Steve Powers

Maya Attribute Options tool.! Newest addition to my personal tool set. Took me a few days to write it on and off. This tool helps me to re-order attributes without having to re-do the incoming/outgoing connections. Some options are still a work in progress... #reorder #attributes #mel #maya #tools #rigging

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12 things that destroy a game voice recording session: 1. Not allocating enough time to casting 2. Not working with a casting director 3. Not sending clear instructions (call sheets) well in advance 4. Not sending scripts & character bios well in advance 5. Not having an experienced voice director 6. Trying to record too many lines in a session 7. Not taking notes / having a note taker during the session 8. Not testing a remote talent's home studio in advance 9. Having too many people on the call / in the session 10. Giving the actor a "read" 11. Having a negative attitude (cast or crew) 12. Not working collaboratively / as a team Avoid these at all costs. Genuinely would love to hear what you would add to this list.

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UX in video games can make or break the title. When it's great, everything is greater. When it's not so great, the whole experience gets taken down. This is an important role with a major remit. https://lnkd.in/gRNwyVgH #hiring

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I'm tapping out of the job hunt for now. ✌️ It's exhausting, draining, and just plain overwhelming. There aren't many gigs in audio to begin with, and even when I find a perfect match, all my other skills seem to get overlooked. You know, the ones that make me unique? 🤷‍♂️ Like the fact that I can manage a project from start to finish, always hitting deadlines, keeping everything organized, and tackling any challenge head-on? All skills I honed while running a beer import company, which, sadly, led to me selling off my audio equipment(old synthesizers, UAD Apollo, bunch of expensive microphones) to cover debts after it closed in 2021. So, I'm shifting gears for a bit. More time for LinkedIn, IG, and maybe even Twitter. 📸 Slowly rebuilding my studio (gotta get out of this teaching gig ASAP – not the best fit for someone with my ADHD and ASD). I know something good will come along eventually. In the meantime, gotta stay positive and keep creating! ✨ 👇now a picture with my dog 😂 #newdirection #audiolife #alwayshustling

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Don't want to bum you out but I know I'm not the only one who has noticed the same layoff cycle on LinkedIn over and over. I can tell your future... 1. Studio is shut down, all the devs become active on LinkedIn maybe for the first time in years and do their looking for work posts. People reach out with connections and support emojis. 2. The outpouring of thanks to the wonderful gamedev community. Amir Satvat and other full time LinkedIn influencers are tagged. 3. Nothing comes of all the LinkedIn support. Devs post frustration posts about how hard it is to be laid off and the injustice of the game industry. Many people will later delete these posts when they start to realize studios still aren't hiring them. 4. The reality step. Months pass and prominent veterans are still unemployed, let alone those "juniors" with a mere 5 years experience. At this point, people either give up and disappear, get a job and disappear (rare), or become a chronic disillusioned LinkedIn user. This last one either requires wearing a mask or ranting about capitalism more and more. 5. The laid off devs watch this cycle repeat for a whole swath of suffering people every couple weeks/days. And that's the step I've been on for a few months. But hey I've been working hard on my family and my solo projects. Magehunter coming soon, and AAA Simulator devlogs will be in production even sooner! Make art for yourself and those you love. Don't make my mistake - look for happiness outside this Microsoft product called LinkedIn.

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Been a while! Hope you’re doing well, The weekend’s almost here, just a few more days :’) I wanted to give a shoutout to an amazing person whom I spoke with today: Claire Lily Squire. She’s an experienced narrative designer who leads Smile More Productions and ALSO speaks and guides narrative talent (like me) on their career/writing journeys!😮😎 Here are a few takeaways from our conversation: - My current strengths and points of improvement - State of the industry - How to work on applications. - Portfolio-building insights - Must-have documents and skills for an ND With the current state of the industry, it can be quite overwhelming for an entry-level designer to pick what they need to do to get their foot in the door. This is why our discussion was so helpful- I was able to set short-term goals and a direction I can aim towards to improve my skillset to be “industry-ready”. For any narrative designers in my network looking for guidance, I recommend reaching out to Claire. Here are a few of her posts that are already super cool, imagine how awesome speaking with her will be✨: Must have documents for narrative portfolios ✍ 📜 : https://lnkd.in/eCwAKDiq Possible free workshop to prepare you for the industry?! 😮 – please interact with this to make it happen 😭 : https://lnkd.in/eMu6BSss

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Simple Read-Only Attribute in Unity - Article

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The Video Game industry is ruled by Fear And people on Linkedin are terrified to speak out Fear of what/who exactly? Upsetting "special interest groups" That should be placated. An interview with Marty O'Donnell Known for his talents in sound design at Bungie Goes into why executives fear pushing against DEI Things mentioned that are common discussion already: C-suites are only concerned about profits They lack a backbone and creative prowess Morals and values are very absent Seems about right The industry (AAA specifically) is creatively bankrupt Way I see it, there are two major problems I'm sure you've heard this before... Forced DEI practices Incompetent Leadership Running a business is hard, no doubt about it But running it into the ground is much easier

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Imagendary Studios, founded by former Blizzard artist Wei Wang, has unveiled a cinematic trailer for their project. Astropulse: Reincarnation is a single-player sci-fi third-person role-playing shooter, set in a distant future on a war-torn Earth. Additionally, the developers plan to release short films and comics based on their game, which will expand the Astropulse universe. The release date for the game is currently unknown. In my opinion, the trailer looks really cool! It's very much in the style of Blizzard's projects. Let's see what awaits us in the game. #Astropulse #VideoGames #Games #Gaming #GameDevelopment #Blizzard #GameTrailer

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Game producers, more meetings lead to better games. Said no one, ever. Producers, we get it. You want the best games. You can't afford delays. Ever thought: "How can I spend less time in meetings?" You're not alone. Many producers are realizing meetings eat up creative time. Here's the thing: You can't afford not to create. Creating isn't just fun. It's crucial. We all know about endless meetings. They take time, sure. But there's something even better: Time spent directly on your projects. If you meet too much... It backfires. Creativity drops. Studies show producers who create more: → Boost productivity → Get more involved → Control quality better → Unleash untapped potential → Understand the gaming landscape In the gaming world, you always have 3 options: Create, delegate, or delay. You chose to create and be hands-on. Here's what you can do instead: 1. Focus on Quality: Directly oversee game development. 2. Limit Meetings: Only meet when necessary. 3. Innovate: Stay ahead in the gaming world. 4. Collaborate: Work closely with your team. 5. Create: Dive into your projects more. 6. Enjoy: Have fun creating. If you must have meetings, keep them short. Plan them well, and make them count. In the world of game production, who's ready to trade some meetings for more game creating time? Best case, you'll create the next blockbuster game. Worst case, you’ll have fewer meetings to attend. That's a win-win. PS. Who is your favorite game producer?

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It is actually 2 seconds per candidate.

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I think one of the things that's so frustrating about Xbox's recent studio closures is that it is stark contrast to the things they *say*. They say they want original, interesting games, but then they shutter Tango. They say they want to take big swings at live service stuff, but then release Redfall in a disastrous state and don't have the bottle to fix it before shuttering the studio. They say they want interesting, original content, but then close studios working on original content to bolster Call of Duty. Xbox needs platform-defining exclusives. But they've also shown they don't have the understanding to ship stuff that can legitimately compete with what Sony's doing with Playstation's first parties. What happened to Starfield? Redfall flopped. Halo Infinite's SP "infiniteness" faceplanted. Halo Infinite's multiplayer took years to sort out a fatally awful progression system, and it still mostly sucks, but who cares because no one's playing it. Forza Motorsport bombed. Where is Gears? Where is the next thing from id? From MachineGames? When it's one studio flailing around, maybe it's the studio. When it's ***everything*** under the Xbox Game Studios banner, it's a different situation entirely. What the hell are they doing over there? But the point is, when you see closures of studios when the platform is totally failing to deliver anything of meaningful, differentiating value to players... it's time to call it. Phil Spencer's driven the Xbox into irrelevance. How you could spend hundreds of millions of dollars to achieve *so little* is genuinely shocking to me.

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Want to stand out above a crowded job market? I just put together a custom Unreal 5.4 project that has fully working multiplayer with quality that is approaching AAA. This project will serve as the foundation for Monthly Challenges where professionals from ALL disciplines can choose challenges to tackle and learn the ins and outs of Unreal while creating portfolio pieces with tangible experience. I did end up dropping a few hundred 💸💸💸, which was not the original plan, but I quickly found out how hard it was to find AAA quality content. I'm still going to offer these challenges for FREE to all, because it felt right. 🎉 To uphold Epic's licensing terms with content you must work on this project under one condition: You are part of the GameDevSG Team, working on a game (for portfolio purposes only and cannot be distributed outside of the GameDevSG Discord). Assuming we can handle that, I feel strongly that this exercise will help a lot of people! ❤️ On a side note, since we are working on a "game", what name should we give it? Thanks all, and stay tuned! #gamedev #gameindustry #gamejobs #portfolio #monthlychallenge

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A beautiful thing about working in video games is that I start every day getting inspired by artists such as Igor Staritsin! I always mention to my students that they need to remember why they do the work that they do. The answer: to create impossible places where others can have great adventures. As game designers, it's our role to know what our market audience wants and find ways to create innovation in the way we present it. As developers, we need to look for the best gameplay experience and listen to critics and suggestions to tune every detail as our community of followers is expecting it. Images like this one can open our imagination to bring possibilities to our work as game designers and developers. It opens possibilities to us as Game Creators. I'm in the final process of interviewing people who are looking for the opportunity to start a career as a Game Creator but don't know where to start. People without knowledge about how to program a video game but with a deep passion for them. If you are that person or know somebody looking for answers to this path, I want to talk with you. Set a time to talk here: https://lnkd.in/gPYJeadb #GameDevelopment #GameDesign #IndieGameDev #GameDevCommunity #GameIndustry #GameArt #Unity3D #UnrealEngine #LevelDesign

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Mini Gear Grinder... not a crazy one, just a mini one... Candidates: when replying to Posts that have jobs listed, multiple companies / Games Studios, etc. within them. A comment of "I am interested" does not do you much good. A comment of "I am interested in the following role at XYZ company" is however helpful. Seeing so many of these & I love that you're interested in the roles posted, but which ones? Help the Recruiter or the people out that are putting the resources in front of you & let them know what you're interested in. ⚙ The job? Which one, we have 5+ listed. ⚙ The company? Which one, as some of these posts list 5+ organizations. ⚙ The person posting? Let's keep it PC / PG here people, I'm not advocating for weirdness 😝 I'm referring to a conversation or asking for help where you need it potentially. Don't be creepy, please do not be creepy! ⚙ The products they make? Etc., etc. Identify a bit deeper... Help them help you! 😁 Keep fighting the good fight everyone! Enjoy the weekend & wishing you best out there! #'s for the #'s #TheMattBarney #OneLove #TheMeatballs #GearGrinder #VideoGames #PirateRecruitersUniteUnderOneBanner

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Learn how to create road Splines in UE5 with this episode of Brushify: Bootcamp.

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Writing shaders made a lot more sense to me than using a node based shader editor. "NORMAL_MAP = vec3(0,10);" Really helps with foliage in an isometric style, especially if it's moving and is lit by a dynamic light source. it helps keep the lighting consistent and avoids back face discoloration.

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Do you want to level up your game dev team? Do you want to learn some of the magic that makes some of the greatest games? Alex's course is a great place to start. And if you have designers on staff you think would benefit, I highly recommend this bootcamp. #bootcap #gamedesign

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