What do Game Artists do shortly before a game goes gold?
interpolator
So I've been thinking about how the next generation of consoles are less than a month away from launching and developers are slaving hard right now to push out those launch titles but, what are the game artists doing?
I imagine programmers are still searching/correcting bugs and maybe trying to squeeze in some extra performance out of their engines but the game artists would have most of their assets already in the game no?
Do they get to leave work early (ha)? Or do they take on other responsibilities (i.e joining the QA team in quality testing)?
I imagine programmers are still searching/correcting bugs and maybe trying to squeeze in some extra performance out of their engines but the game artists would have most of their assets already in the game no?
Do they get to leave work early (ha)? Or do they take on other responsibilities (i.e joining the QA team in quality testing)?
Replies
- QA/Bug testing
- Playtesting
- DLC creation
- Prototyping/Whiteboxing
- Looking for new jobs (ha!)
- Roll onto another project if it's a multi-project studio.
There's always stuff to do!
Heavily.
The last months before a game is released....my gawd, all those bugs.
Oh yeah... and whatever you do, you try like hell not to add any NEW bugs to the project.
All of this combined with drinking ofc.
Usually you're still optimizing / adding stuff until the final hour.
Literally my first reaction upon seeing thread title. This.
Notice something that looks god awful that they had always meant to go back and fix but if they do it now, they'll be killed. So they die a little inside.
Shortly before gold I would say getting any last min bug fixes in you can, then once thats locked and its only programmers working on it for the last week or so I play the game I just spent a ton of timing working on from statue to finish to see it in all its glory. And report any outstanding crashes/bugs that might need to be patched in.
Also, I then get to see all the flaws in the level I worked on and realize they are there forever haha
Optimize like what's been said.
Get back on normal sleep schedules and exercise.
+1
smartest thing you could do and should do. Also make sure to backup all your work.
Guerrilla Games working on new IP confirmed in polycount exclusive.
Yup. And not because of 'Ooh this would look cool on my website' reasons.
THIS! and...
And bug fixing / optimization.
doubting to ever get a job again, taking in whatever job comes in as it's been weeks or month since that game thats now gold was in art production.
happened a lot ^^
yeah, this...
Not everyone has the privilege of a stable job at Naughty Dog :P
Yes.
HAH!
Serious response:
-The idea that you're "done," like Jesse mentioned, seems like an idealistic myth. It's never happened to me. On every game I've shipped, I'm still on it until we are forcefully locked out of P4. Obviously, not major changes, but small tweaks that you end up testing, having buddy checked, and verified, then unlocked, then checked in, then locked back out again.
-Optimization, much like the above point, it can always be better. shit happens. Things slip. Something's missing a proper LOD, a texture is in the wrong compression group, etc..
-Marketing material.
-Comp time. Maybe personal development time, I've been able to bang out sculpts or something with new techniques at past jobs...
-DLC.
And to the portfolio / resume thing - totally. You need to play by the rules, like getting approval for posting shit, not breaking NDA, etc. but you also need to look out for yourself. People have been burned so many times in this industry by buying into loyalty and letting their guard down for the comfort of routine - you need to be prepared. It's not evil, or malicious, or whatever - you just need to keep your own career in mind, be able to push yourself forward if things beyond your control happen, and just be ready to move. It's not about being paranoid and anti-corporation, it's about keeping "yourself" in business. Just have things ready, don't leave it until the last minute because you DO NOT want to be caught with your pants down:
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