Warpigstudios: Looking for Freelance Level Designer

[mikezilla]

I remember when I worked on mods it was because I wanted to.

times be a changing.

[curman]

so. this is a mod, right?

[Taylor Swift]

This IS a mod for hl2.

[Section_Ei8ht]

I remember when I worked on mods it was because I wanted to.

times be a changing.

That quote made me feel old. And I'm 19.

[ReNo]

I don't think wanting to make money for doing something means you don't love it. What if they want to start their own fully fledged development company? That's what it sounds like. Does wanting to start a business doing something, not suggest that they might love doing it? Not everybody wants to go out and work in an existing company, making something they don't give a shit about. It's harder these days to break through yourself with a commercial product, but isn't that exactly the sort of thing that Steam hopes to change? Isn't making a mod, as opposed to a stand alone game, the ideal way to make a breakthrough, given the shorter development time and lesser/non-existant startup costs?

[MonkeyLord]

Well, I'm certainly sorry to see so much negativity here. But I suppose a healthy dose skepticism is a good thing. I don't know what kind of experiences you've had here regarding mod teams, "startup" companies, or less than scrupulous employers...

All I can do is vouch for my own personal veracity, and that of my team. So if it helps, upon request we can provide the contact information of other contractors who've worked for us as references to our character, and our diligence in fair and timely payment for services rendered. I've worked with quite a few folks, many of whom are currently employed in the games industry.

Regardless, the bottom line is we have an opportunity to do what we love for a living: make the kind of game that we want to play. I'm a software developer for a living.... If you were in our shoes, would you want to spend the rest of your lives developing mid-tier applications for major financial institutions? Or make games for a living? Valve has given the gaming community a unique and unprecedented opportunity for a new level of entrepreneurship for indie development teams, and Warpigstudios is going to take it, and make it.

If you're interested, great! If you're not, that's fine. But there's little to gain by being vitriolic. We'd like for our fellow gamers and developers to root for us while we try to prove that the little guy CAN make it into the industry, and on his own terms.

And obviously a good many of you are, because I currently have an inbox full of applications and queries. Good. I'm glad folks are curious.

If you want to learn more about how our process is going to work, how payments are arranged, and how we make sure the process is fair, then don't hesitate to drop us a line. After all, it's an opportunity to make some money and add a jot to your resume.

Anyway, I appreciate the honesty, and we hope we can find a few kick-ass mappers to help us out.

Take care,

John Beck

Warpigstudios

PS: Again, let me reiterate: We're not asking anyone to work for free or for credit. We're offering money in exchange for time, talent, and professionalism. Nothing more, nothing less.

[sensee]

best way to convince mapcorians is to show some kickass media

there are 2 pages full of sci-fi story yada yada but not a single screenshot. never forget that most of us belong to the NES generation and we have an attention span of a door knob.

...my 2 cents

[MonkeyLord]

Well, not to state the obvious, but we need maps to make good screenshots, correct? Which is why I'm here, afterall.

Here are some shots that our concept artists have put together illustrating the world we want our mappers to create:

This is material we've released to the public. From here, you can tell that we're wanting a wide range of different environments: Martian desert, commercial interiors, heavy industrial areas, shipyards, so on and so forth.

[Section_Ei8ht]

MonkeyLord, I admire your spirit.

Best of Luck. Finish it. I want to play it. If you can pull off half of what you have in those concept pics, you wont have any problem breakin into the industry on your terms.

Again,

Best of Luck.

[von*ferret]

Very aggressive and goal oriented! Nice! Best of luck to you. I can't wait to see some ingame stuff off of those concepts.

[misterbister]

I dont think theres a problem achieving that with the source engine. As long as most of it is 3D-sky.

[jayrabbit]

wow that's some great concept art.

but have your concept artists ever heard of "polygons"?

those environments (yes they look great) are not doable in the source engine nor in any other realtime engine either.

[ReNo]

You could do it, you just need to scale the detail level to keep it manageable/realistic.

[Hourences]

Its the prob with most concept artists, they draw things that are not technically possible but you learn to live with it.

In the end its their job and its just a concept. It doesnt tell you how it should look exactly, it only brings across the general idea + feeling + inspiration and that it does

Its your own problem how to implent it

If it were to tell you how exactly stuff should look youd be dead bored as a level designer because you wouldnt have the possibility to design own stuff anymore, just copy.

Nice concept art tho, mod looks great.

[MonkeyLord]

Thanks guys. I'm glad to finally see some posative feedback. heh.

Anyway, we know that good mappers can achieve what looks like enormous amounts of detail with propper level design, good use of 3D skyboxes, and excellent texture work. Being a good game designer means being a good illusionist. It's all smoke and mirrors.

Anyway, thanks a bunch, and we look forward to hearing from more of you.

- John