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[KURT_RUSSELL]

Hello!

I am not the real Kurt Russell, unfortunately.

But don't be sad, I still can help you guys

Well, I am 30 y.o. and a GoldenEye enthusiast. The original 007:GE was the very first FPS experience to really catch me (same old story eh?). It got me both into 007 and shooting random players.

I discovered this wonderful little thing that you've been developing here just a couple days ago, and I am amazed - by both the game and the awesome community. But I got concerned when the guys started talking about how the game is under some risk of having the servers shut down by the lack of new players.

So I am enlisting myself to serve her majesty. And here are my skills for your appreciation:


1. I'm a Civil Engineer...

...so I can deal with 3d objects, buildings and ilumination. I mean, there's not much to prove here, so I will just throw you something that I can make in around 6 hours on Sketchup:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i7p1y649mpaob2l/application_01.jpg?dl=0

2. I work with Unreal Engine 4

And you work with Source! But hey, this is still a usefull skill. I've been studying UE4 in my free time since August - I've coursed a blueprint programming and level design/ilumination course and have been developing some systems since I finished it. You can see this work on the video I am linking right below (ignore the Portuguese narrative... I am actually an infiltrated international agent). Nah, I have made this video just to show my friends the systems I am working on, and I think you'll comprehend it just with the image. The animations are weird because they will be the last think I'll work on, these are provisory.



3. I can make, edit and configure textures and materials

As you can also see in the video. The terrain textures you see there are (poorly) set up by me, using HD textures I downloaded and used as base (I can comercially use those textures, because I have a premium account on the source). The melee baton was made by me and exported/textured in like 15 minutes on Sketchup/Unreal. These textures can get even better if I configure them correctly, but I will use the excuse here that I am letting the graphical part of my game project for the end.

4. Old school mapper right here

I've mapped a lot for CS 1.3~1.5 using WorldCraft. Actually, half of the time spent was mapping and the other half was fixing leaks, but that is beside the point. Unfortunately, I can't prove you this badass skill because my maps are long lost and gone with the real Counter-Strike.

5. I can adapt

If I don't know it, I'll learn it.

6. Former Ultima Online GM

Shouldn't be proud of this one. This isn't even useful, is it?

7. You want animated sprites?

BOOM! You got it. If I could have stated this inside item #3? Yea, but that would be one skill less to list here!

Well, I think that's all. I will leave below a bonus PDF with some images of a project I've made for my city's american football team. It was a lazy job (because of the deadline), but it's still an example. It took me around 30 hours of work I think... It lacks ilumination, some aesthetic work on the terrain and materials, vegetation... But, as I said, it's not been a long time since I've been working with Unreal to have a portfolio that shows my full knowledge.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6wyizot9n8ctsj6/FOTOS_FINAL.pdf?dl=1

Let me know if you need someone like me I'm even up to making a full remake of the single player missions if you ever thought about that.

[Entropy-Soldier]

No need to worry, there will be servers for GE:S for a very long time!  The project has been in somewhat of a lull recently as a lot of key developers have had busy schedules, but there's no risk of it dying overnight.  5.1 will come sooner or later.

That being said, we're always happy to bring new people onto the team!  Generally we'll ask you a few questions to figure out if you're a good fit for the team and what role would be best for you, and then give you a trial for you to prove your skills and show us what it's like to work with you.  However, you've had some unfortunate timing as I'm currently in the process of formalizing this procedure and making it more transparent!  Would you be okay with waiting for a week while I finish working on that?  The last few trials we've done have lacked clear enough expectations and I want to avoid that during your application to the team.

[KURT_RUSSELL]

Sure, no problem don't hurry!

[Entropy-Soldier]

Alrighty, everything is up and we should be ready to give your application the attention it deserves!  Our new application info is here: 
https://forums.geshl2.com/index.php/topic,8854.0.html

Please give that a quick read and let me know if you have any questions, you are the first person to make use of it so there could still be some room for improvement!

Anyway, before we go any further, which role out of the ones you've mentioned would you say you're most interested in?  For the application process and staff listings it's best for you to have one primary role, even if you plan to branch out a bit once you're on the team.  On our end we're most interested in Level Designers who can make their own assets where needed, but if your passion is to be a dedicated texture specialist there's still plenty you could help out with.  As for Programming, I'm sorry to say we're not taking direct applications for it at the moment, though there is a chance we could use help with that in the future. 

Regardless, just let me know your choice and we'll get things rolling!

[KURT_RUSSELL]

I don't have any questions, Sire!

I understand all that is stated and I fully agree with the terms. Very clear and well written, btw.

As for the role I am most interested, you guys are lucky:

Level Designers who can make their own assets where needed

^ that's me right there

I can work by my own on new maps from the blockage to the final fixes, while making all the statics and their materials/textures.

I am ready for my 00 trial if you are willing to proceed!


EDIT: I forgot to mention, but communication via Discord may be a little embarrassing as my English speech isn't good. We can try it out, but if it gets awkward I would like to communicate via text messages if it's ok for you.

[Entropy-Soldier]

The trial channel in Discord is a text channel, so no worries there.  However, during the tests we do use a lot of mic communication.  How good is your ability to understand spoken English?  It's alright if you want to type your responses but it will be a lot easier for everyone if they could speak directly to you.

Anyway, we'll get to the trial soon but I want to get to know you a little better first.  Making a map is a pretty big task, and usually for Level Design we assign a map to block out and do some minor detailing on as the trial.  This lays the foundations for continuing the map later, so we want to make sure we pick the right map for you as you might decide to work on it for a while.


So, that being said, I'll start off with a few key questions, in addition to the one above: 
How strong do you consider your level design skills? 
How good are you at working within a resource budget and optimizing assets?
Do you prefer creating open exterior environments, or closed interior environments?  It's also okay if you don't have a preference.
What's one of your favorite maps in GE:S, and why?  This can include community maps or maps from previous versions of the game.

[KURT_RUSSELL]

That sounds good for me.

Answering your questions:

1. How good is your ability to understand spoken English?

A: 4 out of 5 i guess. Most of the content I watch on youtube is in english, not to mention Kurt Russell movies. I have been in some english speaking guilds in SWTOR and POKEMMO and other stuff. I just don't have practice in speak, but I think we can try it out - it's just that it can become awkward at some moments.

2. How strong do you consider your level design skills? 
A: To be honest the only real experience with games level design I had before started to learn Unreal was the before mentioned CS 1.3~1.5 mapping. But I play a lot of games and know the theories, plus I have the modelling and project skills of a civil engineer. So yea, I think I might do very well. Following Jeremy Clarkson's philosophy here - "How hard can it be?" -, I would say I have a well-done-job-potential of 4 out of 5 (for this kind of game specifically).

3. How good are you at working within a resource budget and optimizing assets?

A: I'm not sure what you meant with "resource budget". It's a new term for me and I don't think it's a financial budget for buying resources, right? Haha. If it means working with pre-established resources and project paths, I am just fine with it since I use some 3rd party assets sometimes in my projects. Same goes for optimizing assets, since 90% of the times, I edit and optimize these 3rd party assets I use (scale, materials, fixes, additions, etc.)

4. Do you prefer creating open exterior environments, or closed interior environments?  It's also okay if you don't have a preference.

It depends on the tool I am using. Terrains are pretty cool to make in Unreal but a pain in most 3d modeling softwares. I am okay working with both, but my speciality is buildings and interiors.

5. What's one of your favorite maps in GE:S, and why?  This can include community maps or maps from previous versions of the game.

A: I am kinda new to GE:S as I said, so I can't even remember the map names. But, for the nostalgy, I love the classic ones - even if they're somewhat quirky. I liked the Super Mario map idea. The single players' 1st stage remake is great aswell. The only map that annoyed me is the colorful train map full of doors (sorry if you made this map and are reading this, mate).

[KURT_RUSSELL]

Some additional info: I plan on leaving the civil engineering market to be a full time game dev/level designer, not only a hobbyist. And for this I think working with you is not only a love letter from me for this game and the original one, but it might be a good way to enter the game dev world and gather knowledge of how things work from the inside of a team (the only time I have not worked alone was as UO GM), and even fill a portfolio.

[Entropy-Soldier]

I mostly meant resource budget to mean stuff like texture memory and polygon count constraints.  Source is an older engine, meaning you can only do so much at once before it starts to struggle.  It can only handle so many unique assets in a map, and of course any computer can only draw so many polygons at once before performance degrades.  For these reasons it's important to keep track of how "expensive" an asset is both in terms of when it's on-screen and how much texture memory it uses just by having it in the level, and be able to get creative with resource use to maximize just how much you're getting out of a given asset. 

There's a lot of stuff that makes it pretty straightforward to design GE:S maps, but resource budgeting one of the more challenging aspects of it if you're not prepared.  I just want to make sure you're aware of the potential challenges for this position and are ready to work around them.  It's still possible to make very high quality maps as you've no doubt seen, but it does take a lot more effort than it would in an engine like UE4. 

[KURT_RUSSELL]

Oh yes, I completely understand the limitations of Source engine. But even today It can produce some very nice looking games like Day of Infamy If it's done right. Also, Source must look an oasis of options compared to CS 1.3 mapping limitations, so I think I am up to the challenge!

I will try to focus on the map design itself, and think simple and smart when It comes to resource usage, maximizing the existant assets to create new cool things.

[Entropy-Soldier]

Awesome!  It seems like you've got the right attitude and I'm excited to see what you can do.  What's your schedule looking like in the near future?

[KURT_RUSSELL]

Nice I work at my own company so my schedule depends on how much work I have to do. At the moment I don't have much to do, it's always like this near holidays. So possibly I will have some good free time untill february.

[Entropy-Soldier]

Alrighty, awesome, I think that's about everything we need to know!

I'll talk with the team, we'll review your application, and design a trial for you.  This will probably take a day or two, but if everything goes well we'll get you started this Sunday.  Your wait has certainly been longer than most, so thanks for your patience and let me know if there's anything you need in the meantime!

[KURT_RUSSELL]

No problem, I understand why it was delayed. And there's no need to hurry, I am not going anywhere.

[Entropy-Soldier]

Alrighty, your Trial Brief is up in the Trial Members board, which you should now have access to.

When you're ready, just follow the instructions there and we'll get started!

[KURT_RUSSELL]

Thanks!