This is just a quick survey post to see where the talent lies at CCN, so include the level you think you are at from the following levels:

Ignorant, Novice, Intermediate, Pro, Specialist

Here are my answers.

Producer: Intermediate
Designer: Ignorant
Artist: Novice
Programmer: Pro
Level Designer: Novice
Sound Engineer: Intermediate
Tester: Ignorant

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Sam Washburn

Producer: Novice
Designer: Intermediate
Artist: Intermediate
Programmer: Pro
Level Designer: Novice
Sound Engineer: Ignorant
Tester: Ignorant

EDIT: My resume would be better to post lol

[This message has been edited by jestermax (edited January 29, 2007).]

*sigh*, Jack of all trades, master of none I suppose All except producing, I've never had a team before, so I don't have much experience in that.

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The time for speaking comes rarely, the time for being never departs.
George Macdonald

Producer: Intermediate
Designer: Pro
Artist: Intermediate
Programmer: Almost ignorant
Level Designer: Pro
Sound Engineer: ignorant
Tester: Intermediate

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

So, insanepoet...

How could you do such a thing?

Producer: Novice
Designer: Intermediate
Artist: Novice
Programmer: Pro
Level Designer: Intermediate
Sound Engineer: Ignorant
Tester: Pro

That's about it for me. Now I wonder if EA is hiring...

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

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Sam Washburn

I would think having a "mad skill" in this area would be being able to analyze flaws in software that are both static (game: missing tile in a floor, app: Misspelled words) and dynamic (game: you can triangle jump in such-and-such a place and skip three levels, app: if the window scrolls while dragging a box, the graphics glitch) And to be able to log and retest bugs in a "tedious and grueling" fashion (as wikipedia states)

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Sam Washburn

Me:
Producer: Novice
Designer: Intermediate
Artist: Ignorant
Programmer: 2D Pro, 3D Novice
Level Designer: Pro
Sound Engineer: Ignorant
Tester: Pro

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All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!! chown -r us ./base
"After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless.'' -- Tao of Programming Book 2

quote:

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Originally posted by CPUFreak91:
Interesting seeing how everyone rates their skills

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You mean seeing how everyone over-rates their skills.

quote:

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Originally posted by Lazarus:
You mean seeing how everyone over-rates their skills.

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I gotta do some 3D work. I'm almost embarrassed that I have barely touched 3D programming.

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All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!! chown -r us ./base
"After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless.'' -- Tao of Programming Book 2

[This message has been edited by CPUFreak91 (edited January 29, 2007).]

I believe, if you consider yourself intermediate in any of these categories, then you should be able to get a job at a game studio. I know a little of what it takes to do some of these jobs:

A producer has to deal with project leads, designers, investors, publishers, lawyers, and (if its a console game) either Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft directly. This is a big deal, all the weight is on this person's shoulders.

Designers have to specialize in multiple disciplines including art and software design. Interfaces are especially important. Designers have to learn how to use complicated game design tools and scripting languages. This is not easy.

Artists have to be good. They have to know how to draw well--like approaching graphic novel quality. They also need to know how to use industry standard tools like 3DSMax and Maya. They have to know how to do high polygon models, texturing/skinning, and animation. They have to know how to produce high quality models and animations.

A game programmer has to know C++ better than the back of his own hand and be able to pick up any language or in-house scripting language quickly and efficiently. He or she should know low level concepts, like memory allocation, bit shifting, in-lining, and some ASM. He or she should also know high level concepts and how to implement them in C++, including: generic programming, interfaces, templates, inheritance. They also have to be experts at 3D math including scaling/rotation/translation in 3D space with vectors, matrices, quaternions, etc.

Level designer = artist + designer.

A sound engineer or sound designer, is an expert at crafting and editing sounds, and creating a complete and coherent sound palette for a game, with deep knowledge of industry standard tools and specialized knowledge of utilizing sounds in simulated 3D space.

A Tester has to be good at games, I mean really good. They have to have the patience to play the same level of the same game over and over, day after day. They have to communicate well and be diligent to reproduce bugs and retest them, once they have been "fixed". They also have to know how to use complex testing suites. They have to put up with low pay, low respect, and low job security.

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|steveth45|
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~~~boogie woogie woogie~~~

On the scale that I pulled out of the air. I was ranking Pro as Professional, i.e. one who does it for a living--that is works as a game studio, or could.

But, every time someone make a scale to rank yourself on, nobody interprets it the same way. Still, even if this survey shows diamonds in the rough, I still think its great to see people's bents.

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Sam Washburn

Programmers - Novice in gaming. Limited gaming knowledge and really have no clue about 3D stuff. Other than that, I know programming...just not in the gaming field.

Sound engineers - I would have considered myself a Specialist many years ago (late 80's/early 90's) when I had 5+ hours a day to write music, record, create/synthesize sounds. I have a Minor in Music with an emphasis on Sound Synthesis and Recording. Most of the songs I have written also contain sounds I created. I have not kept up with synths, recording, etc. in years, so I am tending more towards the Novice now.

Testers - Novice to Intermediate. I don't mind testing and can find fulfillment in it. I understand various testing concepts and ideas. Would not necessarily want to test games, though.

Producer: Novice/ignorant
Designer: Intermediate
Artist: Ignorant
Programmer: Intermediate
Level Designer: Novice/Intermediate
Sound Engineer: Ignorant
Tester: Novice

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Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
--Matt. 19:26

"Time is an excellent teacher, but eventually it kills all of its students."

Producer: Ignorant/Novice //Maybe
Designer: Novice
Artist: Novice
Programmer: Novice +
Level Designer: Novice
Sound Engineer: Ignorant
Tester: Novice - I can usually find a mispelling in a game, though not a bug, hmm.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

[This message has been edited by Mene-Mene (edited January 30, 2007).]

Producer: Novice -
Designer: Novice
Artist: Intermediate
Programmer: Intermediate - depends on language implementation.
Level Designer: Ignorant - or worse. The only game i designed with levels looked like 'attack of the pong creatures'
Sound Engineer: Intermediate - Although I excell in some aspects of sound engineering, I don't really think I have a grasp of what today's youth likes in music. If the Genre is 1990's or before, I can hit it 100% of the time. I have the equipment to hit it home though.
Tester: Pro, I can usually find a bug in most games, even those that have been produced and mass distoed. The funnest thing for me is trying to break games and make them stop working!

Nice thread BTW

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

[This message has been edited by insanepoet (edited January 30, 2007).]

quote:

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Originally posted by samw3:
On the scale that I pulled out of the air. I was ranking Pro as Professional, i.e. one who does it for a living--that is works as a game studio, or could.

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All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!! chown -r us ./base
"After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless.'' -- Tao of Programming Book 2

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

quote:

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Originally posted by kenman:
I have the equipment to hit it home though.

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The last stuff I bought was back in 1995 or so. That was the last batch of music equipment I bought. A co-worker (also a musician) told me, "Buy all your stuff when you're single because you'll never get anything once you are married." I started dating my wife in 1996 and, needless to say, he was right.

I've wanted to re-buy a Mirage Sampler as mine died many years ago and it has several sounds which were sort of my trademarks on several songs.

total lvl: 13 out of 20

Ignorant = 0, Novice = 1 ... Specialist = 4

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Kiwee Stuff Website:
http://kiwee.gibbering.net

[This message has been edited by kiwee (edited January 30, 2007).]

[This message has been edited by kiwee (edited January 30, 2007).]

i ignore many things but i am not an ignorant person.

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Matthew(22:36-40)"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Whose Son Is the Christ

You guys shouldn't be too hard on judging yourselves...I was just trying to help an ex-Acclaim programmer who's--ahem--having issues figuring out Reality engine. People in the industry are not necessarily the best at everything.

quote:

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Originally posted by SSquared:
The last stuff I bought was back in 1995 or so. That was the last batch of music equipment I bought. A co-worker (also a musician) told me, "Buy all your stuff when you're single because you'll never get anything once you are married." I started dating my wife in 1996 and, needless to say, he was right.

I've wanted to re-buy a Mirage Sampler as mine died many years ago and it has several sounds which were sort of my trademarks on several songs.

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Well, I have to respectfully disagree, I have had a totally different experiance. I had some neat equipment before I was married, but now what I have really rocks. My wife is very supportive of my hobbies (music) and my programming. I have a top of the line Roland sound module, Audigy sound card with the external inputs, 100% digital recording studio, digital audio convertors, etc. Not to mention my killer guitars. Sound recording is probably my strongest point.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

[This message has been edited by Mene-Mene (edited January 31, 2007).]

quote:

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Originally posted by kenman:

Well, I have to respectfully disagree, I have had a totally different experiance. Sound recording is probably my strongest point.

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Cool! By the way, my co-worker told me that while he was buying all sorts of equipment (and he was married, with kids). His point was meant to be humorous in that once you get married, your toys will lose out to that new bathroom, or new kitchen, etc.

My problem was, I stopped writing music. I continue to be involved in music, but not to the extent I used to be. Basically, I have everything I need for doing worship music and am happy with it. So, I also haven't felt the need to buy anything. It has nothing to do with my wife. In fact, she would LOVE for me to write music again. It's just, until I find the equipment insufficient for my needs, I will continue to use what I have. Although I still really want a working Ensoniq Mirage. :-)

Music used to be my life.

No doubt, my wife supports my hobby. I have been doing photography for a few years and she is all for it. In fact, I am looking to get another lens fairly soon. I feel with photography, the way I felt writing/recording music. Photography has really taken over as my main hobby.

...and even though I haven't bought new synths or recording equipment, my wife has definitely supported me in all of my music endeavors over the years.

Anyway, I don't want you to think my wife is not supportive. That could not be further from the truth. Part of the enjoyment of a hobby is having a wife who appreciates and accepts it.

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

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They will know that we are Christians by our love.

Designer: ignorant
Artist: ignorant

Programmer: novice (it might've been specialist if i had focus & determination all these years )

Level Designer: ignorant

Sound Engineer: ignorant

Tester: ignorant

*hangs head in newbish shame*

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proverbs 17:28
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

proverbs 25:7
open rebuke is better than secret love.

www.gfa.org - Gospel for Asia

www.persecution.com - Voice of the Martyrs

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

[This message has been edited by Mene-Mene (edited January 31, 2007).]

Producer: Novice (worked in groups and oversaw things, no pro groups though )
Designer: Pro (I think if you have an imagination you're a pro)
Artist: Novice ( I make mainly low-poly models)
Programmer: Novice ( I don't know C++ )
Level Designer: Pro (I've made em before, and I've played enough levels)
Sound Engineer: Ignorant (if I had the right tools this could change)
Tester: Pro (not very hard to do this long as you can nitpick )

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[This message has been edited by LAVA (edited January 31, 2007).]

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

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|steveth45|
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