KungFuSquirrel

I do not want to think about the pain you went through to texture that curve. hehe

Seriously, though, looks nice! Very much a UT style; looks very cool in-game.

Dunno, but I'd rather work as an environment artist, seems a lot nicer than just planning levels all the day

We get to do both We get a lot of trust put into us. We document our own levels from start to finish (coming up with most of the ideas ourselves, aside of basic plot points and specific scenes, and the construction of those is still entirely up to us). Using Radiant is another plus here - with patch meshes, we can also build most of what we want to build without touching Lightwave. We do model terrain manually, which I feel gives much stronger control than any heightmap terrain does, but it can be a little tedious at first.

We do use modeled props, most of which are concepted up, built, and textured in the art department. However, some of our designers also do their own textures and map objects - we can build a quick low or high poly model in LW, clean it up, and let the artists take over. Or we can build the normal maps for a texture, render it out, plop a grey swatch over it, and leave it to the artists to paint. Generally we just let them do the prop work, as they have it scheduled and we don't.

Scripters curently do all event scripting, though a couple designers can do some scripting as well. They're also doing stuff like monster, item, and trigger placement right now, too, as a time consideration (that's stuff they can easily do while we work on construction for another map). Eventually we'll have more of a hand in this and learn basic scripting all-around. They'll still be doing the really crazy scripted stuff, though, as most of us designers don't have much of a background in programming. I do hope to learn a lot about this and over time do more and more of my own scripting (but not enough they bump me out of design, heh), and I'd recommend you guys looking for jobs in the future dabble in scripting for unreal or doom3 or something.

We pass maps around a lot, too. Sometimes it's because the person who originally made it is busy with something else, sometimes it's just to get another set of hands on it. We also steal from each other all the time. Load up a map, take a section you like, adjust and re-texture, and poof! It's just another thing that helps efficiency as well as consistency within the game world.

One of the more recent additions to our staff is Max Aristov, who was (if I recall correctly) lead artist on this production. Frie, did you ever meet him, or did he leave before you started?

The Company:

Raven Software is an award-winning computer game software developer based in Madison, Wisconsin. Our focus is on graphic excellence and superb gameplay. As avid gamers, we build the kind of games we enjoy playing: games that are visually engaging and enjoyable with high-level, intense playability. We remain dedicated to pushing ahead the level of quality in electronic gaming.

Job Type: Full Time

The Position:

Level Designer

Responsibilities:

Raven is looking for an experienced level designer for a game built using the DOOM3 engine. The applicant will be responsible for various aspects of design: creating a concept of a level on paper, building in Radiant, lighting, enemy placement, and some scripting. The applicant must work on site and be a team player.

Qualifications:

• Previous level design experience preferred but if you’ve made your own great levels, we’ll take a look

• Familiarity with Radiant a must

• Familiarity with Lightwave a plus

• Experience with scripting a plus

Posted from the new Gamasutra entry. Contact info available there, or PM me and I'll give you the appropriate e-mail address/addresses.

As I mentioned in the previous thread, my short time at Raven has been absolutely incredible. Whether you like Raven games or not, Raven offers one of what many of us feel (most with much more experience than me ) is one of the best jobs in the industry. Security is good as an Activision-owned studio and the average length of employment is something like 6 years. You only have something to lose if you don't apply, so if you're even remotely thinking about it, give it a shot.

Textures don't display until you have a map open... I think technically that shouldn't be possible

Content is deleted from/changed in games all the time. There's tons of stuff I remember seeing in original Half-Life shots that never made the cut into the final game (as well as the unused AI models). Look at how Ravenholm evolved from the TrapTown E3 demo into what it is now, for instance.

Schmung and Jynx make a good point - some of the content may have been not good enough, but other bits may just have taken too much time to do. They have the content already, so provided none of it sucked (which is also entirely possible - no one's perfect ), they could easily fix it up and use it for an expansion. I really would like to see that boat level/chapter...

Phew. We just get yelled at when a few people leave it running and updating and we lose our bandwidth for 'important' things like sending builds Fortunately our bandwidth upgrade should leave plenty of room for HL2 and WoW.

Times like this I hate no-compete clauses. Would be in in a second otherwise.

I guess I'll stick to just making unplayable scenes instead.

Well, I'm an uber-nerd and live as much for the boxes and cool collectibles as the games themselves, so I ended up getting both Steam gold and retail collector's. *hides*

You and your broked stuff.

Looks nice I think you could do a lot more with the lighting outside, though. Obviously you need to keep it bright enough to let players see each other, but maybe experiment with more types of light sources combined with a darker sky light.

X-Men legends sounds fun.

It is.

So is working at Raven, by the way. Really cool place, and just getting better

I had a friend do an art test for the spot and he said that he was asked to do it in Max. I think the LW/Maya bit may be a botched copy/paste from a D3 engine posting. I could be wrong, though. But no harm trying!

Tabbed browsing for the win... ShackNews, my site, NS forums, Snark Pit, GMail, my site tracker, and MapCore. Hooray!

i dont personally bother with the 'orange mode'. For me its faster to apply nodraw to every brush and go straight into texturing for real on the faces that need it.

...which is the same thing. There is no such thing as 'orange mode;' whether you're using nodraw or a concrete base texture or a purple or pink or plaid with polka dots texture, it's the same concept - rough in your map's layout, basic form, and gameplay before you waste time detailing it. It's not like Valve invented some crazy revolution with a few orange textures or anything.

I saw snow today. We went to a pizza place in Verona for dinner and a car had parked there prior to us after driving through the snow. Kinda depressing (and weird) for the first snow I see of the year to be little piles that fell off a car in a parking lot... I think the edge of the snow front was just south of Madison.

You guys are doing some killer work; keep it up! Can't wait for this one.

Just wanted to bring to light a couple openings on Raven's staff. The programming one I doubt would apply to anyone here, but you might know someone who fits the criteria and is searching for a new home. Here's the info, as well as a link to each gamasutra posting with proper contact info:

2D/3D Texture and World Model Artist Position for X-Men Legends Title

Raven Software is looking for a 2D/3D artist to concept, build, and paint complex textures and world models for an X-Men Legends title. We prefer an artist with experience working in the PC gaming industry, with an understanding of creating textures and world models, but with very strong drawing, concepting, and painting skills. A more realistic artistic style is preferred. An ability to create game art for different genres - such as Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror - is a definite plus, but a strong background in drawing and painting realistically is a must. The position will also require an understanding of or a willingness to learn 3D hi-poly and lo-poly model building in Lightwave or Maya.

Responsibilities:

- Concept and create complex textures and world models for an X-Men Legends title.

Requirements:

- Strong 2D drawing, concepting, and painting skills.

- Experience creating textures and world models for PC games.

- Experience creating UV maps from 3D models.

- Experience building hi-poly and lo-poly 3D models in Lightwave or Maya or have experience with another 3D package and be willing to switch.

- Experience using Photoshop.

- Self-motivated, with a strong artistic vision that allows them to complete tasks without supervision.

- Relocation to Madison, Wisconsin

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/jobs_d ... ob_id=4691

Console Tech Programmer

Raven Software is seeking a talented programmer to play an important role in a triple-A console title currently in development... X-Men: Legends. We are looking for an experienced technology guru who can integrate with a capable development team and make a great game even better. Responsibilities include working with technology designed to work cross-platform for the Playstation 2, Gamecube and Xbox.

The ideal candidate would have:

• Minimum of five years of programming experience in game development or real-time graphics applications, with at least two shipped products.

• Full mastery of C++ and working with as well as creating object-oriented systems.

• Excellent oral and written communications skills.

• Proven technical expertise with at least one console platform such as Playstation 2, Xbox or Gamecube.

Additional strong assets:

• Bachelor's Degree or better in Computer Science, Engineering, or Mathematics.

• Experience and comfort with low-level assembly and hardware API's.

• Skills with cutting-edge graphics work such as advanced rendering techniques, animation, or optimization.

• Previous experience with developing a cross-platform product.

• Experience with game-oriented graphics technology such as Renderware, Intrinsic Alchemy, or NetImmerse.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/jobs_d ... ob_id=4690

Very nice stuff, Zaphod. Gotta actually get me that Bloodlines here soon... Might be a bad person and wait to see if it shows up in the company store, though. :X *hides*

Just finished. Took just over 10 hours total time. I'm going to let this one sink in before I make further commentary

I'll make the same comment here I did on the Snark pit... I'd love to see more curves included in this. It'd also help your glowy fluid thing by giving you perfect texture alignment. All the angles are really sweet, and would be even sweeter pulled around a curve here and there.

But it's really nice architecture regardless, and a nice smooth lighting style. Keep up the good work!

my favorite parts are the ones where they state that near the end of the project the tools were finally becoming useable. not like that would keep them from liscencing the engine out still. *cough*

Ain't developing for in-development engines FUN?

Whos the guy with the signature to his texture site with the bow and says Grand Reopening on it? I can't find it anymore and he doesn't post D:

http://www.mapcore.net/forums/viewtopic ... 1&start=60

Posted... today.

doesnt seem like the higher-ups at ea are very nice to their employees, so if this is true.. how do they keep people on the job?.. seems like alot of people wouldnt take this crap.. or maybe they just love the idea of making games so they take the good with the bad... weird...

As the experienced vets get fed up and leave, they replace them with naive new employees with not a whole lot of work experience. They eagerly take the job, and then are screwed over. They keep the job because a) leaving the team before completion of their first project could be catastrophic to future job hunts and/or b) they just assume it's the norm and don't think twice about it.

I guess on some forums where this is going around there are people re-thinking their ambitions to go into the industry, assuming this is just par for the course. My understanding is also that many of the people that leave EA due to these circumstances end up leaving the industry entirely. Really too bad that people let themselves believe this is normal behavior.

We are getting a new building sometime next year. Room for 150, more aesthetically pleasing environments (I think more wood paneling, non-fluorescent lighting, exposed rafters/girders and the like, all cool and stuff), its own mo-cap studio, weight room, improved kitchen, and access to facilities in the other buildings next to us. That'll be really awesome.

Our guys are mostly split between Call of Duty and Rocket Arena at lunch and after hours. A few might still play UT2K4. We play another game now and then, too.

Ken and I have some fun in our cubes, though no doll of shame... We have the dead chair, for one. His chair was bad. Eric Biessman sat in it and declared he (Ken) needed a new chair immediately. I took Ken's old chair as a drastic step up from my previous one. My old one now lies on the ground between our cubes with a hole in it from where I stabbed it with a pen. It has also been headcrabbed.

I also keep a section from a Far Cry promo I saved from GameStop and have it looking into Ken's cube. I'm going to start decorating him with various hats for various occasions, starting with Christmas. Teehee.

We get pizza day once a month, movie day (at the megaplex uber-screen theater just down the block), and profit-sharing bonuses on all titles (even on games you didn't work on, apparently, but much less than those who did work on it) after you've been there for 3 months.

Everyone always seems to be in a pretty good mood, regardless. Average length of employment at Raven is 6 years, I think (if I recall correctly). A few people have left since I arrived, but not many and none for a while (and those that did were all on excellent terms).

Apparently it's not even a matter of getting the content done - I spoke to someone who was working on the team specifically referred to in the article (and apparently another team had it worse - the 12-13 hour/7 days a week conditions for perhaps a year or more), and he said that not only was it required to work those hours, but content was getting done and people were sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for more content and were still forced to remain there for 'moral support.' Ouch.

Edit: Even more ouch is that sentence structure... I won't even bother