[UE4] Indigenous is expanding its tribe!
Hey guys!
We're recruiting for a few positions right now:
1x Lead Animator
1x Environment Artist
I don't want to focus too much on our project here because I've done so in our WIP thread and on our website, located here:
WIP Thread: https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?6626-Indigenous-Game-RPG-Framework
Website: www.indigenousgame.com
What I would like to focus on in this post is you! I want to add a little context to each position and explain what exactly we're looking for in order to increase our productivity.
The one skill that all members of our tribe have (and we require): an insatiable thirst for knowledge. When you encounter a problem that you don't know the answer to, your first response should be "how can I find the answer". Searching these forums, the answers page, the wiki, google searching, and the occasional trip down memory lane on the UDK forums are commonplace among our team.
Here's what we're looking for right now:
1x Lead Animator
Our combat is tense.
It involves a lot of melee attacks, ranged attacks with bows, dangerous animals of all shapes and sizes (with claws, teeth, and tails), lots of different traps, and natural disasters (to name a few things). In order for this type of combat to feel tense, it has to feel smooth and accurate. We have three animators on the team who really enjoy creating animations for Indigenous, but they don't have a ton of Unreal experience. In fact when it comes to animations, none of us actually have a ton of Unreal 4 experience. We've learned enough to implement a few different types of combat animations and a locomotion system, and have messed with blend spaces, animation montages, and state machine blends. We've also got all of this to replicate across the network and are currently enjoying beating each other to death in our free time, but our animations are not smooth. There's lots of glitches, failures in logic, stiffness in rigs and weighting, and a host of other minor issues. No one issue is overwhelming our team, but we simply don't have the manpower to learn all of these aspects of Unreal 4 animation.
We're looking for an animator who can take the reins from start to finish in the animation pipeline. We're looking for someone who can:
1x Environment Artist
We're making islands. If you like to make islands, then hooray. In addition to rocks and grass and bushes and sand, things live on these islands. Players can craft tools and weapons and can buildbridges, walls, huts, and boats (among other things).
We're actually holding off on creating bushes and trees since SpeedTree looks to be a highly supported option with soon-to-be reasonable subscription plans. If you are good at SpeedTree then we certainly want to meet you.
As always, we're looking for people who can hold their own in the team. Here's a brief list of skills we need from our environment artists:
There's a very important question that naturally forms with any recruitment post that I want to answer as completely as possible: What do I get in return for my hard work and time?
Here's what we can offer:
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please email Zach[at]DigitalDrifters[dot]net with examples of how you can cover our requirements (or have in the past, i.e. a portfolio) and I'll shoot you my Skype info.
Thanks, and happy hunting!
Zooch
We're recruiting for a few positions right now:
1x Lead Animator
1x Environment Artist
I don't want to focus too much on our project here because I've done so in our WIP thread and on our website, located here:
WIP Thread: https://forums.unrealengine.com/showthread.php?6626-Indigenous-Game-RPG-Framework
Website: www.indigenousgame.com
What I would like to focus on in this post is you! I want to add a little context to each position and explain what exactly we're looking for in order to increase our productivity.
The one skill that all members of our tribe have (and we require): an insatiable thirst for knowledge. When you encounter a problem that you don't know the answer to, your first response should be "how can I find the answer". Searching these forums, the answers page, the wiki, google searching, and the occasional trip down memory lane on the UDK forums are commonplace among our team.
Here's what we're looking for right now:
1x Lead Animator
Our combat is tense.
It involves a lot of melee attacks, ranged attacks with bows, dangerous animals of all shapes and sizes (with claws, teeth, and tails), lots of different traps, and natural disasters (to name a few things). In order for this type of combat to feel tense, it has to feel smooth and accurate. We have three animators on the team who really enjoy creating animations for Indigenous, but they don't have a ton of Unreal experience. In fact when it comes to animations, none of us actually have a ton of Unreal 4 experience. We've learned enough to implement a few different types of combat animations and a locomotion system, and have messed with blend spaces, animation montages, and state machine blends. We've also got all of this to replicate across the network and are currently enjoying beating each other to death in our free time, but our animations are not smooth. There's lots of glitches, failures in logic, stiffness in rigs and weighting, and a host of other minor issues. No one issue is overwhelming our team, but we simply don't have the manpower to learn all of these aspects of Unreal 4 animation.
We're looking for an animator who can take the reins from start to finish in the animation pipeline. We're looking for someone who can:
- Effectively manage and work with other animators who aren't as technically savvy in regards to Unreal 4 or Maya programming
- Ensure the right Maya tools are in place and the UE4 import process is stable
- Communicate with animators and character artists to ensure the rigs and weights are as accurate as possible and the geometry isn't stretching in ways we don't like
- Create and maintain animation blueprints, animation montages, blend spaces and state machines (we will handle replication)
- Evaluate animations as they come in and be the first and last point in quality control
- Explore advanced animation avenues such as root motion vs. non-root motion, APEX cloth, and extensive use of AnimNotifies
- When needed, create and maintain rigs and weights on human and animal characters
- When needed, animate human and animal characters
- At least 10 hours per week available to work and chat via Skype
1x Environment Artist
We're making islands. If you like to make islands, then hooray. In addition to rocks and grass and bushes and sand, things live on these islands. Players can craft tools and weapons and can buildbridges, walls, huts, and boats (among other things).
We're actually holding off on creating bushes and trees since SpeedTree looks to be a highly supported option with soon-to-be reasonable subscription plans. If you are good at SpeedTree then we certainly want to meet you.
As always, we're looking for people who can hold their own in the team. Here's a brief list of skills we need from our environment artists:
- Expert knowledge of a popular modeling program (blender, max, maya, etc.) - the team currently uses 3DS Max for static props and Maya for animation.
- Expert knowledge of Photoshop (or GIMP I guess...)
- Expert knowledge of a sculpting program (Zbrush, Mudbox, etc.)
- Intermediate to Expert knowledge of Unreal's material editor (an expert in UE3 who is still learning UE4 is fine with us - we can get you up to speed quickly)
- Complete understanding of game art pipelines and workflows - from the baking process to prepping assets for lighting and potential abuse from a level designer
- Demonstrable skill in creating high quality art with a focus on realism
- Knowledge of common lighting and post processing mechanics - you don't need to know how to adjust these settings in unreal, but you do need to know what would look good
- At least 10 hours per week available to work and chat via Skype
There's a very important question that naturally forms with any recruitment post that I want to answer as completely as possible: What do I get in return for my hard work and time?
Here's what we can offer:
- Royalties, as stated in the title. This can be discussed, outlined and drafted up if you so desire (though no one else in our tribe has cared about this yet)
- Experience. We are all industry professionals with shipped titles on lots of AAA games (we can teach you what we know and also how to learn effectively)
- A badass portfolio. We're looking for 2 environment artists because our current artists are both moving to 343 studios. Our level designer opening is due to our current designer moving to work with Bethesda. This happens all. the. time.
- A positive team environment. Everyone enjoys working together on our team. We all weigh in equally to the design and concept of the game and we all share ownership.
- Transparency. We don't mind talking about our game design goals in detail or showing off any cool things we do because we know that no one will make Indigenous better than we can. If you want to post any of your work online - anywhere - it just has to pass internal review for quality purposes and it has to be somewhat tasteful. We also don't mind sharing knowledge with other development teams or the forums themselves. We want to be as open as possible with the development of Indigenous, without becoming too distracted from our primary goal of making the game.
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please email Zach[at]DigitalDrifters[dot]net with examples of how you can cover our requirements (or have in the past, i.e. a portfolio) and I'll shoot you my Skype info.
Thanks, and happy hunting!
Zooch
Replies
Thanks!
At this point we're nearly code-locked while we wait for art to come through - our programmers are waiting for you!