Category Archives: employment

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 5.12.12

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The Train2Game blog has found more jobs for you to apply for to hopefully get that foot in the door.

Art

Job Title     Junior 3D Artist
Job Category     Art / Animation
Skills Required     Character Artist, Vehicle Artist, Environment Artist, 2D / Concept / Texture Artist, Technical Artist
Location     Brighton
Job Description     Come and join the Futur!

The team behind the critically acclaimed Velocity is looking for a talented Junior 3D Artist!

We are primarily looking for someone with demonstrable experience modeling and texturing of vehicles for use in a game engine such as Unity.

As Junior Artist you will be required to concept and model a number of vehicles as well as adopting the in house art style to create 2D game assets. You will therefore need to demonstrate a strong ability in both 3D asset creation and 2D illustration skills. The role will require closely working with all other members of the team to ensure high standards of presentation are maintained across each project.

This role is suited towards a highly motivated and talented recent graduate. While industry experience is not required, working knowledge of industry standard art creation software is.

Requirements include:

Excellent 3D modeling and texturing ability.
A strong interest in sci-fi and predominately vehicle design.
Strong 2D illustration skills a must.
Animation skills a plus.
General understanding of game design and development.
Ability to work both individually and in a small team.
Excellent communication skills with a friendly and positive demeanour.
Self motivating and diligent.

You must be excited about working in the sci-fi genre and have a strong portfolio that demonstrates both 3D vehicles and 2D illustrative skills. (Please note that if your portfolio does not contain examples of both then unfortunately, it will be automatically rejected without reply).

If you have the demonstrable skills, experience and passion for futuristic games then please get in touch as we’d love to hear from you! Please email your latest CV and a cover letter along with your portfolio to jobs@futurlab.co.uk. Please be aware that all suitable candidates will be asked to take an art test.

We’re a small and friendly team and we’re about to grow. This is a great opportunity for someone to be involved right at the beginning of the next exciting chapter of our story.

Design

Job Title     Game Designer – IEB Microsoft Studios Soho (818909) Job
Job Category     Game Design
Skills Required     Game Design
Division Interactive Entertainment Business
Location Soho, London

Role Purpose
Do you love designing fun high quality games and experiences?
We are looking for an enthusiastic and talented game designer to join our growing multi-disciplinary team. The game designer will have the opportunity to engage in the exciting process of creating and maintaining games (including new IP). The game designer will be a member of the creative team working with the creative director. The ideal candidate must have a full understanding of the design vision and business model, be able to communicate it to the team and be responsible for the creation and maintenance of all game design documents and their execution.

Team/Department Mission
This role is part of a Microsoft Studios team creating games and entertainment services influenced by changing consumer consumption and emerging business models. Part of its purpose will be to showcase functionality of Microsoft platforms but the primary goal is to establish new entertainment franchises. The ethos of this team is to be distinctive, deliberate and disruptive. It has large ambitions.

Key Accountabilities:
– Drive game design and communicate across the team. Know the game inside out.
– Communicate major design decisions and issues with the creative director and executive producer.
– Work with technical, art and audio leads to realize the game design vision.
– Produce and roll out prototypes and design documents.
– Review work as it is implemented to ensure that it fits the design vision and is of the quality desired.
– Assist with the development of design team systems and tools.
– Test the game to ensure it is playable and fun.
– Support user testing and data gathering to continually improve the game.

Key Success Criteria:
– Be a positive, active, and contributing team member.
– Create presentations that outline plans for game design.
– Be able to pitch/communicate new concepts, mechanics and business models.
– Liaise closely with other disciplines to realise a shared vision.
– Communicate complex dependencies falling out of design into art, tech, audio and UI.
– Continuously evaluate games in development and make tough decisions to focus on, iterate on or cut features in order to make the game better.
– Continuously familiarize yourself and the team with important developments in game design and production outside of the team/project.
– Work with gameplay developers to develop systems that support desired gameplay.
– Work with tools developers to develop tools and workflows that enable inspired creativity on the design team.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
– Strong communication skills across all disciplines and at all levels.
– Design experience on shipped AAA console products and/or Mobile/F2P.
– Strong technical skills and a basic understanding of programming or scripting.
– Outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
– Strong relationship-management skills.
– Passion for gaming, with excellent design insights across genres.
– Ability to produce articulate design documentation detailing innovative gameplay mechanics, character biographies, control systems, interface design, story lines and asset inventories.
– Willing to accept and provide direction, work well under pressure, and handle multiple tasks.
– Ability to work closely with all core development functions, as well as supporting functions.
– Comfortable with Unity, MS Word, MS Visio, MS Power Point.

You can apply HERE.

Developer

Job Title     Games Programmer – iOS / Android
Job Category     Programming
Skills Required     AI / Artificial Intelligence, Tools, Gameplay, Mobile / iOS / Android, Graphics / Engine, Core Technology, UI / Front End, Graduate Programmer
Location     Brighton
Job Description     Boss Alien are a growing company working on exciting projects with small team sizes. We need programmers who are happy to work in whatever area is required of them – this could change on a daily basis!

We are looking for smart, energetic, friendly people to join us!

Required:

2.1 degree in Maths, Physics, Computer Science or related, or equivalent industry experience
Excellent knowledge of C# or C++
Excellent knowledge of algorithms and data structures
Experience of creating games on desktop or mobile platforms
Desire to make great games
Great communication skills (verbal and written)
Happy to work as part of a team
Demonstrable love for some area of game technology
A passion for playing games and solving problems
Flexible and keen to learn new skills
Great to have:

Knowledge of two or more other programming languages (for example Java, Python, PHP, Clojure)
1 or more years of games industry experience
1 or more shipped titles on console, desktop or mobile platforms
Strong knowledge of console, desktop and mobile architectures
Knowledge of asynchronous engineering techniques
Experience of Unity, Unreal or XNA
SQL
Experience using digital content creation tools (for example Max, Maya, Photoshop)

Find out more about us and apply at www.bossalien.com

Junior / Graduate Programmers with relevant demos and a positive attitude are encouraged to apply!

QA

Location: Edinburgh
Salary: Competitive
Company: Rockstar North

Rockstar North is looking for enthusiastic and self-motivated individuals to join our Games Test teams in Edinburgh. You will be expected to play through our latest games looking for problems and reporting errors, to ensure game quality before release.

Responsibilities
You will be finding and reproducing bugs, errors or problems in-game as directed. The role will require accurate, detailed and complete reporting to the required standards and subsequent revision of those errors or problems.

Qualifications
Successful applicants will have excellent written and verbal communication skills and enjoy working as part of a team. You will have good general computer skills and be a confident learner working with word processing, databases and spreadsheets. You will be able to show consistent attention to detail and have the ability to remain focussed when approaching repetitive tasks. We will be looking for flexibility regarding unsociable and extended working hours to meet the demands of the role.

Additional Information
Candidates must be 18 years of age and above and provide two references. The position will be a full-time short term contract. Applicants will preferably be educated to further or higher education standards.

This is a two stage application process. You will first be asked to complete an application pack from which you may be asked to attend an interview.

PLEASE APPLY ONLINE VIA www.rockstargames.com/jobs

Train2Game News: Game Industry Jobs – 28.11.12

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DEVELOPER

Job Title Tools Programmer

Job Category Programming

Location Midlands, UK, Oxford

Job Description My client is a leading game developer with offices in 3 different locations. With over 30 million downloads of their games to date, they are one of the fastest growing social mobile publishers on iOS and Android.

Focussing on creating innovative ultra-high-quality titles, using their own proprietary technology and with their cutting-edge art and design teams, their standards are second to none – making their entire work original, never copied.

Due to their continued success they are now looking for a Software Engineer / C++ Tool Developer to help build their content creation pipeline.

The ideal candidate will have developed software that is used by artists in a production environment in the games industry.

Candidates without relevant experience who meet the other requirements are still encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities:

– Work with artists and engineers to design and implement software features and applications

– Work on our existing 3D rendering systems to produce new tools

– Contribute to software reviews and product documentation

Skills / experience required:

– Experience of Mel script

– Knowledge of 3d Maths

– Experience with real-time 3D graphics techniques (OpenGL or DirectX)

Also Desirable:

– Experience with common modelling / texturing / animation techniques

– A good understanding of concurrency

– A good understanding of UI design

– Application scripting experience in C#, Lua, MEL or Python

For more information or to apply for this role please contact Sam Keywood direct on:  01709 834777  or at: sam@aswift.com

DESIGN

Job Title Car Handling Designer

Job Category Game Design

Location Midlands, Midlands

Job Description: Are you someone who is fanatical about cars? Do you have a Mechanical, Engineering or Software background? This is a brilliant opportunity to take your passion and use it to kick-start a career in the Games Industry!

This role is for a leading UK studio that have already shown their high calibre with their first major release going straight to No. 1! They develop big budget titles aimed at a truly global audience. The studio is both young and dynamic and gives you the opportunity to work on AAA games!

The studio is looking for a Car Handling designer who will be responsible for using proprietary tools to create authentic, believable and fun vehicle handling for licensed cars. You will research, implement and tune each car, ensuring it handles in-game in the same way it does in the real world.

You must be very passionate about cars and car culture, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the auto industry. In addition, you must have a strong working knowledge of vehicle mechanics and car setup.

You must be flexible, highly motivated, meticulous and a fast learner.

You should have:

•Excellent communication skills

•Strong Computer Software skills

•Demonstrable game design skills

•An excellent knowledge of cars, tuning and car culture

•An excellent working knowledge of, and a real passion for, the racing genre

•A genuine passion for games

This is an opportunity to join a highly experienced team and help shape the core experience of a genre-leading game.

The studio is located in a very sought after area of the UK. They will offer a competitive salary and great benefits. If you or anyone you know is interested feel free to contact me and send your CV to richard.balding@amiqus.com .

ART

Job Title 3D Artist (Games)

Job Category Art / Animation

Location London

Job Description We are looking for a passionate multi-skilled artist to join our growing dedicated games team in our London studio.

The ustwo™ games team is looking to build on its success with Whale Trail and release new titles for iOS and Android with stand-out production values, heart and broad appeal.

The company prides itself on allowing staff the opportunity to grow by offering an environment in which staff can produce the best work of their careers. We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate their desire to shine and grow in an atmosphere of creativity and collaboration.

If you are a talented and passionate artist who wants to be part of an exciting team then join us and help make games for the world to love.

Job requirements

  • Excellent 3D modeling, texturing and animation skills
  • Strong 2D visualisation skills
  • Ability to work in a range of styles
  • Experience creating game assets.
  • Excellent communication skills with a friendly and positive demeanor
  • Highly motivated and driven to make stand-out games
  • Interest in variety of art styles and influences
  • Passion for gaming

You can apply by emailing work@ustwo.co.uk

QA

Job Title: QA Tester

Job Category: QA

Location: Oxford

Job Description:

NaturalMotion, is looking for a tester to work on its upcoming mobile platform titles. This is a full time, contract position with an expected minimum duration of 3 months.

Daily duties will include testing and reporting issues discovered, working to use and improve test cases and working with small, project-based teams to ensure efficient testing throughout a project’s life.

While extensive testing experience is ideal, it is not strictly necessary and a little testing experience combined with enthusiasm and additional transferable skills is welcome and there will be a chance to learn and train with the testing team.

Testing will cover such areas as the user interface, menu items, inspecting the 3D assets for errors, gameplay, progression, and all other non-gameplay areas in addition to the game itself. Diligence and the ability to commit to repetitive tasks will be required in these roles.

Requirements:

– Excellent verbal and written English skills as you will be required to communicate with staff from all disciplines (both technical and non-technical) and to write clear bug reports.

– Self-motivation and enthusiasm.

– Diligence in conducting sometimes-repetitive tests and bug isolation.

– Ability to quickly learn new software tools.

– Knowledge of current generation games and hardware.

– Knowledge and use of mobile platforms (such as iOS and Android)

– Previous experience of software testing (including mobile and/or social games)

Desirable additional Skills/Experience:

– Experience of software testing on several different titles.

– Familiarity with testing on the iOS and Android platforms.

– Experience in using bug-tracking and test management tools.

– Experience testing in an Agile environment.

– Understanding of and design of Test Cases.

-Working knowledge of a programming or scripting languages

You can apply HERE.

Train2Game News: Eurogamer 2012 Video

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At the end of September Train2Game were at Eurogamer held in London’s Earls Court.

Below is the video from the event which has interviews with several students talking about their experiences with Train2Game and the Microsoft world record winning Game Jam.

Train2Game News: Sam Hawkins talks to Train2Game Radio

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Sam Hawkins, level designer for Derp Studios spoke to me about his life and where he wants to go with his career.

You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1073130-train2game-student-sam-hawkins-talks-to-mark-on-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below:

Hi, I’m Sam Hawkins. I’m from Chelmsford, Essex and I am on the Designer Course.

What’s your story Sam, what are the past experiences that have shaped your life?
Well starting from the beginning, I used to do a lot of Bmxing back in my original home town of Dagenham. It was a big group of us that used to do it, we used to go around streets of Dagenham and Romford, originally just around Essex at first, just doing street Bmxing.  Eventually we just started getting around the UK, it was really good fun. After that, I moved to Chelmsford, where I am now where I did a bit of college for a year, doing Engineering. After that I took a real passion for music, it was relit from school. Music has always been a passion of mine and I played drums for a rock band for about 2 or 3 years. Then I found this course and I’ve been doing this ever since.

You’re also the main level designer for Derp Studios, had you done much level design before that?
Prior to the Game Jam that we had last year, no. None at all I have kind of just taken to it really well, it’s like finding my calling.

Do you think that’s what you are going to go on to in the industry its self. You want to aim for more level design stuff?
Yeah 100%.

Do you think that stems from your Engineering in college?
Possibly, yeah.  When I was doing Engineering at college it was drummed into me that everything I made was 100% perfect. I loved the feeling of actually building something and getting my hands in to it. I’ve always admired the way levels have been played out in front of me, how they’ve been designed or engineered. I think it’s fascinating.

So out of all the things you’ve done with the Bmxing and everything like that, what do you thinks the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done through your life?
Being in the band, prior to The Gadget Show that was in the beginning of this year that was the pinnacle of what I have been doing so far. Before that it was being in the band. At one point we actually got signed for a little bit.

How’s Dire Consequences doing on the iOS store now?
I think it’s doing OK, It’s been received quite well. We actually do have a patch coming out for it very soon, to add new levels. There’s also been a lot of people giving us some really good feedback, some really good creative criticism, that we can take from and build on it.

Yeah, so are you happy with the game then and how it’s all turned out?
Yeah I am. It’s been really good fun working for it, also stressful at the same time, as most projects probably will be.

So how does it feel to be published?
It’s fantastic, it’s absolutely fantastic! I couldn’t believe it when I heard it

Do you think it will open up your gaming prospects and your prospects for your career and everything?
Oh definitely.  When you look at applying for a job in the industry, a lot of people want Designers or Programmers or whatever to have experience. With this behind my belt it is going to be a lot easier if I do venture out to look at other studios.

What’s your big game plan for the future Sam?
For the time being I am just concentrating on getting the course done and a lot of portfolio work that needs doing. Other than that I am going to be working for Derp Studios for a lot longer, get as many games under my belt as I can and really try and establish ourselves as a company as well. If we can do that and be really successful then I’ll just take it from there really! I may venture off into a much bigger studio but at the moment I’ll stay with Derp.

Well I think that’s all we’ve got time for today Sam, so thank you very much!
Thank you very much for your time Mark. Thank you

Cheers Buddy
Bye

Train2Game News: Student Diaries – 22.11.12

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Amanda Blatch

So this week (I am going to repeat myself from the last time I’m sure) I am still plugging away at the in-game UI. It’s been taking a long time to get it right but it’s starting to get there as everyday we’re finding things that need improving upon or can be done differently. Again, some things that may seem simple… never are. Or they are, but you do them in a million different ways (ok, maybe a dozen then.) to try and find that ‘perfect’ one. Most of the work has now been done for the game art-wise as far as I am aware, it’s just a matter of putting it all together and getting it out there for testing so we can try and ‘break’ the game to find all its weak spots and improve upon those issues.

The new project has been confirmed, however it’s still in the early stages of concept so it’ll probably be another couple weeks or so before any work can be done for it. So far the concepts are looking good and it’s on a subject matter I love! I’m hoping I can stick around here long enough to see that game all the way through and done in a way that has been talked about briefly. Exciting stuff..

Anyways, that’s it from me now.. this diary has taken me nearly four hours to write as I am working at the same time as doing this because… distraction!

Same time next week munchkins.

Craig Moore

We took some major strides this week in the look and feel of the game and it, thankfully, really is coming together. As much as we all learnt from the creation of My Sea Park, I feel that we have learnt even more from this one and it just means the next one is going to be, yet again, even better!

With the game coming together and Art having more free time, work has been going into promotional activities, icons, and the like as we gear up towards early artwork for the next title. The desire is to almost be working on two titles at the same time, as one comes to a close another one starts up so that we are constantly working on something with no downtime; it really is the best use of our time and makes the office like a little beehive.

I have a fun weekend of Train2Game work prepared this weekend, I am pretty much on my final portfolio piece, a behemoth of a document that will take me a few weeks but I am aiming to get it done before Christmas; and then that is me done. It will be weird feeling that I have actually come to the end of the course and hopefully I will pass, maybe more. Fingers crossed my experience here at DR along with my new qualifications should set me up for something bigger!

In yet other news, for those not aware, the Wii-U launches in the states on Sunday. I am incredibly interested in it having not had chance to give it a bash at Eurogamer and am particularly interested in consumer reception of it, particularly certain games like ZombiU.

Till next week!

Craig

Matty Wyett Simmonds

This week has been busy as usual, I’ve been mostly changing and editing the games ‘world’ this week which has been a very heavy job (I made the world myself, just didn’t make it easy to edit). I’ve been remaking and adding a lot of things to improve on the users experience with the game, making some things more obvious for the users where needed. Other than that I can’t really say much, as this is the only thing that’s taken up my entire week. I stayed late on Thursday on my own this time, ordered me some takeaway and blasted music on the sound system. I had to get things done for Friday morning!

I think my week has been pretty quiet to be honest. I’ve had goals to work towards and have been trying my best to get things done as fast as I can. Planetside 2 Beta is now closed and the game is being launched on the 20th! It’s free to play so no one has an excuse not to get it and play the game with me ^^. I’ve enjoyed the game so far and plan to continue playing it. Comparing it to another FPS such as Blacklight for example, I found that Blacklight was easier, people have less health/the guns have more damage than planetside2 and it makes for some pretty epic fights where you won’t die instantly and you won’t be able to kill anyone easily. If you do play the game before to drop me a message first to see what server I’m on ^^

Anyway, that’s all for this week as I need to get back to work now. Plus I’m running out of virtual ink.

MattyWS

Train2Game News: Game Industry Jobs – 21.11.12

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ART

Job Title Artist

Job Category Art / Animation

Skills Required Animator, Character Artist, Environment Artist, 2D / Concept / Texture Artist, UI Artist

Location Dundee

Job Description

We are looking for great artists to join our established art team. Artists with the passion and drive to create amazing, fun, characterful, mass-market games. Games the world wants to play. With the exceptional creative and technical art skills to create fun, addictive games, you will be contributing to the delivery of Outplay’s innovative, engaging and massively enjoyable games across the mobile and social gaming landscape.

What are you waiting for? Is this you?

The Person

• Ability to establish and maintain the creative vision for the next generation of social mobile games, producing concept sketches, illustrations and production artwork/animation in a variety of styles.

• Collaborates well with Art team and other disciplines

• Develops and manages asset pipelines

• Ability to take concept art to finished production level art

• 3D art and animation skills

• Graphic design/UI skills

• Several years of digital illustration, graphic design and/or 2D animation experience

• Demonstrable flexibility in style ranging from cheerful, cartoon illustration to more detailed, grittier artwork

• Solid working knowledge of 2D art production and tools including Flash, Photoshop and Illustrator

• Knowledge of current mobile, Facebook and casual games and passion and vision to help craft the next generation of social mobile games

• Excellent communication and presentation skills

• Ready to adapt in a rapidly changing, fast-paced creative environment

• Able to take direction well and, as required, constructively provide direction and guidance to others

• Able to handle multiple responsibilities, collaborate and excel in small team environments

The Extras

• Experience developing art for online, mobile, casual and/or social games

• Game design and/or creative writing ability

To apply go to: http://www.outplayentertainment.com/jobs/

DEVELOPER

Job Title Tools Programmer – Sumo Digital

Job Category Programming

Skills Required Tools

Location Sheffield, UK & Europe

Job Description Sumo Digital is one of the UK’s most prolific and secure independent game developers.

Since our inception in 2003, we’ve had a string of successful titles across all gaming platforms for partners that include SEGA, Codemasters, Sony, EA, BBC, Konami and many more.

Though most renowned for our action/arcade sensibilities through the success of franchises such as Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, Virtua Tennis and OutRun, Sumo has also garnered much commercial and critical praise for the consistent quality, ambition and playability of its involvement in many other series of games including the F1, Doctor Who, Broken Sword, New International Track and Field, and TOCA titles (as well as numerous PSN/XBLA games).

We are currently working on a number of unannounced but extraordinarily exciting AAA games across all formats and we’re looking for team members with the drive, passion and ambition that will help us make those games the best they can be.

The Role:

The Tools Programmer will be responsible for designing, implementing and maintaining software tools and processes in all disciplines. This may include but is not limited to interactive editor-style visual tools as well as automated pipeline or build system tools.

Essential Job Functions

– Design, implement and maintain software tools for art, design, production and programming.

– Continuously improve the user experience and performance of our tools.

– Create and maintain technical software documentation.

– Work closely with the other disciplines to identify and resolve workflow & pipeline problems.

– Work closely with the tool users to assess and debug problems with our tools.

Knowledge Requirements:

– Minimum 2 years experience in a relevant role

– Experience from outside the games industry or outstanding demos will be considered.

– C++

– MFC or other GUI toolkit experience (wxWndows, Qt, etc..)

– Experience using source control systems (e.g. Perforce, CVS, SVN)

Preferred Knowledge

– C#

– Maya API, MEL, 3dsMax SDK, MaxScript

– Scripting (python/perl/etc…)

– Knowledge of game content creation pipelines and tools

– Strong maths skills, especially in trigonometry and linear algebra

– Knowledge of games systems (3D graphics, animation, camera control, lighting)

– UI design experience

– Any SQL and/or .Net

Demonstrated Ability To:

– Work well/respond to pressure

– Communicate effectively within a large group/multiple project environment

– Think critically and apply analytical skills in resolving complex issues

– Quickly master proprietary tools and development processes

– Debug complex systems.

Email: careers@sumo-digital.com

Website: www.sumo-digital.com/career

DESIGN

Job Type: Permanent

Job Category: Games and Level Design

Region: UK

Area: East Anglia

County: Cambridgeshire

Location: Cambridge

Salary Description: Competitive

Recruiter: Frontier Developments Ltd

Innovative gameplay has been one of Frontier’s core strengths over the years, and is something we continue to focus on in all our developments. Designers have a central role in developing our games, and will work closely with art and programming colleagues on a game project.

We are looking for designers who are full of creative flare and enthusiasm and have a passion for, and extensive knowledge of, games and gameplay. The roles are varied – both original IP and AAA licenses feature in our strong project line-up, spanning a number of game genres, and our reputation for compelling gameplay is achieved by our designers contributing fully at all stages of our game developments, from concept through to final gameplay balance.

After initially influencing the basic design of a game level, designers will use Frontier’s game editor and scripting system to implement their own design concept through to the final gameplay detail, and can expect to be involved in extensive play-testing.

Successful applicants must have a broad experience of playing games, and be able to demonstrate a good understanding of player mentality / psychology and gameplay mechanisms. Successful candidates will also have excellent verbal and written skills, possess the ability to work closely with a team, have excellent communication skills and ideally be educated to degree level. Experienced candidates should have at least one AAA game design to their name.

Experience of game editors (e.g. Unreal Editor, Worldcraft or Quake editors), basic 3D modelling skills and / or experience of scripting systems (e.g Unrealscript etc.) will be an advantage.

Industry experience is important but not essential, as long as you have examples of high quality work that you have done. These do not need to relate to a game, but should show off your talent.

Please apply either by email (including a CV and any showreel/demos) to designerjobs@frontier.co.uk, or by surface mail to the address on the ‘contact us’ page of this website.

QA

Job Type: Permanent

Job Category: QA and Localisation

Region: UK

Area: South East

County: Oxfordshire

Location: Oxford

Salary Description: Competitive

Recruiter: NaturalMotion Games

Role Summary:

NaturalMotion is looking for a tester to work on its upcoming mobile platform titles. This is a full time, contract position with an expected minimum duration of 3 months.

Daily duties will include testing and reporting issues discovered, working to use and improve test cases and working with small, project-based teams to ensure efficient testing throughout a project’s life.

While extensive testing experience is ideal, it is not strictly necessary and a little testing experience combined with enthusiasm and additional transferable skills is welcome and there will be a chance to learn and train with the testing team.

Testing will cover such areas as the user interface, menu items, inspecting the 3D assets for errors, gameplay, progression, and all other non-gameplay areas in addition to the game itself. Diligence and the ability to commit to repetitive tasks will be required in these roles.

Requirements:

– Excellent verbal and written English skills as you will be required to communicate with staff from all disciplines (both technical and non-technical) and to write clear bug reports.

– Self-motivation and enthusiasm.

– Diligence in conducting sometimes-repetitive tests and bug isolation.

– Ability to quickly learn new software tools.

– Knowledge of current generation games and hardware.

– Knowledge and use of mobile platforms (such as iOS and Android)

– Previous experience of software testing (including mobile and/or social games)

Desirable additional Skills/Experience:

– Experience of software testing on several different titles.

– Familiarity with testing on the iOS and Android platforms.

– Experience in using bug-tracking and test management tools.

– Experience testing in an Agile environment.

– Understanding of and design of Test Cases.

-Working knowledge of a programming or scripting language.

You can apply HERE.

Train2Game News: Chris Ledger talks to T2G Radio

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Chris Ledger spoke to me about the rise of Derp Studios and having their game released on the app store.

You can hear the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1062901-train2game-chris-ledger-talks-to-mark-on-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below

Hey I’m Chris Ledger, I’m on the Train2Game Designer course and I live in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

What’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life to who you are today?

The Train2Game design course even in its early stages did. I managed to do a few Portfolio Pieces, A High Concept Document and other working style documents. I managed to show that to a small iPhone developer and my first project that I worked on was licensed. The second one was the Game Jam in 2011, which was hosted by Train2Game and Epic Games. I was chosen as an individual to make the fourth team to go on to Make Something Unreal Live where we worked on a project which used the Fighting Fantasy license. The company, Derp Studios, which was The Gadget Show Live Team, just released their first title, Dire Consequences on the iOS store.

Tell us a bit about the game

The game, it’s a first person action game. It’s a wave game for iOS and you can buy optional spells, the more enemies you defeat you get souls. You can use the souls to get spells to help you through the waves. That’s the gist of it really. At one point, I nicknamed it horde with swords because it’s a wave mode like Gears so I thought horde with swords was the best way to describe it.

That’s a good way to describe it I think. So is this work for you now? Is this what you do for a job?

I did make Derp Studios a limited company in, I guess around April time, just after Gadget Show Live I think. We are planning to go ahead and make it a business and earn a bit of money from it, which will be nice. Even though it’s still like a hobby it feels but we do want to make money out of it as well.

How did you get that to happen?

There’s websites you can actually go through to register as a company. It doesn’t actually cost a lot. Well it can build up over time because you’ve got to get all the documents. I used a website called TheCompanyWarehouse.co.uk which is quite good. I actually signed the company up for a pound but you’ve got to pay for other things like helping you with documents and things because there is loads to do to set up a company, more than you’d ever imagine.

Do you think Derp Studios will enter the Power Up competition by Microsoft and if you do, do you have any early game ideas yet?

We would like to try that. We have been discussing it I can’t really say for certain if we’ll go ahead and do that. I know we do want to make a second project so that will start quite soon.

One thing that I have always wondered is why did you end up calling the studio Derp Studios?

Oh no, explaining this again! People usually ask that. Well in the early stages we didn’t know what to call ourselves and we were unknown for a while. Because we are all quite new to making games, we kept making mistakes and would say “Oh that’s a Derp mistake”. The most common phrase was “Oh Derp”. So it just kind of went from there.

What is your reason for getting into the gaming industry and how do you think getting into the games industry will change your life?

Well it’s changed my life already but I have always wanted to be in the gaming industry, ever since I was about 8 or something. I just wanted to give something back really to the gaming community and actually live out the dream of becoming a designer that I’ve had since a very early age.

How is Dire Consequences doing on the iOS App Store?

Better than I thought it would to be honest. I forget how big the iOS market is. We shoved it out there and we were over the moon when it was actually on sale. We had some quite good reviews but our average rating is 2 stars but I thought we are quite novice still and it is still quite buggy. People have been pointing it out, issues that they would like to see resolved and how we can improve it, which is absolutely great hearing feedback from a customer audience that have actually played it and experienced it, so that’s proven quite valuable. I think in the first week we have had three thousand downloads.

That’s Excellent. Thank you very much for your time Chris!

No Problem.

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 14.11.12

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ART

 

3D Environment Artist – Additional Game Content
Art / Animation
Environment Artist
Horsham, West Sussex, UK & Europe
 

Position Overview:
We are looking for an exceptionally skilled and motivated team-player with a proven track record (or serious raw talent). The right candidate should be able to demonstrate excellent creative, technical and visual skill. They will be an accomplished Artist with a passion for creating believable worlds with the ability to produce stunning, high quality, efficient, real time game content for current and future generation consoles. The successful candidate will be working on creating additional game content. The position is for a fixed term contract until August 2013.

Required:
Visual flair and talent
Expert knowledge of Max/Maya
Expert knowledge of Photoshop
Knowledge of games development pipeline/environment/engines
Self motivated, good communicator, positive can do attitude, team-player
Love of visual environment creation

Ideal:
Proven experience implementing game environments
Formal art training
All round art ability
Love of games

 

You can apply HERE.

 

 

DESIGN

 

Designer (Contract)
Game Design
Central London, London
 

My London based client has a proven track record of delivering high quality games across multiple platforms.

They believe in working roles around skilled people rather than placing hires into predetermined jobs. They reward excellence, encourage responsibility and involvement and expect quality and diligence. Great people make great games and that is what they like to hire!

Summary:
Due to increased needs on two of their new projects they are looking for talented & hard working Game Designers to become part of their creative team. The Game Designer role covers a number of areas including scripting of game content, game mechanic and flow design and implementation.

Main Duties:
• Scripting game content
• Designing direction of game content
• Designing and balancing game systems and writing supporting design documentation

Skills:
Essential Skills
• Experienced in game design scripting
• Some experience in written game design
• Patience and a painstaking attitude to their work
• Good written and spoken communication and self management skills.

Desirable Skills
• Experienced at or an interest in writing
• Experience at or interested in traditional or 2D “digital” art.

Please contact Simon Hope to apply via email at: simon@aswift.com

 

 

 

DEVELOPER

 

 

Job Title C# Developer

 

Job Category Programming

 

Location Glasgow

 

Job Description Digimania makes cool, revolutionary and disruptive real-time animation software. We’re best known as the developers of Muvizu – a 3D animation app based on the Unreal 3 Engine.

Muvizu lets anyone make low-cost animations quickly and easily. We’d like you to help us work on our next big project. Digimania is a company of 26 staff and is based at The Lighthouse in Glasgow’s city centre.

We are looking for a brilliant and enthusiastic C# Developer, experienced with WPF (preferably in an MVVM environment) and .NET 4.

The candidate should be keen to learn, and have excellent knowledge of software engineering principles and design patterns and should have at least 2 years experience with .NET and WPF.

Experience with C/C++ and games development would be of benefit, as would a working knowledge of Agile development principles.

Skills required

C# developmentExperience with WPF (preferably in a MVVM environment).NET 4

To apply please send a CV and covering letter to robert.mcmillan@digimania.com

QA

 

 

Job Category:QA and Localisation
Region: UK
Area: South East
County: West Sussex
Location: Horsham
Salary Description: Competitive

Position Overview
– The Games Tester position is a responsible job; reporting bugs and providing quality feedback for our titles in development.
– These fixed term contracts are for our new Alien IP title currently in development. Several additional positions are also needed for our established Total War team during the same period.
– Test games in development for software bugs
– Enter bugs clearly and accurately into our bug database
– Verify and recreate bugs as required
– Report additional balancing, design and accessibility problems
– Specific support and general roles available

Essential
– A clear understanding of QA process
– A keen enthusiasm for gaming
– Good communication and reporting skills
– Driven and flexible approach

Desirable
– A clear understanding of QA process
– A keen enthusiasm for gaming
– Good communication and reporting skills
– Driven and flexible approach
– Experience of testing one full shipped title
– A good understanding of Strategy games (Total War)
– A good knowledge of current generation consoles (Alien IP)
– Games industry related degree (e.g. audio, art, design, etc.) or expertise in a specific game area is an asset (e.g. audio, technical, PC hardware, design or scripting etc.)
– Fluent in one or more of the following languages: French, German, Italian or Spanish
– Strong technical knowledge/skills (e.g. programming, scripting)

You can apply HERE.

Train2Game News: Student Diaries – 12.11.12

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Amanda Blatch diary – week 8

Another week, another diary.. I think I may actually be running out of things to talk about. Doesn’t mean the work has stopped, it just means I am still working on the UI and it would seem a little tiresome to just repeat myself about the same thing as last week so I will keep this brief for you guys reading this.

The game itself is getting cleaned up pretty well now and we’re so close to completion, trying to beat the clock and get the game submitted in time for the end of this month for release. Alongside that one of the in-studio artists is starting to work on the concepts for the new project so it’s something we can see it breathed into life in the next week or so, all quite exciting here at DR! We have also seen the departure of one of the T2G students who will be missed in the studio, we wish him the best of luck in the future with his career as an animator!

So apart from that, there isn’t much else to talk about soooo… till next week again.

 

Craig Moore Student Diary – Week 51

This week has been another incredibly busy one, adding polish and “fun” to the game is much more difficult than you would expect when it relies heavily on the balance of numbers as well as a lot of subjective reasoning. It does however feel like it is making some headway and the game inside what we have made is slowly rearing its pretty little head and hopefully it will blossom soon.

Tutorials are probably the bane of my life right now; they are so incredibly hard to get right. This really fine balance between hand holding and making the player feel like they aren’t on a linear path, you just kind of need to say “this is what you need to know to play the game, therefore I need to tell you X,Y,Z”. Balancing that and pacing it seems to be a fine art though…

It is Eze’s last week this week, he has done some awesome work for us while he has been here and it will be a shame to see him go. He has a lot of opportunities ahead of him though and I look forward to seeing what he gets up to in the future.

Time to get back to the grind!

Craig

 

Matty Wyett Simmonds – week 49

This week has been a bit of a bug fixing week for me, no real sprint, more just doing what I can to fix any issues, there is still lots to do though of course! There is always lots to do but never enough time, but now I’ve been given some freedom to work on the things that have been bugging me for a long time ^^.

During the weekend we had a small gathering at hour house to say good bye to Ezekiel who has just left. He’s been here for 6 months which is a long time and a lot of experience, so hopefully he jumps right into another decent job somewhere quickly.

Over the weekend I finally got some free time to do whatever! I played some planetSide 2, some halo 4 and even worked on my own project for a bit which is slowly coming along nicely. I was using GameMaker 8 to make an RTS game called Data Wars, however due to some annoying issues and limitations I jumped ship and have moved to Unity where I need to start from scratch. Nothing is salvageable because they are both very different programs (one being 2D and the other 3D for starters). I moved to unity because although it will be harder to work with, it will give me more freedom and potential features that could not be done in Gamemaker, which seems to be a terrible program for RTS games. 😛

Anyway, more to do at the studio now, till next week!

MattyWS

Train2Game News: Forsaken Competition

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Forsaken Studios, who employ a few Train2Game students, has announced a new competition. This is the second competition from the studio.

The Embers of Caerus: Frozen Hell’s Crossing competition is very simple. Train2Game student and Forsaken tester Ollie Smith crossed the in game continent of Aaldnarech, he ran from Thaal on the western shore all the way to Nev on the eastern shore. We timed how long it took Ollie to run across the continent.

To win the competition, all you have to do is guess how long it took him in actual running time. The closest guess wins.

The winner will receive a Crucial 256GB M4, 2.5 inch Internal Solid State Drive. You can increase your chance of winning the hard drive by keeping a close eye on the Embers of Caerus social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, for this competition use the Twitter hashtag: #eocfrozenhell. You might get some hints towards the answer.

Forsaken studios is based in Texas, USA and was founded in 2011. It is responsible for the MMO Embers of Caerus.

Send your entry to competition@forsakenstudios.com and have a shot at winning this amazing solid state drive.

 
The competition is open as of now and remains open until 12pm GMT on Saturday the 10th of November 2012. The winner will be announced Sunday 11th of November 2012.

For more information and Terms & Conditions you can visit the site here.