To provide a little context, Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) are fiction that happens in the real world, generally without rules or guidelines on how to participate. Because it’s in the real world, people can interact with it in the same way they interact with anything else. Phones, websites, emails, regular mail, and anything else the designers want to use. The defining aspect is that you don’t need special hardware or software to join in the fun.

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Scholarship Competition
Open for Entries
Deadline Friday, June 20th

Something is terribly wrong with the Game Development Industry and you can fix it… but only if you are a woman and get the education you need to break in.

9% of game artists are women and they make on average over $10,000 less per year than their male counterparts. (Source: Game Career Guide, 2007.)

Notes on Game Dev invites all women aspiring game artists to submit an essay to the 2008 NoGD Aspiring Women Game Artists Competition for a chance at a full time scholarship to Sessions Online(SM) School of Game Art.

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So, I can’t count the number of times I’ve had a conversation at a game industry event go something like this…

General introductions, followed by explaining that I’m a game writer (and yes indeed, that game writers are good for something), followed by information about their company, followed by a line like: “You should come work for us, we’re trying to get into the women market and could really use a woman on the team.”

Well, thanks.
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2008 NoGD 2D/3D Environment and Character Design Competition

OPEN FOR ENTRIES
Deadline June 15

The 2008 Notes on Game Dev 2D/3D Environment and Character Design Competition is now open for entries. Art will be judged by some of the top talent in game development today including Damian Pannell (Artist, Relic, Vancouver, British Columbia), Doug Oglesby (Concept Artist, Red Storm Entertainment), Jesse Brophy (THQ, Phoenix, AZ), and Nate Purkeypile (World Artist, Bethesda).

Winners and runners up will be announced in the Notes on Game Dev and Notes on Design Blogs and in their respective newsletters which include 40,000 global subscribers. Winners will also be announced on GameCareerGuide.com, the leading portal site for game career seekers and industry recruitment.

Excellent prizes for winners include a full Game Art Certificate Program from Sessions Online Schools of Game Art, a broad choice of instructor-led game art and animation classes, membership in IGDA, and subscriptions to Game Developer Magazine.

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All teams go through a predictable cycle of chaos and order that can be summed up in four stages: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing.

“Forming” is the stage where the team is first put together. Everyone is very polite and excited, but tentative. People are still floating, unsure of their role on the team.

The next stage is “Storming”. At this point, problems have started to surface, and people start to drive each other crazy. Everyone knows they are in over their heads, and they can’t get out. There is too much agreement in meetings, while inside everyone is smoldering with resentment. Fixing problems almost always involves stepping on toes. Read the rest of this entry »

Without fail, GarageGames takes it away indie style. I recently got a chance to talk with Tim Aste, who is the Director/Producer and one of the three full-time artists on the development team for the upcoming Fallen Empire: Legions game coming out from popular indie tool provider GarageGames. Classic indie production process where roles are shared in a close team. Fallen Empire is a browser-based FPS that will be launched at InstantAction.com.

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Managing The Project

Chances are, you are good at managing yourself and your own time. That’s one of the things managers look at when they decide on whom to promote to lead positions.

But, managing a small portion of a project and managing an entire project require different skills. You are no longer just concerned with getting your slice of the pie done. You are also responsible for making sure that others get their work done, and that both the people you work for and the people that you manage understand where the project stands at all times. Read the rest of this entry »

Company of Heroes, long time established in the Real Time Strategy genre, continues to develop its visual quality and coding ease with the Essence Engine. And of course, it also recently won the “Best PC Game” and “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming” awards at the Elans. I got a chance to speak to Relic artist Damian Pannell, who worked on modeling, textures, and gameplay aspects of the vehicles and tanks. It’s nice to get a chance to check out leaps in art that are local to me in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia–a mecca of game industry.

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With the introduction of player voice in Mass Effect, BioWare is taking on change in its writing style and company culture. Kevin Barrett, Director of Design at BioWare Edmonton, shares insights on these changes in a company that established itself as the premier developer behind text-branching role-playing games such as Baldur’s Gate and continues to promote the importance of writing in games.

“It may not seem like a big deal, but giving the player’s character a voice has really opened the door to cinematic presentation of dialogue exchanges. As soon as you go from mute player responses to cinematic, interactive dialogue, the writer’s responsibilities evolve significantly.
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What is a “lead artist”?

When you’re hired as a “lead artist” for a project you probably expect your role to be the keeper of the vision for the look of your project. What you may not expect is that you will really be the keeper of the team.

A lead artist is, first and foremost, a manager. How is a lead artist different from a production artist? Lead artists are less “artists who manage” than “managers who are in charge of artists”. You will likely spend the bulk of your time doing paperwork, email, meetings, and managing your artists. This was a shock for every beginning lead artist that I have talked to, and it was a shock to me when I first experienced it. (This is, by the way, a fact of life for any lead, especially engineers, who are just as likely to think they can contribute a significant amount of code and still manage a team.) You will have to change the way you gauge your own success, because you will no longer be able to look at the amount of art you have done to see how you’re doing personally. Read the rest of this entry »