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    What Really Happens when you Interview for a UI UX Design job in Games (from an Art Director)

    June 08, 2021

    What Really Happens when you Interview for a UI UX Design job in Games (from an Art Director)

    What Really Happens when you Interview for a UI UX Design job in Games (from an Art Director)

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 04:55 AM PDT

    So you're taking your shot at a job in the video game Industry as a UI UX Designer. You've got a portfolio (kinda), a resume (ish) and more than enough furlonged freetime to apply to dozens of game companies the world over. But… What if the worst thing in the world happens and you don't get a rejection letter?

    Ah-good-day-to-yous, My name is John Burnett, a UI UX Art Director in games and a remote UI UX Mentor of some 20-ish years in the video game industry. In this age of wanting to give back, I've thrown together this little guide on what to expect in an interview with a video game company as a UI UX Designer. Slide into my DMs if you have a question you don't want mean-old Reddit to know about.

    ​

    ​

    The Frontliner

    If your application sparks any interest, you'll first receive an email from what I'm going to playfully call a Frontliner. The Frontliner can be anyone from a recruiter, a producer, hiring manager or even the Art Director themselves. To be blunt, their job is to vet if you're crazy, a liar or generally unviable to work with at a very early stage. The Frontliner will also ask you questions that orbit around your career, your past and your comfort-level(s).

    Although the conversation will be sedate, the Frontliner may ask you the most hot-seat question of the entire process: what's your salary range? Salary negotiations are monumental conversations in and of themselves, but in lieu of the answer you should definitely have an answer. Uncomfortable assigning yourself a dollar-value? Start with the wise words of a former coworker of mine: they're all made-up numbers.

    You may have signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) at this point, likely because the game you'll be working on is still under wraps. The Frontliner will be the first one to lift the veil and tell you what the game is. If you didn't sign an NDA, you'll have a much clearer idea if this is an opportunity you really want, or if you should do some light calisthenics for a graceful bow-out.

    ​

    Real Questions Said By Real Frontliners during Interviews

    ​

    • So tell us a little about your career history

    • Are you comfortable / have you ever made UI UX Designs on the _________ platform / SKU?

    • Are you comfortable within the _________ genre?

    • Are you familiar with our Company's games and history?

    • Have you ever worked with a team remotely before?

    • Are you familiar with any implementation tools like Animate CC, Unity or Unreal?

    • What made you want to work with our Company?

    • What's your salary range / expectations?

    • What's your hourly rate?

    • What's your per-diem rate? (I was caught so flat-footed the first time I heard this question, I threw out some stupefying Dr. Evil-esque price-quote and lost the gig instantly)

    ​

    --If you're Junior or making the jump, expect these questions as well

    ​

    • Will this be your first job at a video game company?

    • What kind of relevant experience will you be bringing to the Company?

    • Are you proficient in Photoshop? … Because that's all we use here.

    • Have you worked in an Agile / Scrum environment before?

    • Do you play games often, especially the kind of games we make?

    ​

    The Art Director

    Passing the First Gate, next you'll talk with the Art Director - either alone or with their Art Lieutenant of sorts (a Lead or Senior Artist). The AD will lob softball questions at you, mostly because video game Art Directors tend to be fairly UI UX agnostic. However, they will still be fiercely interested in your process and previous work. There is also the possibility their Art Lieutenant is a UI UX Designer, and they may ask you the more piercing - but equally tonally placid questions.

    ​

    Real Questions Said By Real Art Directors during Interviews

    ​

    • Give me a basic overview of your career in your own words.

    • Any piece in your Portfolio you want to jump in and start with first?

    • So what was the most challenging part of this project? (they'll specifically cite something in your Portfolio)

    • How do you start making a screen? Walk me through your basic process

    • So on this screen here, how much of this did you do, all of it? (citing something in your portfolio)

    • How do you deal with making UI systems you might not have all the information on?

    • Are you comfortable with the _____ genre? Because I'm not seeing very many examples of it in your portfolio.

    • What tools do you usually use to make your screens?

    • Do you feel you're stronger in UI or UX?

    • How do you work with Designers to make sure there is clarity and momentum in the pipeline?

    • How do you create Screens meant to protect your Engineers and save them time / sanity?

    • At what point do you give push-back on any feedback? What's worth "fighting for" on the project?

    • How comfortable are you with little guidance? How autonomous are you?

    • Have you worked with a small Strike Team before?

    • Have you worked alongside a fellow UI UX Designer before (at your level or above)?

    • Have you worked with a Coder or Designer before?

    • Is there anything in your Portfolio you're particularly proud of? Why?

    ​

    • Is there a style or genre you're naturally attracted to?

    • What game off the top of your head has the best UI UX Designs? The Worst?

    • If you could work on any game property or IP, what would it be?

    The Team

    Lastly, you'll meet with the team in a perfunctory little meet-n-greet to see if everyone can get along for 30 minutes without somebody exclaiming, "There goes the neighborhood!"

    If you're talking to the team, it's likely you've been fast-tracked to an offer that'll be in your inbox within the week and there's nothing but daylight.

    However...

    A word of caution about meeting the Team (gentle reader, please imagine a room full of candles suddenly blowing out). Depending on the Studio's druid-like traditions, you may not just talk to your immediate Team. You might end up talking to the Executives, as well. This may include the Producer, the Creative Director - all the way up to the CEO and President if the Company is treehouse-y enough.

    Indies in particular will spring the Executive trap on you, much less to unnerve you and more to develop group cohesion - especially remote-only Companies. Think Dr. Hammond in Jurassic Park just before an egg hatches: they want everyone to imprint and feel connected. Meeting the Execs will rarely happen to Juniors in larger firms, but you never know...

    What I do know is that Companies want some guarantee you can make a million-dollar project wheeze past the finish line. They don't want the promise of some "relatively" sane Photoshop-jockey on a Zoom call...

    They want The Test.

    ​

    ​

    The Art Test

    The Art Test is the Great Harrowing in the application process; an elephant graveyard where your bones may one day crown the dread marrowworks...

    Most Art Tests are week-long assignments that happen after you talk with the Art Director but before you meet the Team. The goal is to evaluate your real skills with a real goal amid real constraints. Nobody is expecting a breathtaking masterwork, but they will interpret your Test as the bounding box of your talents and a vorpal-sharp indicator of how well you follow instructions.

    As a brief aside, holy hell, do people not read Art Test directions. Like… that's 1% of your job! Anyways-

    Historically, the Art Test is meant for Junior-level artists who don't have labyrinthine Portfolios or a ton of LinkedIn social proof. Okay, I lied, even Seniors still get the test; and it's always an annoyance I'll never tire of Shawshanking past.

    In fact, if you're Senior or charming enough, you can actually convince companies to not give you an Art Test. Ask the Art Director if you can see or even make a wireframe for one of their game screens on Zoom and walk them through your process. A week-long Art Test is grueling and ultimately wasteful for all parties. No shame giving them a better evaluation of your skills and giving yourself an easier time.

    But if you fail every saving roll and simply must do an Art Test, focus on it. There's a big difference between being rejected after giving your all, and being rejected knowing you could've done so much more.

    "I wish I had tried" are killing words.

    ​

    A Small Selection of Real Art Tests I've Received or Assigned

    ​

    • Make a holographic keypad for a group called The Authority - a secretive, menacing technocracy that reigns over an apocalyptic wasteland. Animate this.

    • Make a radar for a 3rd person racing game that orbits around the car and points to incoming threats and also indicates internal damage. Also make a traditional HUD for car ammo and health on the screen. Animate this. (This and the above were double-tests expected in a week and I got the flu midway through)

    • Create an animation showing a horror-genre sci-fi door holographic panel being accessed, unlocked and opened.

    • Redesign this console UI screen for mobile specifications - or - alter this mobile screen for 16:9 specs and a controller / keyboard & mouse

    • Make a standard, generic pen-and-paper RPG "paper doll" inventory screen with final art

    • Take this in-house wireframe made in Google Sheets(!) and give it an art pass. You may alter the wireframe on the fly as you see fit, but use it as your foundation.

    • Take this bullet-point list from a Designer of what needs to be in an Inventory Shell Menu and make a wireframe for it.

    • Take a famous game IP and change the genre, but keep the tone - now create the HUD (Deadspace is now a tactics game, Max Payne is an RPG, Pokemon is a FPS…).

    The Great Humbling

    I've been part of a AAA studio closure, a round of layoffs from another AAA studio and fella, I've lost my share of tantalizing gigs as a Freelancer. I know The Humbling always hurts, regardless of where you are in your career. In fact, I would argue what makes you truly a Senior-level talent is the grace with which you endure ribcage-splintering heartache. At the best of times, it takes a while to recover.

    But these are not the best of times.

    As such, please allow this salt-and-pepper Gen-Xer who has made it this far to gift you a light when all others fade.

    ​

    Real Solutions for an Unreal Age

    ​

    • Know yourself at a technical level. When you get devastated by a rejection, literally keep track of how long it takes for you to recover. If you know it takes a humiliating 2 months to recover, fine - but now you know - and now you can improve that number. Hell, even knowing your recovery is that long may infuriate you and instantly shave that number down to a week!

    • Do not despair. If you had a harddrive failure for a week, you'd be in a white-hot panic all those 7 days, but you'd spend every minute trying to correct or work around the problem. Despairing for 7 days builds a panorama of nothing - and you'll never get that time back.

    • Have a healthy, supportive network (loved-ones-first) and let them know that you're applying and where. If you get rejected, they'll be the first ones to comfort you so you won't lose precious time wallowing. Also, far better to have people encourage your flailing attempts than for you to flail in shameful secrecy until you get that dream job.

    • Keep bolstering your skills. This may seem pithy as hell, but it's actually at the heart of callusing over naturally. If you're convinced you can't do this job, keep making UI and UX designs, and prove yourself wrong. It takes decades of diligent, Renaissanc-y practice to make the interfaces you see in modern games. It won't be the 5th or the 55th practice to get to their level, so you might as well aim for the 555th, just in case.

    • Find ecstasy in the process. You are not your job. You are not hustle culture. You are not valueless if you are not working and your value is not your salary. You are an a-dorkable valuable nerd born into a knighthood of Creativity, Craftsmanship, Innovation and Invention. Embrace that most sacred Calling. Dweeb-out on everything and then paint, compose, write, act, invent… don't just absorb the material. Love. And be loved by it. That's your damn job.

    -

    Thanks for making it this far. I really appreciate it. Stay safe and stay inspired!

    submitted by /u/TheWingless1
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    Cancelled the further development of my game after Kickerstarter campaign failed

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 01:04 AM PDT

    Hey,

    I just decided to cancel the development of my game Star Dust - A Journey Through Space and released a 'polished' final version on itch.io with the latest content there is.

    My decision was made after - or even while - I followed my Kickstarter campaign. I realized that the interest wasn't very big and only a few people even cared for it. Still, I am super grateful for those people who believed in my project and it felt very great when people were willing to pay for it and support me. Thank you for this!

    But why do I write this? I guess just to express what I feel and to show people in a similar situation that it is no big deal to fail and that everything will go on.

    Sure, I've spent some money for designs, sound fx, trailer and other stuff and put many hours of coding in this project, but hey: What did I get back from it? A shitload of experience! I started as a total game developer noob and have put almost exactly 400 hours into GameMaker Studio 2 since. So what are the positives things I got back with this project:

    1. I've learned SO MUCH regarding what is possible with the IDE and how to develop a game. I've solved a billion problems that I've never solved before - since I have never developed a game before. Everything I will do from now will be developed faster and probably better because I could learn from the mistakes I made and the successes I had.
    2. I had a lot of contact with artists. Now, I am able to estimate different offers and I know how to talk to artists and to give them the right instructions they need, if they work for my project. It is an impressive and interesting world that I learned about and I enjoyed every piece of art I received while not regretting spending a single cent for it.
    3. Social media hasn't been my thing for a long time. Using Discord, Facebook and especially Twitter to talk about my game was an important experience I made. At least I could built up a very small follower base (VERY small) and this is more than I had when I started my project.
    4. Setting up a Steam shop page was probably the thing I was most afraid of. But I managed to release a demo over there and know what I will have to do next time. So that's great. Only problem is, that I have to get rid of the current Steam page because I won't finish the game. But I guess I'll learn that in the next days, too.
    5. Although my Kickstarter campaign wasn't successful, I think I might know what the problems with it could have been. I know how to setup a campaign with all the rewards shenanigans and can only improve for my next campaign.
    6. And last but not least: I made a game (even if it is only in a demo status somehow) that is playable and enjoyable with a lot of mechanics that - at least I think - are interesting. I've developed a product that brought joy to a handful of people and the feedback I received was very nice. There were only 66 entries on a wishlist and 70 demo downloads on itch.io, but this means that there are dozens of people who like what I programmed. That's just cool!

    Lessons learned.

    So what happens now, after my project 'failed'? For me there is only one answer: Start a new project. I've already started a new game development project and enjoy it to the fullest. I will take everything I learned from my former project and improve as much as I can. I am definitely a better GameMaker Studio developer, now (still with a vast lack of knowledge), and I already realized that I am much faster and structured than I was back then.

    So to all you game developers out there: Even if your project 'fails' look at the positive side of that. Realize what you've learned and always look forward!

    submitted by /u/Zurbinjo
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    Do you protect your games against piracy?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 11:50 AM PDT

    Hello everyone.

    I am working on a 1v1 online game.

    My wee company (inspired by the developer Butterscotch Shenanigans) have created an ID system that will eventually persist between all our games and websites. We have our current project, a browser MMO, and eventually will have other games with leaderboards, save transfers between platforms etc.

    You can currently go to our main website, register an account, and then use that to ID to log into and play our game.

    We plan on selling the client for our game on Steam for a few dollars, but as it stands, I haven't implemented anything that requires you to prove you actually bought the client. A user could zip up the game files, send them to their friends, and those friends could register on the website (or in the game) and just start playing.

    Do you guys care about shit like this?

    I am kind of falling down on the side of not caring. As long as the auth server for the logins and auth tokens are secure enough that players can't cheat, and as long as the player is using the latest version of the software, I am finding it pretty difficult to care if they pirated it or not. It's going to be hard enough to get players without implementing draconian anti-piracy measures.

    The game itself is basically a fancy battle chess arena, so the traffic overhead for even having hundreds of concurrent games is quite low. A few sales a month would likely more than cover server costs.

    What do you guys think? Am I dumb for thinking like this?

    EDIT: Probably worth saying that gamedev is something we do for fun mostly. We are both pretty comfortable IT/Software professionals.

    submitted by /u/BigJimKen
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    Ad network without tracking?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 01:03 PM PDT

    Hi,

    I made a browsergame and think about putting some small ads in it, but I don't want to put the privacy of players at risk or support Facebook and Google.

    So does anyone know an ad network that does not track users? If not, is Google ads still better than facebook? What would you do?

    submitted by /u/Niwla23
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    How would you handle endless progression (or insanely high level caps) ?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 08:55 AM PDT

    Not sure if this should count as a question or discussion, but anyway;

    This is an edited version of a post I made to the Disgaea and Rune Factory 4 communities.

    I'm working on an RPG and I'm doing some research on the topic of level ups, level scaling, and level caps.

    I'm currently playing the Siralim games which boast not having a level cap, and I've also played a lot of Rune Factory 4 (level cap 50,000), and some Disgaea (level cap 9,999).

    Now I am no expert in any of these games, but my understanding is that you don't need to be anywhere near those caps to "finish" the games, I believe they are there for a sort of endless grinding endgame.

    Siralim handles this in a fairly straightforward fashion:

    There is 1 infinite dungeon, and the deeper you go, the higher the enemy levels.

    Siralim has the advantage that you can explore lower floors you've already been to, thus seeing how much stronger you've gotten, while also always having a challenge further ahead.

    But if you didn't want to only have 1 dungeon that gets harder the deeper you go, how would you handle this infinite progression in a different way?

    I often hear that basic level scaling can make the player feel a lack of progress which is fair. So I'm curious if someone has some other game design ideas.

    Thanks in advance :)

    submitted by /u/PaperMouseGames
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    Quick question about item drops...

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 12:52 PM PDT

    Is there a term for setting the distance/proximity radius of drops that are collected automatically by a player? Not sure if this is possibly related to clipping or collision. Thanks

    submitted by /u/majorvex
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    Best keyboard control layout?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 10:46 AM PDT

    I'm currently working on a metroidvania, and I've never done a project like this before, so I'm looking for some opinions on button layout. In addition to regular directional movement, the game has a jump button, an "interact" button, an "active item" button, a pause button, and a pair of buttons to quickly scroll through active items. For controller inputs, the layout is pretty intuitive, but I'm not sure of the best way to lay out the controls on keyboard. Currently, I have it as arrow keys to move, enter to pause, space to jump, z and x as active item and interact, and I was going to do a and s as active item scrolling, but it feels wrong. I was thinking of putting direction on wasd, but the right hand isn't doing anything then, which also seems wrong. Any ideas?

    submitted by /u/ukobarrywewa
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    Can you sell games made in Pygame with no hassle?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 02:30 PM PDT

    Are you able to sell games made in Pygame without distributing source code? Let's say I made a game in Pygame, would I be able to sell it on Steam with no hassle, or would I need to make any necessary precautions to avoid legal trouble? Also, is it necessary to state that I used Pygame if I were to sell it (i.e. put a Pygame splash screen in the start up loading screen)?

    submitted by /u/Unstremable
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    My wishlist just didn’t show up. A bit of a cautionary tale + curious about why this happened

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 02:26 PM PDT

    I launched a my first game on Steam into Early Access this week and I wanted to share what happened because honestly slightly baffled by what I experienced.

    On June 3rd I launched my game into Early Access with about 12k wishlists, which I was ecstatic about. 12k wishlists when I started on Steam seemed like an impossible dream. My game was on Popular Upcoming for about 2-3 days leading up to launch. I had about 10k wishlists at the start of that run up. I also had an Imgur post go viral with around 70k views and 1200 upvotes the night before launch. Everything seemed to be going pretty decently.

    Then launch day came and went and it was like 90% of my wishlists just didn't exist.

    Launch day my wishlist converted at 1.9%. Only 900 people even clicked through the notification email and I had roughly 300 sales at the end of the day. I was devastated to be honest. I have a day job so I won't be destitute but it was still a completely crushing feeling.

    The feedback I often get is that the game looks fantastic which should only help conversion rates. I was getting good reviews (currently sitting at 94% with 19 reviews). So why did it seem like my wishlist was made up of ghosts? Is it just Early Access? Maybe the conversion rate will be higher at full launch, but I know plenty of games that do really well in Early Access.

    My guess, and it's just a guess, is it has something to do with how I got the 12k wishlists in the first place.

    I put out the Steam page around September last year. It stumbled along for a while, getting 3-4 wishlists a day, occasionally someone would do a youtube video of the demo or I'd make a post with modest traction on reddit and it'd get to 30-40 a day for a few days. Splattercat (500k sub YouTube channel) did a video and it shot from about 1k wishlists to around 2k over a few weeks off of that long tail traffic.

    In Feburary I did the Steam Festival, which seemed amazing at the time. I was getting 600-900 wishlists per day. I was frequently on the main festival page, hundreds of people played the demo. This got me to about 7-8k wishlists.

    From there it was a bit of a gradual build up to the 10k point before Steam's ramp up to launch.

    My guess is that vast majority of those wishlists that I got through festival and Steam's build up to launch were worthless and likely will never buy the game. I have heard from several folks that they played the demo during the festival and bought the game because of it but I think those are honestly the exception not the rule.

    I suspect that my "real" wishlist was somewhere between 2-3k, which would put my day one wishlist conversion rate at around 10-15% which would be a little more aligned with what I've heard/researched. Even then performance is just alright so I'd love to learn why my game isn't converting very well even on that scope.

    It's not all bad. I do feel like I got good reviews trickling in and folks tell me that what I've built is great so I'm happy that I'm delivering a solid game to people. My discord community has really picked up, going from 140 mostly quiet folks to well over 200 with a lot of very active folks and growing every day. I'm excited to continue to expand the content and looking forward to the day I can wrap it and launch into 1.0.

    In conclusion, I still don't understand what happened. I have an educated guess but I'd love to hear from folks who've more experience than I do (Feel free to sleuth my history if you want to give me pointers on my game's presentation). Ultimately I'd caution any new game dev about festival wishlists, I honestly don't know if I should have done the festival or if I will do them in the future. It's seems almost like fake hype. You get a lot of nearly empty numbers which bloat expectations in your head. Honestly I'd be incredibly excited at this point if I had 2k wishlists when I launched, but it's been significantly soured by my poor expectation settings due to the inflated wishlist.

    TLDR: I launched a game with respectable 12k wishlists and it converted at 1.9%, which is abysmal. My guess is it's because of inflated wishlists values through steam festival but I honestly don't know for sure.

    submitted by /u/ajrdesign
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    Free CC-BY (Creative Commons) Cinematic Soundtrack - New Release: Elven Court

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 02:11 PM PDT

    You can check the latest here, decide if this is something you might need: https://youtu.be/E0lkKLasKro

    Here's the full playlist, as of right now it contains 12 soundtracks : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8LxW9rY_ye9sUYc241n7Rxdm04Jb2QRN

    Feel free to subscribe to get the new ones, I tend to add a new score every few weeks!

    submitted by /u/SioVern
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    Headers for options aren't showing up?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 01:38 PM PDT

    Im 27 mins into this video and just finished writing the code for the scoreboard (no error codes) and cant get the options he adds to show up for me (Ball, Player1, Player2, and score ui) heres my code

    ​

    using System.Collections;

    using System.Collections.Generic;

    using TMPro;

    using UnityEngine;

    ​

    ​

    public class GameManager : MonoBehaviour

    {

    [Header("Ball")]

    public GameObject Ball;

    ​

    [Header("Player 1")]

    public GameObject Player1Paddle;

    public GameObject Player1Goal;

    ​

    [Header("Player 2")]

    public GameObject Player2Paddle;

    public GameObject Player2Goal;

    ​

    [Header("Score UI")]

    public GameObject Player1Text;

    public GameObject Player2Text;

    ​

    private int Player1Score;

    private int Player2Score;

    ​

    private void ResetPosition()

    {

    Ball.GetComponent<Ball>().Reset();

    }

    ​

    public void Player1Scored()

    {

    Player1Score++;

    Player1Text.GetComponent<TextMeshProUGUI>().text = Player1Score.ToString();

    ResetPosition();

    }

    ​

    public void Player2Scored()

    {

    Player2Score++;

    Player2Text.GetComponent<TextMeshProUGUI>().text = Player2Score.ToString();

    ResetPosition();

    ​

    }

    ​

    // Update is called once per frame

    void Update()

    {

    if (Input.GetKey("escape"))

    {

    Application.Quit();

    }

    ​

    }

    }

    submitted by /u/luke111mart
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    Help with Steam desktop icon

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 01:26 PM PDT

    So I'm setting up my Steam store page and stuff and while I was testing the game I realized my desktop icon isn't appearing. But when I go into the local files of the game and create a shortcut that way it works fine. Obviously I don't want people to have to do that lol. I just want them to install the game and have the icon show up that way. Any ideas?

    submitted by /u/Ordinaray
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    Vent: Why is it easier for artists to make games than it is for programmers?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 06:22 AM PDT

    Am I the only one that thinks that artists have more chances in game dev? This is just a vent, don't take it too seriously...

    I've been a software developer for the past decade or so. Made websites, mobile apps, desktop apps, etc. A few years ago I've tried to learn game dev and, even tho the logical side of things is a lot different and more complex than websites, it isn't impossible.

    Since I've tried a few different languages and programs in the past, learning to code with an engine wasn't that scary for me, it's just a little syntax change a new API to figure out. But the art side of things is impossible.

    Not that I want to make a new AAA game level of art, no, I just want a nice looking game, be it 2D or 3D. But I've noticed how many tools are there for "non coders" (visual scripting, event based, etc) and it makes me think how things are ""easier"" (yes, double quotes, I know it isn't actually easy) for artists than it is for non-artists.

    Making art, especially good-looking one, is F-ing hard. I've tried learning 3D for a while, then I jumped into 2D, back into 3D. All I create looks shitty. I know I can purchase it, but I don't feel like doing it because I want to make the game the way I see it, not with some premade stuff.

    That's it. Just wanted to vent this out while quitting gamedev. Thanks for reading.

    submitted by /u/mathewcst
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    How to find testers?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 10:14 AM PDT

    Hello guys.

    I'm very close to finishing my first commercial game and I wanted some people to beta test it before launching.

    The questions are, how to approach these people? Where? How to ensure they will give me feedback and not give away my game to others?

    submitted by /u/Spacecpp
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    Questions for Solo Devs

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 12:12 PM PDT

    As a solo developer, how do you deal with the creation of assets such as the music, the sprites/models, etc?

    submitted by /u/throwragoofycat
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    OpenGL For Beginners - Tutorial #11: Perspective Projection

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 04:40 AM PDT

    Hi,

    I've published tutorial #11 in my "OpenGL For Beginners" series on youtube: https://youtu.be/LhQ85bPCAJ8. This is part one and deals mainly with the projection of the XY coordinates. In the next tutorial we will handle the Z value and the aspect ratio.

    Thanks,

    Etay

    submitted by /u/OGLDEV
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    Has anyone here faced autodesks legal team? What's it like to get caught using their software illegally?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 08:51 AM PDT

    I had heard rumors that autodesk makes you pay for your software licensees twice and then turns you in to adobe and other companies.

    Turns out the abusive company that was just laid off from has autodesk onto them. This company was so badly organized it couldn't come up with minimum requirements other than "it has to run and 60 fps on the secretaries laptop." The last two years were crunch time and where we couldn't take vacations and expected to work nights and weekends. They blew past coming up with a product by years and who knows if anything will come out of permanent beta now that they are at a fraction of their peak employees. They did a series of layoffs to force us to use the months of time off we accrued and when it was legal for them to lay people off after bailouts, they replaced us with foreign workers.

    So in the weeks since I have been off work, they have tried to get me to locate files for them, which I ignored. Then they emailed me, and spam called me from personal numbers to get my 3dsmax account info. They have contacted everyone in the revolving door of employees about their 3d software and most had cracked or student copies. I paid for my account and I have receipts, which I have told them I would only hand over if they compensate me for and pay back wages they owe.

    Yesterday they fired back that I would be questioned "under oath" from a lawyer. They are threatening me where I spent money to cover my ass after I told them this very situation could happen when I started.

    Has anyone else gone through being sued by autodesk? Do they sue for 2x? Do they go through files and look at meta data. Who's on the hook, the publisher or the employees? While I am covered, what about the other employees that were just students and were using their student licenses, are they facing liability? How about foreign workers, can autodesk sue for employees in India?

    submitted by /u/DarrenEdwards
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    free royalty free music for gamedevs

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 02:41 PM PDT

    i am an artist offering free music for your videos all i need is the credit www.soundcloud.com/outsiderswwi thank you guys /girls the secret sauce is you !!!

    submitted by /u/musicforfilms
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    Need help with destructible isometric terrain.

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 02:29 PM PDT

    I'm very new to the whole game dev thing and programming and general. I have an Idea for an isometric open world RPG thing that would theoretically feature grid based movement on fully destructible tiles with a Z axis and probably needs to be very efficient because I want to implement complex NPC behavior and lots of simulation elements. I've been messing around in Unity but all I can find is tutorials on tile maps and I'm worried that for my purposes that might create a lot of complications, the simulation needs to be on a 3D grid and just rendered in 2D because I want to implement flying creatures and have buildings collapse. I'm currently working in 2D but would I have an easier time making this in 3D and just forcing a camera perspective to make the isometric illusion work? Help would be much appreciated thanks!

    submitted by /u/_01001010_
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    Pixel graphic games' menus

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 10:40 AM PDT

    Is there an unwritten rule for pixel graphic games to have pixel font & matching visual menus? I couldn't really think of any games that break this rule. I'm making a pixel art 2d game that relies on menu elements like in "Papers, please". I'd like to have to have sleek & futuristic Deus Ex style UI but it would probably clash with the rest of the art style?

    submitted by /u/player111
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    College Education and what to pursue

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

    I am going off to attend college at West Virginia University in the fall and am extremely interested in game design. I am planned to get a degree in computer science but I have been thinking lately is that truly the degree I need to pursue a career in game design. Any advice or knowledge would be awesome. Sorry if its a bit of a dumb question, im just lost at what i should do now.

    submitted by /u/Gojo-San
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    Any good sources for learning about motion control?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 10:19 AM PDT

    I was wondering if anyone had a particularly good book or YouTube series about incorporating motion control into a game. It doesn't have to be anything complicated I just want to give it a go and feel out the vibes.

    submitted by /u/hageb004
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    Came across a really informative interview with Obsidian's hiring manager on youtube

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 12:17 AM PDT

    The video's title suggests that the focus of the interview is on game design but actually a variety of roles in the industry are discussed.

    Interview is broken into two parts:

    The first contains answers to a very insightful set of questions about working in the gaming industry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNKax7iylWk

    The second contains a bunch of advice from the hiring manager about the nature of work in the industry, a breakdown of major roles, and useful skills to have: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt280N2heKY

    submitted by /u/Junmeng
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    Who is "we" and why?

    Posted: 08 Jun 2021 07:09 AM PDT

    I get the sense from the game development discourse that many a solo developer is referring to him or herself as "we" -- implying multiple people are involved in the project.

    I know someone who does it, and sometimes I find myself doing it as well...and I don't know why!

    I know there are a lot of small teams out there to be sure and a lot of indie companies of more than one person. And a lot of solo projects have ancillary help.

    Or maybe it's just me and the one guy I know.

    But I do have the sense that there's an impulse to credit your solo work to a team even though there's a lot to be said for having accomplished something all on your own.

    submitted by /u/fivethousandguilderz
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