Posts by Alf-Life

  • THQ... Next Crytek?

    +1 for Tiago love. The guy is insane, would come in almost every weekend even when not needed, super friendly, and just did everything from pure passion. I'd already left by then, but I heard he made the whole 3D mode in Crysis 2 just work with Shader magic, almost 'for free', and did most of the work in his spare time. A goldie, for sure!

  • Splinter Cell: Blacklist

    Got this a while back and just saw it's on Steam sale. Sadface.


    Been playing on PC, awesome pad support... spent a couple of hours on just the Grim missions before even doing any of the SP ones!! Addicted to completing Border Crossing super-Ghosting without disturbing any of the guards (bonus)... super cool (and found the dead-drop, and hacked the extra laptop, and got the VIP guy), I even like the random spawns/patrols/chat-idles the enemies do! Can't wait to play more SP.

  • Respawn Entertainment's - Titanfall

    I think for me my only complaint about the game, and something that becomes especially apparent in Titan vs Titan is that 1-on-1 is interesting, 2-on-1 you can win if you're extra-good or the other players are extra-bad, but then 3+ is usually game over for you. In a game like Counter-strike (or indeed COD) which has the possibilities of 1-shot-headshots, even with unbalanced teams 1 player can theoretically take on an opposing team of 5 and win.


    I haven't read all 39 pages of this topic, but have you guys read Geoff Keighley's The Final Hours of Titanfall? Really good 'longform app', interesting read even with whiteboard snaps of Respawn on Day 1. I hope they make the singleplayer campaign they talk about for Titanfall 2... I just hope the sales weren't that good that they show their game doesn't need SP because I love SP.

  • Recruiting process vs salary

    I'm with you guys that not talking about salaries openly only benefits the company... However, it's very risky and could go either way, to the point that if there is a large discrepancy, people can start to feel bitter. A friend of mine once said 'don't talk salary with friends, it only leads to bad things'.


    However, over the years you hear things; amounts here, tax %s there (which can indicate salary level). You get pay-rises and move up different pay-scales yourself. So you (hopefully) do get a sense of your own worth. There are also places like GlassDoor.com (which are hopefully reasonably accurate) you can read up on.


    Don't forget to do your research and take into account where you'll be living. The cost of renting a place in Amsterdam is much higher than the equivalent place in Budapest, so make sure your pay (after paying things like rent) reflects that.


    Always try to negotiate based on Net (take-home, after Tax) pay. This seems to be more of a European thing, because the taxes are so high here (but we get health insurance, pension and relatively cheaper education for that money) so ask what your take home pay will be.


    Finally, if you're moving somewhere else, you're looking for a step up, so don't be too timid. Don't go for 'equalizing' your salary, because a prospective company needs to equalize what you *could* get somewhere else, not what you're earning now. Don't ask for too much and look silly, do your research. But also don't ask for too little out of modesty, because it can be super hard to get a raise once you're in somewhere; the best way to get a raise is usually to move when you're at your peak.

  • Batman: Arkham Knight

    The car is probably very very very nice.


    But I wouldn't get too hung up on that quote, in my experience there's always been that type of talk whether loosely true or not... on Crysis 1, someone (PR) said there was more tech in a single tree than the whole of Far Cry. On Killzone 3, someone told the press one level in KZ3 was bigger than the whole of KZ2 combined. Someone probably said something equally hyperbolic on KZ4.

  • What was your first ever map?

    Haha, great thread!


    First map, 2-room, 1 corridor, 1 light Worldcraft tutorial level.


    Second, ambitious city-themed Team Fortress Classic level that I only ever made half of (planned to rotate). It was amazing (in my own mind) but way too ambitious and over-scaled.


    Thirdly, I think I finally made a TFC (possibly Counter-Strike) map set in Beirut, I wasn't going for it, I think it actually turned out OK, which I even playtested with several people online... although a guy I met in a mapping forum online who supplied me with awesome textures later told me he'd ripped them from Rainbow Six, lol! Oh, one awful, awful, awful shameful thing I made were dark 'secret' areas... like Duke Nukem style... around the capture/bomb/objective areas that in the first (and probably only) playtest only I knew about... eek.

  • Updated site - Martin Badowsky, LD

    Thanks for the comments. Not to bump this again, but I did a slight redesign... it bothered me that the site didn't handle window-resizing all too well and a couple of other things so I also tried to incorporate the feedback here into that redesign.


    It's a bit grey now, but I prefer it to be 'cleaner' and hopefully more future-proof than the previous iteration. Hopefully the ios7-style 'flat' design won't just be a fad that bites me in the ass later.

  • Need some advice, where do I start?

    I would say that the main benefits of Uni are the social "having a university life", the deadlines; forcing you to learn and finish something, and the paper; if you would like to move to say the US in the future, having a degree will help.


    However, if you already had a taste of that life (or don't feel you would miss it), have enough motivation without needing deadlines, and acquire enough talent to move abroad through your talent/portfolio... then I would actually suggest not going back to Uni at that age and incurring debt.


    Completely up to you, but I would actually advise you to get your foot in the door in QA (quality assurance, testing) right now... and learn level design in your spare time. It's similar to keeping your current job and learning/building up a portfolio in your spare time EXCEPT that you'll have daily contact with talented and inspiring individuals that (hopefully) will motivate you, you'll see the company from the inside and will be able to see if you really want to be a 3D Artist, or a Level Designer, or a Environment Artist or a Scripter. You'll play a bunch of levels that are broken and learn what not to do. Your networking will include more useful contacts than people you meet at University. You might even get promoted within the company into the Design or Art departments after earning your stripes.

  • Updated site - Martin Badowsky, LD

    Wanted to bump the old thread, but it's been archived.


    http://www.thebigbadowsky.com


    Updated my site with KZ4 schtuff... removed the pretentious David Mamet quote on the front page


    Kind of wanted to work in more ['making of'] info on these levels, as I've found it amazing looking back at videos of stuff in say Warhead I did and had forgotten about... but can't really figure out how to do that with this layout, maybe that needs an update too!

  • Battlefield 4

    Played the first level at work this morning (on PC)... looks nice, shame the reveal back then is pretty much the entire first level. My fault for not going on a blackout I guess but it's also sort of my job


    Second level started out interesting... the hotel at night, in the rain. Seems a little Hitman-y dare I say it. Will play more SP tomorrow!

  • Jonathan Cliff - Level Designer

    Not sure if you're still looking for feedback after this time ...but... the video looks great! Far beyond what our teams managed at University!


    I'd agree with the length, though... perhaps you could mask those glitchy screen artifacts by cherry-picking the best moments/moments that you did and cutting them together into a 2-3 minute vid?


    I'd also like to see more specifics on what you did - maybe screens with layout sketches or some greybox geo, but as someone above mentioned you can also talk about that at your interview.


    Finally, I know people say 'only show your best work' but that's your only piece in your portfolio - and it's a team project - so it'd be nice to see one more map or something.


    Have to say it again, though, so impressed with that Hotel project! Looks really good!