Off site work?

Quote from Quakis

Reading through Hourences portfolio again recently and noticed he takes on remote off site work? That is pretty much doing the work without physically being in that studio for whatever task given right?

yes ...

Quote from Quakis

Does anyone else around here also do that or am I mistaken about it?

i did for half a year and found it to be really anti-social and depressing.

Quote from Quakis

Otherwise, I'm pretty interested to know more about it, how the process works, sending off the work etc.

i used putty and tortoise svn to check out what ever files of the project i needed. usually i think you just get a piece of concept art and some writen instructions about what to do and what file format you have to deliver it in and than send it per mail.

Quote from Quakis

I'm not really interested in physically working in the game industry in one set studio, but doing odd jobs does - that is ofcourse after I gain a lot more experience and improve since the stuff I have isn't exactly anywhere near game dev quality.

working physically at a studio is the way to go in my eyes !

Quote from Quakis

I'd be willing to go full speed ahead and learn as much as I can on the engine side of things, improve my modelling and graphic editing. But I'm still unsure and that's why I've opened this topic... to get more information about it if any.

thats a wise course of action but you can also learn to be a better artists / designer / coder AT a game studio just apply for some lengthier internships at a studio somewhere around the area where you live

what warby said. usually its a lot easier to snap up some contract work if you got inhouse experience and shipped titles. otherwise you're just gonna get the shitty stuff. remember that when you apply for remote work you might not be the only one and you might have some tough competition. get as many reasons as possible to convince a company to hire you!

you dont need a job (remote or on-site) to improve your skills though. if you have a desire to do so you should just go ahead, paid or not, and improve as much as you can.

I got a big piece on this in my new book. Im doing remote work NEXT to my existing work, there are reasons for that. Dont be fooled, this is not easy to pull off at all.

-Level Design is a core position, very few studios outsource core tasks like levels, thus theres not a huge amount of work out there, hard to keep up full time.

-This is a specialized position, you need to be damn good and be able to work completely on your own with very little supervision and a very good grip on your time, thats not all too easy.

-99 percent of all remote jobs are never ever advertised, you cant get hold of it without knowing the right people or simply be known by the right people. Catch attention, Im doing my best to do so

-You need to be a really fast worker, time is money.

-Etc.

The thing is, remote work is a great way to be a gamedev in the comfort of your own house and to get your portfolio filled up in no time at all. It also offers varied work and youre the boss, kind off.

BUT its hard to pull off, its highly insecure, theres little work available and you indeed do gain less experience of it. You will always be the guy who gets a task and have to complete it. You can never become the lead and be the one whos in control. That can be frustrating.

Quote from Warby

thats a wise course of action but you can also learn to be a better artists / designer / coder AT a game studio just apply for some lengthier internships at a studio somewhere around the area where you live

What level of skill do you need to start on such an internship? Let's say I've absolutely no idea of 3dsmax or maya, can handle a little hammer editor and have ever specialized in photoshop work (which is my case) - could I still profit from an internship? I always though even an internship would require you to be 100% familar with all tools (apart from intern tools ofc)...

I currently work in this way but will be applying soon to a company that is local to me (england) unless a second project opens up that im really keen to work on.

I have found i really don't enjoy working from home after the novelty of the first couple of weeks wears off. It takes a lot of concentration to keep working within 9-5 since you are not in a proper working environment. I've also found i miss a lot of the socialising with coworkers that actually being on site with something / school provides.

I'm also getting screwed by the conversion between $ and £ right now as my salary is in dollars.

I love the work im doing (level design/modelling) but would prefer to be going into work to do it!

ed-

hey satan, what made you decide to leave splashdamage? I've considered applying there in the near future and was just wondering what you thought about the place?

e-freak, an internship position usually requires you to be both skilled and familiar with the tools.

Zete, he left to study on, he got another topic about it.

Quote from Zete

I currently work in this way but will be applying soon to a company that is local to me (england) /quote]Where you going? There doesn't seem to be many game companies here in England.

psycho:

theres plenty of studios in the UK. this is just the south east and theres probably even more that are not listed:

http://gamedevmap.com/index.php?tool=lo ... uth%20East

Quote from Sa74n

psycho:theres plenty of studios in the UK. this is just the south east and theres probably even more that are not listed:

http://gamedevmap.com/index.php?tool=lo ... uth%20East

Man, I was looking for that map a few weeks ago and couldn't find it!

Wow, thanks for this map, it's very useful

About the freelance / remote off site work, i pretty agree with warby. It's really anti-social and depressing.

Plus, i don't like this mix of work and home at the same place. I had the feeling to never stop to work. Also, it's pretty hard for me to work when i have MSN, ICQ, the TV and some games icons which tease me on my desktop.

Really, this working method is really special. Try it if you want but i really hated it. I definitely prefer to work in a studio, with people around me, a real team spirit and some exchange of ideas, point of view and such.

Thanks for the map.

I also find it hard to work by myself on maps because I get easily distracted by things like the internet and MSN.

Working in studio would be a lot easier because you have other people to talk to you when you're feeling a bit bored.

I'm doing ok for myself with Off Site work. Managed about 8k so far. Best thing I've ever done. People moaning about it sucking obviously aren't going about it the right way.

Who you working for Dux?

It's not the work or pay that isn't optimal, just the working environment. I just don't like being at home all the time, not meeting new people etc.

I worked offsite for a couple of months before I got my first job, and I acctually did it while working at my regular job at that time (phone repairs)

And I kinda liked it, but i think it was mostly because it was the first Game dev job. It didnt go that well acctually, the company was kinda semi-serious about it and also it wasnt really sure to be in the game and so on. but anyways, when i got the first on-site job I realized the difference.

You learn SO MUCH more onsite. you meet new people, and the involvment means so much. I would never do of-site work again tbh.

Quote from e-freak

thats a wise course of action but you can also learn to be a better artists / designer / coder AT a game studio just apply for some lengthier internships at a studio somewhere around the area where you live

What level of skill do you need to start on such an internship? Let's say I've absolutely no idea of 3dsmax or maya, can handle a little hammer editor and have ever specialized in photoshop work (which is my case) - could I still profit from an internship? I always though even an internship would require you to be 100% familar with all tools (apart from intern tools ofc)...

actually depends on where you want to make the internship. as i can speek from my experience there are some sutdios taking what ever they can. in my case "4head studios" in hannover. there were like2 people making an internship without ever having touched maya/photoshop/code before. of course they were not paid. after a few months when they learned the basic tricks they got 400 euro a month like every internship.

in bigger companies you should bring basic skills with you. though it depends on what you want to do. leveldesign is not the same like the default prop/character artist. so maybe the game you would be working on has its own editor. the guild2 had. i used to make models/textures so i applied with my samples of maya and photoshop. for example textured characters or weapons or small scenery.

really small companies tend to exploid the trainees so be patient on where you apply. don't expect to be hired after the internship.

I was about to start a thread about off-site work, well done Quakis

About an year ago I emailed Brazil's biggest game dev company (http://www.southlogic.com, they made the Deer Hunter series) and they didn't really care about me because I didn't have a degree. Then, a week ago they phoned me at home, asking me if I still was interested in working for them and I said yeah. They shipped me a Deer Hunter copy and now I'm supposed to create a level using their editor.

They want me to move over there but I'm not going to quit college/leave my girlfriend. Instead, I'll do a kickass art test and propose them to work off-site and eventualy visit their studios when needed. I hope everything works out cause I'm pretty bored with my part time job atm.

Quote from Quakis

Hey guys, I'm a rather depressing guy, who sits at home a majority of my time and isn't very social! So those comments are quite meaningless to me ha! But some good posts.

The entire point being that can change if you take the initiative of not being a depressing loser

Its not like the world's hippest most intimidating people make video games, these are most likely gonna be some down to earth pretty much nice people you can relate to and get along with pretty well. I wouldn't scoff at it. As has been said you'll learn much more onsite anyways.