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Guess the game..

Forum

Hmm.. you guys are too quiet.. lets see who can guess which games these come from.. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Submitted by LostSanitY on Fri, 16/08/02 - 7:12 AM Permalink

the first games that i can remember playing were from the SNES

*goes out on a limb*
the second one is from a 'leisure suit larry' game

Submitted by davidcoen on Fri, 16/08/02 - 11:50 AM Permalink

konami's bobble bubble.... but never played that many computer/ arcade games when i was a kid, so the rest just miss me...

Submitted by Bunny on Fri, 16/08/02 - 8:14 PM Permalink

Hmm, tricky...

1. Bubble Bobble
2. No idea. It's not that elevator one is it?
3. Commando
4. Not sure about that one either. Maybe BC Kid?
5. I don't know what the hell that is.
6. Spy Vs. Spy of course

You a winnah! Hahaha!

Submitted by souri on Fri, 16/08/02 - 9:37 PM Permalink

so that leaves 2, 4, and 5.. one of them is an obscure but extremely fun C64 game, and the others are classics, so I ain't giving any more damn hints. .. speaking of C64, I just downloaded WinVice (C64 emulator that you can run in a window) and have been downloading all these 170k c64 disk images of games.. ahh the memories.. w00t.

Submitted by souri on Fri, 16/08/02 - 9:39 PM Permalink

Ok, I'll give one more hint.. #4 got Nintendo furious, and had its production ceased / taken off the shelves..

Submitted by Bunny on Sat, 17/08/02 - 12:07 AM Permalink

[lightbulb]

5. HERO?

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Sat, 17/08/02 - 10:26 AM Permalink

is it the great gianna sisters(I think thats what it was called, supposedly such a blatent rip off, it was banned)

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Sat, 17/08/02 - 10:29 AM Permalink

is 2 impossible mission or elevator action?

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by souri on Sun, 18/08/02 - 7:46 AM Permalink

Hey, correct with Hero and The Great Gianna Sisters :).. Hero was the obscure one actually. I didn't think anyone was going to guess that one!

That leaves number 2 and 3..

Submitted by souri on Wed, 11/09/02 - 3:07 AM Permalink

and the answer is.....

1. Bubble Bobble
2. Bruce Lee (C64)
3. Commando (spectrum)
4. Great Giana Sisters (C64)
5. Hero (C64)
6. Spy vs Spy (C64)

Computer upgrades, oh god..where do i look!

Forum

Ok so the inside of the computer does scare me especially when most of the parts have been installed by family members, and the cd drive is stuck and the comp is humming some nasty tune.
Ah well.

Anyone know where i can bloat up my computer with memory. I'm not sure whether my comp. can take any more. MAX keeps crashing all the time, this is probably cos i configured it to increment on save, but still.. it should be able to take it.

Nuther question, if i save up for a new motherboard will that let me upgrade to monsterous proportions *drools* that would be sweet. probably unattainable but sweet nonetheless.

~//Have at You!! *throws sticky tissue*\~

"Dimples are nice, but not on your thighs" - Kath and Kim

Submitted by Meatex Salami on Sun, 04/08/02 - 10:16 PM Permalink

Wether or not you can upgrade your RAM at present all depends on your mother board and how many DIMMs you have on your board already.
MAX does have some stablility issues especailly under some operating systems like win98. Autosave on max can cause problems and personally i find it irritating. Of course it's more irritating losing 3 hours of work because you forgot to save.
And about upgrading you motherboard that would be a good idea but depending on what CPU you hve your choices will be limited. A good new motherboard is not terribly expensive (stay away from any board with onboard video or sound they are evil) But again upgrading your motherboard will prove troublesome as your RAM and CPU may not be compatible with it.
I could help you out more if you gave me an idea of the system your running now.
And what do you mean by the CDROM being stuck? And what is the nasty tune??
Anyway hope i have helped you out some.

Bloody hell its a giant harmonica!

Submitted by bouncy roo on Mon, 05/08/02 - 3:39 AM Permalink

well it doesn't close so i can't put any cds in it, I can pull it out much to it's dislike but it just doesn't go in, and it's started to make some grindy noises and sometimes a low pitch buzz recently. hard to explain.
I'm running xp on the computer. I've got 384 ram so you'd think that max wouldn't crash so often as it does.

I've also noticed sometimes when i place a light in my scene and then try to move it in the scene it goes pitch black and all the mapping i just adjusted reverses and jumps back a few steps and then it will crash. : It's a legal copy of 3dsmax student version so i would have thought it wouldn't stuff up as much as it does.

//Have at you!*throws another sticky tissue*\

Submitted by bouncy roo on Mon, 05/08/02 - 9:24 AM Permalink

I take it that this isn't a good sign, I was rendering this kids project i did for him and it came up with a low virtual memory crap in windows, i had it on draft render and only had max open. lol. time for an upgrade methinks.

//Have at you!*throws another sticky tissue*\

Submitted by souri on Mon, 05/08/02 - 2:55 PM Permalink

When things keep on crashing for no aparent reason like that, a *last* resort solution (which may or may not work) is to just reinstall windows. Although I don't know how you're going to do that when your cd drive doesn't work. .. It's definately a good time to upgrade.. For around $1000 - $1500 you can get yourself a pretty kick arse system.
btw, Bouncy, I read in your profile that you're interested in learning Maya but couldn't find a reseller ? Well, go and download Maya Personal Learning Edition !! http://www.aliaswavefront.com/freemaya .. It works the same as Maya, but I think it saves in it's own restricted format.. It's definately worth getting if you want to learn Maya.

Submitted by Meatex Salami on Tue, 06/08/02 - 2:11 AM Permalink

find out what kind of stuff you'd want for your dream computer and then price using something like cougar.com.au
no for me its about $15000 and obviously thats just out of the question. Then simply look at what you have and slowly dowgrade unessential items until the comp is about $500 withing you budget.
Then print out or write down all the items you want and go hunting at auctions and computer fairs. You may want to buy some things from a computer store like the motherboard and cpu.
Sounds like something was put in your cdrom that shouldn't of been :)
you can try to get it out, but you may need to take it out and or apart. (hehe that can be fun) you might as well as it will not be under warranty any more im guessing and if its not working now how can it get worse :)
Also when buying a new system you need top take into mind what you want to do with it. Buying a system that will run maya effectively will push the system cost up a fair bit. you need a fairly powerful comp and a compatible video card all you may get some serious problem. Recomended video card (ones that Alias|Wavefront recomend) are quite expensive. Check out there site for more details.
Y&eah to me it sounds like your in dire need of a reformat and you can do it without a cdrom even if you haven't transfered the cd contents on install but thats a nasty and complicated process. Anyway go get yourself a copy of (or demo) norton utilities and use windoctor and disk doctor to clean up any errors. I get no probs and i use 256MB of RAM in win2k Pro.
You should be able to upgrade unless you have 3 128MB DIMMs
Also I find max does not like winXP at all. Its not initailly compatible with it either. i would look into downgrading to win2k pro. the only real diff between the 2 is xp has all sorts of nasty things hidden in it and a colourful interface. Oh and spider solitare of course :D
Oh and the buzzing sound could be the tray or laser motor. maybe the belt thingy has come off (yes that is the technical term :D ) It depends can you tray get all the way in or can you only push it in so much.
S*** this is a long post, well i hope its helped
I need to do my h/w :(

Bloody hell its a giant harmonica!

Edited by - Meatex_Salami on 05/08/2002 16:13:31

Submitted by bouncy roo on Tue, 06/08/02 - 8:53 AM Permalink

Awesome thanks! Yeah I'd love to learn it, it'll probably be really difficult but I want to familiarise myself with as much technology as possible hehe :)

//Have at you!*throws another sticky tissue*\

Submitted by bouncy roo on Tue, 06/08/02 - 9:06 AM Permalink

"Sounds like something was put in your cdrom that shouldn't of been :)" - hahahha that's kinda cute..but disturbing. :P~ I tried probing my cd drive but my finger got stuck in a gear so i quickly pulled it out before it tried to close. LOL that sounds weird.

Homework? Darn are you still at school? don't worry it gets worse if you take my course in uni. lol. suppose i shouldn't say that. :P~

I'm not sure opening my computer case to have a look is a wise idea ..we kirsty's usually get zapped by power boards in the house hehehehe. :) hence why my hair stands off my head. lol

//Have at you!*throws another sticky tissue*\

Submitted by bouncy roo on Tue, 06/08/02 - 9:09 AM Permalink

lol yeah my tray won't go in i can almost get it in but not quite.

...................wow ... if i was male that sentence would just sound..so..so..horribly wrong.

//Have at you!*throws another sticky tissue*\

Submitted by Meatex Salami on Tue, 06/08/02 - 9:21 PM Permalink

what are you studying??
Also you should not put body parts in your cdrom drive :)
Try taking it out of your box and taking the screws out and generally rip it apart. Just try to remeber what you did if you intend to put it back together :D
I just checked out your homepage and i saw that girl from blood, whats her name again, damn that was a cool movie. I'm a big fan of anime and it shows in any art i do.
Your site reminds me of the best anime i have seen "perfect blue" that is seriously scary and really good both as an anime and a movie.
Yeah i had to do cisco networking h/w
I'm in year 12 atm and don't have long left. yay :)
Anyway im in class right now and i should probably do something constructive :P

Bloody hell its a giant harmonica!

Edited by - Meatex_Salami on 06/08/2002 11:23:12

Edited by - Meatex_Salami on 06/08/2002 11:26:41

Submitted by AsNagrim on Wed, 07/08/02 - 10:57 AM Permalink

sometimes spyware can run hidden in the background on your computer..its often installed with shareware and sometimes with retail software. They can take up memory and slow down your computer.
This can help get rid of it http://www.lavasoft.nu/downloads.html

..................
http://asnagrim.tk
...................

Submitted by bouncy roo on Fri, 09/08/02 - 10:17 AM Permalink

heh I'm studying graphic design or "design studies" I'm bored with the course but I need the graduation paper in the end, so i'll stick to it and do some part-time work with some gaming place. I usually just fart around and do some models for fun , I'm working on something atm well a few things all at once really ;)
After i finish up on one of these models I'm going to bring to life an old character I drew up wayyy way back :) I'll probablly do him up and a few other characters for next years animation festival :) why not try i say! I've got nothing to lose, i can only gain experience from doing it. :)

//Have at you!*throws another sticky tissue*\

Submitted by bouncy roo on Fri, 09/08/02 - 10:20 AM Permalink

hehe I wouldn't know what i've got hidden on this puter. Of course the fact that the electricity cuts out more then three times a day could have something to do with my puter fucking up all the time :D

silly computer. *pets monitor*
~kirstens battlecry: "Meeow"~

//Have at you!*throws another sticky tissue*\

Just Saying Hi....

Forum

Hey all, Jason here aka Crystalmesh, just dropping by to say hi and nice site. I'm sure this place will get more popular each day as more and more artist's hear about it.

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Tue, 23/07/02 - 10:23 AM Permalink

awesome work man, I'd been to your site once before, do you do any commercial work or modding?

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by Bunny on Wed, 24/07/02 - 12:33 AM Permalink

Hey Crystalmesh, saw your site when you pimped it on Polycount. Great stuff. If I remember correctly he's working at Krome in Brisbane?

Submitted by Bunny on Thu, 25/07/02 - 12:11 AM Permalink

Lucky bastard... I'm in the middle of crunch time. :p

Submitted by davidcoen on Fri, 16/08/02 - 11:55 AM Permalink

employ more people, get less crunch :)

Submitted by Bunny on Fri, 16/08/02 - 8:11 PM Permalink

Employ more people, get less money, fire artists (me!). :p

Submitted by souri on Fri, 16/08/02 - 9:29 PM Permalink

quote:
employ more people, get less crunch :)

I think that's what Microforte did with their Fallout2 game.. unfortunately after the game was done, most of them (graduates or students from AIE?) had to be let go.

So it's either
1> employ more people, get less crunch, boot the people after, save money
2> don't employ more people, work the asses off current workers, save money.

btw Bunny, what happened?

Submitted by Bunny on Mon, 19/08/02 - 8:42 PM Permalink

I wasn't here at the time so I don't know the full story, and it's not for me to say anyway, sorry. :) As I understand it, it was more due to Interplay's troubles. Suxx0rs bigtime, but it happens to the best of us sometimes. It's not always a stable industry (unless you're John Carmack :p).

Submitted by Bunny on Tue, 20/08/02 - 7:44 PM Permalink

Nothing happened to my job, just crunchtime. Well, not yet anyway... (touchwood).

AVP and predator3 movies!!

Forum

Is anyone else excited by this news? (Sorry lost the links just do a search)

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by souri on Mon, 22/07/02 - 10:05 AM Permalink

Coming Attractions is one of my favourite sites for news on upcoming movies..

http://corona.bc.ca/films/details/aliensvspredator.html - Alien vs Predator movie news

http://corona.bc.ca/films/details/returncastlewolf.html - Return to Castle Wolfenstein movie news

I didn't know they were making Predator 3 though!.. that would be cool.. I'm not sure about these game-movie tie ins though.. wasn't there supposed to be a Max Payne movie planned also ? I really hope they don't scew up Alien vs Predator...

and I don't care what anyone says.. I want a Pong movie..

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Mon, 22/07/02 - 10:17 AM Permalink

Actually, on the subject of games being made into movies, I would love to see thief made into a movie, they would have to focus on story instead of action. (If it were to be made properly) Or even undying

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by souri on Tue, 23/07/02 - 12:43 AM Permalink

Undying would be cool.. A director like Night Shyamalan (6th sense)would be suited for that..
The worst game to movie translation has gotta be Street Fighter.. that was really, really putrid. Unimaginative story, and lack lustre fight scenes.. The game has some really good character history and stories which the movie could have enhanced upon, but they modified it to suit their 'nice and packaged for the movie dummies' story.. Oh, and not to mention Van Damme..

hell yeh, gets my blood going..

Street Fighter 2, the animated movie made up for it though..

Submitted by souri on Tue, 23/07/02 - 11:42 AM Permalink

Oh boy.. anyone remember that ANCIENT arcade game Spyhunter ?.. this was an upward scrolling car game from the mid 80's I think.. it was fun for its time all those years ago. What has this got anything to do with games turning into movies ? Yep, you guessed it..

http://corona.bc.ca/films/details/spyhunter.html

It's gonna star The Rock (aka the eyebrow guy)... hmmm.. a Pong movie doesn't seem so absurd now...

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Thu, 25/07/02 - 4:44 AM Permalink

LOL ha ha Thats a really stupid idea, spyhunter for a movie. Maybe your right, pong will be made into some "extreme" action movie now.

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Too many

Forum

Well firt and foremost i'd like to say hi to everyone and introduce myself. I am being Jason Wright aka Meatex_Salami and sometimes Liquid-Metal.
I saw a flyer for this site at AIE and thought i would check it out.
Good design but lacking the mass content and user base of the larger and older sites like this one (then again this is the only Aus Game Dev site i know of). This, i am sure, will correct itself over time.
Oh im 17 turning 18 next year and hopeing to get into the games industry ultimately as a designer but my first priority is to just get in. I have dabbled in every feild used in games design from modelling to animation to writing to coding. I will say though that i doubt i will be becomeing a coder any time soon :P
I have done 3d animation at the AIE and will be continuing next year.
I want to get into design so i can create games that are fun and that have never been seen before (maybe a bit difficult but i will try)
Thats it about me for know, im sure your really not that interested in my life story hehe :)
While im here i want to ask if anyone knows a 3d game engine writen in vb (thats the only lang my freinds and i have knowledge in) that could be used for a basic isometric view RPG for a school project. Game play mechanics similar to wc3 if you take away bases.
Well i think thats enough for now.
So hi again to everyone.

Bloody hell its a giant harmonica!

Submitted by souri on Tue, 16/07/02 - 9:34 AM Permalink

Hiya. Thanks for visiting the site. Yeh, I know it's certainly not as big as any of the games sites out there, but we're really catering for a niche of a niche market of a nich market here ( gamers -> australian -> developers & artists), so it's not surprising to me that the amount of traffic isn't as substantial as say ausgamers.com.. Content wise, I agree that we don't have as much content, but of course you have to realise that Sumea has only been up for around a month, and I'm certainly hoping to get some articles up and going soon. Preparing for articles / contacting people and hunting around for news (especially when there isn't much going on, like now) and site maintenance is a wee bit hard for just one person too .. Sumea could certainly do with some more resources and helpers, so any offer of help by anyone is appreciated ..

Submitted by Meatex Salami on Tue, 16/07/02 - 9:45 PM Permalink

Well as you mentioned it i would be more than willing to help
I have got too much time where i have nothing to do (not entirely true i could do lots i just don't feel like doing anything that i could) so i have the time to help.
I also have, what i would describe as sufficient, knowledge in html.
I don't know any pearl, cgi or php so i couldn't help on those fronts.
But if you need help i will be happy to.

Bloody hell its a giant harmonica!

Gaming Creation. whats the tale.

Forum

Hey all,

Let me start by introducing myself, My name's Rick and Im 14 years old living in the 'burbs of Melbourne. It all started at the ripe age of 5, The first experiance with a Computer, my parents say i could type before i could tie my shoe's (which is true lol). Ever since i was 5 I have loved and enjoyed playing Computer/Video games. I used to sneak into my brothers room late at night when i should of been in bed so i could watch him play Civilization on the old 486. I am now 14, turning 15 and have my whole life ahead of me.

I am an addictive Gamer and would love to get into the Gaming Industry, although I am afraid that my academic restrictions are going to spoil my dreams. I am a 90%+ student when it comes to English, History and IT, but am a %30 student when it comes to Maths, Science and Chem. I dont know what exactly is involved in the skills required to be a "Game Designer" but so far my experiance is

Fluint HTML Knowledge
Flash Animation
Photoshop
Director 8 Animation
Quake 3/Jedi Outcast Level Editing with Radiant.

I have yet to touch 3D modelling, but my greatest stregnth would have to be 2d Animation. I guess what I am trying to get out of this post are a few answers to my questions. -

the questions being -

What Academic Requirments are Needed?
What Computer Skills/Programs should be learnt?
Does one need to be a great freehand drawer (i couldent draw a cow if my life depended on it)

What advice can anyone in the Gaming Industry give me?, what role's are there to play, what skills are required, and what make's a big cheese designer?.

Thanks, I hope to hear from you soon.

Rix0r

"No this is not the suicide helpline, cant you even dial a phone!!!"

Submitted by OzeDooD on Thu, 04/07/02 - 8:31 PM Permalink

Hey MellowJam,

I am Pete. aka OzeDooD.. also living in the melbourne suburbs. I have also been playing games for a very long time.. got a nintendo for christmas one year (I think when i was about 5 also) . I am 17, turning 18 fairly soon, and am in year 12 - I have completed my VCE already (for all you out there who dont know.. VCE is the Victorian Certificate of Education), still at school to get an ENTER score.
You asked about academic requirements.. I would suggest a successful completion of VCE in-case you cannot get a job in the games industry. And these days not having a VCE completion is not smiled upon by many companies/places... Being 15 you'd be in about Year 9, still plenty of time ahead of you, in which you may have a change of heart about games.. or may not.

I also am rather crap at drawing, but I am just about to begin doing a Basic Drawing course, followed by Intermediate, then Folio preparation. To get into an arts course next year which will lead me onto a multimedia course, and hopefully into a games company .

I am not entirely sure of what is required.. it usualy varies between companies, but i think the main thing is experience. 3D modelling mainly.

Looking around I have noticed that Games companies want programs like maya and 3d Studio max to be well known.

Just take a look around games companies sites in the employment sections to get a general idea of whats needed.

Submitted by Bunny on Thu, 04/07/02 - 8:41 PM Permalink

Requirements are kinda flexible and vary a lot between studios. If you want to be an animator get gMax and Maya PLE and learn them as best you can. Important animator abilites are things like a good sense of weight and timing. Drawing skill isn't essential but it is a big help. Most studios expect artists to have a traditional art background (painting, sketching, sculpture) but as long as you can demonstrate some aptitude you should be okay. General computer literacy is essential, if you don't know your way around a PC then learn.

Design is a tricky one. In my experience it's very unusual for a studio to hire a designer, they usually come from the ranks of artists, programmers and sometimes QA. The best advice I can give you for becoming a designer is learn to write. I'm of the opinion that design isn't something you can learn, but if you've got the knack then being able to write well helps you get it across. With your academic record you won't make much of a programmer but you should be just fine with art and design.

So... it seems your best shot is to become an artist. So learn the software, learn to build, texture and animate lo-poly models, and make yourself a demoreel. Hang out on polycount, and surf the net for tutorials - www.3dcafe.com is a good place to start. Once you've finished school you might consider coming to Canberra to study at the AIE, great place, that's how I got my job.

Good luck. ;)

Submitted by souri on Fri, 05/07/02 - 11:59 AM Permalink

I don't want to sidetrack the topic, but if you want to look ahead into the future, keep in mind of a few things.. Looking at Moore's Law,

you're 15 this year..

CPU's are at 2.5 gigaherz.. 2002 15 yrs old
5 gigaherz .. 2003 16 yrs old
10 gigaherz 2004 17 yrs old
20 gigzherz 2005 18 yrs old

aprox 2 years of study at

40 gigaherz 2006 19 yrs old
80 gigaherz 2007 20 yrs old

not to mention the strides that graphics cards are making also.
With that kind of power in mind, I'm throwing a guess that the requirements for games talent will be somewhat similar to what is required for big CGI movie productions like Final Fantasy, Star Wars etc. and will require talent to model convincing hair styles, clothing, muscle deformations. Good drawers and 2D artists will likely no longer do skinning the way it's done now where highlights, shadows and details are drawn in, all done with specular, diffuse, and bumpmap layers. Of course, they'll be doing things like concept art and storyboarding instead.

Anyway, I'd like to see what other advices that developers can give you in respoonse to your post.

Submitted by steve wang on Fri, 05/07/02 - 10:14 PM Permalink

Hey MellowJam,
I'm a producer at Micro Forte (working on MMOGs), so I can tell you what I look for at least. All the other comments here are also right on the money. Designers are a tricky one, so a few thoughts...

Everyone with an idea thinks he is a designer. That doesn't mean you aren't, it just means its hard to assess. So much depends on a good designer. Design is far more than just ideas. The 'wouldn't it be cool if?' school of design is great for contributing brainstormed ideas as part of making a great game, but certainly does not make for a designer.

Often designers start off as QA staff, involved in the testing cycle. Here they demonstrate many qualities that are needed in a designer, including the ability to analyse gameplay to articulate clearly what doesn't work and why, and what suggested improvements could be made and why. This also helps develop an understanding of what can and can't be done, and what the cost of developing it is. For example its clear that it would be cool if you could be both a male or a female secret agent. Its very clear to a good designer that this means going to a large amount of extra effort to distinguish between them: different voice actors, different cut scenes, let alone (one would hope) different game play styles. Worst case, doubling your effort in producing the game. Its not that we wouldn't want to do it, its just that you need to ask yourself, could that extra 100 man months of programmer and artist time be better spent elsewhere?

A game designer needs to prove they have the ability to design something that is both creative, but buildable with the budget and resources available. They need to have a good understanding of game mechanics and game systems. Game designers also have to be very good communicators to constantly be conveying to the team of programmers and artists the design from an art and programming perspective. They need to be very good writers - they need to write that grabby pitch for a game design to sell not only to publishers, but first selling the ideas internally, as well as a full game design document (ours are often around 100-200 pages). I assume that they will all have plenty of 'wouldn't it be cool if?' ideas. That?s the easy part. One final thing. A good designer ideally needs to be able to design a wide range of games for a wide audience. If all you can design is fantasy RPGs, you are not as valuable - and you better hope that the next big thing is not sci-fi strategy.

Its almost essential that the designer has good artistic ability. It?s a valuable part of communicating design ideas and a big plus. A good technical knowledge helps with designing things that the programmers can work with, and understand what technical things can best be exploited in game design.

We have only every hired one game designer as a designer with no prior game design titles. Others have entered as QA, or even artists and programmers and shown over time that they have a talent for design.

If you really want to be a designer, the most likely path in is through QA, or level design.

The gamasutra have some good stuff on level design. Search there specifically as it updates regularly. They have resource guides for different areas. The level design one is:
http://www.gamasutra.com/resource_guide/20010716/index.shtml

The most concrete thing you can do to prove you are a designer is do some level design. We have applicants who have designed levels for Quake, StarCraft, Jagged Alliance, Counter-strike etc. This certainly shows level design skills (providing they are really top quality from a game play point of view). Starting as a level designer is also a path to demonstrate other game-play design skills through ideas and suggestions. Most successful designers also have a host of their own game designs (such as RPG systems). After initially filtering applications, I like to have a flip through an applicants past designs.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Good luck with everything.

Steve

CaptnHaddock

Submitted by MellowJam on Fri, 05/07/02 - 11:55 PM Permalink

Thanks for all your replies.

I downloaded MAYA PLE and completed the tutorial on building a door. it Isnt all that difficult and the visualisation is very similar to level design.

Basically my goal is to be the person to design the charectors, the weapons, the spells etc that are put into the game. Even the levels. So far im getting the impression that i just have to learn the programs and show my work to the world. well thats exactly what I am going to do.

Thank you all for your help you have givin me a goal to work for and hopefully achieve.

All the best.
Rick

"No this is not the suicide helpline, cant you even dial a phone!!!"

Submitted by Kris on Mon, 08/07/02 - 1:32 AM Permalink

quote:
I don't want to sidetrack the topic, but if you want to look ahead into the future, keep in mind of a few things.. Looking at Moore's Law,

you're 15 this year..

CPU's are at 2.5 gigaherz.. 2002 15 yrs old
5 gigaherz .. 2003 16 yrs old
10 gigaherz 2004 17 yrs old
20 gigzherz 2005 18 yrs old

aprox 2 years of study at

40 gigaherz 2006 19 yrs old
80 gigaherz 2007 20 yrs old

not to mention the strides that graphics cards are making also.
With that kind of power in mind, I'm throwing a guess that the requirements for games talent will be somewhat similar to what is required for big CGI movie productions like Final Fantasy, Star Wars etc. and will require talent to model convincing hair styles, clothing, muscle deformations. Good drawers and 2D artists will likely no longer do skinning the way it's done now where highlights, shadows and details are drawn in, all done with specular, diffuse, and bumpmap layers. Of course, they'll be doing things like concept art and storyboarding instead.

Anyway, I'd like to see what other advices that developers can give you in respoonse to your post.

Submitted by Kris on Mon, 08/07/02 - 1:43 AM Permalink

quote:Good drawers and 2D artists will likely no longer do skinning the way it's done now where highlights, shadows and details are drawn in, all done with specular, diffuse, and bumpmap layers. Of course, they'll be doing things like concept art and storyboarding instead.

Bah first post stuffed up...

It's already happening as Doom 3 no longer uses standard textures, they are all put through 3D packages and then come out as models. I'd assume their 2D artists from previous games would of just adopted the new knowledge and learn't how to do what in the 3D programs to continue doing textures for iD. As most mappers are now required to have some kind of 3D program knowledge, texture artists are too.

Wheres the developers forum?

Forum

or ar'nt there any developers around here? :P

Submitted by souri on Thu, 04/07/02 - 8:11 AM Permalink

There are a few developers on the boards, like MajorPain from Eyecon, and Muzboz. I know a lot of the developers know of the site and have visited (mainly because I've emailed them all ). The reason why they're not joining in the forum, who knows. They're could be either busy with work, under NDA's not to talk about their business, or simply don't have anything to say. ..

Submitted by Bunny on Thu, 04/07/02 - 8:42 PM Permalink

What am I, chopped liver? :p

Submitted by souri on Fri, 05/07/02 - 11:26 AM Permalink

"There are a few developers on the boards, like MajorPain from Eyecon, and Muzboz. Oh, and also Bunny, who apparently smells like choppped liver."

Ero

Forum

Hai hai.

Great to see something like this evolve in Australia! Looking forward to parking a chair around this place.

Kris

Submitted by souri on Wed, 03/07/02 - 8:56 AM Permalink

You can park your chair anywhere.. but no one, and I mean, NO ONE sits on my Spine Melter 2000 ..

Submitted by souri on Mon, 29/07/02 - 6:34 AM Permalink

it comes as standard.

Somebody give me some words of wisdom

Forum

Let me start by saying I'm not feeling down about my-self. Basically I really need to hear some advice on how to pull my shit together, in life and also to try harder at things(Mainly modelling) I tend to put things off saying "aaahh fuck it". so if anyone has any inspiring words that may have helped them, or even a lecture, write it down here for me to read. and plus this forum neede a new disscussion topic.

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by MajorPain on Tue, 02/07/02 - 6:47 PM Permalink

Hey FCF

Give us a little info on yourself first, do you make games for a living? or do you just like to hack about at home?

Maybe try helping out a mod team, polycount often has people looking for team members to help with mods.

Born to create

Submitted by Bunny on Tue, 02/07/02 - 8:58 PM Permalink

Motivation is a tricky one and not always something others can help you with - you have to want to get off your arse yourself. My motivation was that a) I love games and b) I was sick of living below the poverty line. ;)

Mods are a great way to get experience in all areas. I got most of my experience and understanding of the industry building a total conversion of UT while I was at the AIE. I can't recommend polycount enough. Hang out on IRC and the message boards, even if you don't post there's a lot to be learned from the boys and girls there.

If you're keen and you've got a bit of cash get yourself to the Australian Game Developers Conference in Melbourne, at the beginning of November. Meeting people in the industry and seeing the cool stuff they get up to is not only motivational, it's a hell of a lot of fun.

Submitted by souri on Wed, 03/07/02 - 8:06 AM Permalink

Everybody goes through bouts of depression, and Bunny's right, you have to try and motivate yourself.. I usually set a goal or something I want to achieve when I set out to do something. It's one way of getting things done. If the goal is pretty big, then do it one step at a time, and eventually you'll get there.
And about trying harder - I know it sounds so cliche (an old Bank commercial had a blurb which said it, and even a stupid chatline service too), but it's so true. 'Life is what you make it'. you can sit back and let things happen, or you can make it happen..

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Thu, 04/07/02 - 7:19 AM Permalink

hey thanks guys. Well anyway I joined a mod but i'am in way over my head at the moment, so I dont make games for a living, All of you are right. I think I need to go through small steps first.

The agdc sounds like a good idea as well:)

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by souri on Thu, 04/07/02 - 8:13 AM Permalink

and stay away from that lead paint.

Model pimping

Forum

Alright since I'm only a forum member at this site, I was wondering could I post pics of my work for criticism or do I have to sign up as a modeller, via e-mail, also if I were to post pics do I have to link to an outside web page or will they be uploaded to the site?

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by souri on Sun, 16/06/02 - 10:19 PM Permalink

You have to sign up via email.. send me your desired login name and password, and I'll set you up ... you get your own profile page/news section, and your pics are uploaded on the site..

If there is anyone else interested in being a news contributor/editor, give me a yell.. I've been a little busy the last week or so to be adding news.. a little help would be nice

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Mon, 17/06/02 - 8:59 AM Permalink

I wont sign up just yet, soon when I have a decent model

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by FrEeB@LLiN on Mon, 17/06/02 - 10:12 AM Permalink

Heh Fluffy Catfood,,,cool name
hey sign up mate,,really is only going to be of benefit to you, Souri is undeniably a master of his craft and irrefutibly(spelling??)a great guy. Giving us all a fantastic showcase in this site, so go for it mate. Hope to see you here soon.

FrEeB@LLiN

Submitted by souri on Wed, 19/06/02 - 9:03 AM Permalink

Thanks Freeballin.. checque's in the mail .. FC, whenever you're ready, give me a yell

Top 50 games of all time!!

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The Age has a nice list of their -http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/06/06/1022982711238.html - best 50 video games of all time.. and as the first paragraph of the article says, it sure is open to much debate. ;) Personally, I would have put Tony Hawk (#48), Metal Gear Solid (#32), Street Fighter 2 (#30), Elite (#28), and Counterstrike (#27) much much higher.. and push back Myst (#12) way out of the top #50 :).. oh, and Tetris as #2.. On my top 50 list, I'd also include International Soccer (hey, it rocked!!), and Exploding Fist, on the 'ole C64. Rainbow Islands, Silkworm IV, Xenon II, and Speedball II on the Amiga.. yeh, I am old skool! What games did you like that weren't on the list? and what shouldn't have been there? What games rocked your world huh ?

Submitted by Fluffy CatFood on Sun, 09/06/02 - 12:18 PM Permalink

I'd have to say my favourites of all time are No-one Lives Forever,
Undying, the longest journey and UnrealTournament

Lead paint: delicious but deadly!

Submitted by UnderTOW on Sun, 09/06/02 - 10:02 PM Permalink

fav games include:
GTA3 - Dispite many really annoying things, i still love the game
NOLF - Brilliant in almost every aspect
Deus Ex - Even though the gameplay seriously lacked, the length of the game and the story make it great
Max Payne - I loved the nior setting and bullet time
Halo - Some of the best design in a video game ever

Submitted by souri on Sun, 09/06/02 - 11:34 PM Permalink

"in a way, Pong is the ancestor of modern games like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament." ...

proof that all games are a rip off of Pong.

Undying was an awesome game. Spooked the hell outa me a few times.. what were the annoying things you found with GTA3 ?

Submitted by Bunny on Tue, 11/06/02 - 9:55 PM Permalink

System Shock 2 and Elite should be much higher... and since when was Myst a game? :p

And what about C64 classics like Paradroid and Impossible Mission?

Submitted by souri on Wed, 12/06/02 - 1:18 AM Permalink

My take on Myst is that it came out when the whole 'multimedia' buzzword/hoopla started.. You know, motion video, speech, music etc.. Some people say they were absorbed in the game because of all that, but I just thought it was just a glamourous slideshow! Clicking on every object on the screen in the hope of finding info just wasn't fun for me. There were tonnes of adventure games in that time that were miles more enjoyable.. Secret of Monkey Island 1 and 2, and many other Lucasfilm (before they were renamed Lucasarts) games.. Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle, Zak Mckracken and the alien mindbenders, Indianna Jones and the last crusade/ fate of atlantis, Sam and Max.. ok, enough already. :)
Oh, and did you know that there was a sequel for Impossible Mission on the Amiga ?.. it kinda sucked though. :)
Something that was omitted from that list has got to be The Sims as well...

Submitted by souri on Wed, 12/06/02 - 1:23 AM Permalink

Oh, and Elite rocked... docking into a space station without an autopilot was frustrating though ;) and damn those thargoids during space jumps..
Elite 2: Frontier , now that was immensley cool too.. I loved that game. I think I read somewhere that if you land on Earth, and look at the sky, the star constellations would be correct for that day/year..! .. I could never get passed status of something after 'harmless' though..

Submitted by UnderTOW on Thu, 13/06/02 - 9:45 PM Permalink

quote:
And what about C64 classics like Paradroid and Impossible Mission?

Bah! Magnatron rocked Paradroid's butt. Impossible Mission was cool too, but the Last Ninja series are my favourite C64 games.

Submitted by souri on Sat, 15/06/02 - 12:17 PM Permalink

Last Ninja.. now that was a classic too!!.. I can still remember a lot of the tunes in that game. Whatever happened to System 3?.. they rocked. ..

Submitted by Ghengis on Thu, 20/06/02 - 9:07 PM Permalink

Undertow, you forgot to mention MoHAA in your favourite games! ;)

Submitted by MajorPain on Fri, 21/06/02 - 8:08 PM Permalink

Mine would be:

Hidden and Dangerous (PC)
Total Annihilation (PC)
Tekken (psx)

Fav art:
Abes Oddworld series on the psx

Gore Developer

Submitted by souri on Fri, 28/06/02 - 1:03 PM Permalink

Favourite art , that's like another entire list all together

Great art and design:

Quake 3.. Kenneth Scott, Paul Steed etc.. great models (for when they were made).. excellant model textures, and great looking maps..
Metal Gear Solid 2.. awesome.. every aspect of the game looks great.. its just great to sit back and look at all the details of the levels..

That's all I can think of the moment.

Submitted by Bunny on Sat, 29/06/02 - 1:13 AM Permalink

mmm... TA...

I've bought the damn thing at least twice and every time someone steals it at a LAN. Can't even find it second hand anymore... I miss my Krogoth. :p

Submitted by MajorPain on Tue, 02/07/02 - 7:04 PM Permalink

Hey Bunny

I used to play the guys at 4D Rulers in TA alot, Joel loved his Krogoth. Me I loved my BigBertha.

TA is a great multi-player game, but the air units had a little to much power for my liking.

Shame TA Kingdoms didn't click for Cavedog.

Born to create

Submitted by Bunny on Tue, 02/07/02 - 8:51 PM Permalink

I remember TA came out the same day as the massively hyped Dark Reign. We picked them both up, set up our LAN at home and never got around to trying DK... played TA for months on end, it's one of those games I never get sick of.

Kingdoms never really clicked for me either, couldn't say why. It wasn't bad but just didn't grab me the way TA did.

Submitted by Smurf on Wed, 03/07/02 - 11:56 PM Permalink

It's hard to bridge the generation gap, comparing games made 10 years ago to games made today is diffucult.

for starters i wouldn't put sequels in the list, for instance when i say quake, i mean all of them.

I'd have Quake as #1, and push Doom back to #2, and get Half-life right out of there(like out of the top 50...). Id swap Warcraft with Civilisation, and bring Diablo up a spot. Id then put Zelda in #5.
There are a lot of classic nintendo/master system rpg's whose names i cant remember, but if i could id definatly put them in the top 10 :)

Also, i agree that tony hawk should be up in the to 20.

Submitted by Bunny on Thu, 04/07/02 - 12:13 AM Permalink

Depends on your criteria I guess. Personally I'm judging mainly on gameplay, innovation and story. Graphics and tech are important but I'd take fun and ugly over boring and pretty anyday.

Registering on this bbs is sloooooowwww

Forum

I know some people hate waiting. I certainly do.. and for some reason, when you register on this forum, it takes about 4 or so minutes !... so when you submit your details, go get a cup of coffee.. or read something else.. and come back :)... it should be done by then, I promise!

Submitted by souri on Fri, 08/03/02 - 10:33 AM Permalink

It seems to be more of a slow server/database/forum problem than bandwidth though.. but anyways, welcome aboard. :)

Submitted by Snacuum on Fri, 08/03/02 - 8:44 PM Permalink

Two Tribes.. $85.. better be worth my time and money.
After being disappointed by Transmission.. I'm hoping that Two Tribes will restore my faith in promoters.

Go hard.. or GO HOME. yeh?

Submitted by souri on Sat, 09/03/02 - 4:00 AM Permalink

Nah, I don't think all the problems from the last Transmission at old Sega World was really their fault.. the sound quality was bad everywhere except the area right in front though. the venue was too big for the sound system.
It was more of a venue problem. #$@ complaints about the noise and the music got lowered, then shut off early!.. Darling Walk as a venu is pretty much no more.. Once Upon a Time (scheduled a week after) and Advent*jah ( a week after that) had to make rearrangements for a new venue.
The Transmission before the last one (at gas nightclub) - now THAT was bad.. :) .. an hour wait for entry , an hour wait for cloak room, and over an hour to get into the bohem (whilst being abuse by the bouncers).. not happy Jan. :)

JErvis BaY

Forum

Are you ready dog arzzzzz!!!!!

Go hard.. or GO HOME. yeh?

Submitted by souri on Fri, 23/11/01 - 12:13 PM Permalink

"In my mind.... I'm already gone...."
- Kramer...

Submitted by Snacuum on Fri, 23/11/01 - 9:03 PM Permalink

you need to get out~

Go hard.. or GO HOME. yeh?

Submitted by souri on Sat, 24/11/01 - 2:29 AM Permalink

I've got two words for you...

"Lets go yehhhhhhhhhhhh"