I feel fairly proud.

BouncingBall

I also updated with some work on an UnNamed Mobile Project I did concept art for.  Mysterious!

Games start with a GDD, or Game Design Document.  Games that do not start with a GDD are pretty much doomed to fail, because they will have no concrete guidance on what game they are making.  The GDD contains story and character information, but it also contains much more than that.  A GDD will describe what genre the game falls into.  It will describe gameplay decisions and the consequences of those decisions.  It will describe character movement, enemy types, weapons, and puzzles.  It will contain descriptions of the levels, and the actions the player will need to perform in order to progress through said levels.  A GDD is the game, albeit in a 2-d, non-interactive form.

GDDs are important for both the developer and the publisher.  They’re used to pitch games to publishers, so both parties understand exactly what kind of game is being discussed.  The GDD will of course be amended and altered over the course of the project, but it’s still a very vital starting point.

The GDD for Grim Fandango can actually be downloaded in PDF form from here.  It’s worth a read for aspiring designers.

Now that that is out of the way…

On a previous post, Robert asked:

So, I have a question pertaining to 3-D modeling.  For the purposes of my portfolio, I’m wondering how high-res my pieces should be?  I frequently find myself creating models that are shaped very well, but they have a rather large poly count. So, I guess the underlying question here is whether it is more impressive in a portfolio to see very high poly count models with good texture or to see lower poly count models with textures that just give the appearance of higher resolution?  (Keeping in mind that my painting/drawing skills are rather poor at present so the textures are a definite weakness for me right now)

This is a good question, and the answer is almost always, “It depends.”  As a general guideline, you should never put more geometry into a model than is absolutely necessary to create the shape you want.  If you’re making a cube, that cube only needs to be 6 polygons.  A cube that is 600 polygons is ridiculous, because you really only need 6 in order to make the cube look like a cube.  The more complex the object you’re creating, the more polygons you’ll probably need to make it look right.  If you have a set budget for polygons, use them where you’ll get the most bang for your buck.  People won’t care if a door is made up of six polygons, but they’ll notice if the doorknob is blocky and unrealistic.  Have a look at the wireframe on one of my meshes:

This is a fairly high-poly mesh, but I spent those polys where it would show.  If those curves were choppy and blocky, the mesh would just look bad.  Since I spent the polygons on those important parts, the blocky headboard and footboard can be very simple.

Generally, it’s more impressive to see a lower-poly model that looks good than a ridiculously high-poly model.  Anyone can throw extra polygons at a mesh to make it look smoother, but it’s much harder to serve modeling steak on a hamburger budget and it shows more skill.  Texturing is also really important–if you model really well but you can’t texture for poo, you’ll probably have a very hard time getting hired.  There really aren’t separate modeling and texturing positions in most companies–3-D artists do both, so good skills in both areas are pretty necessary for the job.

Thanks for the question!  I hope this was helpful.

Damn my professionalism.

Anyway, let’s say that you’re an artist, and you’ve been applying to studios for a while but you haven’t heard anything back.  What are you doing wrong?  What can you do to improve your chances?

1.  Take a good, hard look at your portfolio.  Is it up to industry standards? If you can’t tell whether or not your portfolio is up to snuff, ask for advice and feedback from others online.  I have seen people apply and apply and apply with modeling skills that are poor and texturing skills that are nonexistent.  If your work isn’t good enough, you will just not be hired.  There is nothing wrong with admitting you’re bad at something and choosing to do something else.  I don’t mean give up, I mean know your limits.  I originally wanted to be an animator.  I wanted to work for Pixar!  I had grand dreams of bringing characters to life.  Then it turned out that I really, really suck at animating.  I didn’t like it, I didn’t find it rewarding and I was bad at it.  I decided then and there that animation wasn’t for me, and that I would focus on 3-d modeling instead.  I’ve never looked back.

2.  Start getting your name out there in places other than your application.  There are a lot of excellent forums for digital art.  Pick a distinctive username and start posting.  Give feedback on other posters’ work and seek feedback on your own.  Participate in contests.  Get your work associated with your username and use that username everywhere.  Industry professionals post on those boards, too, and there’s a possibility the next time you apply someone will say, “Hey, that’s FizzTheCarbonated’s work.  She’s always friendly and helpful on the CGChat forums.  We should bring her in.”

3.  Take another look at your website.  If it’s clunky, uses outdated technology and is hard to navigate, your work might be rejected before it’s even seen.  You might not be applying for a web design position, but your website is a reflection on your art.  It needs to be easy to navigate and attractive, or you might get rejected out of hand.

4.  Don’t be picky!  I know people who didn’t want to work for a studio where they wouldn’t get to do fantasy art, or people who only wanted to do character modeling.  When you’re just starting out, you really can’t be choosy about what jobs you want to take.  My philosophy was, “If I get a job modeling cardboard boxes, I will model the best damn cardboard boxes I can!”  (I have, to date, modeled over 15 different forms of cardboard boxes.)  Once you have some skills and experience under your belt, you’re going to be in a much better place when it comes to seeking your dream job.

5.  Type professionally on your website and resume, and in any professional emails to a studio.  Once you’re hired, you can pretty much throw grammar to the wind (but please…  Don’t.  Please.) but when you’re seeking an interview you need to be as easy to understand as possible.  You want these people to give you a job, so treat them with respect.  Once you know them you can be more informal, but leave the text abbreviations and l33tspeak out when you’re jobseeking.  This should go without saying, but some people still screw it up.

That’s it for today!  I can ignore the siren call of the 360 no longer.  I think I’ll call her Vera.

2.  Apply.

Oh, wait, that’s advice everyone has probably heard before, and it’s not advice that’s terribly useful, is it?  Well, the actual, useful advice I have takes a lot longer.  It’s not two steps.  It’s not even five steps.  In fact, I’m not even sure how many steps it is.  It’ll probably take more than one blog post.  Maybe more than two.  Let’s find out together!

How To Get Into The Video Game Industry For Normal People

1.  Figure out what part of the industry you’re interested in.  Getting into programming is different from getting into art.  Getting into design is completely different.  Don’t forget the other aspects of the job!  Studios need marketing, producers, office managers, quality assurance testers, and all kinds of other unsung employees.  If you don’t want to program, have no art skills and can’t design, there are still jobs in the industry for you.  They just won’t be in programming, art or design.

2.  Once you know what you’re interested in, DEVELOP A PORTFOLIO.  Yes, that did require caps and bold.  No one will hire you without a portfolio.  You can’t just show up at a studio and say, “Hey, I promise I’m really awesome!” and expect to get a job.  You will need to demonstrate that you will be a useful employee and that you have the skills required of the position.

3.  That portfolio I mentioned?  Put it online.  Paper portfolios can be useful in person, when one is discussing things in an interview setting.  But to get to that interview, your portfolio needs to be available immediately when you apply to a studio.  There’s usually more than one person who will evaluate your work before deciding to bring you in for an interview, and if only one person can view your portfolio at a time…  That will be a problem.  It can be a problem that will keep you from getting an interview–remember, this studio doesn’t need you.  You want to make yourself as attractive and enticing to them as possible, and making your portfolio easily accessible is part of that.

4.  Only put your best work in your portfolio.  It is better to have a small but solid collection of work than to have some great stuff, some good stuff and some “meh” stuff.  Putting in one subpar piece of work can bring the entire impression of your application down a few notches.  Which would you rather be remembered as?  “That was the one with the five really good meshes,” or “That was the one with the five good meshes and then that kinda ugly frog thing.”  You want to show that you can do good work, not that you can do a lot of work.  In the industry, someone who does a lot of subpar work quickly means that the other employees will spend a lot of time cleaning up after that person.  Don’t be that person.

5.  Start applying.

This is just the beginning, the basics, of how to get a job in the industry.  Stay tuned for Part Two, where I will discuss some techniques for artists in particular!