Visceral Games News and Updates

Wanted: Senior Animator

Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Responsibilities
•    Create in-game action heavy animations.
•    Implement and tune game animations collaboratively with combat designers.
•    Work collaboratively in pods and able to be self managed.
•    Support the Lead in the overall animation direction for the game, while also taking ownership over establishing a cohesive vision for the characters.
•    Work collaboratively with the Game Design discipline to understand specific requirements, and support the communication of gameplay mechanics information back to the player through animation.

Requirements
•    Extensive experience using Maya.
•    Passion for action adventure games.
•    Understanding of combat timing.
•    Ability to work fast with quick iteration time.
•    Must be an avid gamer, of course.

Experience & Qualities Sought
•    At least 4-5 years of game development experience.
•    Animation work on at least one shipped AAA title, action title preferred.
•    Experienced with paired combat animations, weapons, and creatures.
•    Highly collaborative and a believer in iteration.
•    Strong verbal and written communication skills.
•    Knowledge of character rigging, helpful.
•    Cinematic camera/animation work, a plus.
•    Low level scripting, a plus.

About this Project
This project is the sequel to a major new IP at the award-winning Visceral Games, creators of Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno. Our team values are as follows: Gameplay comes first, controller feel is everything, culture of creativity, be highly iterative, playtest early and often, learn from failure, work fast and smart, and surround ourselves with the best talent in the world. The Games Label at EA is 100% committed to this IP, and the IP into film, television, comics, graphic novels, action figures, and the web. The game sequel will set new quality standards and make the franchise the world-leader in the action/melee-combat genre.

APPLY HERE: https://jobs.ea.com/myEA/profile.aspx?action=apply&postid=a0z50000000J6OX

Wanted: Lead Level Designer

Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Responsibilities:

• Conceptualize, build, script, and tune levels for the game.
• Working with the Design Lead, develop and manage the overall beat chart by which the front-to-back game experience is crafted.
• Lead other designers, and lead the process by which the levels will be executed.
• Help finalize the game mechanics by whiteboxing and prototyping environments in which those mechanics will be used.
• Own the overall gameplay execution in those levels, and be able to work collaboratively with art, animation, audio, engineering, and design to create memorable experiences.
• Drive design by taking the initiative to bring parties together to execute on the vision for the levels.

Requirements:

• Extensive experience with 3D level design tools (UnrealEd, Maya, Max, Hammer, Radiant or similar 3D editor).
• Previous experience and interest with a gameplay scripting language or high level programming language.
• Thorough knowledge of the game development process.
• Must be an avid gamer, of course.

Experience & Qualities Sought:

• Ability to generate stories about the second-to-second gameplay, and logically decompose the construction (under the hood) of these stories using the tools.
• Previous experience making single-player levels.
• Previous experience leading other designers, providing them with metrics and rules, and inspiring them to greatness.
• Some artistic background, formal or otherwise, 2D or 3D, is a big plus.
• An architectural interest, formal or casual, is a big plus.
• Interest in cinema, and understanding of dramatic camera framing, is a big plus.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

About this Project:

This project is the sequel to a major new IP at the award-winning Visceral Games, creators of Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno. Our team values are as follows: Gameplay comes first, controller feel is everything, culture of creativity, be highly iterative, playtest early and often, learn from failure, work fast and smart, and surround ourselves with the best talent in the world. The Games Label at EA is 100% committed to this IP, and the IP into film, television, comics, graphic novels, action figures, and the web. The game sequel will set new quality standards and make the franchise the world-leader in the action/melee-combat genre.

APPLY HERE: https://jobs.ea.com/myEA/profile.aspx?action=apply&postid=a0z50000000Ifbd

LIFE AS A DEVELOPMENT QA ASSISTANT LEAD

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In Visceral’s QA Department, we pride ourselves on helping the Development Teams produce the highest quality of titles. I am often asked what it’s like working in Visceral’s QA Department, so I thought I would share my experiences.

My day-to-day usually starts out with a hot Caramel Macchiato. I get to my desk, and usually take a brief moment to straighten up my collection of GI Joe figures. Once they are in place, I hit the workload. I organize our daily tasks, and help lead our QA Team in their testing efforts. We look at the game, and make sure that it’s functional and looking good. When we do find any bugs or issues, we dive into the C++ Code and get our hands dirty, trying to help the Developers weed out any problems. And every now and then, when I am too slow to duck, I take a Nerf Ball or dart to the eye.

The Visceral QA Team is very unique. It’s unlike any other QA Teams that I have worked with in the past. We are extremely passionate about our work, and dedicated to doing whatever it takes to help make the best games possible. We have easily mowed through 15 hour work days, deadline pressures, and a host of other obstacles in our way. Regardless of the situation, we band together to succeed, and at times even sacrifice our own best interests for the good of our teammates.

I am often asked what it takes to become a tester at Visceral. I can tell you that you have to have passion for gaming, be able to respond well to pressure, and be able to adapt to changing circumstances every day. I arrived at EA almost 4 years ago, and set a trail of fire through the QA Department with hard work

Right now I’m focused on our newest title at Visceral, Dante’s Inferno, and it’s looking better and better every day. It seems that every day I get in, and take a look at the game, there is always something newly added in the game that makes me go “aww – did that just happen?” or, “dude, that’s really gross.” It’s absolutely fantastic to test a game like Inferno. It seems that storytelling can be lacking in games today, and this title is also a refreshing reminder that stories “do” matter in games.

It’s also exciting to be following the strong group we have in the studio. They have made a great impact on me personally, and they have made it that much more important for me to dedicate myself to help make our titles great.

Support Your Local Game Developer

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I’m guessing that some of you game developers and aspiring game developers out there have experienced a similar situation:

Several days during the week before I go to sleep and some weekend days I play video games. Over the years my girlfriend (now fiancée) has been growing wary of my rational that it’s crucial to play these video games because I’m a game developer and it’s part of my job, or at least, it makes me a better game developer. I need to stay current on trends, game mechanics, competitors, different styles, you name it. Sure, most of the time I enjoy this study but it’s also my job. Sometimes movies, comic books and even poems are important for game development research. Rarely does traveling to the mall, Bed Bath and Beyond or Macy’s help in this research. It should also be pointed out that a large TV screen is ideal for researching these games and movies. It’s important to see all the details.

So to help combat the eye rolling, dirty looks and sarcastic comments from our significant others when we pick up that controller you should leave some comments in support of studying video games.

Together we can use this post to show that we’re not alone and this is just part of being a game developer.

Thanks for playing.

How I Turned Playing Games into Research

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Having no clue how to actually get into the game industry, I went to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo for my Computer Science degree. After graduating, learning about programming languages, AI, animation, and coding but no more about the game industry itself, I started looking for game testing positions.

The EA Redwood Shores studio was hiring, and I was soon testing on the first Godfather game. After about a month of mainline testing, a new QA team was formed, designed to work closer with the developers and handle more focused tasks. I was a part of this Dev Test group for about three months when an opening appeared in the Godfather venue design team. Due to my hard work and some lucky timing, I was offered and agreed to transfer to development. I spent the next 5 months working with 4 other designers before the game shipped.

This short experience, the contacts I formed, and the reputation I made for being hard-working and attentive to detail were enough to help me land my first design interview and subsequent job. In 2007, I returned to EARS (now Visceral Games) to be the designer for two levels of Dead Space.

Mine is just one story of how to break into the game industry. The advice I can give to those interested is to work hard, make friends in the right places, and never stop “researching” the games we all enjoy.

Visceral Games at E3 2009

Sat, 30 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Inferno team is getting ready to unveil a new circle of Hell – Anger, in a special behind closed door theater-style station at EA’s booth. It’s a fantastic demo that our team has really been working hard to finish and I think it’s going to amaze people who get to see it. If you’re at the show and want to see the game, all you need to do is line up by the huge statue of Dante (you can’t miss it!) and you’ll be one of the first people to ever see this part of the game outside of our studio.Dead Space Extraction has the honor of being in both Nintendo's booth and a featured at their Press Conference on Tuesday morning. At the EA booth, we’re going to be showing how our drop-in/drop-out co-op mode will work for the very first time. If you’re at the show come on by and play with us.

With both products looking fantastic, we are pretty pumped up about E3 here at the studio.

It's been a couple weeks since the Visceral announcement and the response from the gaming community has been overwhelmingly positive. I guess I get to keep my job then. I was a bit worried about how such a dramatic change would be viewed (especially by my bosses) but I'm still here.

Getting back to the games, both Extraction and Inferno are in a great place. Extraction is almost Alpha, fully playable and the media are more amazed by how great the game looks every time the team shows it. Inferno is absolutely kicking ass right now. It looks unbelievable and something new goes in every single day.

So if you're heading to E3 come check out the EA booth and stop by and say hello to me and the Visceral developers. And while you're at it I should mention that EA's lineup is one of the best in years, so make sure you make some time to see everything our entire booth. E3 2009 should be a great show. Personally, I'm very pleased E3 has gone back to the big extravagant affair it used to be. The industry needs to have a big party and celebration like this.

And if you’re not at E3, check out the official Dante's Inferno and Dead Space Extraction sites, as well as the various online outlets covering the show for the new screenshots and the new trailers we have coming out for both games – they are amazing and we can’t wait to share them with you.

Thanks again for checking out our website. Don't forget to register and stop by often. We'll be providing new content all the time and we look forward to your comments, insights and suggestions.

Concept Art at Visceral Games

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As many of you well know, EA Redwood Shores recently renamed itself to be Visceral Games to show our studios’ new focus and direction in the type of games that we want to be making for ourselves and ultimately for gamers. I’m very excited to be part of Visceral Games’ new beginnings. As part of this new direction, we have this section of our website to share with our community the art work that is coming out of Visceral.

The many talented concept artists at our studio produce an enormous amount of work for both pre-production and production, but unfortunately a lot of our work never gets seen outside of our studio. I hope that this section will give our artists a chance to show off all of their hard work and their contributions to our studio. This is a departure from working on licensed games where the materials were a bit more guarded. We’ll be showing both approved artwork and work that didn’t quite making it into our games. (Regardless, unapproved artwork still plays a crucial part in helping us determine the visual direction of our games.) We hope that you will find enjoyment in seeing how we bring our ideas to life, from sketches all the way to what you see in the final game.

We would like to hear from you and what you think of our work. If there are things that you would like us to share with you about concept art, please let us know. We’ll try to make it happen. We want this website to be as much of the community’s as it is ours.

We’ll have more art work to show you in future posts, but here’s a small sampling of the concept art team’s work.

Visceral Games Photo Gallery

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Check out the images below and be among the first to see the Visceral Games studio.

The History of Visceral Games

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Over the years our talent and experience grew, as the studio's focus shifted away from EA owned IP and towards licensed action titles like James Bond, Lord of the Rings, The Simpsons and more, we learned a great deal about what makes a good action game, and the desire to turn our own ideas in to intense action games grew. With games like Dead Space, Dead Space Extraction and Dante’s Inferno, we feel Visceral Games is a return to an older identity and a realization of our future.

In this portion of the site we hope to share some stories from the history of the studio that demonstrate the rich legacy, the incredible talent and the continuing dream of this team. We welcome your thoughts, pictures, input and what can help us create even better games. We want to hear from you.

Jobs at Visceral

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

It is our hope that this will give you a real sense of what it is like to work here in every capacity. We also will share some of our personal journeys on how we broke into the industry. Everyone's story is different and we hope that this section will help some of the next wave of great game makers break into the field. If you find there are certain disciplines, jobs or positions you'd like to hear more from, just let us know.

Dead Space Media Gallery

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We will be sharing new assets and information regularly on the Visceral site, so stay tuned here for unprecedented access to Dead Space Extraction.

Dead Space Extraction Media Gallery

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We will be sharing new assets and information regularly on the Visceral site, so stay tuned here for unprecedented access to Dead Space Extraction.

Dante's Inferno Media Gallery

Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We will be sharing new assets and information regularly on the Visceral site, so stay tuned here for unprecedented access to the Inferno.

Glen Schofield on Visceral Games

Tue, 12 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Redwood Shores Studio, EA's longest running studio, is changing its name to Visceral Games. In the last two years, the studio has adopted a new identity as we've committed ourselves to a new set of development principles and game design values. We make intense, top quality games that push the boundaries of action entertainment. The name change represents who we are and what we believe games should be. Dead Space, Dead Space: Extraction, Dante's Inferno and other concepts in the pipeline illustrate where the studio's expertise and passion lay.

We are extremely proud of the EA Redwood Shores Studio legacy. The name change to Visceral Games is just the next step in the evolving story of EA's studios. We are not abandoning our past but embracing the future. With an obsessive focus on excellence and a relentless commitment to intense action, Visceral Games is set to execute all future games at the quality, innovation and polish of Dead Space. This is just the beginning. Join us as we forge ahead.

This web site is designed for you. Your feedback helps shape who we are, so we want to hear from you. Our goal with this web site is to reach out and create a two way dialogue with our community and fans. The web site is still under construction but we have big plans for it. So come back often and talk to us. We're listening.

Visceral Games: It's in our blood!