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DooM_RO

Doom modders who work in the game industry

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Some others that haven't been mentioned:

Christian Antkow, who joined id for Quake II and has been there all the way through to Rage;
David Calvin - put out his own 1994 level, by 1998 was senior programmer for Vicarious Visions, and later worked on the Doom Xbox port including his own level as a bonus;
Eric C. Reuter, who put out a few single player and deathmatch levels in 1994, then worked on Shadow Warrior, and has credits on games like Unreal and Half-Life: Blue Shift.

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I remember one of the best female mappers, Lisa Moore, who had created Soldier of Fortune was working as a level designer in some game, but there are so many years after I found about this and can't find the details.

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I worked on a PlayStation 2 game for Black Ops Entertainment. I also have some Doom-like game coming out this Friday.

40oz said:

This thread makes me feel like I've got a lot of unused potential.

Well, get on that!

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Going on 6 years working in the game industry. I did the majority of the levels for the FEAR expansion pack, Perseus Mandate. And then I worked on these other games no one has heard of. I am currently assisting Gearbox on finishing up that Aliens game, which I will be responsible for the first two levels of the game.

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40oz said:

This thread makes me feel like I've got a lot of unused potential.

You used to say that working in the game industry sucks because it results in rushed, uninspired material (along those lines).

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printz said:

You used to say that working in the game industry sucks because it results in rushed, uninspired material (along those lines).


When a publisher gives you a year or two to finish a game, then yeah you start cutting corners to meet their demands.

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Kaiser said:

When a publisher gives you a year or two to finish a game, then yeah you start cutting corners to meet their demands.


Yep. I'm even cutting corners to meet my own demands and I'm giving myself 72 years to finish Ascension.

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Kaiser said:

Going on 6 years working in the game industry. I did the majority of the levels for the FEAR expansion pack, Perseus Mandate. And then I worked on these other games no one has heard of. I am currently assisting Gearbox on finishing up that Aliens game, which I will be responsible for the first two levels of the game.


You work on Aliens CM?? Awesome!I am really looking forward to that game, I'm a huge fan of the Alien series. What do you think, would a Doom fan like the game?

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not worked in the video game industry per say, but was the primary/sole coder of Killing Floor when it was a mod. Girlfriend got pissed off at all the time I spent on it(learnt a lot of UnrealScript!), so I quit. The lead (who did mainly the levels, models & textures) got a team of coders in for the next version, and it was eventually picked up by Tripwire.

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Moral of the story: Games before dames. Your career could depend on it!

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printz said:

You used to say that working in the game industry sucks because it results in rushed, uninspired material (along those lines).


Well yeah usually it does, but I'm currently working in a line of work that utilizes nothing that I know about games. It's disheartening to be so highly educated in a field that may forever remain just a hobby.

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I have a full-on degree (graduated with a first, no less) in computer games software development.

Still ended up working in an office job doing PL/SQL for databases :P Although saying that, I've got plenty of scope to look for work in the industry when I feel like moving on from my current job (which pays fairly well for a first post-grad job). Will need to practice my C++ programming in order to keep my hand in though, otherwise I'll be wasting my time with the job applications...

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BilboHicks said:

not worked in the video game industry per say, but was the primary/sole coder of Killing Floor when it was a mod. Girlfriend got pissed off at all the time I spent on it(learnt a lot of UnrealScript!), so I quit. The lead (who did mainly the levels, models & textures) got a team of coders in for the next version, and it was eventually picked up by Tripwire.

I hope your girlfriend is still with you and very lovely, because she has ruined a cool opportunity.

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Optimus said:

I remember one of the best female mappers, Lisa Moore, who had created Soldier of Fortune was working as a level designer in some game, but there are so many years after I found about this and can't find the details.

I never knew there were female mappers.

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Avoozl said:

I never knew there were female mappers.


I remember that I REALLY liked the game when I was a kid. The gore was truly spectacular/

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I've also read that not only the games end up sucking, but the work sucks too. Being a video game tester means replaying the same bugged up level in a game hundreds of times, writing a detailed report on what needs to be fixed, and getting paid low wages. Being a computer programmer sucks because you often spend long hours programming stuff you're not even interested in programming, with a video game director making a list saying "I need this, this, and this. Get back to me by Saturday with what you've got." Usually your best and favorite games are the ones that don't get popular. Also it's easily to be replaced by young blood that are straight out of college, So you often spend more time looking for work than actually doing any fun stuff.

The sources I read this from are a little dated by now so things may have changed recently since then, but it still sounds very discouraging whether you're working in the industry, or wish you were. At least I've got job security where I'm at. :/

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40oz said:

I've also read that not only the games end up sucking, but the work sucks too. Being a video game tester means replaying the same bugged up level in a game hundreds of times, writing a detailed report on what needs to be fixed, and getting paid low wages. Being a computer programmer sucks because you often spend long hours programming stuff you're not even interested in programming, with a video game director making a list saying "I need this, this, and this. Get back to me by Saturday with what you've got." Usually your best and favorite games are the ones that don't get popular. Also it's easily to be replaced by young blood that are straight out of college, So you often spend more time looking for work than actually doing any fun stuff.

The sources I read this from are a little dated by now so things may have changed recently since then, but it still sounds very discouraging whether you're working in the industry, or wish you were. At least I've got job security where I'm at. :/


What about artists?

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Yeah, I quit going all gung-ho over wanting to be in the video game industry when I hear about underpaid they are and how much they get shit on. I've heard so many horrible stories from people like GooberMan (who should be showing up here any time now).

I used to be all "If I get to work on any video game at all, and they pay me enough for a place to live and enough food and caffeine to keep me alive, I'll go anywhere." Those days have pretty much passed for me. If I do get an offer and I like the place I'll take it but I'm not going to be busting my ass to get into games anymore.

BilboHicks said:

not worked in the video game industry per say, but was the primary/sole coder of Killing Floor when it was a mod. Girlfriend got pissed off at all the time I spent on it(learnt a lot of UnrealScript!), so I quit. The lead (who did mainly the levels, models & textures) got a team of coders in for the next version, and it was eventually picked up by Tripwire.

I had a friend in college I had a sort of friendly rivalry with when we had classes together. He always beat me though, he was super smart and extremely hard working, all while working a full time job. He's one of the few people I knew who could probably get in. I spoke to him recently though and he said he'd go into games if somewhere nearby wanted to hire him (like Bethesda in Maryland), but he didn't want to leave his fiancee. I was pretty upset.

On the other side of the coin though, there was another guy though that did so well, he got a job offer from IBM his junior year. He declined though, because he wanted to work in video games, Nintendo specifically if he could. Everyone said he was crazy, but I stood up for him when they brought up the subject. I mean, if he worked his ass off to get into the field, who the hell are you to tell him he should take an offer from somewhere else?

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Nomad said:

Moral of the story: Games before dames. Your career could depend on it!

K!r4 said:

I hope your girlfriend is still with you and very lovely, because she has ruined a cool opportunity.


Yes, it's sold nearly around 1.2+ million copies now!

She is a lovely girl, but we broke up eventually. I signed a legal waiver too, when perhaps I should of lawyered up, but wasn't my style. I get a mention in mobygames.com, and a thanks from Tripwire, in the form of a blog post. Not sure what % of the profits the mod team made out of it.

@DuckReconMajor: Yes, In some ways I'm not disappointed at all I left the mod, just wasn't meant to be I guess. The hours etc.. I heard are not great for grunts in the industry, despite the talent. The mod lead I think did not stay on at Tripwire, not sure, I think he prefers doing his own stuff. Working now on a web site service that takes advantage of GPS/geolocation that I hope will have some legs. Eitherway, I'm happy!

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DooM_RO said:

What about artists?


Artists have a wider range of wages. An artist can make more than programmers but will usually make less. When I first got into the video game industry I was only making $12 an hour but about two years into it I was making $20 which is better than working in a warehouse.

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$20 an hour?! I would have thought it would have been much more. No wonder so many artists end up doing tattoos. They at least make $75 an hour after the shop's cut, plus tips.

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Ed said:

$20 an hour?! I would have thought it would have been much more. No wonder so many artists end up doing tattoos. They at least make $75 an hour after the shop's cut, plus tips.


I did neglect to mention that I worked for two start-up companies so wages do go higher but usually not higher than 60k a year. I believe 45k is average (Depending on what state you are in). There are a few artists out there who have made 100+k but that is very rare and usually from a leadership/management position. I might be a little off on those numbers but not by much. You really have to love the work to be an artist in the video game field. I didn't love it enough and now I'm running my own design company.

...And did I just see you say that Tattoo artists make $75 an hour? That is something like $144k dollars a year. None of the tattoo artists I know make half that.

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DooM_RO said:

I remember that I REALLY liked the game when I was a kid. The gore was truly spectacular/

Click the link, it's a Doom map, not the game.

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It's a lot like a hairdresser's shop where you essentially rent the chair. A tattoo artist will make $140 an hour or whatever the shop rate / piece is, and usually half goes to the shop. You only get paid when you're 'working', not so much when you enter the building, so it's essential that you build your own clientele.

I did an apprenticeship myself and did tattoos for a few years. The money is really good, especially for what you're doing.. but I'm happier with a 9-5 without screaming loud parties, drugs, and all the complete assholes that come along with it.

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NiuHaka said:

I did neglect to mention that I worked for two start-up companies so wages do go higher but usually not higher than 60k a year. I believe 45k is average (Depending on what state you are in). There are a few artists out there who have made 100+k but that is very rare and usually from a leadership/management position.


Being a pro game artist can be lucrative if you want to put the time in and are also willing to put up with the industry (which can suck at times). Case in point, my last Art Director was making upwards of $250k for managing a team of nearly 30 artists. But even senior artists make a very comfortable living, in my experience at least.

However, slogging through the game industry can be a nightmare, more because of the people you end up dealing with than the work itself, which is possibly why people like NiuHaka and myself end up moving into design and illustration.

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Windowpain said:

Being a pro game artist can be lucrative if you want to put the time in and are also willing to put up with the industry (which can suck at times). Case in point, my last Art Director was making upwards of $250k for managing a team of nearly 30 artists. But even senior artists make a very comfortable living, in my experience at least.

However, slogging through the game industry can be a nightmare, more because of the people you end up dealing with than the work itself, which is possibly why people like NiuHaka and myself end up moving into design and illustration.


Amen 100%! I am a people person and get along with the people in my life quite well but dealing with people can sometimes be the thing that drives us away from the industry. When I was a lead artist (which for me was a glorified way of calling me the color scheme coordination guy) I had control over the look and feel of a game but at the end of the day I had to go to a none-creative person and have them tell me what to change. It just didn't make any sense and sometimes i quietly went mad while I allowed this none-creative destroy the visual aspects of the project. "You mean you wan't me to change them to look like anime characters?... Chibi anime characters? *laugh*... Are you sure? *crickets* Ok boss." I've even had programmers come to me to tell me how to change something visually because they didn't like the way it looked. Those change requests vaporized the moment they were vocalized but it still irked me.


Also, I have known of one artist who made 200k+ and he wasn't even a director but that is a very rare case. And the art directors I've known who have had that much responsibility didn't actually get to do any art for the games they worked on except for the quick sketches done on the whiteboard during morning meetings. Not worth the pay in my opinion. I would almost rather make chibi characters... Naw, that is an extreme exaggeration. I'd rather be a plumber than do chibi for a living.

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