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Ok, let's stop and focus on what we see, and what we hear from Sonic Frontiers. Don't worry about the executive producers, directors, project senior producers, project managers, none of that stuff; those jobs are irrelevant for what I want you to focus on, atm. Just focus on the gameplay itself, by analyzing what you see, and what you hear from the game. I recommend you wear headphones for this assignment.
Now, instead of asking you which one of these jobs you consider to be the most important (which would be too much of an obvious answer), I'd like for you to tell me which one of these jobs, you'd rather deal with, personally. At the end of the day (despite all the pressure and long working hours, dedicated towards their jobs), do you think it's worth it? - Not just for the fat salary, but the job itself as well?
I can tell you right now, I'd rather be a Sound designer. Their job is to analyze the gameplay, decide what "sounds" appropriate for all the moving elements that goes into the game, mix & master the sound effects, and create the right SFX for the game characters.
It's fun because you get to unlock the right side of your brain's hemisphere, by taping into your creative genius, coming up with all sorts of cool foley sounds for the game elements (if you're not using a sound library), and use audio plugins to make the sounds come to life. People are attracted to what they hear, as well as what they see.
Nothing biased, but it's less stressful than being a Game developer (no disrespect), where you have to learn how to write code, and everyone is counting on you to make the game, fully functional. Just ask @bls1999 Every week, someone is always reporting bug issues and unwanted glitches in Pr2 (you know who you are), and he has to deal with that headache. You'd have to pay me to deal with that headache, geez!
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1st March 2023, 8:07 PM
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(1st March 2023, 10:35 AM)Different Wrote: At the end of the day (despite all the pressure and long working hours, dedicated towards their jobs), do you think it's worth it? - Not just for the fat salary, but the job itself as well? No, I would much prefer to have a lower salary and not have my work/life balance be blurred due to all the stress.
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(1st March 2023, 8:07 PM)Uptight 534 Wrote: No, I would much prefer to have a lower salary and not have my work/life balance be blurred due to all the stress.
I can respect that. Those gaming careers aren't for everybody. Some people don't even come home until late, even though they're making money. On the other hand, I can see where it's stressful because you have to meet project deadlines at the last minute.
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Not listed there but of all the roles for a video game developer I'd most want to be a game director
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3rd March 2023, 9:33 AM
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(2nd March 2023, 10:07 PM)David Wrote: Not listed there but of all the roles for a video game developer I'd most want to be a game director
That sounds interesting. So, why game director, and what company would you choose to be a game director for, if you decided to take on the role? I'd throw out Blizzard Entertainment, but some people seem to trash that one, so I'll leave that one out.
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3rd March 2023, 2:35 PM
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Considering crunch is still unfortunately a large part of working for a game studio, I feel that working in the industry is not exactly a good thing and that doing it on the side as a hobby would be a lot more fun
The thing is about working on games as a job is that I feel that it would make it tougher to have games as something to relax with after work, partially because of the aforementioned crunch and also because of thinking about how your job would affect the game and what you'd do differently
In terms of which from the top list? Probably 2D Level Designer, but personally I would still not pick it as an actual job considering it would still have crunch issues and is a make-or-break element of the game in terms of enjoyability. The reasons I would pick it over the others being that you can iterate levels with simpler to more complex designs, so you at least have something there once you do the first draft and it's not like coding where it's easy to completely break everything. It also depends on the in-house tools for designing levels how easy the process is.
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(3rd March 2023, 2:35 PM)Camer the Dragon Wrote: Considering crunch is still unfortunately a large part of working for a game studio, I feel that working in the industry is not exactly a good thing and that doing it on the side as a hobby would be a lot more fun
The thing is about working on games as a job is that I feel that it would make it tougher to have games as something to relax with after work, partially because of the aforementioned crunch and also because of thinking about how your job would affect the game and what you'd do differently
What do you mean by "crunch", and how is it affecting your enjoyment of working on games, exactly? 🤔
(3rd March 2023, 2:35 PM)Camer the Dragon Wrote: In terms of which from the top list? Probably 2D Level Designer, but personally I would still not pick it as an actual job considering it would still have crunch issues and is a make-or-break element of the game in terms of enjoyability. The reasons I would pick it over the others being that you can iterate levels with simpler to more complex designs, so you at least have something there once you do the first draft and it's not like coding where it's easy to completely break everything. It also depends on the in-house tools for designing levels how easy the process is.
It seems like this whole, "crunch" thing, seems to have a large, negative impact on your decision to have level design, as an actual career. Would you still consider that level design career in gaming, if you take away the whole, "crunch" problem?
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4th March 2023, 8:35 AM
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(3rd March 2023, 6:27 PM)Different Wrote: What do you mean by "crunch", and how is it affecting your enjoyment of working on games, exactly? 🤔
It seems like this whole, "crunch" thing, seems to have a large, negative impact on your decision to have level design, as an actual career. Would you still consider that level design career in gaming, if you take away the whole, "crunch" problem?
Crunch is a pretty standard term, it means just before a game is released they do shady things where they make people work many hours of overtime a day and possibly 7 days a week. They will also fire employees if they don't conform and remove their name from the credits, sometimes for no pay if they can legally do that (I don't know how much of an issue it is here but I know it to be a big issue at least in other places)
I would still not do a career in it though due to the second paragraph that I wrote previously also I have other ideas for what I'd want a job in which I'm going through currently
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(4th March 2023, 8:35 AM)Camer the Dragon Wrote: Crunch is a pretty standard term, it means just before a game is released they do shady things where they make people work many hours of overtime a day and possibly 7 days a week. They will also fire employees if they don't conform and remove their name from the credits, sometimes for no pay if they can legally do that (I don't know how much of an issue it is here but I know it to be a big issue at least in other places)
So, would you say that this is all the major gaming companies, or the least popular ones that people pass up on? - Like for an example, Sony Interactive Entertainment (which is a major gaming company). From my perspective, I'd say it depends on who you work for. Also, removing my name from the credits sounds ridiculous. If I'm under contract, I'd get a lawyer to help me read the fine print because that's grounds for a lawsuit.
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Game development sounds like a dream job when you're young and have no work experience but as you get older you realize how bad the industry is.
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5th March 2023, 1:42 PM
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(5th March 2023, 12:20 PM)Legend Wrote: Game development sounds like a dream job when you're young and have no work experience but as you get older you realize how bad the industry is.
Yeah, this is why I have 2 other things to fall back on, just incase sound design doesn't work out for me. Why do you say that the industry is bad?
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Yeah, working in game development can be a terrible experience. I could never work there given that it seems like a battle between executives who want to push out games as fast as possible to maximize revenue and developers who want to make a good game.
Crunch sounds like a cheat to get the best of both . . . at the expense of the developers' work-life balance.
I think it's important to remember what makes games memorable. Two of the most highly-rated games in the last decade, Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption II, have this in common - they were both delayed for months. But while that angered people, it rewarded them with an unforgettable game that people talk about for years. Well, unforgettable for the right reasons. Because I can name some pretty buggy games (which I don't even play) due to viral clips of ridiculous glitches that almost make them unplayable.
Once a game is released, it's out there forever. So make it good.
The below quote sums it up well:
"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."
- Shigeru Miyamoto
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6th March 2023, 5:33 PM
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(6th March 2023, 8:10 AM)Master Raiden Wrote: "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."
- Shigeru Miyamoto
Cyberpunk 2077, Anthem, and Battlefield 2042:
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7th March 2023, 9:13 PM
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(6th March 2023, 8:10 AM)Master Raiden Wrote: Yeah, working in game development can be a terrible experience. I could never work there given that it seems like a battle between executives who want to push out games as fast as possible to maximize revenue and developers who want to make a good game.
Couldn't agree with you more. On the other hand, if the solution is to maximize revenue by pushing games as quickly as possible, then they need to reevaluate their business decisions and come up with a better alternative. Otherwise, people are going to be calling in and writing reviews about how the game turned out to be a huge disappointment.
(6th March 2023, 8:10 AM)Master Raiden Wrote: Crunch sounds like a cheat to get the best of both . . . at the expense of the developers' work-life balance.
I think it's important to remember what makes games memorable. Two of the most highly-rated games in the last decade, Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption II, have this in common - they were both delayed for months. But while that angered people, it rewarded them with an unforgettable game that people talk about for years. Well, unforgettable for the right reasons. Because I can name some pretty buggy games (which I don't even play) due to viral clips of ridiculous glitches that almost make them unplayable.
Once a game is released, it's out there forever. So make it good.
The below quote sums it up well:
"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."
- Shigeru Miyamoto
Yeah, I'd rather deal with a delayed game than a rushed game that has an excessive amount of problems besides being buggy; the story lines might not even be that great, who knows.
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