Teaser
Amiqus NewsContent Type
News
16/02/2021
Summary
We’re delighted to be involved in this week’s Interactive Futures event – a celebration of the talent and creativity of video game studios within the Leamington Spa region. https://interactive-futures.com Today (February 16th) sees the conference focus on the industry itself and our Business Manager Liz Prince is taking part in a panel session which looks at the Challenges and Opportunities facing UK Development in 2021. The rest of the week, the spotlight will switch to talent and careers in video games, with dedicated sessions lined up for students, schoolchildren and their parents. On Wednesday Liz will chair a panel on Why There’s A Career in Games for Everyone – Even if you don’t like maths or science. And on Thursday she will chair a panel which will uncover What Skills and Qualifications are required for a Career in Games. The video games sector in the Leamington Spa region is the second largest in the UK outside of London and Slough & Heathrow and is home to some of the most respected studios around the world, including Codemasters, Mediatonic, NaturalMotion, Playground Games, SEGA Hardlight, Sumo Digital and more, plus a huge number of indie studios. Interactive Futures is hosted by the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Warwickshire Country Council and Warwick District Council.
Teaser
Amiqus ToolkitContent Type
News
28/11/2019
Summary
.suzes-btn { width: auto; padding: 10px 7px; border: 2px solid #ec6b01; border-radius: 5px; background: #ec6b01; color: #ffff !important; font-family: 'Proxima Nova W01'; font-weight: 700; margin: 2px; display: inline-block; } .suzes-btn:hover { background: #ffff; color: #ec6b01 !important; } Whenever you’re hiring for a studio or project there are some staple considerations How long you will need someone for; what employment model is most cost-effective; what level of experience is necessary; or whether anyone in your existing team can step up to the plate to name a few. The recruitment of key hires will have an enormous impact on your game, and this is particularly true of writers and narrative designers. With this in mind, where should studios start when recruiting for the story-tellers? Decide what your game needs Phil Harris, Narrative Designer at Deep Silver FISHLABS told us “The first thing to consider is what your product really requires, as the roles of writer and narrative designer are quite different. Although often the difference in these roles is poorly defined within the industry. A writer creates text within a game world, which can range from the description a player reads when they click on an icon, to the flowing conversational dialogue between two characters, or the description of a vast fortress in the game. A narrative designer is a more specialized role, directly involved in the creation of the game world. They create the ‘machinery’ that makes the world working with the designers, artists, developers and producers to understand what is possible and how they can adapt their ideas to fit within the technical limitations of the game engine. They also maintain the canon of the product, so if the product is revisited, consistency is maintained.” Get the timing right Writers are often recruited after the start of product development, with freelance and remote working being common employment models. Narrative Designers on the other hand are typically needed from the initial inception of a product as they are integral to the creation of the game. Colin Harvey, Senior Narrative Designer at Rebellion agrees - “Ideally and most fundamentally, get the Narrative Designer in at the beginning of the project. That way he or she can help shape the project and make sure everything is suitably integrated from the get-go. If you don’t have existing processes for creating story, be prepared to let the Narrative Designer help establish those.” However, as any experienced game developer knows, unforeseen issues mean it’s often necessary to deviate from the plan. Though your game vision is a cornerstone of any project, Harvey has some advice should things go wrong. “If for whatever reason you absolutely have to bring a Narrative Designer in part way through the project, be prepared to be flexible with the overall vision. The Narrative Designer will do his or her best to stitch together what you’ve already got, but there’s got to be some give and take to make the vision the best it possibly can be.” Ensure team integration Being able to bring elements together is a key competency to look for when hiring and you’ll need to decide how you are going to assess candidates for these attributes. A good games recruitment agency can provide some guidance here. Freelance Narrative Designer, Anthony Jauneaud, believes that a person-spec as well as a skills list is key, he says "A writer on a video game project should be a people's person. They should be able to communicate with coders, artists, designers, producers... this is crucial. Narration is information, so they should be updated with changes. See narration as a binder for your games, but also for your team.". Competency-based interview questions around examples of where your Designer has deployed soft-skills, such as influence, will help you pull out the capability of your candidate. It’s also a good idea to take up references about their style and approach so that you can get beneath the surface and find out how they are likely to function in the job. What kind of project are you working on? Ultimately the kind of game you want to create will heavily inform your choice of hire. Experience in the genre or style you’re developing will mean a writer or designer has proven their ability in line with your vision. That said, many studios enjoy a totally fresh approach so it’s worth assessing personal portfolios in addition to formal work experience to find out what someone is capable of, some of which hasn’t yet been discovered. As Harvey at Rebellion points out, it’s possible to pitch for a share in an increasingly competitive leisure market by challenging the status quo and experimenting with new ideas. “If you own your own IP, be prepared to think radically about it – are there fundamental things that need to be changed to get it to work? If possible build in development time to test story ideas, do table read-throughs, etc. and see what works and what doesn’t. Contemporary gameplayers have justifiably high expectations of narrative and will expect plotting and characterisation to be on a par with what they see in the cinema and on Netflix.” This approach can allow you to open up your usual games recruitment patterns and think about hiring someone who will bring you new ideas you didn’t expect. Some final words Harris of Deep Silver FISHLABS emphasises the critical nature of making the right hire and summarises with some practical advice. “The real importance of narrative design is player engagement. If the world doesn’t work beneath the surface, the spell you hope the player is under can be broken. If you are considering a product that is a quick and simple puzzle game with some sparkling text to engage the players, you want a writer. But if you plan to produce a game with a stronger story element like a third person action adventure, an MMORPG, a multi-media launch, or a series, you should probably consider hiring a narrative designer. Or, if the product is big enough, both”. Finally, Rob Yescombe, acclaimed Writer & Narrative Director (RIME, FARPOINT, THE INVISIBLE HOURS) concludes. "Narrative is half science, half art. Don't hire a scientist without soul, and don't hire an Artiste who can't explain their methods." This article written by Amiqus was first published in Develop magazine Amiqus can help you Are you looking to make a new hire and want some more advice? We specialise in games recruitment and would love to help you find that next brilliant member to join your team - get in touch. Or if you’re looking for an exciting new job in the games industry browse our latest jobs and apply today!
Teaser
Amiqus NewsContent Type
Blog
09/10/2019
Summary
"I work with at least two different languages in my current studio, but more and more I'm feeling I would need to learn more to make the next step in my career." If creativity is the beating heart of the games industry, then technology is its lifeblood and the ability to code continues to be a mainstay of the most desirable skills when a games studio is looking to hire. Without the contribution of the programmers there is no game, so from the array of software options what are some of the most desirable languages game developers choose and why? Even as we move through the fourth decade of games software development, the number one skill continues to be the 35+ year old language of C++. The majority of console and PC games still fundamentally rely on C++ and critically it underpins the most complex and demanding game engines available, such as Unreal. “Basically, nothing that can handle complexity runs as fast as C++” says Bjarne Stroustrup, creator of C++ back in 1979. Why has it not been usurped since then? Arguably the results that can be achieved with C++ have never been bettered. One of the beauties of C++ is that it is flexible, enabling you to write additional features in to an existing engine, game or tool-set at the lowest level. This provides the flexibility of a high-level language with the power, efficiency and level of control more associated with low-level languages such as assembly. As a core object oriented language, C++ has the power to apply hugely complex programming demands balanced with more efficiency and speed than any other high-level OOP language out there. It’s a win-win and these features make developers with C++ skills enormously attractive to hire. The power of C++ is not without price and mastery is highly aspirational If you’re not familiar with it, getting started in C++ can seem like an uphill climb - the power of C++ is not without price and mastery is highly aspirational. When making career choices it’s worth bearing in mind that some languages are easier than others. Being so intricate it’s challenging, no low-level systems are handled for you and the kaleidoscope of possibilities means precision is key. One benefit of learning C++ however is that many other languages follow similar principles, so once these skills are mastered transferring skills to other languages can feel much easier. C++ is not alone however, C# has continued to rise in demand from employers. Born of the same object oriented principles, inspired by the C and C++ family tree, C# began as Microsoft’s simple, modern, general purpose language for the .Net framework. When it comes to online and cloud technology, the presence of C++ and C# are pretty evenly matched, with the likes of Microsoft Azure utilising the agility and speed of its home language C#. Over the last few years demand for C# has grown exponentially as the basis of the Unity game engine. Unity combines the power to create games and critically, to take them cross-platform, uniting game development for PC, consoles, mobile devices and websites alike. You can play, preview, edit, test and debug your game with rapid iteration, and this comprehensive list of features makes Unity very attractive to game developers. It is capable of creating physically-based visual features with rich and immersive visual content and although it is yet to match the full power of C++, C# within Unity has become extremely attractive when hiring today. Not least because it is still relatively new so experienced developers are harder to find. Python has gained momentum because of its universality across staple tools and packages such as Max, Maya and Blender. It’s lighter and more readable syntax makes it much easier to pick up than the deeper languages and nimble scalability increases its usefulness for large and small scale development. Different developers will be attracted to different skills depending on their choices of mobile strategy Alongside the demand for cross-platform skills we also see studios opting for native mobile development specific to a given mobile platform, primarily Objective C for iOS and Java for Android. Native development requires unique expertise for that device and the benefit is that the full potential of the platform can be reached, driving greater user experience through larger and faster capabilities. On the non-native side, also attractive in mobile, are HTML5 skills for apps using standard web technologies which creates cross-platform mobile applications that work on multiple devices. These hybrid apps and games using an SDK are typically cheaper and faster to create than native. Different developers will be attracted to different skills depending on their choices of mobile strategy, so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all. As you might expect from the aforementioned, C++ can also be utilised for mobile development. This is a common denominator enabling reuse of core code to port across platforms. Due to the high skills demanded within the industry getting in at entry-level can be a challenge and it’s no secret that software development requires a rigorous set of competencies. Most developers look for graduates with at least a 2:1 or a 1st Class degree and the deeper and more mathematical the computing aspect the higher the demand. However a good piece of advice is to keep focused on your capabilities and play not only to your strengths, but also what you enjoy. Experience and demonstration is always of huge value to the industry with or without a degree and cross training into new languages can make you more widely desirable, in particular within a smaller studio where the variety of tasks can be greater. The alternative to generalist skills is to consider not only your languages of choice but also a programming specialism. If in your current role you are already working with one of the most in-demand programming languages our advice is to keep evolving techniques, share your ideas and learn from other developers in the games community. There's nothing to stop you from learning other languages in your spare time and knowing the emerging languages in the industry will help to keep you current. If you’re worried about not having the most desirable skills then it’s up to you to ask for some training, to learn what you can to produce personal projects that demonstrate you can cross into other languages with ease. The key is to always stay open-minded to learning new things and to keep in touch with what’s going on in the wider industry as well as what’s happening within your own studio. Are you interested in learning new languages in a programmer job? Amiqus are experts in games recruitment and we want to use our industry knowledge to help you find a role that you love, whether that's in programming, animation or art. If our current jobs aren't exactly what you're looking for then sign up to our job alerts. Browse jobs by skill: C# jobs C++ jobs Core Tech Programmer jobs Engine Programmer jobs Gameplay Programmer jobs Graphics Programmer jobs UI Programmer jobs