Thanks everybody for being patient for the extra week while we rounded up answers from our programming, art, writing and HR teams. From those teams respectively, we have Lead Gameplay Programmer Braeden Shosa, Lead Server Programmer Susan Thayer, Environment Art Lead Dave Beetlestone, Lead Writer Bobby Stein and Head of Recruiting Thomas Abrams.
Q: You had once talked about the iterative aspect of the game development. Are you still using this method considering the time restrictions that come with a two-week cadence?
Braeden Shosa: Yep! Keep in mind, living world updates are worked on for a few months before you see them roll out in bi-weekly releases. By the time one of those updates ship, we’ve played the heck out of it to find the fun and stabilize it for release.
Q: What is the day to day routine like for a developer at ArenaNet?
Braeden:
- Walk up 10 flights of stairs to wake myself up.
- Get coffee and cereal to further wake myself up.
- Check for any fires that need my immediate attention, like crashes or urgent emails.
- Respond to outstanding emails from the previous day.
- Resume working on whatever I was coding the day before.
- As a programmer I typically have a long term project I’m working on and shorter term stuff that comes up from day to day.
- Thoroughly test my changes on my machine, check them into Perforce and kick off a build so my coworkers and our alpha testers can start exercising my code.
- Maybe review some of my colleagues’ code (we like to keep our code quality bar high by reviewing each other’s work).
- Lather, rinse, repeat—except replace breakfast with lunch and stairs with walking outside. Also insert all-calls for playing other teams’ work-in-progress.
- And insert the occasional meeting some days, typically for planning the technical requirements of work we’d like to do in the future.
Q: How would you compare working at ArenaNet as opposed to past companies you’ve worked for?
Braeden: Working at ArenaNet is orders of magnitude better than working at Domino’s. Seriously, it was my first gig in the industry and I’ve been here for ten years as of this week. So I can’t compare it to other studios for you from personal experience, but I hear it’s pretty good in comparison.
Dave Beetlestone: The fact that I’ve been at ArenaNet for more than 10 years definitely speaks to how I’d compare it to past companies. This is my 20th year in the industry and I’ve had the chance to work at 5 different studios during that time. Each company definitely had its own strengths, but when I compare them side by side to ArenaNet… they don’t come close.
Q: Do you rigidly follow any sort of software engineering pipeline for efficiency? In the end, they’re organizational methods, but it would be neat to hear if/how they’re used in the Living Story release schedule.
Braeden: We borrow from agile development practices only to the extent that they are demonstrably beneficial to a given team or project. We don’t employ a one-size-fits-all approach. For example, many teams don’t have a fixed schedule like the living world teams, so they’ll employ the development practices that work best for them. GW2 Development Director, Kristen Bornemann, just gave a great talk at GDC precisely about this topic if you want to check it out.
Q: How complex are the programs used for making Guild Wars 2 compared to Guild Wars 1 or other games?
Braeden: As a programmer, I spend most of my time in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 which is an industry standard IDE especially for Windows game development. It’s a very powerful tool for coding and debugging, but I wouldn’t say it’s complex, as the UI does a great job of showing you only what you need. If you’re curious, you can experiment with Visual Studio Express for free.
Q: What specially-made programs does ArenaNet use, and what are they used for?
Braeden: We have a ton of in-house tools. We make tools all the time! Some of our big ones include Duo, our content authoring tool primarily used by designers to make everything you’re playing in GW2, and MapEdit, our awesome environment editor used for creating those beautiful maps you’re running around in, there’s also ViewModel which allows us to check out our models after they’ve been exported from Maya and before they’re in game. We also have tools that live within third-party tools—like our plugins for Maya. There are also lots of little tools you’ll never hear about that all serve important roles in various processes here, including the build process. You can get a glimpse of some more of our tools in this ArenaNet GDC presentation.
Q: Do great ideas ever spring up from a night out at the pub with fellow coworkers drinking beer?
Susan Thayer: Yes, but it’s usually Scotch whisky and only occasionally beer.
Q: For those who live on the East Coast of the US, I’m always a bit leery applying for a position on the West coast, due to the possibility of an interview face to face. So, has ArenaNet, or anyone else that you heard of, performed a Skype interview? Or does the applicant have to bite the bullet and spend money to fly out?
Thomas Abrams: We Skype interview all the time. It’s a part of our process for candidates that are out of state. Also we pay for candidates to fly out after our Skype interviews. We would never ask a candidate to pay for flights to come interview for us.
Q: What background do most coders/programmers come from at ArenaNet?
Thomas: We have programmers from all sorts of backgrounds. We are always just looking for talented programmers. You don’t have to have worked for a gaming company in order for us to hire you. Make sure that you do have code samples that highlight your programming skills. Potential employers will ask for it, but make sure it’s your best current work!
Q: From what I’ve researched, it’s notoriously difficult to get into the games industry without networking/connections with other people in the industry. Do you have any suggestions on how to build up a network and meet different people working in the industry?
Thomas: LinkedIn is a big networking tool. It’s your live resume and a way for people to connect and network with you. Also, there are a ton of industry meet ups that you can attend in your local areas. GDC is one of the biggest networking events to attend. Make sure you get out there and network.
Q: What do you look for in an artist’s portfolio, both in size and scope?
Thomas: I always encourage candidates to pick out their top 5 studios that they would love to get a job at. Now your portfolio should mirror their style of characters, animation, or concept. Our leads want to be able to see something in your work that can relate to ours. I’m not saying that you should mirror our work; I’m saying that the style should be similar. But make sure your best work in your portfolio. Have your friends and others critique it before making it public. It is hard to break into games and especially the art side of the business. So it’s important that whatever work you put in front of future employers is your best work and relevant to their style.
Q: What is it like working in-house as opposed to freelance in the game industry?
Dave: I’ve only done a limited amount of contract work in the industry, but for my taste, it doesn’t come close to working in-house as a full time member of a development team. The creative collaboration that happens all throughout the day and the sense of accomplishment when all the hard work finally makes it into the hands of the player is something that’s tough to describe unless you’ve been through it. Contract work typically pays a bit more because of the “gun for hire” approach, but I still don’t think it compares to the feeling of being a full time member of a team.
Q: What is the learning curve if one already has extensive knowledge of Zbrush and Mudbox, Maya, AfterEffects, Photoshop, and the smaller 3D design aid tools such as nDo2, UVLayout, and WorldMachine for one to find ease of access with the in-house proprietary software, and how long does it usually take for a new hire to learn said software?
Dave: We require artists to have extensive knowledge in many of the standard tools (Max, Maya, Photoshop, Zbrush etc.) because it definitely helps artists to hit the ground running. That being said, we also have some very powerful proprietary tools that are used differently across the art department and each tool has a different amount of ramp up time. The Character and Creature artists use very specific materials and methods that are quite different from the standard workflow on the Environment team and since we’re all responsible for the overall frame rate, we have to go about creating models and using our tools in many different ways. If I had to guess, the longest ramp-up time for proprietary software would probably be our world building tools. Our map editor is about as complex as any of the standard tools on the market and although it has an intuitive approach to creating environments, the amount of complex nuances in the program is staggering. An artist may be able to create something that looks decent in only a couple of weeks, but to create something amazing it would take at least 6 months to begin to learn how to fine tune the details.
Q: As concept art mostly seems to be made on the computer, is it actively discouraged to use traditional media, or is it rather a choice that most concept artists make?
Dave: Although I’m not a concept artist, I’m confident in saying that we don’t “actively discourage” the use of traditional media. I watch almost the entire concept team get up every Thursday to attend life drawing sessions and I see sketchbooks, pads of paper and whiteboard sketches all around the office – many of which are scanned in and used digitally in one way or another.
Q: As a writer, how hard is it to break into the video game industry? What’s the best way, if any at all, to go about it, or something to focus on to improve the resume?
Bobby Stein: This, like many “breaking in” topics, is broader than is suited for forums but I’ll give you a summary. It’s difficult to break into games writing because there is no established, clear path to employment. Not many companies employ full-time writers, though that’s starting to change. Focus on putting together a solid portfolio consisting of screenplays, short stories, outlines, and game narratives. If you can bring your ideas to life in a mod or indie game, all the better. Of course, relevant experience in television, film, or print publications can often make it easier to get your foot in the door (especially if you have a passion and deep understanding of the medium).
Q: For writers wanting to go into the game industry, what are some suggestions to go about doing so? What kind of things would be good looking on a resume or in a portfolio? How hard is it to do so?
Bobby: Write often. Build a portfolio. Get published online or in print, or make an indie game or mod that demonstrates you not only have good ideas but can execute on them in a team environment.
Catch me at a convention and I’d be glad to discuss in greater detail.