Warpigstudios: Looking for Freelance Level Designer

    Well, I'm certainly sorry to see so much negativity here. But I suppose a healthy dose skepticism is a good thing. I don't know what kind of experiences you've had here regarding mod teams, "startup" companies, or less than scrupulous employers...

    All I can do is vouch for my own personal veracity, and that of my team. So if it helps, upon request we can provide the contact information of other contractors who've worked for us as references to our character, and our diligence in fair and timely payment for services rendered. I've worked with quite a few folks, many of whom are currently employed in the games industry.

    Regardless, the bottom line is we have an opportunity to do what we love for a living: make the kind of game that we want to play. I'm a software developer for a living.... If you were in our shoes, would you want to spend the rest of your lives developing mid-tier applications for major financial institutions? Or make games for a living? Valve has given the gaming community a unique and unprecedented opportunity for a new level of entrepreneurship for indie development teams, and Warpigstudios is going to take it, and make it.

    If you're interested, great! If you're not, that's fine. But there's little to gain by being vitriolic. We'd like for our fellow gamers and developers to root for us while we try to prove that the little guy CAN make it into the industry, and on his own terms.

    And obviously a good many of you are, because I currently have an inbox full of applications and queries. Good. I'm glad folks are curious.

    If you want to learn more about how our process is going to work, how payments are arranged, and how we make sure the process is fair, then don't hesitate to drop us a line. After all, it's an opportunity to make some money and add a jot to your resume.

    Anyway, I appreciate the honesty, and we hope we can find a few kick-ass mappers to help us out.

    Take care,

    John Beck

    Warpigstudios

    PS: Again, let me reiterate: We're not asking anyone to work for free or for credit. We're offering money in exchange for time, talent, and professionalism. Nothing more, nothing less.

    best way to convince mapcorians is to show some kickass media

    there are 2 pages full of sci-fi story yada yada but not a single screenshot. never forget that most of us belong to the NES generation and we have an attention span of a door knob.

    ...my 2 cents

    Well, not to state the obvious, but we need maps to make good screenshots, correct? Which is why I'm here, afterall.

    Here are some shots that our concept artists have put together illustrating the world we want our mappers to create:

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/op2.gif]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/op3.gif]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/Barracks_2_web.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/BoBenvironment.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/barrack3.JPG]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/Deimos3_800.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/Deimos2_original.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/MagLev1.JPG]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/OpportunityRough_small.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/OpportunityRoughs.JPG]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/Opportunity2.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/monkeylord/WEF_2_850.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://www.badgeofblood.com/previewpics/042105/wr_may2200.jpg]

    This is material we've released to the public. From here, you can tell that we're wanting a wide range of different environments: Martian desert, commercial interiors, heavy industrial areas, shipyards, so on and so forth.

    MonkeyLord, I admire your spirit.

    Best of Luck. Finish it. I want to play it. If you can pull off half of what you have in those concept pics, you wont have any problem breakin into the industry on your terms.

    Again,

    Best of Luck.

    wow that's some great concept art.

    but have your concept artists ever heard of "polygons"?

    those environments (yes they look great) are not doable in the source engine nor in any other realtime engine either.

    Its the prob with most concept artists, they draw things that are not technically possible but you learn to live with it.

    In the end its their job and its just a concept. It doesnt tell you how it should look exactly, it only brings across the general idea + feeling + inspiration and that it does

    Its your own problem how to implent it

    If it were to tell you how exactly stuff should look youd be dead bored as a level designer because you wouldnt have the possibility to design own stuff anymore, just copy.

    Nice concept art tho, mod looks great.

    Thanks guys. I'm glad to finally see some posative feedback. heh.

    Anyway, we know that good mappers can achieve what looks like enormous amounts of detail with propper level design, good use of 3D skyboxes, and excellent texture work. Being a good game designer means being a good illusionist. It's all smoke and mirrors.

    Anyway, thanks a bunch, and we look forward to hearing from more of you.

    - John

    Quote from Hourences

    Its the prob with most concept artists, they draw things that are not technically possible but you learn to live with it.In the end its their job and its just a concept. It doesnt tell you how it should look exactly, it only brings across the general idea + feeling + inspiration and that it does

    Its your own problem how to implent it

    If it were to tell you how exactly stuff should look youd be dead bored as a level designer because you wouldnt have the possibility to design own stuff anymore, just copy.

    Tell that to bkd86 over at black mesa source. I swear to god that guy doesnt know the meaning of the phrase "limit polygon". I understand that you're supposed to draw the concept, but the problem with him is that he gets so pissed when you dont do exactly what he draws.

    But I should stop bashing him. He might try to sue me (again).

    Personally I prefer concept drawings to be as detailed as possible. I like if they contain a wealth of detail so that I as a level designer can just pick out all the good ideas I like until I reach the level of detail the engine can handle.

    A concept sketch is supposed to give the overall picture and to give the level designers ideas of how to build their level. It does not matter how detailed the concept sketch is as the level design result does not have to match it exactly - it is concept after all.

    Quote from Zacker

    Personally I prefer concept drawings to be as detailed as possible. I like if they contain a wealth of detail so that I as a level designer can just pick out all the good ideas I like until I reach the level of detail the engine can handle.A concept sketch is supposed to give the overall picture and to give the level designers ideas of how to build their level. It does not matter how detailed the concept sketch is as the level design result does not have to match it exactly - it is concept after all.

    Exactly. The purpose of the general concept art is to establish aesthetics and themes. Now, if a mapper/modeler is given a modelsheet and concept and told "reproduce this", that's one thing. But mapping itself isn't just following directions, it is a creative process. Concept artists don't generally know how exactly to plan for good gameplay, or have a sense of what makes for good resource management.... just what looks good. A good level designer takes that information, combines it with his own knowledge base, and composites all of that into a fun, playable level while adhering to the overall themes of the game and the art.

    Dark that defeats the whole purpose. They want to make their own start up utilizing steam's publishing system. U3 doesn't have that, its just a larger engine. They could make a demo and promote it to try to get the extensive funding needed for u3, but otherwise they're stuck with source/steam.

    Source dosnt have the resources for what they want to make which is what im talking about. Engines like Unreal and ID can shape levels into what they show in the concept. You can't get the same effect with Valves engine yet. Then again I would like them to prove me wrong

    I do agreee about using source for its tools to get funding for a better engine. If they do get funding, i would recommend using that engine.

    Sure it does, it's just all about working realistically for your proposed scale. You could build an entire planet in a source map if you wanted; it would just have to be ludicrously simplistic. You could build an entire city, it would just have to be low detail. You could build a city block with relatively high detail. You could build a city square with high detail. Scale your level of detail to match your scale and you can make whatever you want really.

    Jesus, I leave town for a weekend, and you all go nutty.

    For the one billionth time, this is not the forum for editorializing on whether or not you like somebody's mod/game/design/business plan/idea/etc.

    Locked.

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