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.

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.

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.