Travellers Tales Lecture

Travellers’ Tales

Guest Lecture – Week 4 – 08/10/10

Arthur Parsans is the specific person, who came from TT to give a guest lecture at University of Bolton on the 18^th of October, 2010. He is the head designer at TT and has been in the industry for 15 years. Within TT itself, he has been with the company for around 12 years. Prior to this job, he has been a tester amongst other things in various companies.

TT has worked on known titles such as ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Lego Star Wars’ and ‘Harry Potter Lego’ from the Lego studios.TT is mostly associated with kids games on a whole that is there market of expertise.  Later on the company’s history, the company got bought out by Warner Brothers and now TT is incorporated into WB’s franchise.

Within TT, Arthur’s role changes all the time. It could vary from writing heavily documented documents, very weighty to day to day decisions which could affect something on a massive scale. Always creating ideas throughout the day, but most of it is fun though. However, saying this, the ideas can change all the time baring in mind Arthur attends many meetings during the day allowing many different topics within the company to be discussed.

‘A million different topics that can be discussed at meetings, but it varies on a daily basis’ said Arthur in reference to a summary of his daily routine.

The credit crunch itself allowed the gaming industry, in particular TT to blossom even further. People don’t want to go out and purchase random things, rather doing those potential customers could go out and purchase a game with high game life, or interesting elements and continue to play that without having to pay for anything. Baring in mind, the cost of the initial game would have to be met.

Despite studying, and gathering the degree / HND / Diploma, it is just a foundation stepping stone to get into the industry. Arthur then goes on to state ‘ Students may have the ability to get a 1^st, 2:1 and so on, but in the real world, we at TT would have to re-educate them to the standard that we’re at. So, basically, it’s just starting over again’. The industry itself is a tough place making it difficult to get a job. But initially, once a job has been acquired it is very easy to move on from the current job into something else. Arthur then goes on to clarify ‘Once you’re in the industry, you can easily get one. You get headhunted quite a lot’.

TT itself uses quite a large base of testers as they classify it as ‘No gamble’. It’s not a specifically signed contract, and can easily get rid of them. Getting into the games industry as a tester is the first step and any testing positions we students can get could massively help our chances of being hired.

‘If you’re interested in testing for companies, send your C.V frequently to increase your chances of getting a summer job / testing job, depending on the period in which x company is in’.

It is clear that testing for games companies increases the chances of getting into an ‘Entry designer’, so looking into these increases the chances dramatically. But as the gaming community after the credit crunch is blooming, numerous jobs are available at the moment.  Arthur later goes onto say ‘ It doesn’t matter in what area you specialise in, or even the degree you gain at university, as long as you can demonstrate your ability to produce good work in the field you’re interested in, or show a variety of areas that you as a potential candidate could flourish in, we’re interested. It’s the portfolio that we’re looking for, not the grades’.

As a potential candidate going into the industry, it is clear that some may indeed need to lower their expectation in order to be realistic about their chances.

Once University has been completed, Arthur recommended getting a tester job, as it is the most easiest to get into. But once that job has been acquired, it is very easy to ‘jump’ into another role after a certain period of time.

Usually, TT themselves do a 6 month contract in which they hire external freelances to fill in for jobs, or possibly to work on a job for a 6 month milestone deadline. But baring this in mind, only+

1 in 10 jobs actually get made. So, a lot of time needs to be put into each project in order for it to get noticed and published to possibly become a triple ‘A’ rated game.

To summarise, TT’s main game was Lego Star wars. It is originally designed for 6-11 year olds as TT used focus market testing  in order to gain valuable feedback so they can appeal to this age group, however other ages play this as well whether it be ‘Lego’ or ‘Star Wars’ orientated.

Arthur later went on to say there are too branded names in the industry which kind of allows people to lose the ‘Originality’ factor behind a game. People should learn from their mistakes, bad games etc and improve their original game or original idea by creating new ideas to create an improved and more appealing game. Games such as Call of Duty are known as a branded title, which is unoriginal, and basically just rinsing the title. Sure, they can include new amazing features, but coming up with an original idea requires something special in the 21^st century. Also, integrator titles are known as spin offs.  Some titles that are released into the industry are influenced by other mechanics from other games. Though they may appear the same, but actually a lot more effort has been put in to mask or disguise it so it’s not obvious (Lego Indiana Jones -> Lego Batman).

When getting into the industry, be prepared working on something you’re not familiar with. It will show intuitive that you can think outside the box.  If you’re going to apply into that job role, that do a background check before you go into the interview, basically be one with the products that they produce. More you are interested or familiar with what they specialise in the more likely they are to hire you.

Arthur went onto to speak about the [pressure pads in the industry how basically they are the same, but masked differently; still the same thing, just with a different visual aspect.

As previously discussed, Harry Potter was huge for Travellers Tales, but Batman was still as big, but 10 weeks had to be cut out of production. It may not be something huge like Red Dead Redemption, but it had a decent level and content. So, despite cutting down by 10 weeks prior to this, quality more than quantity in certain circumstances.

Selling yourself is very important. You need to sell yourself in order to get recognised. Be unique, why should you get the job compared to Joe blogs? Be prepared to be tested sometimes when you go for an interview. It could be physical test, sometimes not. But always be prepared.

Some CV tips; make it different. Make it stand out, in order to get recognised maybe put a scent, or attach something that interests the person reading it. But bear in mind, it needs to get past Human Resources first. As they scan certain words, be careful to include them all.

• What do you specialise in?
• Make sure you’ve played the most recent game the company has released
• Have knowledge over what the most recent games are, form an opinion
• What have they worked on, and what are they working on in the near future?
• Know where you’re going. Have a plan, or inspiration. Anything that drives you to reach your goal

Regarding the portfolio, only keep the stuff you want to show. Don’t bother including information or pictures or work that isn’t up to scratch in what field you’re going into. Keep it simple producing maximum effect for the designated audience. Try to include different sort of versions; for instance, a high textured image and a low textured image. A suitable possibility to consider is doing a stage diagram that shows work along a period of time? Maybe even if a person is determined enough, design something in a form of editor that the company has released.

For people who have studied or studying at University under the course title, ‘Games Design’, it opens more doors than people think. It can go into various different departments varying from the level designing to sound engineering / manipulation to animation.

Online portfolio’s are by all the best method to get into the games industry. Showing visual content all about students work, it shows demonstration that you can work up to, if not better for the future. It is also better than submitting a CD which sometimes gets used as a coaster when deadlines are near. Some things to include on the portfolio;

• C.V – Allow it to look professional designed and appealing on the eye
• About you section – Possibly youtube, though not always necessary
• Previous work titles, screenshots etc
• Include the design of the website to be professional and a properly designed layout; the more designed it is, the more effort it looks like you’ve included which will impress the person reading it
• Show a skill / content list that subsides on the website

They won’t have too much time to properly look at the portfolio, so make it the best you can in the given time.

Coming from the movie industry, Harry Potter will be hitting the cinemas late November, so the revenue intake from the game will bolster.

Games don’t need a team of 100 people; bearing in mind TT used a team of 25 or something along those lines to make Lego Star Wars on a 13 month dead line. It is just wasted money which can be used elsewhere.

A degree itself doesn’t necessarily matter. As long as candidates produce the work, anything is possible. The degree itself is just a stepping stone some would say, but usually if the person has a good degree, it will reflect on the work they show on their portfolio.

Time management is vital for any game, but nothing ever goes accordingly to plan. So give a week or two to allow any slip up / problems that may occur. If people meet their objective or milestone they are highly rewarded with paid bonuses or promotion. However, if the deadline isn’t met the company will lose money as it’s such a competitive industry. Each game is micromanaged ( Agito Management)

• If a deadline is not met, could cost millions
• The marketing needs to be around the game, not something irrelevant ( cost deducted from original budget)
• Good for programmes and artists
• Look at the targeted audience.