Sjonsson

Hello Mapcore!

Didn't post here for a loooong time. I'm looking for a design partner-in-crime and I know there's some kickass level designers lurking about here!

NOTE: Don't send me DM here, not here very often. Use contact form or mail.
 

Full Time Position

OBSERVE: If you have problems using the contact form, send a mail to contact@frogsong-studios.com instead.

We are currently looking for a Level Designer with a strong portfolio and passion for creating games similar to that of D-Corp in Unreal Engine 4.

As a Level Designer at a small studio like ours you will have broad tasks which will have you doing not just level design but also a bit of game design, level dressing and more! Your job will include everything that comes with a level to bring it from a prototype stage to a shipped level and more. 
 

Responsibilities include

• Create paper designs
• Blockouts
• Scripting
• Level design direction
• Design Level mechanics
• Lots of playtesting

Qualifications

• Strong communication skills and an open mind
• Experience going through a full development cycle of levels
• Experience in a modern game engine (preferably UE4)
• At least 1 year of experience in the games industry

Pluses

• Experience with UE4 Blueprints (visual scripting)
• Experience with modelling tools (Blender/Maya)
• Developed multiplayer or co-op games
• Experience in lighting and composition
• Experience with level art production
• Professional proficiency in Swedish, both verbal and written
• Willing to relocate to Malmö, Sweden (or commute within the area)

Our need is simple, have someone that brings fun and interesting levels to our games!

What we offer

Aside from a bunch of hearthy frog people, we have a great office at Dev Hub in Malmö where you can, (whenever the pandemic is over), enjoy the company of other devs, events and a plethora of great lunch places nearby. Our games are at the heart of every step we take, but not only do we want to make the best games possible, we also want to make sure everyone is feeling well doing so.

If you’re looking for a tightly knit team with a good sense of humour, give us a ping!

• No qualifying day (karensdag)
• In addition to 25 days of vacation, a 1,5-2 weeks studio shutdown around the end of the year (winter holidays)
• Paid pension
• Sauna at Office
• Flexible work hours
• No crunch policy
• Possibility to work remote

NOTE: For the time being the team is working remotely due to the pandemic.

10 hours ago, NikiOo said:

Are those rocks all displacements or do you have custom models?

 I like the aesthetic, gj!  I'm not sure if you're into texturing but I find the rock texture a bit noisy and it messes up readability so maybe that's worth a look.

Also I think you should add some support beams behind those metal plates so they merge better with the rocks. Right now they look like they're just glued onto the walls. Made a quick shop to explain. Also nice just to bring some planks/woodwork into the material palette!

1 hour ago, Pampers said:

use the content from the latest cs:go map?

Hmmm, good idea! Haven't thought of that. Wanted to keep it vanilla but maybe I could burrow a few  

1 hour ago, Radu said:

@Sjonsson the textures aren't really helping with the venezian theme. The environment seems pretty cool though. I've always liked levels that used water as an obstacle.

You're correct about that for sure. I looked through the library and couldn't really find the Italian feel anywhere. So I have been looking more at other canal-filled places like Amsterdam. I mean City 17 is in Prague so I don't think it's possible to make it look authentic to Venezia.

Wait, that's Veniz right? All these langauges and changing names, in Swedish it's 'Venedig'. WHY would you rename someone else's city? 

I was a bit worried at first about using water as obstacles. But the combine force field/fences helps out a lot when it comes to closing off the canals without obstructing the vision forcefully with boats, physical barricades etc. But yeah I agree, water levels are cool! I especially love canals.

Some shots of a HL2 level I'm making for a level design course at work.

Going for some Venezia feel. Considering modelling some gondolas.

On 2017-08-20 at 5:45 PM, 2d-chris said:

Particles are really fun to make, I love doing them. Kind of a secret art form but in reality they are not too hard, unless you want to do insane stuff. 

Word! It's so damn rewarding. 

Yeah, I feel like the hardest part is understanding how different shader-models will work together, like what happens exactly when you put an additive shader ontop of a multiplying shader on top of an alpha-blended. What would the visuals results be? What happens with contrasts? Color blending? etc

It's like you almost need to understand how the shaders work on a code level.

11 hours ago, squishy44 said:

4 years later I'm still not done

Looks really good though. High HL2-authenticity!

Making for some assets for some level design assignments. Not very experienced with particles but damn it's good fun!

On 2017-08-07 at 6:18 PM, blackdog said:

Serious stuff @Sjonsson, glad you managed to find a quick solution and I'm sure you will feel much more rewarded.

Definitely overtime is a killer, I always say that giving back time when company has downtime, doesn't really help because sustained overtime feel "longer" (the time it take to relax is much longer than the hours you will take back in downtime).

I didn't experience what you experienced but I have been this close to say "fuck you" to my boss, I would play Doom or music as loud as I could to make people around me aware I was angry, and went outside in the bin where we throw broken crockery to smash stuff up…

Totally agree with how long it actually takes to relax and regenerate. Longetivity burn tears you up good.

Haha, I never had that anger with a boss. Man must be really hard.

22 hours ago, Sigma said:

Sucks that you had to go through that Stefan, but in the end it worked out alright. I completely support your removing work distractions from your home life as it is highly disruptive and stress inducing to be at home and still have your mind on work. I too learned this lesson (not quite as harsh as your version). It really does wonders to make the distinctions necessary for us to decompress.

As for what to do with your new found free time, I suggest taking up something that is relaxing to you. As an example, I cook to relax. It takes my mind completely off of the day's to-do lists and I focus solely on what's in front of me (delicious food). Not to mention it makes the wife very happy too (women love men who can cook). Stay away from anything that is actually related (in subject) to your work though. It would only help drive your mind back towards your work and potentially re-trigger your stress.

Thanks for the fine words!  

Yeah I think you're entirely right. I've decided to do some interior design in my appartment like buying some old stuff and refurbish them. You're not the first who warns me about re-triggers, I hope the structural difference, that I now only work daytime is enough to have it sorted. Gotta get that wifu thing sorted as well.

WOHOO JIM RAYNOR IS BACK TO KICK SOME ZERG ASS!



wait...

22 hours ago, Radu said:

It would be a shame if someone.. you know .. blew it up

Hahaha! Well the risk if half of the game. That's what I like about games with perma-death / destructive features. Just knowing that if we make the wrong jump we'll lose the equivalent of weeks of playtime.

Today I spent 4 hours on making a spread sheet for an Eve online project my friends have tricked me into. Building a capital ship called Rorqual

Edit:
Here's a link to the sheet if you're curious:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q6XXlyJc1pcLoAq4Zv8luqW3l0HRc_h-IiRTXrERcBY/edit#gid=0

Whaaat!

Life-time achievement coming up @Puddy ?

10 hours ago, Sprony said:

I just recorded my very first voice over for the Eurogamer Benelux YouTube channel. It was awesome

Niiice, is it in english? ;D

On 2017-04-29 at 4:37 PM, TheOnlyDoubleF said:

Congrats @Sjonsson (and late Happy birthday btw  ) 

And a late thank you!

Thanks guys!

15 hours ago, clankill3r said:

I watched the talk about jonathan blows new programmng language online. Can't wait to get my hands on that. Waiting atleast 1 and a half year now...

I actually got to talk to him a little bit when he was chilling in the lobby. I told him I was very much looking forward to see what he'll do with his next game and asked if we'll see something coming out soon he said that 'first I have to make the language, then the game, so there's quite a lot of work to do'. So I'm guessing it's still anything from one to several years from now. Will probably be really cool though.
 

1 hour ago, blackdog said:

Need to check that; I tried to watch one of the streams but apart from being out of context, i just don't like unorganised "talks".

Wonder how long it will take him to get to a release state, has he open sourced to work with others?

Yeah, I loved the talks I went too but some of them really wasn't prepared at all and gave a lot of interesting thoughts but off-topic. Chris Avallone, Tim Cain and Alex Kennedy (Sunless Sea) and they were supposed to talk about Geography in relation to World Building which is something I'd love to hear more about but they had more of a talk regarding writing and building worlds in general. What's the point of having a topic if it's not being followed?

And yeah you are right, parties where really nice! Some friends hired this villa up in the mountains, was really sweet. Will post some pics later to tease you guys. Insofar best and most relaxed conference and I also got a lot out of it. Maybe even a publisher for our game, Spellsworn, but it's too soon to say.

 

Heya!

Anyone here attending Reboot Game Conference in Dubrovnik this week?

http://www.rebootdevelop.hr/

Hit me up if you want to grab a beer or something!
 

Maybe I should have kids some day after all.

http://kotaku.com/here-is-a-good-video-game-kid-1793355232

18 hours ago, Vorontsov said:

Used it for a couple days a long time ago, didn't enjoy it that much. I think it's mostly useless for game dev compared to Designer, but maybe for photoeditors etc it's a bit more handy. However I will say this, if it looks intriguing to you, give it a spin. 

Hopefully they've done improvements since then. I might just try it out, not that big cost and it's a one-time fee.

Anyone worked with Filter Forge? Experiences? I haven't tried it myself but I'm really curious about it

https://www.filterforge.com/

On 2017-04-01 at 1:06 AM, (HP) said:

 

I feel positive after this interview!

All these abilities might actually work. Let's just hope all those cheesy voicelines aren't actually used that much.