Open season for level design positions?

    Now thats true, but I keep feeling that Im missing out on whats important. That if I dont get hired soon, I never will be because of my age (they probably want them unge and ripe, especially if they dont have any pro game dev experience). Or well, that I might have to give up this dream at some point because everyone will start thinking I'm a looser that didnt quite make it. My guess is that I probably will have to face defeat if I'm nearing 30 and haven't gotten a job yet (Im currently 20)

    And it bugs me that I cant really show off that I am eager, that I am passionate about what I'm doing, that I really want to work with this for the rest of my life, and that I'm willing to do whatever it takes (within reasonable boundaries ) to employers mostly because they dont want to even interview me. I dont know what repels them, if its my site, my resume, or my art. I know that I'm capable of delivering what it takes if I were so fortunate to get hired. I know that if my current skill level weren't up to standards of the rest of the team, I'd work my ass off on my spare time to catch up. Im prepared to live in the chair in front of my computer (Its mostly what I do now, anyways).

    Oh and, if anyone wanna help me write a good resume, I'd appreciate it, I really lack the skill in presenting my art with that "umph" quality.

    Quote from cdxx

    Also as a follow up, I've had a couple mods talk to me about joining their teams. So far I'm reluctant to say yes as I'm worried the mod could either fail or just plain suck, waisting valuable time and efforts. Would that more detrimental than going solo producing levels on my own or is working with a team more important even if it doens't fully get off the ground.

    I'd interview the mod-members and see how far they are on their mod. And also check if they have an animator and a coder (that actually do something). If the mod is playable, even to a small degree, I'd go for it.

    Quote from Skjalg

    My guess is that I probably will have to face defeat if I'm nearing 30 and haven't gotten a job yet (Im currently 20)

    20 is very young, it's actually too young to have a degree in game design, so don't feel bad. I'm 25 (was interviewed on my bday) and at your age I was doing a semester in Berlin for my business school, following economy classes at Humbolt University and writing essays on the economic power of the Potzdamer Platz.

    So really, take your time and work some more. I now wish I was 5 years younger and could start my studies all over again....

    reply day, got to do something when working late.

    cdxx -> The ten was an example, it was for me anyway. Ofcourse the more good levels the better but I dont think anyone is going to die if you only included 6 good levels..Thatll do it as well.

    And 8 bad ones and 2 good ones? As long as they are good its all fine, good doesnt mean awesome but just solid (of course awesome is better). Look at it this way, if you are still a learning and starting level designer show them you are improving and learning fast. Let your last level be better than your first. Show an evolution.

    Dont read that in the other way around. It doesnt mean you should include your very first level on your resume for the sake of "showing evolution"

    There is another reason why more levels are better than just a few. Everyone likes different things. Ive had it that half the people liked my level X a LOT while the other grouped really didnt like it at all. The more levels you got the more you can fall back on other levels in case someone doesnt like one of your levels. If they dont like level A or B they might still like C and D and you are saved. If you only have a few and the person recruiting you just doesnt like those...

    I dont like mod teams. You get more attention with releasing maps on your own and you got more control

    Skjalg make a thread and post your resume in it so people can help ?

    Quote from Hourences

    I think it's going to be more and more difficult for a mapper to create a greater amout of impressive maps.

    To create an stunning map you need at least some custom content, because nobody gets excited by a city17-looking map, no matter how well it's done. And that's the big problem, because current gen (HL2, Doom3) mapping plus the creation of custom textures and props is extremely time consuming.

    There are very few HL2 (or CSS) maps with custom content. Maybe the best of them is de_corse by hessi and the guy worked as far as I know over 1 year on it.

    There will be less good maps in the future yeah but its still possible as discussed before.

    Certainly for HL2 its possible. I can understand that for UT2007 and HL3 or whatever there will be less content but that shouldnt be the case for the current generation of games. UT2004 is in a lot of ways similar to HL2. HL2 uses even more bsp thus relying less on meshes yet there are hundreds of UT2004 maps with a lot or nearly only custom content which results in a lot of themes.

    It is possible.

    Im sure fewer maps will be more able to impress in the future but the point will still stand. You do not have a lot of experience if you only made one or two levels and I see that happen to a lot of people, they still face a lot of difficulties or trouble when they design a level after they are hired. Its not just the skill of making it, its also the skill of designing it and finishing it. Someone who made a lot of levels is very efficient at what he does because he knows exactly what steps to take because he has done it so many times before. And no matter how awesome and extensive that one level is the author still did everything just one time...

    Of course experience is very important but I hope that an employer should be able to compromise in that matter because, as I said it takes a hell lot of time to gain that experience.

    Also we must not forget that there are many different genres and kinds of games and the creation of maps can be very different from case to case.

    Let's say you have an awesome CSS mapping workflow, it doesn't necessarily mean that this experience will help you a lot when it comes to create an map for an RPG.

    Most of non-professional mapper create multiplayer maps for "traditional" ego shooter, but only a small part of them will actually work on such maps when they get hired.

    honestly I think we all shouln't listen to you Hourences.

    I've never seen somebody which such an huge amount of high quality maps in his portfolio and I've seen many portolios, even from people who already are in the industry.

    Well, he is in the industry, and thanks to his UT maps, one of the more recognised LD names in the industry too I wouldn't worry if your portfolio doesn't match the scale and quality of his - thats far from a requirement for getting into the industry!

    I tried to build my portfolio with emphasis on variety, which I think helps a lot. Its fairly true that if you can make a great looking level, you can probably translate that ability to making a great looking level in a different theme, but it doesn't hurt to prove it. If an employer is making a sci-fi game and sees only real-world environments they might be put off, and likewise if you only have cartoony levels, somebody making a gritty, urban shooter might not be that interested in you.

    I don't want to turn this thread into a portfolio feedback thread, but Skjalg, I think one of your main problems is that your portfolio has a significant amount of emulation in it. Two of your maps - castle and italy - are essentially just your own spins on de_cbble and cs_italy. I'm not saying that there isn't a place for these maps in the scene, but you aren't demonstrating any sort of creativity there, and creativity is important. Your PVK map is a much better approach - it's a much more unique setting and (from what I can gather) is pulled off with far more impressive results. I also think that you could stand to improve on your lighting, as most of the work in your portfolio relies solely on an environment light. Even outdoors levels can use extra light features, and lighting does a lot to break up the monotony of a scene.

    Quote from cdxx

    Also as a follow up, I've had a couple mods talk to me about joining their teams. So far I'm reluctant to say yes as I'm worried the mod could either fail or just plain suck, waisting valuable time and efforts. Would that more detrimental than going solo producing levels on my own or is working with a team more important even if it doens't fully get off the ground.

    Join a mod which has already proven that they can get their stuff done, that's for sure what I would prefer:)

    Why not listen to me ?

    My portfolio is actualy twice as big as the portfolio on my site. A couple of NDA's and wips withold me from adding all the news stuff. Content should be doubled by the end of the year. When I started in the industry I only had my UT1 levels and 1 UT2003 map.

    Quote from curman

    can't be bald either

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    Quote from Hourences

    reply day, got to do something when working late.

    Thanks alot for the advice and info.

    Quote from Hourences

    Why not listen to me ?My portfolio is actualy twice as big as the portfolio on my site. A couple of NDA's and wips withold me from adding all the news stuff. Content should be doubled by the end of the year. When I started in the industry I only had my UT1 levels and 1 UT2003 map.

    More encouraging stuff. How long have you been doing LD Hourences?

    If you want to be an LD, do singleplayer mod work. Show people that you can script and come up with interesting setups. Even if you really want to do multiplayer professionally, there is much more commercial demand for singleplayer designers. If a hiring manager wants to check out your work he's not going to get the entire team to play a few rounds on your map. He just might give your level a quick run-through though.

    Quote from cdxx

    More encouraging stuff. How long have you been doing LD Hourences?

    Started late 99 with Unreal 1 and UT1, got my first albeit crap job at the start of 2003.

    Time flies. I always have a lot of projects going, which is a more important factor than the time Ive been doing this I think. One could just as well spend 6 years doing nothing while a guy with 3 years experience might be better than the 6 year dude cause he works 24/7 on it.

    I used to do it 24/7 but real life starts to demand more time. Currently doing this 10-12 hours a day, 6.25 days a week.

    Singleplay work is definalty under estimated. Not a lot of people seem to bother learning or creating singleplay gameplay which is a shame. Singleplay gameplay does sell better because its easier to understand (player wise, not design). Really, if you are not applying to some of the bigger multiplayer games studios like iD, Valve, Epic, and so on the guy looking at your work will prolly not understand what multiplayer gameplay is about. There really are a lot of people who got no idea what mp gp is about. Hell I once worked with a whole team of 2d arcade gameplay designers who suddenly tried to make the switch to an action 3d game.

    So in that light, a text explaining why you did things may help for that. As discussed in the other thread.

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