"Jobs... Swing for the Moon or for the Fences?"

The question of the day is:

Do you hold out for the dream studio or get in where & when you can?

Pretty fair question that seems to have a simple answer right? Wrong! Where jobs, career & life choices come into play, there are no easy answers.

It all hinges on what your current circumstances, experience and motives are. If its money & experience you need, then yes, grab for low hanging fruit. Even though you may feel you're compromising on bigger dreams, you've got to start somewhere. Even smaller, less well known (or accomplished) studios can have a silver lining. You'll still gain valuable experience (not to mention the experience or probability of having to wear multiple creative hats) and making some money, but at least it's "preparing" you & your portfolio just the same. Not to mention that while you're at a smaller studio, you can still keep your options open towards looking. However, you don't just want to jump ship at the first sight of land in regards to a larger studio opportunity. If you're in the middle of a production and fairly "critical path," leaving your small dev is not always advised. It's still a small industry and word about your lack of commitment can get out! Besides that, larger studios may also be concerned that you'll do the same to them, hurting your chances to acquiring a stable position in their "seemingly" secure halls.

If you have more experience and the financial nest egg to hold out for a more competitive studio/position, that's great as well (especially if you’re tailoring your resume & portfolio with studios that have influential credibility). Whatever the case, understand that any hiring manager (large or small studio) is inevitably going to look at the number of studios you've worked for and how long you were at each. While "studio hoping" was a fairly accepted practice back in the mid '90's, it's a bad practice these days.

It goes right back to the "commitment" factor (or lack thereof) giving pause to any hiring studio that may see it (you) as an investment risk.

So in the end, get a job creating game content where you can and really try and give it a fair shake. Stay with a studio for no less than one title/production cycle (so you at least have something to show for your time & skills invested there).

Like anything in life, your "commitment" factor is just as important to a hiring studio as is your competencies and talents.

In conclusion, get in where you can, stay there and become a sponge by way of soaking up knowledge and experience, then consider venturing out. You'll ultimately be more armed & equipped with greater competitiveness, competencies and commitment prowess if you do! Making you a more attractive creative and new hire anywhere!

Dream Chasers v1.0

[Ed. Note] This article was written by Game Creator's Vault founder and video-game industry professional Mark Soderwall.

Mark Soderwall speaking at the University of California Irvine.

A fairly common question I get asked after lectures and presentations I give on game-design best practices is How to stay so passionate or positive in an industry that usually presents dream chasers more closed doors than open. Do I take Zoloft, or is my ignorance really  bliss?

Absolutely NOT!

My excitement and head-down resolve stem from not only my industry experiences working in both large AAA and small Indie studios, which helped me to better appreciate the reward of it all, but also in the understanding of how I can get paid in doing something I'd otherwise be creating in my own free time!

Like anything worth fighting for, getting into the game-dev industry is just that, a fight.

Trying to invent new ways of staying positive every day through the relentless portfolio updating, rejection letters (yes, even professionals get them), hours of researching studios hiring and self-publishing developments is always a great challenge. However, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and better prepares you for the next round of challenges!

Persistence is the key ingredient as well as timing in realizing opportunity. The day you blink your eyes open in the morning and choose to stay in bed is the day an opportunity may slip past you.

Every day is an opportunity to win, as well as lose. It's in the losing, though, that (most of the time) your character and resolve get tested and your ability to overcome adversity grows.

Continue to fight and muster up the resolve to constantly plow through the hard experiences of the day! Understand that your next opportunity may be waiting just around the corner, even if that corner takes days, weeks or even many months to round. Just don't give up, don't give in! The moment you settle for mediocrity is the moment life grabs you by the throat, wrestles you to the ground and sits its fat @ss on your chest! Fight through it and understand that while it may be a challenge, your character, portfolio and resolve will grow more competitive if you choose not to throw in the towel or tap out.

I understand that this sounds like a motivational speech. That's good! Sometimes we need to hear a good speech to warm up our heart and steady our resolve after it has grown cold in a wasteland of frustration and self doubt.

Mark lectures at an industry conference on game-development best practices.

The greatest thing to appreciate is that it's always a choice. You get to make one every day, for better or for worse. It's up to you. So what are you going to choose today?

As always, I, along with others, are here to help mentor and encourage you with our experiences, insights, best practices and networks.

If you really need advice or a good sock in the arm to you shake off your frustration, email me and I'll walk you through it!

Remember, it’s not only your talent and resolve that gets you over the next hurdle and into success, but the relationships and networksyou foster today and tomorrow that you'll take with you through your next challenge and career pursuits. You're never alone, or at least you shouldn't be!

Game analysis: Portal

Vault fans, meet Greg Campbell. Greg’s been a fan and friend of ours for a long time, even when the Vault was just starting out. An acquaintance of his, Michael Schembari, asked him to do an analysis of “Portal” when looking at Greg for a possible position in the industry. Greg feels that some of the analyses like this on the internet aren’t quite up to par, so he decided to let us show you all in the hopes that his learning experience and knowledge will help you with yours!

If this helps you in any way, Greg would love to know. Email him at CampbellGregE@gmail.com

[Ed. Note] All words and pictures below this point are courtesy of Greg Campbell.

Game Review vs. Game Analysis: A game review determines whether a reviewer believes the game is worth your time or/and money.  A game analysis breaks down the mechanics and explains how they interact.

Why Portal?  The game is well-known, well-placed, has a small number of parts used in a variety of ways, and Portal is one of my favorite games due to its end song, Still Alive.  I could hear the reasoning for some design decisions due to the Developer Commentary mode.
Portal also has no notable bugs, meaning I didn’t need to include a section for buggy elements saying, “This is probably what the authors intended.”  (Portal does have glitches, but you have to really try to find them.)

What inspired you to use this format for your analysis?  I remembered old strategy guides that explained things in similar detail and in a similar format.  In short, what does creature/object/ability X do, how does it interact with other notable creatures/objects/abilities, and what special things should unaware players know?

How long did this document take to create?  The original analysis took about 7 hours, or one intense night.  I got to bed after 5AM.  At least I could sleep in!

That night involved starting on analyzing Portal 2 then realizing I lacked the space and time to complete it.  (I only had 1 night and 5 pages to work with.)  I went for Portal instead because, mechanically, Portal 2 is just Portal 1 with more elements.

Why should I seriously consider this game analysis template?  It got me a phone interview with Blizzard! Michael Schembari (who was basically a QA Hiring Manager) was there, along with QA Supervisors Michael Burghart, Amadeus PhanThanh, and Christopher Clarke.

Other Advice for Writing a Game Analysis: First, carefully read the instructions!  If you miss a step, expect to be disqualified.  Following directions is a large part of working with others!
Assuming you have a choice, pick a game that you know and love with a small number of elements.  You will be explaining every notable one.  This explanation includes cross-referencing other game elements.  For example, I don’t mention chairs and office items in my below analysis because, though a chair is useful to solve one of Portal‘s puzzles, it is mostly forgettable background scenery compared to more important elements, like cubes.

Even if there is no specific page limit, expect to have a time limit, and expect to hit at least one of these limits.

BIG NOTE: Don’t try to use this Portal analysis in its entirely!  (That’s what people call stealing.)  The Blizzard team already read it and probably has it on file.  Consider this Portal analysis to be an example for the game that you analyze!

Of course, if you believe you can improve upon this game analysis template, then go right ahead!  I’d also like to hear how you do so via email!

Developer: Valve Software   Publisher: Valve Software
Platform: PC  Release Date: October 10, 2007

Portal Game Elements

Exit: The goal of almost every level in Portal is to reach the exit.  Most levels have an exit elevator that leads to the next level.  Because players know this, they have a clear goal, and they can focus their efforts on finding the exit and knowing that they are done with the level.

The final level is an exception.  It is a boss fight.  By this point, players have had ample time to anticipate this encounter and know it is the end of the game.
Material Emancipation Grill: This thin blue wispy overlay, usually in front of exit elevators, prevents everything besides Chell and the portal gun from passing through it by instantly vaporizing this material on contact.

This is done to ensure people cannot smuggle items into puzzle rooms.

 

This elevator and Emancipation Grill mean the level is complete!

Player Character Abilities: From the start of the game, Chell, the player character, has these necessary abilities:

-Movement: Portal relies heavily on character movement in a 3D environment.  This includes basic movement on the X and Y planes; jumping to cross gaps, avoid obstacles, and reach higher heights; falling to gain momentum and indirectly reach higher heights; and crouching to avoid obstacles.
Clever movement, combined with portals and the portal gun described below, are the foundations of navigating the world of Portal.

-Interaction with Objects: Chell can pick up and hold one object at a time, and can drop or throw the object she holds.

Placing cubes on buttons is necessary to keep these buttons pressed when Chell is not on them.
Chell can push a small red button to use it, thereby triggering an event, such as keeping a door open.  The events caused by these buttons have an audible time limit so players know how long they have.
Chell can also open and close some doors, and occasionally use other objects that the game makes fairly obvious.  Opening doors and interacting with these miscellaneous objects subtly reminds the player that the Aperture Science complex was once inhabited by people, and is not just a series of levels or puzzles.

Portals: These blue and orange portals are linked.  Whatever goes in one portal exits the other with the same angle and forward momentum.  Also, a player can see what is through a portal by looking at this portal.

Portals are the basis of this game.  They are used to allow the quick traversal of great distances, the reaching of otherwise impossible places, and the attaining of tremendous speeds while the player shouts, “Wheeeee!”  GLaDOS, the game’s announcer and antagonist, even says, “Wheeeee!” regarding a portal fling.

Portal Gun (“Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device”): The portal gun shoots portals onto legal surfaces.  Initially, the portal gun shoots only blue portals, while the orange portals are at fixed locations in the levels.  However, the portal gun later shoots both blue and orange portals with separate buttons.

Because the player has a portal gun, he controls where the portals go within his field of view.  The portal gun also makes possible the ‘portal fling,’ where the player makes an exit portal, falls from a great height, then shoots a portal in front of him on his way down.  The result is being tossed a great distance at high speed, allowing him to cross gaps.

The portal gun can also hold a either single cube of any type or a turret at one time.
The portal gun was included as a gun because a gun that shoots portals provides far more gameplay potential than static portals.

Early levels have the player without a portal gun to acclimate him to moving around and solving puzzles.  Upgrading to a portal gun that shoots only one portal while the other portal is static in the level acclimates the player to the freedom the portal gun provides, and gradually transitions the player to understanding the full potential of being able to control both portals.

Walls, Ceiling, and Floor: Many surfaces in Portal can have portals on them.   Some cannot.  A surface can only have a portal on it if there is enough room for a portal, and the surface’s material allows it.  For example, a moving platform can never be a portal surface.

Anything going through a portal preserves its angle and forward momentum.

Of special note are diagonal panels.   Due to physics, anything leaving a portal placed on a diagonal panel normally flies farther than if the portal were placed on a flat, horizontal surface.

Using walls, ceilings, and floors as portal surfaces makes sense in a generally sterile environment.

Shoot a portal on the left side to see out the opposite portal on the right and get the box.

Boxes (“Weighted Cubes”): These solid boxes are very versatile.  A weighted cube (and in one level, the famous Companion Cube) can serve as a step, and press a large red button.  Also, turrets can be knocked over by a player who shoots or a drops a cube on a turret or who rams a turret with a cube with sufficient force.

Boxes were made into cubes as part of the minimalistic game aesthetic, to keep them stationary, and to allow them to be used as platforms by inventive players.

Large Red Button: This large red button is activated by placing a box on it, or by standing on it.  Activating a large button usually opens a door.  Some doors or effects require more than one large red button to be activated at a time.

Large red buttons were included to make obvious that players had to find a box to put on it.  The color red was most likely chosen to make the button obvious in the game’s environments, which are mostly devoid of red.

 

Place cube on large red button.  Open door.  Proceed.

Small Red Button: This small red button is on a pedestal is activated by standing near it and pushing the use key.  Activating a small red button opens a door or panel.

Typically, a door opened by a small red button is timed.  If so, there is an audible clicking noise to indicate that time is ticking away.

The small button, being on a pedestal and angled toward the player, invites the player to use it.  Also, the designers stated in Developer Commentary mode that the small red button is a contrast to the box/large red button combo that players came to expect.

 

Click, click.  Click, click.  Click, click.

High Energy Pellet and Socket: A white device releases this glowing orange pellet at regular intervals.  The pellet has a finite lifespan, after which it explodes, and a new pellet is released.  The goal is to get the pellet into the socket to get a platform to move.

This pellet bounces each time it hits an object or a solid surface, but leaves a scorch mark where it hit.  Touching it is damaging, even deadly.

The high energy pellet was given a finite lifespan to prevent it from being trapped due to bouncing, and to give players the feeling they were dealing with an unstable object.  The socket projects an orange light onto the wall to help players guide it in via a portal.

 

Guide the orange ball from that top left white thing into that socket projecting orange light?  Check.

Turret: This small, stationary, white tripedal creature has a single red eye near the middle of its front.  The eye has a non-damaging red laser that follows Chell once she is in range.  Sometimes, the turret will move its laser about, seeming to scan the area for trouble.

Once a turret finds Chell, it fires a nonstop barrage of bullets until Chell leaves the turret’s sight or the turret is disabled.  Turrets even fire at Chell through bulletproof glass.

Turrets are easy to disable in theory and usually easy to disable in practice.  Dropping a box on a turret, ramming a turret with an object, or grabbing then throwing a turret will disable it.  Turrets do not rotate, making sneaking up on them a breeze, provided there are no other turrets or hazards.
Turrets succeed in their goal to be cute little robots.  Their sleek form combined with sing-songy innocent-sounding voice clips- such as “I don’t hate you,” when disabled- give them tremendous personality.

As mentioned in the Developer Commentary mode, turrets were included due to the designers wanting a light combat mechanic.  Their shape and voice makes them cute, memorable, humorous, and, at times, sinister.  They are the closest representation of GLaDOS the player gets for most of the game.

 

“Are you still there?”

 GLaDOS: This immobile bot is the player’s guide throughout the game, and the antagonist.  She is the game’s only boss fight, and is a timed boss fight at that due to story reasons.

During the fight, she shoots rockets (damaging to you, if not deadly) with a green laser sight.  The goal is to make portals to have her hit herself with the rockets.  Each time she hits herself, the player must retrieve a part of her that got knocked loose, push a small red button to open the incinerator hatch, then incinerate that part.  Do this thrice to win.

Since GLaDOS tried to kill Chell earlier this level, this boss fight is Chell’s and the player’s chance to fight back!  Needing to destroy her parts makes her seem durable, yet vulnerable.  Lastly, beating her does not kill her, according to the popular end song, Still Alive, which sets up excitement for the sequel, which arrived in 2011.

 

“I see you found me.  Was it worth it?”