Debriefing > Join Us

Application: Level Design, Texture and Materials Creation/Config., Programming

<< < (2/4) > >>

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.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page