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    Game Developer Magazine - April 2011

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    168 views51 pages

    Game Developer Magazine - April 2011

    Uploaded by

    Wagner de Souza
    Game Developer Magazine - April 2011

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 51
    ~ RED 5 STUDIOS “In Firefall, we are creating a futuristic and fantastical world, but believability remains a Pera eee Cn tue Me Cun EC Cie Mccann its Pe Onno eet LEC meee Maree Crema cla Pee ete ri [S| gerbe Pata a de = Renee) po y UBQWINN BT SW TT Ay SLNALN 1 DEVELOPER DEPARTMENTS 2 29 2 38 3 4“ 2 a a GAME PLAN fy Brandon Sheff Jeoironmuy Living Luminaries HEADS UP DISPLAY [ews] S.A... Award winneggior Ithink most of sin the pee industeyhave some sor ‘of presispostiontothoughts of fantasy, Toimagine fantasize, and cream ig human, But as working _gpime developers, we actually make ‘these visions come toifein ways that most peeple can only, well, ‘ream about Soo us, that fantasy is closer athand \Weidolze couboys, samurai, ‘xplrers,irventors, and astronauts because they flfilthat nee for adventure and exploration weal feel, dont know about everyone ‘se, but partofwhy were on ‘games, and help to create word, is because ofan urgeto explore. | want to make my mark, and be the first one to step ont that alin soil and discover te secrets. Because ‘after al, no matter how carefully we ‘raft our games, there are alous secrets, tle twists ofthe world that we never aticipatd. MOS, open.norld games, and sandboxes ike LOE and MINECRAFT are fantasy generators. They ‘rake us feel ke the pioneers we ‘admire. Coming upon some area {you didi know existe eels ike oui discovering the lost city (of Alanis ony fora moment Forging those words has a similar feel, but most of us cant do that ‘lone. We need @ MIECRAFT to give Ls the tools, or else we need a team of artists behind ust create the assets that bring our code to vival ie. 26 artists, you need coders and designers to help craft that universe, Wiehave become extremely compartmentlized in our Work, ‘hich is othe benefit oF the arge- scale games we create. Having _a dedicated wrter has proved to be very successful for certain teams, Dedicated network coders ‘are hard to find, but an absolute ‘necessity for most persistently online garnes. ut sometimes ‘that compartmentaization can liminish the feeling of creation and exploration, So we da held yp these ‘urinates fr their pioneering spit, but aa forthe fact hey did nearly ‘everything themseves, before tools tadoso ere even invented ‘THE WILL TO CREATE > atanis Pac-Man was an carly effort in faling playersinto believing games had complex ‘while a0 proving the power of clstinctive character combined vith tight control. Jordan Mechner ne he woulda be able to create perfect animation withthe tools he had athis disposal a the tie, ‘one filmed his brother running ‘andjumping, then shrank the data and made piel versions that hhavean incredible fuidtyto them, Eric Chahi pushed polygons on carly computers in an early tage, and where assembly fled him, Constructed code language of his ‘own, to create 2 one ofthe most nematic games ofthe ea ‘OF course it helps that all these ‘games were excellent examples ‘of what could be done wth ‘technology and design innovation in theierespecive eras. But think what really scinates us is that these creators manages tomake ‘these innovative games largely by themselves. The to's designs, andar techniques they needed ‘dit exists they wiled them into eaistence. These are persons ‘of vision, with the ability to back ‘that vision up with hard work and provable results. And whe weulén't respect that? “he dt yourself willalvays be someone talearn fom, no mater what his arherera of prominence. ut when they cancontinue those ideas throught the future, ane their ‘ofginal pioneering ideas are sill, ‘applicable, yousee that theyre not justone-het wonclers. Sure, here are ‘those inthe industry whe happened tobiton something the right time, ‘ancimade an impact in thei day, but cease to retain relevance. think ‘those are fewer and further between ‘than those whe do something great because thts what'sin ther, and whether they mave on to ecueation as atari bas, or continue to Pioneer id garepsay ke Chahi ‘ith hisnew game FROM Our, their ideas remain stikngly relevant Tiss what ve taken anay fom ‘the vintage postmortem at GC. What these fellows didback then was amazing but what they think ancl do now is just as imeresting Everytime Ive spoken to rc Chahi about modem game design, he's revealed te me something wouldnt have thought of even in genres he's never worked on We can aspire to greatness ‘ourselves, and thisis part of ‘current the indi fervor, believe ve apply what we know andy to make something different on aur ‘wn—something that comes frm \within-—we could be presenting ‘ur own vintage pestmortems atthe 50th GUC. Would anyone be suprised to see MINERAFTS Markus Persson there? © —Brandon Sheffield twitter @necrasoty Poe cana) Our programs and initiatives are helping Ontario's interactive digital media companies create a thriving industry, a global audience and a wealth of opportunity. Be part of it. OMDC.on.ca MY, ad A Cee) (©) a] ¢-4 (ome ease Yom ninth annual g.a.n.g. award winners announced {\The winners ofthe ninth annual Game Audio Network Guld awards have been announced, with Rockstar Games’ Reo Deo REDEW=TON and DICE's BATFE: Ban ConPany 2 taking home multiple awards, The awards, held atthe recent GDC 2011, represent the best aun vdeo games from 2010," The final winners were chosen by a 0:person advisory committee, nade up of members ofthe non-profit GANG organization. Reo Deto REDEMeTiow was the big winner ofthe event, bagging the Audio ofthe Year, Music of the Year, Bost interactive Score, and Best Dialogue ward, DATLEFEL: BaD COMPAKY 2 won two awards, while LucasArts’ MONKEY S-AND 2 SPEDAL EDITION: LECHUCK'S REVENE,Bizard's STARCRAFT: WINGS OF LLgeRrr and 2K Games’ BUSHOXK 2 took one award each, ‘Game Developer Magazine also won an award fr Best Gare Aucio Stile, Publication, or Broadcast for Jesse Harin's The Weight of Silence - How Silence Con Indicate a Chorecter's Importance," published in our December 2040 issue, GANG president Paul Lipson sald "The quality bar from 2010 was so high across the board, it was impossible to predict specific wins. With aver 250 submissions this year just making itt the final nomination process is something allthe teams and publishers can be proud ot” Mike Rose RED DEAD REDEMPTION 7 Rockstar Games Composers: il Elm & Woody Jackson Lend dio Designer Jrrey titer Audio Designers: Steven von Kame, Christin Kjelésen, Corey oss; io Programmers Corey Shay, Robert Katz RED DEAD REDEMPTION 7 Reckstar Games Bill En, Woody Jackson HALO: WAYPOINT "THE: RETURN" 7 3 Industries Merosort Game Studios Kristofer Melrth, Senior aa Diecto Microsoft Game Sucios PoulLipson, tio Direct Pyamind Studios; Peter Sienbach, Steve Hethecker Oswe al Mehae Roache BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 7 Elouorie Ats/OCE = Stefan Sandberg Ben io, David Males, Thomas Danke, Mari Saastamoinen, lof Swomayist, RED DEAD REDEMPTION = Rockstar Games 7 Bill, Woody Jackson MONKEY ISLAND 2 SPECIAL EDITION LECHUCK'S REVENGE > lucistes 7 Tom Bible, esse Hari, Wilbert Rope I Jef Ba, Dan Reyna, Andrew versa ‘VIDEO GAMES LIVE- LeveL 7 Tommy Talarico Jack tl “ATHENS HARBOUR ‘CHASE"- JAMES 80ND (007: BLOOD STONE = hetviion| = chard Jacques ‘STARCRAFT I: WINGS OF LIBERTY = Biezacd Entertainment 7 Ruseel Brower, aul enichin, David Farmer slosHock 2 7 2K Games/2K Marin 7 Wierae Karger Aus Lead and the 2k Marin ‘asia Tarn *VLLTAKE ITALL" Jaws ‘Bono 007: Bto00 STONE = Action = Dave Stewart “INVINCIBLE” - WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CATACLYSM 7 Blizzard Entertainment 7 Musieby Fuss rover, Jason Hayes Lies by Deve uke, Nes Acree RED DEAD REDEMPTION 7 Rockstar Games = Lead duce: Mattnew Smith Adtonal Dialogue Edtng Vil Merton Alan Walker, on MeCavishs ‘uo Designer George Wilkamson; Dialogue Assistant Lindsay Robertson “THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE HOW SILENCE CAN INDICATE A CHARACTER'S IMPORTANCE” - GAME DEVELOPER MAGAZINE = Jesse Han ATA Ua Ta seo nT Lele MoLe a ONO TTT A et eee eet ea Crees Seer Peli p erat aro nthe Petree tere Deputy nite. es ee ders argue that the aa Con akes the cet oe Seer aren rs ore oeeteon eon = Eletronie Ats/lce ~ Stefan Strandberg, Ben Mino, avid Molto, Thomas Danke, Mar Saastamcinon, lof Sramayist = Sumting ise Musioworks ~ Oren MeDonal, Jacque Shiner = Woo Jackson, il Ein = vis Helsbeck igf, game developers choice award winners announce Best Tec eat ale TECHNOLOGY NaS Pua oe COa Ls STAN LEE AND HOUSE OF MOVES PICK UE3 Enertainment legend Stn Lee and Vicon House of ‘Moves (HOM) rece enlisted Unreal Engine (U3) teat Lee’ new fanchse, The Guardan Projet na special clabraion wth the National Hockey League (NL) Lee and HOM crafted the world ofthe Guardian, 30 new hockey-based superheroes that made ther ebut atthe Sth Annual NHL A-Star Game The Guardians fist appearance came the farm of shot fi that kicked off a media bit thats slated toincude nonlin video game a compute anda slew of merchandising. rimated TV show HOI headed up development ofthe Guardians, rjing ea on peromance-cpture technology toate realistic characters that would work acossarange of media fo television andomline broadcast, stadium splays and vital ality experiences. “We chose Une oris as of use? Sid Peter Krygous, reco, HON "Te learning cure to amp up production and tit out pipeline was minima Ease of we was parila important to HOM since it primary amation capture and animation shop, ithouta huge nfstructure fr handling the rendering requirement for radtonl high-end output. Fortunately, Krygowst had been dose tothe video game world formorthena decade, had plenty of experience witha number of propitary engines and knew exactly what his team needed to ff Te Guadin Project. Peony cae Conference Coe Perea erg Ted Pena) Eras UES delivered the lity the tam vas ooking fo "We mote several pieces fea top generate stom shaders and tobe bl tbring virtual cameras ito and oatof the Unreal Engine forthe purposes ofthis projet” said bert Menace, HOM visual effets supervsorand pipeline develope." result we had incredible creatine Alexi, and could ender out 000 frames ina matter ofseconds-not to mention the savigsin gear cost withoutthe ned for 2 mult-6 years: <3 years 3-6 years, 26 years , § ‘LL PROGRES AND ENGINEERS 3 cammsmononors § (2 Yeaseenence WHE WOUSRY percent cig an YEARSEXERENCEWTHEMOSTRY een rceing dnl ‘nena eitioaincoes sm00 ire oem BTL ‘pect atta compere iapotednlconpmevion poh Penson cain Peco npc Et Fe Sry epi ie ee oak ‘Stock optons/eqity. a ‘Stock optionsequiy my Y EER SUTSTORPROGRNERS Perm eo sevensnsronarss my SS ———— cnt bn \ anger tepresemed ‘Saag hae cox | Gombe: Croprsenel “tame Mace om > Fala SASS Attensa gt fame Saaee Stile 1 3 esigners GAME DESIGNERS, CREATIVE DIRECTORS, AND WRITERS RECEIVED a sigh boost rom as year. Leads and creative creo wth ass ‘hreeo-sic years of experience had an average inrease of $5,083, while hase wth over six years opp from $101,810 200910 195,652. Thi oul potently be an indicator of some higherlevel designers eter leaving the indy, oF moving up ito management. COveral designers across all experience ranges sawitte movement, asdesignhas been one of the mas stable postions as far as compensation throughout our survey. Alta 55 perent ofthese surveyed reported t leas sight increase in pay from lst yea. Designers working out of Canada experienced @ decreas in pay, with the average salary fling fom $61,520 in 2008 0 $58,319 (USD) in 2010. European designers also had lowerineames but fared slightly better with an average salary of $41,250 (USD), down $1,173 from 2009, Game Designer salaries per years experience and position (mame Designer reste Director ead Designer + as [AFTER AN OVERALL AVERAGE SALARY DIP IN 2008, PRODUCERS rebounded with an increase of $13,462, Seventy-three percent of ; respondents reported an increase in ther salary This could bedueto ‘the fact that over half ur respondents report having over sik years oF experience, but also may indicate the shift toward social games, which pay producers web 2.Osalaves. Executives, producers, and project leads with oversixyears' experience allhadmarkedincreases: t $26,464 and $7344 respectively Production also had the second-highest percentage of adtonal compensation at 83 percent, second oly to business’ 85 percent. Canadian producers reported significant decrease in salary, wth the average dropping from $82130in 2008 to $72,500 [USO] in 2010. Producers in Europe had a slight increase in 2010 with an average of 52,884 [USD] and 56 percent reporting a salary increase Producer salaries per years experience and position sssocite Producer MPreducerProjct Lead MUEwecutveProcer sox ‘0x i sek ox ‘ ox ox : a Nisin ox oo j x ok re ox 30K u 30K ¥ = ee 10K ‘aK : an 4 ce) esagy ot cous Gimyg, ising” | cose ‘ore DESERS fax aoouceRS YEARS EXPERIENCE THE INDUSTRY Parcet receiving eons Income: 78% “ype of daonal compensation receives I nnn AB Pension/Emplger conten eee AN nnn AK Prat sang. 4 Prjecrve bru a Rogatis am ‘Stotkopioe/euty 2 Percentrcehingbenefis: 96% Fercene eof beneftareceived ender _epresented Sela ego os var wt De sex Fema * 01K treme 0% ‘verage edonalineome: $14,259 YEARS EXPERIENCEINTHE INDUSTRY. Farcntrecsving adtonal. Income: joni ~ a ons mo & aioe | fle = [GENDER STATS FOR PRODUCERS rs q Percent Avera cmilpmcaes “Sak Win! —— a ee oa if 3 wince Bl audio professionals [32:)0515 (OF THE AUDIO PROFESSIONALS SURVEYED, 15 PERCENT REPORTED ‘earning less than they di the previous year, the highest of any Ascipline, There was a sight uptick in respondents this yearn ‘category whieh typically has alow response ate due othe low number of fulltime au professionals in games, but mbers are still low, sos cificun to gauge wth absolute certain, ‘Audio developers continue tobe the least likly to receive additional benefits, such as health insurance. However, they were the most likely to receive rayaltis for their work, with the reported 25 percent significantly higher than other dscipines, with game design coming in, second at I? percent Canadian audio developers reported eaming more in 2010, wit the average salary increasing fom $61,250 to $68,574 (USD). European audia developers reported an increase in average salary. up $6,111 0 = ge BSS) $45,904, wih 0 percenteoming mre in 2010 rt (14 cio Developer salaries per years experience and position msoundtusaDesigner/Engincar MISourdinsio Director 00K 90K 2 80K 2 7K 50K 50K 40k 30K 20K % 10K OK. ALLAUDIO DEVELOPERS B saconresters fl YEARS EXPERIENCEINTHE NDUSTRY. Percent recsving adtona, Income: ees Ivarage adonatincame: $7570 onal compensation ol Nene SO Pension Emplyercarviouion | iteesrsnesah ene HicinaiaS oS ae aecieoca cate efit “oak est = \ Vale 4% $7OA89_ Dental 00% ge Mei Vy BI ee YEARS EXPERIENCEINTHE INDUSTRY. Porcontrecsving atonal Income: ed Iver daivonaincome: $7824 Type of acdtionsl compensation Received Ao BONE an os YE Pansonmployer eantibutian vo ae Retiement on 56x Prof shag. ox Projcttlebonis is | Rapes % Sock oporsoquiy a GGENDERSTATSFOROATESTERS —Porcentrecslvingbenefie: 28 Percent average Type of benefit received Senter eoprorenea “Seam aye on Mole 95% $48,200 Dera 98 Female Sk $62,500 a01K/Retvenent 905 esi business and legal people $106,452 a |) THOSE SURVEYED INTHE BUSINESS AND LEGAL DISCIPLINES INCLUDE chi executives and executive managers, community managers, ‘marketing, legs human resources, I, content acquisition and licensing, and general acministration stat. Those in business were most kelytoreceive any addtional compensation [85 percent). Business not only had the highest average salary, but italso led in average salary across all experience levels. OF the disciplines surveyed, business alsohad the highost percentage of those with sx or more years of experience at $5.6 percert.I'seems as ‘though money always fiers up, The business, marketing, and egal arena is also where the second: ‘most women canbe found, dwarfed nly by production's 17. Canatian business personnel fared wel wth an increased average sary of $85,312 (USD), Business persons in Europe also saw an increase, up from $59,231 to $63,238 [USD] in 2010, ‘ALL BUSINESS AND LEGAL PEOPLE YEARS EXPERIENCEINTHE MDUSTRY. Percent recsving dona Income: nn bones aia, Frsion Employer cariouton Reterant pan tae f Profitsaring, as, Proerrie bonus i oye Stockeptaneieuity [GenDeR SATS FOR BUSINESSPEOPLE Petco eceving benef fercont_ average yp ofbenaia resid ent tapos’ ‘Saye enc vale G6“ SLIDRAE. Dera cise Foms—HR—S8OSSS SK rome =O LAYOFFS OF THE ALMOST 4,000 SURVEYED DEVELOPERS, 14 PERCENT HAD bon iid offa one point oranaterin 200, That's Spercen crease from 2009 19 percent, utitis tl higher than 2008 12 percent Fity.two percent of those lai off were able to find employment ata game tuto or publisher, while 16 percent were unable find new jobsin te industry, Moe developers [23 percent) also found thomseves peng conrating and consulting in 2010, up trom 4 pereentin 2008. Thirteen percent went on to ound or coun a company, up om i0pereentn 2008 Developers also went int inde development in grester numbers (18 percent, up rm 16 percent in 2009. he increases amount of developers goingint independent and contract work combined isup 9 perent aver 2008, another trong incicatrin the rise af development autsie the tational developer and-pubisher venue, AVERAGE SALARY BY U.S. REGION 5 (across alee of experiance ad spines) Teast SERIA? TOP 5 STATES WITH HIGHEST AVERAGE SALARIES [scrssallnvesofexariene excluding tates withlom samp se) + nabs 2 California $6772... 35%......210808 2 Washington segse six sina soge33 394285 304,608. Sroz88 Sse “int 288 S38 $98,000. \ sows a ee AVERAGE SALARY BY U.S. REGION BY DISCIPLINE t Foganner___ 572590, $7.00. SRS. SOESSE deeand Animation $62,755 SS2500. Sezee 872582 $52,500 $500. $50,000 68 5.653 ‘$os.265""”$i06 667°" Se1,94a"” "S11 548 AVERAGE SALARY FOR HOMEOWNERS VS. NON-HOMEOWNERS BY U.S. REGION vt Homeowners $00479___ S201 S7azst__ $1039 Non-HomeownersSGiii3” 884625" $80,733” $71,365 AVERAGE SALARIES IN THE U.S., CANADA, AND EUROPE (across alevals of xperenc, by dzcigline, pen USD) Propemmer $05,733 24474 $4,231 : hand iio" S7158 Ro $2,500. 368,671 Production" S60,544 369,088 roc g.Sae8be 30828 $106,452 $85,313 "63,235 “ba dpa trina (8 Fee [a5 cre Spon heeds Rh shy 4 4 < oo. [acrssal evs expesence] High schooveen S932 q sue isuctesdegiee 9557 Bacher Ogee $80,808 Sone rant 40529 asters Degree $92,703, 102,500 Dees nett fiona RR Sear ae ere eras acute ation enone nen surveyed, the major eae rn) eee cr eee cee ee ate Salary Survey, inchuding: “Fa ‘350007 ‘Sst Se0299 80,577 ‘SS8056 $2500 ts sree scare $7560 74382 ‘$05 288 $82,310 shots ‘$90,000 prs ea ee Sl Dee oe i Pearce over $20,000. This additional Peta poo eee oh Peete] indepencer peteneae Brine eee! $1,000 while 3 percent m Esti $52.50 0 Sun9 Sa7a6 Sit -80 $49,683 $06,667 $4350 Gage Sine Deer 112,500 si51ses ‘San eF er) at Soret cor ors in 2010, ce eee ae ee er ineasorable As su indi erie Pt Seer ee ene eee etme Me ra re Eis eee Re Poe AO EXTENDED VERSION OFTHE SOTH ANNUAL GAME DEVELOPER ee otis job INCTION ied data for year over yoar results since 2004,

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