My Portfolio

Not so much on the layout but I'd suggest you take down those 2D-pieces. They are not helping, instead they make your excellent work above in LD look a little unsmart (just my humble opinion).

Quote from e-freak

Not so much on the layout but I'd suggest you take down those 2D-pieces. They are not helping, instead they make your excellent work above in LD look a little unsmart (just my humble opinion).

I'll have to agree on this. The site itself though is quick, and efficient to browse your work so that's a plus.

My 2p, mostly just recycled out of advice given to me in the past.

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  [*:18aqogx3]Ditch the splash, or change it to incorporate a quick summary of your skills (i.e. a summary of key skills from your CV). I'd personally just ditch the splash and make the work page be the default.
  [*:18aqogx3]Make the image thumbnails bigger. People want to see what they're clicking on Also, the website itself is quite narrow. It only takes up about 1/3 of my screen width (1600x1200). Once you start adding more content, it may be cumbersome to navigate.
  [*:18aqogx3]Brand your images to include your name and website url. It doesn't have to be some obtrusive thing, just a small text layer in PS. You can actually create a layer with your info in PS, then create an action to go through all images in a dir and brand them automatically -- it saves a lot of time and effort doing this.
  [*:18aqogx3]You mention max & static props etc. in your CV, but there is (as far as I can see) nothing model-wise on your site. Modelling is quite specific so I definitely think you need to show some props if you put the skill in your CV
  [*:18aqogx3]Put your skills close to the start of your CV with the key skills listed first rather than positioning your skills at the foot of the page. I'd be tempted to remove specific level mentions from your CV and just say that you worked on several maps in your spare time -- they can see this stuff on your site. Keep the mod mention, though.
  [*:18aqogx3]Putting negative things on your page isn't such a good idea. An employer probably doesn't want to hear about abandoned maps regardless of whether you learned anything from it unless your page already has a lot of quality content (currently you have two maps on your site, and one of them is abandoned). Personally, I would not put an abandoned map on a portfolio site. If you need that map to fill it out, then it probably means you need to make some newer, cooler things. Just keep churning out the content.
  [*:18aqogx3]If you have a recent, non-mod map to pimp, it's probably a good idea to include a download link. I usually end up losing my old work, but fresh stuff should be available to DL if someone wants to take a look
  [*:18aqogx3]Register an easy to remember domain and some cheap hosting (I'd recommend 34sp.com -- they've been fantastic for me)

Anyway, hope this helps. Read this site for excellent advice; it really helped me. http://www.thejonjones.com/2005/10/07/y ... pels-jobs/

I followed most of these rules and, despite only applying to one company (got in a while back), I got emailed out of the blue by a recruiter the other week regarding various programming jobs (probably half spam, half serious, but still -- my name got out there despite doing no advertising/soliciting whatsoever), so following this guy's formula definitely is good.

Good luck!

I think you need to be clearer on what you are looking for. The header reads "level designer" but there isn't much level design in there. The first map looks good, is finished and definitely should be there. The second one also looks good but besides looking unfinished you also said you never finished it because you disregarded the layout completely. That's very contradictory because generally a level designer takes care of the level layout and artists do the beauty afterwards. Your portfolio doesn't contain any art pieces either, giving the impression that you haven't really decided what to do yet. And yeah, never say negative things about yourself in your CV/Portfolio, they are meant to sell yourself not to expose your weaknesses.

On the aesthetics side:

* I think you could use the same amount of thumbnails for each level, so they are aligned to each other. One of the keys to consistent design is repeating key elements, like colors, alignment and so on. Philipk's portfolio is a good example of this. Notice how the links have the same width as the header and how well he defined the visual hierarchy, giving each heading a different color/size.

* Too many different alignments. The links are aligned to the right of the page while all the rest is aligned to the left.

* The links need to stand out more, they are kind of "floating" and out of place now. Maybe you could try to incorporate them to the header or if you keep them where they are now try to align them to the left of the "level designer" title.

* The background image shouldn't repeat, leave it fixed. If you are using CSS you can try this:

body {


background: url(image.gif) #backgroundcolor repeat-x;


}

* The entire website has to have a minimum height, since you are using a footer. Notice how short the CV page is in comparison to the work page.

* Here's an awesome article that helped me a lot when I started designing pages:

Hope that helps

i think i cant add to the given feedback but to say that it's very valueable.

Quote from killertomato

i think i cant add to the given feedback but to say that it's very valueable.

I agree. The only thing I'd add is we've been hammered at Uni to get proper email address'. [email protected] is the bare minimum, if you can get a proper doman and have [email protected] is even better. The name you choose in your email contact can often reveal a lot about yourself.

Edit: Also how old are you? The only education you have listed down there is GCSE's so I assume you are at least 16. No A-Levels/Diplomas/Degree? Most place's wont hire unless you are at least 18 and GCSE's don't really cut it anymore for jobs.

Quote from ginger_lord

Edit: Also how old are you? The only education you have listed down there is GCSE's so I assume you are at least 16. No A-Levels/Diplomas/Degree? Most place's wont hire unless you are at least 18 and GCSE's don't really cut it anymore for jobs.

I'm not sure this is true, is this your experience? While I’ve only had two interviews (but got them both, woo!), none of them really cared for my education at all. Only my portfolio, attitude and the challenges they set me during the interview process. Which actually annoyed me a little bit given I'd spent 4 years on it!

I think higher education is definitely a plus though, information and social skills are going to be needed and this is where you get them. Though if I had my time again I’d have studed a course I cared about instead of a generic computing course (basically so I didn't have to get a job, what a fucking layabout), now I'm doing all that stuff in my free time.

As for the feedback, I think Defrag is bang on the money. Open straight onto the content you want to show them, do not put anything on there that could give them a reason not to employ you, and don't be modest!

Quote from Taylor

I'm not sure this is true, is this your experience? While I’ve only had two interviews (but got them both, woo!), none of them really cared for my education at all.

Well these days you're not allowed to ask people their age because you can't discriminate against older people so having certain education proves you are at least 16 (GCSE) or 18 (A-Levels) or 21 (Degree) as nowhere I'd imagine would hire a 16 year old as you'd have to be 18 minimum.

Edit: Also proves you're not a retard and can actually pass stuff.

you can't ask people about their age ?? O_o

i thought that would be normal all over the world to include that in the cv/vita.

at least here in germany its absolutely normal and understandable, imo

thats quite interesting to know that difference, i have to admit

I don't seem to notice any links for released maps? Does this mean you've never finished a map? Personally, that would be a red flag... As for the school subject, I would think that's a need-to-know basis, where you only want to be as brief as possible. If you've graduated high school, then state that. If you're going to college but have not graduated, then state that. I would think posting grades and such is too revealing.

Not every studio gives a hoot about education, it's not really that important . The studio I'm being interviewed at tomorrow don't give a rats as long as you're passionate about games and are good at what you do.

Below degree education definatly isnt that important, but its always good to have it there. Having a degree shows you have many abilities and qualities from day 1 that you don't need to be taught or can be proven in an interview such as the ability to work with others. The vast majority of degree's here require a few modules of work where you work in groups on projects or with other courses.

Its not required for some areas of the games industry but it certainly helps your application go to the top of the pile before the interview. Some areas such as programmers definately require a relevant degree more often than not and if you're planning to work abroad it can also be key to getting visas and what not.

Quote from ginger_lord

Below degree education definatly isnt that important, but its always good to have it there. Having a degree shows you have many abilities and qualities from day 1 that you don't need to be taught or can be proven in an interview such as the ability to work with others. The vast majority of degree's here require a few modules of work where you work in groups on projects or with other courses.Its not required for some areas of the games industry but it certainly helps your application go to the top of the pile before the interview. Some areas such as programmers definately require a relevant degree more often than not and if you're planning to work abroad it can also be key to getting visas and what not.

yeah programming was what i was thinking too -- if you learn coding yourself, chances are you wont have expertise on algorithms and optimization that you will need in many positions.

We level designers are too dumb to be doing degrees and shit like you programmers

I did my degree fully expecting to try and break into the industry as a level designer, but in the end I enjoyed programming more :bananawrench:

Quote

Below degree education definatly isnt that important, but its always good to have it there. Having a degree shows you have many abilities and qualities from day 1 that you don't need to be taught or can be proven in an interview such as the ability to work with others. The vast majority of degree's here require a few modules of work where you work in groups on projects or with other courses.

While I agree somewhat, I wouldn't go so far as to say that having a degree proves all of those things. Having a degree shows basic competence and staying power. I found out to my cost that employers really aren't that bothered about what your degree award is -- they are mainly interested in what you can do. I didn't get a look in until I improved my portfolio a great deal; fortunately I actually learned a lot during my time at uni, so I was able to get a programming job.

Furthermore, I've seen people exit the same degree course as me and struggle to get a job due to having mediocre skills or personality that isn't conducive to teamwork. Scarily enough, it is possible for lazy folk to pass degree courses by copying out of books for four years without understanding any of it... I saw a few people do it; some of them failed, some of them didn't. Anyway, there were quite a few arrogant people I knew and a few of them still don't have jobs despite being undeniably talented. One works in a pizza place and I saw another guy working as a railway steward. This is why I think games companies really aren't that interested in degrees. They're certainly a great thing to have on your CV and, if you study the right way, they are very useful. However, I'd imagine a lot of companies treat degree awards with a little scepticism, especially if an impressive portfolio is not forthcoming.

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Its not required for some areas of the games industry but it certainly helps your application go to the top of the pile before the interview. Some areas such as programmers definately require a relevant degree more often than not and if you're planning to work abroad it can also be key to getting visas and what not.

I think it depends on the company and position. I've seen some amazing stuff on the likes of the gamedev.net forums and a lot of the people on there are hobbyists. If you send a company an amazing demo and they actually look at it, it will probably grab more attention than any degree award will.

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if you learn coding yourself, chances are you wont have expertise on algorithms and optimization that you will need in many positions.

Depends on the degree you do. Computing degrees tend to come in two flavours, or somewhere in between.

1. "Here's some programming basics, let's go and make stuff as we learn"

2. "Here's some conceptual stuff you learn for four years, learn programming languages & general programming in your own time. We might learn C++ or Java a bit in the meantime."

The first course I was on (Applied Computing at Dundee Uni) leant towards version 2. It was more conceptual and there was more thought about designing things. The second course I joined (Computer Games Tech. at Abertay Uni) was more like option 1. However, you had plenty of room for doing your own thing; they would give you an assignment with a general checklist, but you could add things that interested you or take it as far as you wanted. This is both good and bad because it's more fun, but there's less guidance when it comes to structure and good practice. Other than the PS2 architecture and extensive mathematics, there really wasn't much theory involved. I didn't mind so much because I liked going off and learning stuff pertaining to style, structure etc. through experimentation and research, but I doubt my programming skills are up to par compared to someone who took a proper software engineering degree. What I'm trying to say is that a hobbyist can most likely match what you get taught on course 1, as a lot of it comes down to figuring out what to learn by yourself and reading books. I'm not going to say whether that's good or bad, just that it can be done imo.

Personally speaking, I'd always go and get a degree if the option is there, though. If you put everything into getting up to speed and either fail to get a games job or it turns sour, you don't have much to fall back on without a degree. With the benefit of hindsight, I probably would've stayed on the Applied Computing course and just toughed it out...

Don't know how your old site looked but I really like the layout of this one. Some minor nitpicking: you should optimize the larger images of your "Team Fortress 2 - CTF_Greystone" map. They've got an average size of 900kb, while the ones of your HL2 deathmatch map are 500kb big and have basically the same resolution.

And the white background hurts my eyes a little, would change it in something more browser friendly like a light grey or something else.

Try adding some padding and margin for you headings.

And also between you images and you headings. Good use of whitespace is important for the layout of your site.

And maybe use lightbox for you images. Its not very userfriendly to let the images open in the same window. But if you keep it this way. Add then a link so you can go back to your site.

And i am sorry to say, but your logo is very overused. But that is maybe not a realy problem because your want a gamedsignjob.

But the site is clean and well balanced. Don't forget to test in various browsers. You can use this service for it. http://browsershots.org/

Because i checked it in IE and your concent isnt center anymore. You can solve this by saying body{text-align:center}

But dont forget to change you text for p, h1, h2, ... in text-align:left

If you have any question about webdesign you can send me a message