there (I'll post a follow up letter to John to ask how many screens of backgrounds that that game had, but I'm sure it's well over 40.. I can remember walking in a jungle in the beginning of that game, and there were so many screens..).. Just to put this in perspective, think of a game like Street Fighter 2.. that had about 12 backgrounds, and 12 animated characters, and required a team of a dozen artists..

Massive respect to Steve Stamatiadis. [:)]

If I remember right there was about 120 backgrounds in the final game with another 10 or so that got dumped. There were 40 or so characters and I don't know how many frames of animation but I never want to do that again. Don't forget to double the amount for the 2 versions.

Young + insane = graphic adventure.

It's a shame that the number of graphic adventures have fallen in recent years. Some of my fave games are graphic adventures - Grim Fandango, Monkey Island etc..

Whicked :D My questions got answered too :)

Erg, this begs the question what is the average / usual amount of figurines on one's monitor?

hehe, Maybe i'll save that one for a survey or something at the AGDC :)

Or you could just rock up at Krome Studios and pretend to work there, then you could see for yourself. Hey, with a 50+ number of staff, who'd find out? [:)] .. That reminds me of an article on Slashdot on how someone just went into some company's office, sat down in a cubicle and pretended to work.. I can't remember exactly, but he may have managed a few weeks/month(s).. [:)]
Steve, 120 backgrounds + 40 character animations - that's just plain nutty. I would've went nuts [:)].. I'm guessing you did all those in Deluxe Paint on the Amiga, and in those days you had to do all your anti-aliasing, and dithering by hand (unless an eclipse/box gradiant fill would suffice).. very time consuming stuff.. I remember I did a hi-res picture (which was like 640x512) of Robert Smith of The Cure with Deluxe Paint, and that took me a total of 21 hours..

Ahhh, DPaint. Let me count the ways... wish I never sold my copy of it.

Faboo interview by the by. And here's hoping Steve drops by regularly (Hi Steve! @:-)

Chris Bowden
http://brain.gamekey.com/

quote:Originally posted by Souri

Or you could just rock up at Krome Studios and pretend to work there, then you could see for yourself. Hey, with a 50+ number of staff, who'd find out? [:)] .. That reminds me of an article on Slashdot on how someone just went into some company's office, sat down in a cubicle and pretended to work.. I can't remember exactly, but he may have managed a few weeks/month(s).. [:)]
Steve, 120 backgrounds + 40 character animations - that's just plain nutty. I would've went nuts [:)].. I'm guessing you did all those in Deluxe Paint on the Amiga, and in those days you had to do all your anti-aliasing, and dithering by hand (unless an eclipse/box gradiant fill would suffice).. very time consuming stuff.. I remember I did a hi-res picture (which was like 640x512) of Robert Smith of The Cure with Deluxe Paint, and that took me a total of 21 hours..

lol like what I did, rock up to Krome have the Lead artist love my work and then finding out I forgot my CV [xx(], hehehe I'm just happy I got past the secretary![:)]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

quote:

lol like what I did, rock up to Krome have the Lead artist love my work and then finding out I forgot my CV [xx(], hehehe I'm just happy I got past the secretary![:)]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

How long ago was this? You musta been pissed (off).

I'm thinking of testing the waters by sending an email to PR depts at Aussie game companies and sending my profile link. Only to see what they're after and then show a proper portfolio in a couple of months.

Is this a good idea? I don't really want to type a cv up yet.

Bouncy, was that with Steve Stamatiadis, btw ?

quote:Originally posted by Souri

Bouncy, was that with Steve Stamatiadis, btw ?

It could have been. He wrote his name down for me on a piece of paper and told me to get ready for a proper interview and mention that this dude had liked and seen my folio, It was while Jason Dalton was on holiday when I went in. I should have gone back but I got nervous, which is pretty silly. [:I]

Sorry not sure of his name, I think I was overwhelmed by the secretary wanting to shoot me for barging in hehehe that was funny, you should see their place it's like home away from home! and the majority of people were down stairs playing ps2 it was cool just to be in there [:D]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

[/quote]

How long ago was this? You musta been pissed (off).

I'm thinking of testing the waters by sending an email to PR depts at Aussie game companies and sending my profile link. Only to see what they're after and then show a proper portfolio in a couple of months.

Is this a good idea? I don't really want to type a cv up yet.
[/quote]

From my experience so far, it seems that it's better to go in person. Some companies don't like resumes sent through email, I guess It's too impersonal. Although what you could do is send an email of the link and a resume through and the day after you could rock up to the company and put the folio under their nose so they can smell the scent. [;)] But It's probably a good idea to type up a cv for back-up, most places will want cvs. But eitherway I guess :)

Good Luck for whatever you're going for my friend! [;)] Hope you rock their socks off!

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

quote:

From my experience so far, it seems that it's better to go in person. Some companies don't like resumes sent through email, I guess It's too impersonal. Although what you could do is send an email of the link and a resume through and the day after you could rock up to the company and put the folio under their nose so they can smell the scent. [;)] But It's probably a good idea to type up a cv for back-up, most places will want cvs. But eitherway I guess :)

Good Luck for whatever you're going for my friend! [;)] Hope you rock their socks off!

The main problem with that is that I'm in NZ at the moment. So it's a fair walk not to mention a fair swim. I've only got NSW in my profile because there is no NZ option :)

[/quote]

The main problem with that is that I'm in NZ at the moment. So it's a fair walk not to mention a fair swim. I've only got NSW in my profile because there is no NZ option :)
[/quote]

you could always send your folio through email to them and then ring them the next day to make sure they got it okay, then perhaps you might want to give them some more information about yourself over a phone interview, but be prepared for the phone bill hehe :) Try sending it to them through email and see how that goes, wish you the best and hope it works out for you! remember persistence is the key [;)]

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

quote:
you could always send your folio through email to them and then ring them the next day to make sure they got it okay, then perhaps you might want to give them some more information about yourself over a phone interview, but be prepared for the phone bill hehe :) Try sending it to them through email and see how that goes, wish you the best and hope it works out for you! remember persistence is the key [;)]

Cool, thanks for that. I'm gonna wait til I have a few more finished pieces in there and some better stuff. This is mainly because if you were to click on my profile now, you'd see the Elephant, Monkey and Boy sketches and it won't make the best first impression. I don't think anyone can be bothered sifting through the dross to find the diamonds.

If he had a pony tail, it might be Steve. [:)]

Nope it wasn't me. But one of my Art leads did mention something along those lines. If you want to show stuff to Krome I recommend sending in a showreel. If the art leads like it I'll call you in for a chat. If I like you, you may get a job. We don't go in for big corporate crap, that's why the place works so well.

quote:Originally posted by spacecaptsteve

Nope it wasn't me. But one of my Art leads did mention something along those lines. If you want to show stuff to Krome I recommend sending in a showreel. If the art leads like it I'll call you in for a chat. If I like you, you may get a job. We don't go in for big corporate crap, that's why the place works so well.

Hey Steve! I'd love to work at places like Krome, these next few weeks are allocated to lots of coffee and cramming for exams at uni, but I'm also tutoring a lecturer and some students in max at the moment which is pretty fun because I really love getting into 3dmax stuff, I think I'm obsessed with the program! every assignment I get I try to somehow incorporate writing about 3D or even talking about it heheh. In about two weeks time I'm going to start hunting for some work in the industry again, I hope I didn't make an arse of myself when I met one of the lead artists, I'm a down to earth kind of person so I'll pretty much say what's on my mind especially if I'm nervous. [:I] I should do some more sketches of lifedrawing in my folio.. there is only old drawings so I'd have to put some new ones in. :)~

Sorry I blabbed on a bit ! I'll send in some stuff to Krome soon, I'll also hunt around everywhere else as well. Best of luck to you in your current and future developments at Krome! hmm i should sleep now, I just finished and gave a flash presentation for marketing oral tonight, I did EBGAMES and made a flash animation to go with popcorn music, of course nobody opened their eyes to see what was behind the animated piece, I had a robotical T4 Virus opening and closing it's claws whilst injecting dna squares on screen, I was trying to go for the idea of gameplay being an infectious addiction. first of i had a weird intro then i had all this other cool stuff along with an animation of a conveyor belt being built on screen and then rolling out all EB products etc. I think I blinded everyone in the hall because the lights where off and I used a red simple background it was effective visually and physically for waking them up before the oral!

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)

/me pokes head in....

Did someone mention my name? [8)]

http://www.jasondalton.com

crystalmesh crystalmesh crystalmesh

thrice say his name, thrice may it bind hime, and to begorn, thrice say it again

crystalmesh crystalmesh crystalmesh

// hmmn, need sleep

quote:Originally posted by Crystalmesh

/me pokes head in....

Did someone mention my name? [8)]

http://www.jasondalton.com

Sure did!, I emailed you ages ago asking how I'd go about getting into the industry and whilst you were on Holidays I rocked up to Krome to have a go, but then realised I'd forgotten to bring my CV , lol [:I] *grin* rwoar a classic kirsten flaw

//Without order nothing can exist - without chaos nothing can evolve. \(anon)