I attended the Brighton Develop Conference on Thursday 13th July 2017 to research the games industry, and because it looked fun.
Surprisingly it was incredibly informative and a great place to get recruited, if you're looking for game dev work in the UK.
There's far too much to get round in even three days but that's all you've got.
From "Taking the Sound of Star Wars: Battlefront to VR" to "The Making of Horizon Zero Dawn", it's a packed event.
Here's some of my rough notes from the experience, as some folks have asked me to share them:
Want to start your game company up, legit?
You can get it done today for £6.99 with "Company Formations 247" http://www.companyformations247.co.uk/?gclid=COKuubfSpNUCFde6GwodK6UH1w
EGX = Eurogamer Expo (big in the Euro game sector)
Games to check out: Journey and Depression Quest, enjoy and examine the subtexts.
Jeroen Janssen of Happy Volcano (currently working on a game called "Winter") gave a great talk min how not to screw up your first approach to a gaming company.
What he wants to see on business's cards:
1. Name
2. What do you actually do?
3. Show me what you got!! Ensure you're showing some well printed imagery/urls
4. A picture of you, so he can remember who you were (these guys see a LOT of people).
5. A fairly good amount of white space, for writing down what a terrible/great person you were when he met you, etc.
Portfolio
Put in the effort- bells and whistles to wow, Behance is OK, though your own site looks more professional.
Show the range of your work- styles, etc.
Best work first
No filler
School projects/past experience work really help.
Evidence of group project work is OK, if it's clear what you did.
Personal work is a must! Interesting one this, he's of the opinion that it really shows what you're about, so indicates if you'll be a good fit for his company.
Do not be a one trick pony
No Manga- he's not a fan, but obviously if you're going for a job on a manga-style gameHere you should ignore this :)
Details: textures up close, details and close ups of artwork and assets.
Do not do the sliced texture overview shot- whatever it is, he hates it.
Show your work "in Engine", demos how it sits in context.
Be prepared to talk through your work- practice this with your assistants and minions :)
Emails
Include links to portfolio
Start date and end date for internships (mainly of use for students)
Attachments: no attachments, just URL to folio (other industry sectors and Art Directors may not share this opinion).
Internship fairs and business events
Research the company- what games it's making, who they are, what they do.
Show your work on an iPad (good for high-res work, colours look right for screens), charge your batteries- conferences are long!
Respect your assigned time slots.
Finish a piece of work, whether it's a game or groups of characters, etc.
Finished projects show you can complete projects to the appropriate standard.
Not all session notes are relevant or interesting enough to include here but I hope this excerpt encourages you to book your ticket for next year, it could be the best conference you attend in 2018.
See you there! :)
Surprisingly it was incredibly informative and a great place to get recruited, if you're looking for game dev work in the UK.
There's far too much to get round in even three days but that's all you've got.
From "Taking the Sound of Star Wars: Battlefront to VR" to "The Making of Horizon Zero Dawn", it's a packed event.
Here's some of my rough notes from the experience, as some folks have asked me to share them:
Want to start your game company up, legit?
You can get it done today for £6.99 with "Company Formations 247" http://www.companyformations247.co.uk/?gclid=COKuubfSpNUCFde6GwodK6UH1w
EGX = Eurogamer Expo (big in the Euro game sector)
Games to check out: Journey and Depression Quest, enjoy and examine the subtexts.
Jeroen Janssen of Happy Volcano (currently working on a game called "Winter") gave a great talk min how not to screw up your first approach to a gaming company.
What he wants to see on business's cards:
1. Name
2. What do you actually do?
3. Show me what you got!! Ensure you're showing some well printed imagery/urls
4. A picture of you, so he can remember who you were (these guys see a LOT of people).
5. A fairly good amount of white space, for writing down what a terrible/great person you were when he met you, etc.
Portfolio
Put in the effort- bells and whistles to wow, Behance is OK, though your own site looks more professional.
Show the range of your work- styles, etc.
Best work first
No filler
School projects/past experience work really help.
Evidence of group project work is OK, if it's clear what you did.
Personal work is a must! Interesting one this, he's of the opinion that it really shows what you're about, so indicates if you'll be a good fit for his company.
Do not be a one trick pony
No Manga- he's not a fan, but obviously if you're going for a job on a manga-style gameHere you should ignore this :)
Details: textures up close, details and close ups of artwork and assets.
Do not do the sliced texture overview shot- whatever it is, he hates it.
Show your work "in Engine", demos how it sits in context.
Be prepared to talk through your work- practice this with your assistants and minions :)
Emails
Include links to portfolio
Start date and end date for internships (mainly of use for students)
Attachments: no attachments, just URL to folio (other industry sectors and Art Directors may not share this opinion).
Internship fairs and business events
Research the company- what games it's making, who they are, what they do.
Show your work on an iPad (good for high-res work, colours look right for screens), charge your batteries- conferences are long!
Respect your assigned time slots.
Finish a piece of work, whether it's a game or groups of characters, etc.
Finished projects show you can complete projects to the appropriate standard.
Not all session notes are relevant or interesting enough to include here but I hope this excerpt encourages you to book your ticket for next year, it could be the best conference you attend in 2018.
See you there! :)
