Thanks, I already booked my trains so the times I gave you will be the times I'll be at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, not the airport 
I'll check these hotels out.
EDIT: Booked two nights at the Golden Leaf. Motel 1 was full, 25 hour was twice the price...
ok I got time to spend on this right now, so this is going to be one long ass post.
I don't consider I have a hometown, but there are many spots I have lived in or visited and these are my favorite ones. I'll skip the obvious cities and capitals, you all know them already (Paris, London, Berlin, NYC, Frisco, DC etc)
Martinique: Lived there for 3 years as a child, would love to go back for a while. Fort de France is the obvious place most people live in, but I would recommend renting a bungalow somewhere by a beach in the south, near le Rocher du Diamant for instance
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The Vosges mountains, France
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West Cornwall, Connecticut, The area I lived in when in the US. Some of the most calm enchanted places I have come across
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Estes Park, Colorado This is just the city you'll most likely stay in overnight, but it's the entrance to the eastern side of the Rockies National Park there, and I can promise you some of the most inspiring vistas you'll see in your life. Absolutely staggering.
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Porto Alegre, Brasil A place very dear to me, I just recently came back from this place. It's not likely to be mentioned in most places to visit books you'll read. But once you're there, you will likely be deeply attached to the city and the region, with Uruguay and Argentina not far either
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Annecy, France Very well known to any lover of the French Alps, Annecy is the last city before entering the very high mountains of the Alps. Perfect for an overnight stay when going skiing. Of course having one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe can't hurt.
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Yellowstone National Park
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Bruges, Belgium
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And last but definitely not least, the Pays Basque.
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Here are the details for my trip to Frankfurt. I'll try to get a cell phone (still have mine, need to get a prepaid card) so I can call you guys.
Arrival in Frankfurt at 5PM on Tuesday, Feb 2nd
Departure to Lille, France at 1PM on Thursday, Feb 4th
I take it we'll be going for beers around downtown, so booking a hotel around the trainstation sounds like a good idea. I looked up Crytek on google maps and I can probably get some bus or taxi to drop me there. Is there a place you guys would recommend hotel wise?
I like what I'm seeing, but I have issues with the website itself. The site is too convoluted in its navigation and at the same time looks way cheap in comparison to your work. I figured out the navigation and it's easy enough but it doesn't mean it presents your work nicely. As a side note, I would venture a guess and say you're more of an environment artist than a level designer (some companies don't make a distinction, others do) or at least this is what your shots tell me. I see close ups and nice assets, but not much in the way of actual paths, balance, global gameplay intentions etc.
It may very well be what you like to show, but I would then advise you to be clearer in your message to potential recruiters. Target yourself and sell yourself well.
Nope I'm going for an interview somewhere else, so I took the opportunity to spend some more time around Europe and see what my options may be. Brazil is over, I need to figure out what's coming next.
That's right folks, let's try and get together in Frankfurt the first week of February as I'll be going back in Europe then. I would very much like to meet all the Cry.Core guys and all Frankfurters around a beer or ten
Mad props to any Crytek guy who can get me a tour of the office (I'll sign an NDA) while I'm there. I would really like to visit you guys as I'm planning a permanent return to the Old Continent
You guys pick the place, I'll make sure to be there and pay the first round. Any place I can crash, or hotel in the vicinity?
Of the ones posted I must say I enjoyed Spider the most, this is the most AAA game I have seen on this platform and it's a great experience.
It's not the first time I hear bad things about the management style of Rockstar, GTA IV coming to mind.
I hope none of our Mapcore friends were affected by this:
I'm looking to get a thread going on where people post about these games, and which ones they can recommend.
So far I know of the obvious Rolando 1 and 2 as some of the most highly rated. I also like Bubble Bash as a quick Frozen Bubble clone and recently got Drop7 from a post in the off topic section
So which ones are good?
Here goes my list:
Most fun with a game this year: Making AC2
Best atmosphere in a game I played: Batman Arkham Asylum
Best game I have not played: Uncharted 2
Games I wish I would play if I had the hardware: Infamous, Killzone 2, Uncharted 2
Best PC game: Plants Vs Zombies
Best Shooter: Left 4 Dead 2
Best new surprise that's not Plants vs Zombies: Trine
Best iPhone game: Bubble Bash (this thing is the one game I've played the most this year, and I can't understand why yet)
Biggest disappointment: Brutal Legend
This game has got me whoring my friends list so they check it out....and I've not even tried it yet....
We were playing dod 1.3 yesterday for fun and played on zafod and I immediately told everyone in game to check Zero Gear....
Lol Rick, I will bow down to your superior gaming skills At least I hope those weren't on my levels
The two of you need to get a room. And no Mapcore does not want to be in that room with you
Again, people are mixing different things. Izuno we all agree and Taylor said it best in his reply.
Sentura, no I never presented it that way or meant it that way at least. I talked about the OVERALL deal you would get working at Blizzard or the likes, and said it was among the very best deals you could get in the industry. I find it hard to believe anyone would dispute that. Everyone here would love to make their own Shadow of the Colossus and Beyond Good and Evil games. When they sell what they have sold and you end up losing your job over it, I'd hardly call that a good choice in the long run and mixing it with a little bit more of a run of the mill shooter every once in a while might have been a better plan.
So again, looking at different variables in the "Equation of Finding the Perfect Job", I would value things like (in no order)
- money
- job security
- lifestyle offered in that location
- family life
- projects to work on
- Career evolution
and some others I'm sure others will find. I do believe Blizzard lists very high for a lot of people out there on some of these variables at least, so yes they do amount to one of the very best deals you can get in the industry. Obviously you have your own multipliers in front of each of these variables much like everyone else, but even with those I'm sure you can find a list as long as your arm filled with companies that are a LOT worse.
I don't see where thinking about job security is an insult. I would think anyone with a bit of self esteem would obviously consider that among the variables of choosing one company over another.
Quote from SteppenwolfNot everybody wants to work on the biggest games and for the biggest companys. Whats so wrong about that?
Stepp you're getting the wrong idea here. Sentura is blasting Blizzard not for its size or the size of its games but for its approach to making games. Size doesn't matter in that argument because you'll find companies of all kinds that fall on both sides of the Sentura Fence .
My own opinion is that Blizzard (since this is the one we are talking about) is among the companies that probably offer some of the very best overall deal for a games dev to work on. Working there you probably have a seemingly safe position, a competitive salary and incentives, some of the world's greatest talent to work with and games to work on that actually are most likely going to ship.
Again, compared to a LOT of companies out there, that I've had the chance NOT to work for, that's a LOT better to me.
I split the thread so the mapcore job census would stay nice and on topic, but I couldn't create this new thread in off topic where it belongs...
Exit strategy is by far the catchiest and most marketable
Yes I'm serious. If Blizzard is not good enough for someone that wants to work in the industry, I do suggest that one reevaluates their desire to work in the video games industry. Because to 99.9% of games developers out there who will never get as good working conditions, salaries, or motivating titles to work on, that's a slap in the face.
So yeah maybe one's dream is to make it big as an indie. Fine, be my guest and try and make it on your own. I'll watch. I'll watch 99.9% of all attempts fail miserably while some perfectly viable commercial products from companies like Blizzard help thousands make a living and support their family.
