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 Posted: Wed, 7th Sep 2011 12:57 Post subject: |
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I'd tell you but I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to sleep then I you know what I mean.
i5 6600k @ 4.3 GHz | MSI z170 Gaming M7 | 32GB Kingston HyperX Fury | 850 Evo 500GB | EVGA 1070 SC | Seasonic X-660 | CM Storm Stryker
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| Posted: Fri, 9th Sep 2011 03:44 Post subject: |
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A graphic designer that did contract work for Valve (Steam specifically) for 2 months (he no longer works for them) blogs about his experience working with the company: http://m.garrettamini.com/2011/08/lessons-from-valve-how-to-build-a-designers-paradise/
| Quote: | | A developer for XBOX, after hearing where I’d be working, told me, “you’ll never do better than that. Gaming industry giants only go one way, and that way is to Valve.” Internal documents include long target lists, where Valve employees add names of the best and brightest innovators in the industry, and if/when they will be available. |
| Quote: | | “Once you’re here, you don’t leave,” one Valve designer told me. “No one leaves… at least to go elsewhere. I’ve known a couple who quit to start their own companies, but beyond that, people like it here.” There’s a reason for that – Gabe Newell knows how to make a designer’s paradise. Here’s how. |
| Quote: | | Every desk at Valve is, in fact, a mobile workstation. The tower hangs under the desk in a metal sling, and all of the cords are plugged into your own power strip, which then plugs into a single outlet on the wall. The desk itself is on large, roller-blade style wheels, and there’s a large freight elevator in the middle of the building accessible to all. It’s an excellent representation of the Valve internal philosophy of hiring the best, then setting them free: “that’s why we put wheels on desks. People say they have to go work on this different problem now, because nobody else is and we need to get it done in order to get other things done. So they pack up their desks, and move to their relevant teams,” said Gabe Newell in an interview with Develop Online. |
| Quote: | | As I was finishing up my contract at Valve, I spoke with one of the lead designers for Steam about what he did, and how he got there. He had done print design, flash prototyping, HTML and CSS UI, and even some hardware hacking before he made the move to Valve. “We don’t hire someone who can only do one thing, even if they’re the very best at that one thing,” he said (I’m paraphrasing from memory). |
| Quote: | At Valve, there are no real titles. “The first thing you should know here is that Gabe [Newell] is on top, and there are 249 people below him. That’s the whole hierarchy,” one of the Steam designers told me on my first day. Titles specialize employees, and put them in a little plot where they’re allowed to work. Specialization sets employees against each other, carving out little kingdoms of responsibility. Anything outside their kingdom is beyond their purview, and anyone stepping within that kingdom is encroaching upon their pride and their job security.
At Valve, the job is the product. Everyone makes decisions, everyone invests in it, and everyone takes pride in the results. Breakthroughs in Valve products have come from completely unexpected sources, and from employees with specializations that the company didn’t even know about. Next time you play through a Valve game with audio commentary, pay attention to their stated job titles. |
| Quote: | | Several revolutionary features are on their way to Steam as we speak, all incorporated by side projects from the Steam team. Get ready to hear about “big picture mode.” |
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:09 Post subject: |
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Lutzifer
Modzilla
Posts: 12740
Location: ____________________ **** vegan zombie **** GRRAAIIINNSS _______
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:27 Post subject: |
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is it still ok to love valve and hate steam?
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Epsilon
Dr. Strangelove
Posts: 9240
Location: War Room
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:28 Post subject: |
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| Lutzifer wrote: | | is it still ok to love valve and hate steam? |
No, no it isn't.  |
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Epsilon
Dr. Strangelove
Posts: 9240
Location: War Room
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:32 Post subject: |
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| human_steel wrote: | | Why? |
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:33 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:35 Post subject: |
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Lutzifer
Modzilla
Posts: 12740
Location: ____________________ **** vegan zombie **** GRRAAIIINNSS _______
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:37 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:53 Post subject: |
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Ugh, that was quite painful to read, that guy is over his head in love with Valve. With such great working conditions it makes you wonder how they manage to release streamlined games like Half Life episodes and Portal 2.
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 16:56 Post subject: |
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| fawe4 wrote: |
Ugh, that was quite painful to read, that guy is over his head in love with Valve. With such great working conditions it makes you wonder how they manage to release streamlined games like Half Life episodes and Portal 2. |
Because that's the kind of games they wanted to make? They are making Dota 2 as their super complex game.
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 17:04 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Check out a few of our job openings:
3D Character Artist
Animator
Anti-Cheat Engineer
Artist
Bilingual Support Representative
Economist
Film Editor
Food Services
Graphic Designer
Level Designer
Motion Designer
Multimedia Graphics Artist
Psychologist
Software Engineer
Software Engineer—Payment Systems
Sound Designer
Steam Account Manager
Steam Data Mining Engineer
Steam Database Engineer
Statistician
Steam Technical Account Manager
User Experience Designer
Web Engineer—Back End
Web Engineer—Front End
Writer |
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 17:10 Post subject: |
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They already have one for 4 years.
The big news is they are looking for an economist, and recently they said they should get one to figure out how to make it possible to trade games. http://www.nfohump.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1599289#1599289
TWIN PEAKS is "something of a miracle."
"...like nothing else on television."
"a phenomenon."
"A tangled tale of sex, violence, power, junk food..."
"Like Nothing On Earth"
~ WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO SAY CAN ONLY BE SEEN ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHTUOgYNRzY
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 19:00 Post subject: |
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| consolitis wrote: | | fawe4 wrote: |
Ugh, that was quite painful to read, that guy is over his head in love with Valve. With such great working conditions it makes you wonder how they manage to release streamlined games like Half Life episodes and Portal 2. |
Because that's the kind of games they wanted to make? They are making Dota 2 as their super complex game. |
Whats so special about dota2? Its exact copy of dota with better graphics and smother animations. Ie. another streamlined game.
The last flash of briliance from Valve was Portal, since then they've done nothing but watered down sequels. Now, as distributer through Steam they have and they still are doing a lot to for pc gaming, but as developer its all forgettable.
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| Posted: Sun, 18th Sep 2011 19:01 Post subject: |
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| Posted: Tue, 20th Sep 2011 09:09 Post subject: |
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I don't mind Valve, but I can't say their games impress me. The original Half Life was very good, but ultimately nothing compared to System Shock - which I considered a much more innovative take on the genre.
The Portal games are cute - and I finished the first one with a smile on my face, but can't say I've spent much time thinking about it since then. Portal 2 lasted a couple of hours and then I was bored to tears doing the exact same things over and over. The humor was still good, but it couldn't carry the dull gameplay for me.
Half Life 2 was not coherent and felt like an overlong series of action set pieces. I was impressed by the Source Engine - but I never finished the game.
I think I loved the multiplayer modes of the original Half Life best of all Valve products. The first Team Fortress had some really entertaining stuff, and Counter Strike (though not Valve IIRC) was truly fantastic.
TF2 is another really solid multplayer title - but ultimately it's rather more of the same in a polished iteration.
L4D didn't appeal to me, and felt like just another MP mod for Half Life 2.
If they have that much money and that much freedom, I have to wonder why their games aren't more interesting or playable. I get that they're trying new things, but if there's no overarching strong vision behind them - the end result is just a polished idea that probably wasn't that good to begin with. That's Portal to me, anyway.
Oh well, just some ramblings.
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| Posted: Thu, 22nd Sep 2011 14:02 Post subject: |
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Valve are making a documentary about the life of 5 professional gamers. http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20110920%2FNEWS%2F109200309
| Quote: | A Medford man is being featured in a documentary about the life of professional gamers produced by a national video game software company.
Valve crews are in town this week filming Clinton "Fear" Loomis, 23, one of the world's best players of Defense of the Ancients, as he trains to stay in top form and goes about his daily life at his northeast Medford home.
"They hand-selected me to represent America," said the 2006 North Medford High School graduate.
Loomis is the only gamer from the United States who will appear in the movie. The other four are from China, Singapore, Denmark and the Ukraine.
"The one thing they had in common is that they're elite gamers," said Jeff Unay of Valve, a video game development and distribution company based in Bellevue, Wash.
The production crew arrived Sunday and plans to wrap up local filming today. No timeline has been set for release of the movie, designed to promote "e-sports" — electronic sports.
Defense of the Ancients, also known as DotA, pits teams of online players against each other. Each player chooses from a large assortment of heroes with different strengths and weaknesses, and each team defends its own structure called an Ancient Fortress.
"The game itself has a large learning curve," Loomis said, adding there are more than 100 heroes in DotA and 44 heroes in DotA 2. "Once you get it down, it's one of the most addictive games, and fun."
He started online gaming by playing Diablo II, and moved on to Warcraft III before he discovered the DotA map within the game about 10 years ago. "DotA was the first game I ever played competitively and traveled for," Loomis said.
In the weeks before the camera crews came to Medford, Loomis attended the first DotA 2 competition Aug. 17-21 at video gaming convention Gamescom 2011 in Cologne, Germany.
The tournament demanded long hours out of the participants. Players started their day at 8 a.m. and ended at 11 p.m.
Loomis' team took seventh place among 16 international teams, and split a prize of $25,000. Grand prize was $1 million.
"He's one of the top American players in DotA and DotA 2," Unay said, noting that Loomis and his team beat two difficult Chinese teams.
His team received an early release of DotA 2 three weeks before the tournament to get familiar with it, and the team practiced 10 hours a day for two weeks. "Everyone tries to put their life on pause," Loomis said about training before a tournament.
On a more typical week, he spends about 30 hours per week gaming.
He attributes part of his success as a gamer to his understanding mother, Karen Loomis, who allowed him to achieve his level of proficiency. She also will be featured in the documentary.
"For most parents, that's unrealistic," Clinton Loomis said.
Competitive gaming is Loomis' only source of income at the moment, and "it's enough to live off," he said.
The documentary is in its early stages of development. Loomis is the first of the five gamers featured, and he's looking forward to shedding light on his profession.
"Most people aren't aware that it exists," Loomis said. "(They say) you travel around the world and play video games? No way!" |
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xExtreme
Posts: 5810
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| Posted: Sat, 8th Oct 2011 19:52 Post subject: |
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xExtreme
Posts: 5810
Location: 43 6C 75 6A 2D 4E 61 70 6F 63 61
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| Posted: Sat, 8th Oct 2011 19:53 Post subject: |
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Sin317
Banned
Posts: 24321
Location: Geneva
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xExtreme
Posts: 5810
Location: 43 6C 75 6A 2D 4E 61 70 6F 63 61
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| Posted: Sat, 8th Oct 2011 19:59 Post subject: |
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