Whoo Hoo! I found a new copy of Lightwave on Ebay for pretty cheap!! It is MINE!!!!!!!!! Once I get it and register it, I' ll be able to get the upcoming Lightwave 9 for cheap from the manufacturer!!

Goddam Ebay, I might be able to find a new copy of 3DS max 7, or the latest
version.... Hmmm-hmm HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! World domination comes to mind
but thanks for the tip Terry... Now I need Adam to update my BLOODY avatar
that I put on the avatars forum thing! I want a custom avatar!!!

First of all, congratulations for the awesome thread, Tiz.

I have also dreamed of joining the gaming industry one day but it´s really hard to start. Personally, i have came to a point where finnaly my skills have grown bigger and more mature about how to produce a game. I am not saying that i know it all, far from that, the more i learn the more i know that there is much to be learn.

This summer i am going to work a lot in a game demo with a help of a friend of mine. As you can see, that´s a lot of work for only two people but that´s how it is for someone who haven´t yet got in the industry, you have to work as hell hoping that someone up there likes your work.

I haven´t got any 3d skills yet (most of you must be thinking " no 3d ?? what the hell is that game then?" ), sure i have played around with 3d studio max but i know to learn a lot.

I can do a game´s programming, not awesome programming but i can make a whole game work, but honestly my dream is being a game director. I have lots of ideas ( i know...everybody has).

I have learned and practiced the pre-production steps ( storyboard, outline, etc.), i have some experience in programming, visuals too.

I know that there are many talented guys trying to break in the industry but it´s what i love and what i would like to do.

It was really great to read all your posts...i felt even more motivated, it would be nice to meet some of you spmeday at e3 as industry partners.

(most of you must be thinking " no 3d ?? what the hell is that game then?" ), sure i have played around with 3d studio max but i know to learn a lot.

Actually when you implied No 3D, I thought it' s going to be a 2D game and began licking my lips!

2d is old and dead, 3d has taken over, it is superior in every way.

Nostalgia is all that you remember. Never forget that!

ORIGINAL: Silentbomber

2d is old and dead, 3d has taken over, it is superior in every way.

Nostalgia is all that you remember. Never forget that!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sme games HAVE to remain s dimensional. I was uber pissed off when they made Mortal Kombat 3d and the 3d Street Fighter was awful!

Now they' re trying the same thing with KoF when it should just be left alone!

Scrolling shooters and traditionally 2d fighters and platformers (i' m thinking Mega Man and Sonic) really need to be kept 2 dimensional. If they make Killer Instinct 3, it NEEDS to be hand-drawn 2d in high definition.

2d is old and dead, 3d has taken over, it is superior in every way.

That' s merely an opinion, one that isn' t shared by all gamers

There are certain genres where 3D still hasn' t been able to compete with 2D, some genres just work better in 2D..

There are certain genres where 3D still hasn' t been able to compete with 2D, some genres just work better in 2D..

Fighting Games!!

With other games though.... I dunno, but 3-D increases the possibilities tenfold.

One 2D shooter that cannot be beaten is Gunstar Heroes on the MegaDrive, if
more 2D games were like that, then 2D all the way!

First of all, congratulations for the awesome thread, Tiz.

Very welcome fellow Kikizoer.

I have also dreamed of joining the gaming industry one day but it´s really hard to start.

That' s true, but if you' re finding it difficult to start on your own, you should pitch
the idea to some other people (friends) that you know who are interested in this
kind of thing. Also, never dream, put it on your TO-DO list and you will be
fine.

I' ll tell you what I am doing, whilst not being concrete, its at least a step forward,
ATM, I am trying to get as much groundwork done on 6 projects that I have
started. The deadline for this is 2 years. I pitched some ideas to some of my
friends who said that they are interested in it. Already there are about 10 of us,
3 artists, 3 programmers (1 an accomplished C++ graduate and 2 almost finished
their Uni courses), 2 storyboarders and 2 3D artists. Between us, there is nothing
concrete, only visualisation. It is down to me to get the ball rolling, so, like
yourself, I am using this summer to:

Finish up 50+ characters and stories
Storyboard and script the first few chapters of 1 project
Start the animation/3D design for the first bit of CGI
Finish 70% of the groundwork for a " dispensable" project by the end of 2006

It' s a lot, but that is what I have set out to do...

To get people around you motivated, you should try frequent ART DIRECTION
sessions, I have found that doing this helps people get more excited about the
work.

This summer i am going to work a lot in a game demo with a help of a friend of mine. As you can see, that´s a lot of work for only two people but that´s how it is for someone who haven´t yet got in the industry, you have to work as hell hoping that someone up there likes your work.

It' s nice to see your motivated, when you say game demo, do you mean a full
demo where you are going to demonstrate the games mechanics to the company?
Don' t you need a dev kit for that? Or, are you doing it on the PC?
(DO you need a dev kit for PC' s?)

It was really great to read all your posts...i felt even more motivated, it would be nice to meet some of you spmeday at e3 as industry partners.

Expect to see me at E3 2010 or 2012 showcasing 4 brand new games..

(That' s on the deadline and To-Do List)

It would be great to see other like-minded people at E3, and when I release my
game, Kikizo can have exclusive coverage! YAY!!lol. (work with me people!)

what a good thread! Earlier on Majik hit on some of the key aspects of breaking into the industry. When I get to work I' ll update the thread as I' ve been away.

Don' t forget a lot of the larger companies also have open days to illustrate the kind of work they expect from graduates / otherwise skilled individuals, and due to the increasing demands next gen is placing on them the calibre of work considered acceptable is higher than ever. But not impossible to achieve!!

A friend of mine has recently started working at EA as a 3d Artist. His Maya work looked real and was actually showcased at the last EA open day. Ill try to find it and dig out some examples.

I have a massive stack of facts and figures I can dig out at work.. i' ll keep you chaps posted!

ORIGINAL: Silentbomber

2d is old and dead, 3d has taken over, it is superior in every way.

Nostalgia is all that you remember. Never forget that!

I guess that' s why Xbox Live arcade, Nintendo' s virtual console and emulators are so popular these days?
And the DS has got lots of 2D titles that just happens to be some of the best titles ever.
2D rules! 3D allows for more immersion and better storytelling but 2D is where the FUN is.
Just give me LocoRoco for the PSP!

A friend of mine has recently started working at EA as a 3d Artist. His Maya work looked real and was actually showcased at the last EA open day. Ill try to find it and dig out some examples.

Isn' t Maya like the most expensive 3D package software? I think with these 3D
packages, you have to stick to one because they all have different features; I am
in the 3DS MAX camp. It would be good if you could dig out some samples of
his work, could give us all an idea of what the standard is at the moment.

I have a massive stack of facts and figures I can dig out at work.. i' ll keep you chaps posted!

Good, keep this thread alive, if we get some facts and figures in here and stuff, we
could make an interesting book.lol

If you could do that, that would be great, need an idea of what to expect from this
industry storm... Does anyone have a salary list that shows what you can
expect to earn from the different roles in the industry?

Might help people know what they can expect to earn.

I' m sure I can find one - don' t worry too much if your skill is in Max, you can port models between the different formats, and provided you are good neough and flexible enough even if you don' t know the right software but are ace at another, they will invest in your skills to keep you!

I knew you would all disagree with me.

I' m sure I can find one - don' t worry too much if your skill is in Max, you can port models between the different formats, and provided you are good neough and flexible enough even if you don' t know the right software but are ace at another, they will invest in your skills to keep you!

I may have to start experimenting with Maya as well then. I think that if I can get
animation down to a T, and not rely heavil on mo-cap, I think thats a good skill
to have in the industry, if you can produce realistic animation readily by
yourself, I think that, that is a valuable skill - better get animating!

Isn' t Maya like the most expensive 3D package software?

Several years ago Maya was indeed one of the most expensive 3D packages on the market. With the basic/standard version going for $8000 and Maya Unlimited going for around $16 - $17,000+.. But something happened during the past few years and now the prices of all of the professional 3D packages have gotten a MASSIVE price drop..

I think with these 3D packages, you have to stick to one because they all have different features;

While sticking to one 3D package is my preference, the industry pros tend to mix and match different 3D packages for their desired results. While they' ll use one to model characters, they' ll use another to animate them or model the environments, etc..

For those interested, you can check out a book titled, " JAPANESE GAME GRAPHICS - Behind the Scenes of your favorite games" by Works Corporation.. It' s not that old and it' s pretty cool reading about some of the details involved in creating the graphics of games like Panzer Dragoon Orta, Virtual On Marz, Resident Evil Zero, Rygar, Contra: Shattered Soldier, and a bunch of other games. For a lot of the games it tells you the 3D programs that were used, how many different ones, and specifically what they were used for.

Im curious as to if colorblindness will be a serious problem. Ive managed ways around it for the most part, but Im quite sure it' ll eventually kick me in the ass.

ORIGINAL: Mass X

Im curious as to if colorblindness will be a serious problem. Ive managed ways around it for the most part, but Im quite sure it' ll eventually kick me in the ass.

I use to wanna be an electrician but couldn' t do it partly cos of that. As for the gaming industry i' m not at all informed about anything much but I would love to be a programmer....but I don' t think i' d even attempt it.

For those interested, you can check out a book titled, " JAPANESE GAME GRAPHICS - Behind the Scenes of your favorite games" by Works Corporation.. It' s not that old and it' s pretty cool reading about some of the details involved in creating the graphics of games like Panzer Dragoon Orta, Virtual On Marz, Resident Evil Zero, Rygar, Contra: Shattered Soldier, and a bunch of other games. For a lot of the games it tells you the 3D programs that were used, how many different ones, and specifically what they were used for.

I got so excited when I heard they had used 3DS Max for Orta' s hair (if I
remember correctly) in Panzer dragoon, only the lord knows why I got excited,
I don' t even know myself. That book sounds interesting Terry, any idea where I
can get my hands on one? Ebay? Or any good book store?

I love things like
behind the scenes documentaries (only for games, movie ones tend to suck and
be the same), I love seeing the development process and how hard it is,
I reckon that I will love those long nights just staying up and trying to finish an
animation process. I even love staying up and drawing nowadays!

Several years ago Maya was indeed one of the most expensive 3D packages on the market. With the basic/standard version going for $8000 and Maya Unlimited going for around $16 - $17,000+.. But something happened during the past few years and now the prices of all of the professional 3D packages have gotten a MASSIVE price drop..

Any idea how much in GBP we can expect to pay for 3-D packages now? I might
just get self-employed and decide to work on my skills (hyperbolic time chamber
training) for a year and half, and I think I would need a legitimate 3D software
package to show my seriousness.

Also Terry, do you know what the succes rate is of someone trying to sell an idea
to a company? Do companies tend to get arrogant and just not take the idea on?

Or is it a case of if they like it, they ill take you on? Or will they just buy the
project?

Im curious as to if colorblindness will be a serious problem. Ive managed ways around it for the most part, but Im quite sure it' ll eventually kick me in the ass.

A lot of your posts Mass X hold like.. deep things in them.lol

I didn' t know you were colour blind, although I have always wondered about your
avatar...

I was also having a dig around the vaults of Kikizo for old threads, some which
need to be resurrected...

For those of you that don' t check out the EVERYTHING ELSE section:

Here' s an interesting topic

What went on 2 years before you registered at Kikizo

It' s nice to see your motivated, when you say game demo, do you mean a full
demo where you are going to demonstrate the games mechanics to the company?
Don' t you need a dev kit for that? Or, are you doing it on the PC?
(DO you need a dev kit for PC' s?)

Not really...it´s odd but i am beggining ( note that this is my first game...i have done some tests in game scripting but nothing major...just short games to exercise game´s mechanics). It´s hard to say more about it since i am finishing action parts tests...so right now i know how to build a nice game just working to see if i can include even cooler aspects.

But man....you (tiz) have a lot a people with great skills to work with that´s awesome...as i mentioned i am only doing this with a friend of mine....he is graduated in cinema but he can draw like hell....i can draw well enough for sketchs but i am taking programming, story and directing. Also have a good friend that is designer...so if extra help is needed i may rely on him.

As i said i am doing the game demo (think of it as a 3 to 4 hours long game...no fancy dev kits involved...i wish) in 2d but i want to learn 3d studio or maya....as Terry said, online tutorials for 3d suck big time....i tried to learn from them but i ended up with even more doubts than i started.

Demo' s of game' s aren' t really the way to get noticed.

The bedroom coder is pretty much dead and done. Getting a studio to look at a demo is virtually impossible these days. They are only looking for people to fill specific roles. It would take SERIOUS self promotion to get it noticed at all, otherwise it' ll be completely worthless to you.

You need to note that you cannot be a one man show. Trying to show that you can do a bit of everything will only confuse potential employers. If you don' t have a qualification and you don' t have an impressive portfolio of specific stuff, you needn' t bother trying. The only other way would be to set up your own company.

Flash games are cheap and easy though, so if you' re adamant about doing a playable demo, do it in Flash, make it uber-impressive and self promote like a b*tch!

If you have some awesome artwork (2d or 3d) then post on really well known (to the industry) sites like...

http://www.cgsociety.org/

...my man Cliffy B posts there along with other people from the industry and it' s sites like this where they find great digital artists. Oh, and it might be worth getting into jtypes goodbooks (sending him money would be best!) as he has multiple known industry contacts. He runs a games design degree (akin to the one i' m on) and so any advice he gives you should be helpful!