The fact is you will do quite a bit of harm to these people (which i know nothing about) by accusing them of said "theft".
There IS theft at the very moment they use maps without the authors consent, when these maps are under the All Rights Reserved policy. There is nothing to discuss about this. You're right though, I'll have to check their (lack of) affiliation with Curse first to be sure...
I agree with advertisement for our maps, I just don't want it to be done without consent, and it's even more true in that case since they didn't leave our names (or a link to sc2mapster to know who we are). Maps are in a package and nobody knows who made them, where they're from, or if there are other maps of interest by these authors available somewhere... I doubt people will browse the web after playing one of the maps to check who's the author and what he has done. This is just wrong in so many ways... That's bad advertising, at best.
I have to agree though that real mapmakers might care about who did the maps... But I don't want to see players/mapmakers publishing maps on other servers without telling us (with the risk of the map being stolen in the process), or even getting maps banned on BNet by adding content that should never have been there. I also agree that blaming the website is advertising the website in a way, so I'll just edit and remove the links for now.
The solution is simple, or at least in my case: All my maps have the All Rights Reserved policy. Which means people need my consent BEFORE doing anything with these maps. It is my right to ask them to stop sharing the files in which my maps are included, that's what the policies are for! It's a matter of intellectual property, if I ask them to stop sharing they have to do it. Going against my rights is not in their interest, they could get sued for that.
Maybe post a comment in there and redirect people where you want them to download your maps?
That's what I wanted to do but you can't leave comments...
EDIT: I found out that 2 of my maps were included in these packages, which seriously starts to piss me off... Even if I don't care that much about my melee maps, I don't want to see them shared that way for the reasons stated above.
After reading the Why do not people upload maps on sc2mapster? thread, I felt (again) very concerned about my maps, and just found while browsing the web that my Ikari Warriors map was included in a package of maps on " a gaming website with file sharing".
Lots of maps are taken from sc2mapster, even assets. Anyway, as you can guess I don't really agree with these packages, where our maps were included without aksing us first. Here's why I'm against it:
Hmm let's say sharing is OK... but could they at least leave our NAMES?!? I think it's really the minimum they could do, if they take our maps at least say who it was done by (and include a decent map description, not what we say about it in the topics!).
We don't have any idea of which kind of people download these packages, so no idea of what they will do with our maps (clone them, steal ideas, add content that would make the map banned by Blizzard...).
Files in the package are most likely outdated, if not completely pointless if they were unfinished at that time. People who download these packages will probably not update the files anytime, so they'll stick to the idea the maps are bad while they may just be unfinished (ie. alpha or beta)...
We don't get any feedback from these players (even on the Blizzard official forums), and no real estimation of our daily/total download rates. In my case I'd like to be able to show these numbers to companies who might want to hire me, because making maps is not only my passion but also my job...
They never asked us if they could include these maps in a package, which is against the licence (All Rights Reserved) I personally put on each of my projects. I never gave my consent to any website, aside from sc2mapster and Curse, and I want to keep it that way.
I may be wrong here, but something tells me that sharing maps from sc2mapster and/or Curse on another not affiliated website is against the copyright policy of the websites themselves. If we agreed to share our maps on sc2mapster, it theorically means that we do not accept other websites to share our files without our consent. Stealing these maps is not only against our own copyrights, it's going against the sc2mapster and Curse copyright policies we accepted when sharing our maps.
I was about to send them an e-mail to complain about this, but I thought it would be better to show this to you first, so that we can decide what to do together. The more people are OK with me complaining, the better. I only checked the package where my Ikari Warriors map was in, but I'm pretty sure many of you will find one or more of their maps shared in another package. If you find your map in any package and agree with me that it shouldn't be shared, I'll make a list and ask them to stop sharing these files.
If the only thing your trigger does is playing an animation and adjusting heights before moving away from the cliff side, there must be a way to do this via events in the data editor... I'm not sure how to know when to start and when to stop the behavior, though... You'd probably have to place a dummy actor to compare the current height and the destination (quite like the reaper jump ability), but I'm not sure we can know when the unit collides with cliffs (to start the behavior) via data.
I was ready to answer to you both (Karawasa and Vexal), but thought it would be more useful to quote an experienced guy in the video game industry, commenting about the various diplomas and schools available here in France... To sum up, he goes pretty much the same way as we all did, thinking one shouldn't specialize in a level or game design major. Just in case you can't find a job in the video games industry, you need to have another card in hand.
After reading carefully what he had to say, I have to admit both game and level design grades are not worth your time and money. The video game history is 30 years old, schools were here for 5 to 8 years only (at best). They won't teach you much more than what you can learn by yourself, though what they can teach you will help you in ANY company and can't be learned by only using popular games editing tools (Crytek engine, UDK, SC2 editor and such... just to name a few, on PC).
Be aware though, that a job cannot be well done by only reading books and browsing the internet. You can't become a doctor without practicing, you won't claim you can do their job because you diagnosed a bad cold to your grandmother. The same principle applies to any job, so you should remember that making maps and writing concepts for video games does not make you a potential level/game designer.
So my advice would pretty much follow what everyone said: Get a more generic grade and do level/game design on your spare time. You probably won't learn a few specific steps, but they are not worth your time and money, you'd better value experience and versatility (which is what the companies look for). And have another option ready in case this industry does not welcome you (which happens a lot!).
I second this.
I know you don't want to start a debate but I read really interesting things about cognitive sciences during my studies, and it's directly linked to the topic. If anybody you know claims that video games make people violent, you'll have an answer now...
Scientific and social studies were made to confirm (or deny, in that case) that violence in video games leads to violence in real life. The result of these studies shows that not only video games do NOT encourage violence, but they actually do the contrary. Video games help reduce the frustration and stress from everyday's life, and actually makes your brain produce endorphins (endorphins provoke pleasure, the main side effect being addiction... ever wondered why WoW is so addictive? ;) ). So definitely, NO, violence and video games are NOT linked.
Pleasure and frustration are, though. This is probably why in very, VERY rare cases, some people are going nuts and kill people, or at least become violent... The frustration they suffer in real life is too much compared to the pleasure they have in playing games, and since this is their only source of pleasure (no sexual life and no social life) they may turn crazy. But it has been proven that this behavior is mainly due to the society, to the stress induced by life and the mental state of the person (there were murderers and serial killers way before video games existed, right?). Some people are more sensitive to stress than others, people unhappy with their life tend to become violent more easily and more intensively. Ironically you can almost as much go crazy by having too much sex, being on drugs, or even eating too much, because you are not used anymore to being frustrated and you may become violent whenever it happens again...
So, again, violence is not related to video games. It's linked to society, daily stress, and your "resistance" to the amount of pleasure and frustration you may encounter in life. I personally think there is also a factor of risks when watching TV too often though, especially when you see images of violence daily in the news (wars/genocides, natural disasters, crimes and such). Trivializing REAL images of violence (I insist on images of REAL people and REAL acts) makes you unconsciously think it's a normal (or at least acceptable) behavior in society. Humans are violent by nature, the only thing that prevents us from turning crazy is to find some pleasure in everyday's life to counterbalance.
The risk of having only video games as a source of pleasure in your life is that whenever you're frustrated, you may become violent and imitate scenes from video games in real life. Video games tend to play a lot with your nerves, stressing you at every corner and playing with your frustrations. But I could say the exact same thing about social life, sex, job or whatever... Video games is not the source of the problem, it only reveals who you are faster (than a sexual or social life) because the pleasure and frustration are instant. Lots of people play video games daily and are frustrated when losing, but it doesn't mean they'll massacre people. Your mental state plays a huge part in the control of your violent behaviors, and it is directly linked to the society and how it affects you. No need to induce video games in the process.
I should try to find the documents I learned all this from, though it will be in French and a bit hard to translate... The study itself is not French though, I think it was Polish or something... I think it was done after the Columbine massacre, but I'm absolutely not sure. It's very interesting to read anyway. :)
Bronxsy answered the question right. V is the shorcut for Game Mode View, which lets you see visual effects such as fog, dynamic lights, and even birds. I also find S to be pretty useful when mapping out of the map bounds. Ctrl+Alt+H also shows the pathing mesh (VERY useful when you have to place No Flying Zones). You can pretty much hide anything: Shift+D to hide Doodads, Shift+U to hide Units, etc... be aware though that pressing D to enter Doodad mode will show Doodads, whether they are hidden or not, then hide them again if needed when switching to another mode. It applies to every mode actually, even Pathing, Terrain, or Points modes... While using the Game Mode View, nothing stays hidden.
About the water waves:
Data editor > Water section > the water type(s) you use in your map > "Cliff Shoreline" field > set to None
+ do the same for the "Beach Shoreline" field, and you won't have waves anymore.
Beach shorelines show when you modify terrain with the Height tools (if your terrain is higher than the water level, waves will be displayed around that part), while Cliff shorelines only show when you modify cliff levels.
I agree with Red, I don't think it's a virus... People see viruses anytime something does not work the way it should, but it could also be your HD slowly dying. Did you ONLY lose files located on your desktop (and/or folders placed in the desktop)? If so, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the OS screwing with your files somehow (desktop cleanup is our suspect #1) or you have a really annoying little brother. :D
However, I really do not see the merit in a degree in level design. What exactly do you learn? It's not a science, it's not engineering. It's just a trade skill.
To sum up briefly, art and programming skills... Pretty much everything an architect would learn, but oriented for games (which means there are lots of constraints you must be aware of, and ready to deal with... "Engine, Assets, Time, Money, etc" as Gorandor said). There is a huge difference between map making as an amateur and map making as a pro, mostly coming from the fact that you don't work alone and must follow graphical charts, scenario, timelines, plannings and such... You also need to learn how to work efficiently while waiting for the others to finish their part of the job, especially graphists and modelers (using placeholders everywhere, giving relevant names to each object, placing landmarks, etc...). It's not as easy as it looks, it's mostly common sense and organization but not every amateur map maker can do it.
I could have become a normal level designer but I choose against it because of the lack of jobs after each finished product. They also don't pay very much (germany).
Yeah, same here... Sadly. I'm still hoping I could find a good job somewhere though, which is why I chose to move. Being a level designer is a weird life... It's pretty exciting while you are part of a project, but you can also spend a lot of time unemployed in between. It wouldn't be that much of a problem if it was paid a bit better though, especially for juniors.
A map/mod shows you're dedicated, I agree. But, a successful map/mod shows you're talented too. What other purpose does a portfolio serve?
PS: This is for USA.
A successful map only shows you are lucky, I'm afraid... There are so many maps on BNet which are popular and don't deserve it! Societies (worldwide) don't mix up your map making experience and portfolio. Portfolio shows your skills in 2D or 3D arts, while map making shows how you manage a whole project (including the programming parts). This is why having skills in both is quite important. If you lack any of the fields required for the job they have, you're one step away from getting the job (my programming skills are limited, I'm pretty sure that's why it's so hard for me to get a job here in France). Talent is just a plus, most of the applicants to the job have it (or learned it) anyway.
If you got specific things that can be fixed/changed, plz point them out. I'll probably do this on monday since i got my darkspore beta key as well and server is only up over the weekend :p
Yeah, the beta only lasts for a few hours... The download is taking ages, it's only half done. :'(
About Gates of Darkness, so far the only main bug I've seen is the vote dialog not closing after voting. I remember it happened in the previous version as well when I played solo. So basically you may have some mistake in your triggers... Sometimes the order at which you place your actions in a trigger can completely change the way it behave, especially with the lag when online. Oh, and I also noticed there were really few items on the ground this time, but I guess that's because you reduced the items generation rate. I don't know if it's normal but my murloc wasn't able to pick any item, in fact I don't even remember seeing the inventory UI.
The best way to meet these people is to go to game conventions. Behind the stands, you can meet people who are here to interview people interested in their company. It's better to ask for an interview BEFORE actually going there though... and if you have a nice project you can show them, you should (be careful though, some companies -even large ones- steal people's work... make sure your project is registered somewhere to value your copyrights if needed). Being passionate and dedicated is not that rare, actually everyone in this industry is. You must show that you have more than just a "player-side" perspective of the gaming industry, you must know its rules and facts, how things work in general in such companies, and why.
Aim for a specific company, do NOT try to wander here and there and give your resume pointlessly. They'll notice and you won't get any chance, especially since they spend the whole days interviewing people who are probably more fitting to the job (because they have experience, while you don't). Go there with a real project in mind, and show them you did your master degree in that purpose. Do not hesitate to ask people for their business card, even if they are not related directly to a game company. The more people you will know, the easier it will be to get your project known, and you might even find people interested enough to contact you. So don't forget to have your own business cards ready.
Actually, the ultimate way to have a network in the video game industry is to work with these guys. When I was a student in Game Design, our teachers were real professionals (seniors, lead, and such), which helped a lot to create a network and be known. Since you can't do it that way, I'd really suggest to go for game conventions and get yourself known there. It's gutsy, but it's probably the best way for you to get known. Don't go there empty handed, you MUST know where you are going prior to meeting them.
Feedback coming! As requested by TheAlmaity, I'll write a few things down about Gates of Darkness.
Last time I played (before last night), I went solo. It seemed completely different at that time and it was also much, much longer to reach the end. Last night was fun, I would have enjoyed it more if it lasted longer though (yeah I know, "that's what she said"). It's much easier as a team, because you have backup if needed. That's why I tend to always use arithmetic when spawning masses of units, so that the more players there is the more enemies are spawned. That would make the game more even, be there 1 or 12 guys playing. The big boss is probably a bit too easy by the way, especially when we're many. Aside from that, I liked the map... It's "yet another TD" (kinda) but it has some cool features and the heroes are fine. I'm glad you reduced the lag too, which was probably due to the red omni lights around the spawn points. Maybe the summoner is a bit too strong though, I haven't tried it but from what I saw last night, it seemed like a walk in the park to whoever played with him (without counting the button spamming bug).
However, any single map can only support up to 8 textures and 2 cliff types.
Actually you can have more than 2 cliff types, I have 3 of them in my Sand Worm Survival map. I can't remember how it was done just by memory, but it was simple enough to be done without having to check for tips and help anywhere. I actually think the absolute limit is 4 cliff types in a single map, I remember I read that somewhere (probably in the TL forums, or the official SC2 forums)... But I can't see any good use for more than 3 cliff types if you can't have more than 8 textures anyway...
If you want to learn level design at home then the best you could do would probably be creating levels for Crysis 2 in the CryEngine 3 and awesome looking stuff in Unreal Engine 3 (or UDK, it's free (www.udk.com)) :)
True, but don't think it will help that much when it's time to get a job. The problem is you don't only need to do impressive maps, you also need to do them VERY fast. My last known experience was 30 maps in 3 months (6 levels ingame, divided in 5 parts each) and it was a small project on DS. The worst nightmare of level designers is the deadline. They are the last part of the chain and if they're late, the game isn't out in time... which is a really huge problem, especially in AAA games, so they'd rather release a bugged game than taking time to polish it. The more you delay the release of a game, the more players (and games critics) will lose interest in it... which also means your society will lose money, and they HATE to. You cannot do maps only taking the quality of it into consideration, it's very important to show that you can work fast, even when being disturbed every now and then by someone in the team asking you to do this, add that, change this, remove that,... or make coffee.
0
There IS theft at the very moment they use maps without the authors consent, when these maps are under the All Rights Reserved policy. There is nothing to discuss about this. You're right though, I'll have to check their (lack of) affiliation with Curse first to be sure...
I agree with advertisement for our maps, I just don't want it to be done without consent, and it's even more true in that case since they didn't leave our names (or a link to sc2mapster to know who we are). Maps are in a package and nobody knows who made them, where they're from, or if there are other maps of interest by these authors available somewhere... I doubt people will browse the web after playing one of the maps to check who's the author and what he has done. This is just wrong in so many ways... That's bad advertising, at best.
I have to agree though that real mapmakers might care about who did the maps... But I don't want to see players/mapmakers publishing maps on other servers without telling us (with the risk of the map being stolen in the process), or even getting maps banned on BNet by adding content that should never have been there. I also agree that blaming the website is advertising the website in a way, so I'll just edit and remove the links for now.
0
The solution is simple, or at least in my case: All my maps have the All Rights Reserved policy. Which means people need my consent BEFORE doing anything with these maps. It is my right to ask them to stop sharing the files in which my maps are included, that's what the policies are for! It's a matter of intellectual property, if I ask them to stop sharing they have to do it. Going against my rights is not in their interest, they could get sued for that.
0
That's what I wanted to do but you can't leave comments...
EDIT: I found out that 2 of my maps were included in these packages, which seriously starts to piss me off... Even if I don't care that much about my melee maps, I don't want to see them shared that way for the reasons stated above.
0
After reading the Why do not people upload maps on sc2mapster? thread, I felt (again) very concerned about my maps, and just found while browsing the web that my Ikari Warriors map was included in a package of maps on " a gaming website with file sharing".
Lots of maps are taken from sc2mapster, even assets. Anyway, as you can guess I don't really agree with these packages, where our maps were included without aksing us first. Here's why I'm against it:
I was about to send them an e-mail to complain about this, but I thought it would be better to show this to you first, so that we can decide what to do together. The more people are OK with me complaining, the better. I only checked the package where my Ikari Warriors map was in, but I'm pretty sure many of you will find one or more of their maps shared in another package. If you find your map in any package and agree with me that it shouldn't be shared, I'll make a list and ask them to stop sharing these files.
0
If the only thing your trigger does is playing an animation and adjusting heights before moving away from the cliff side, there must be a way to do this via events in the data editor... I'm not sure how to know when to start and when to stop the behavior, though... You'd probably have to place a dummy actor to compare the current height and the destination (quite like the reaper jump ability), but I'm not sure we can know when the unit collides with cliffs (to start the behavior) via data.
0
I was ready to answer to you both (Karawasa and Vexal), but thought it would be more useful to quote an experienced guy in the video game industry, commenting about the various diplomas and schools available here in France... To sum up, he goes pretty much the same way as we all did, thinking one shouldn't specialize in a level or game design major. Just in case you can't find a job in the video games industry, you need to have another card in hand.
After reading carefully what he had to say, I have to admit both game and level design grades are not worth your time and money. The video game history is 30 years old, schools were here for 5 to 8 years only (at best). They won't teach you much more than what you can learn by yourself, though what they can teach you will help you in ANY company and can't be learned by only using popular games editing tools (Crytek engine, UDK, SC2 editor and such... just to name a few, on PC).
Be aware though, that a job cannot be well done by only reading books and browsing the internet. You can't become a doctor without practicing, you won't claim you can do their job because you diagnosed a bad cold to your grandmother. The same principle applies to any job, so you should remember that making maps and writing concepts for video games does not make you a potential level/game designer.
So my advice would pretty much follow what everyone said: Get a more generic grade and do level/game design on your spare time. You probably won't learn a few specific steps, but they are not worth your time and money, you'd better value experience and versatility (which is what the companies look for). And have another option ready in case this industry does not welcome you (which happens a lot!).
0
I second this. I know you don't want to start a debate but I read really interesting things about cognitive sciences during my studies, and it's directly linked to the topic. If anybody you know claims that video games make people violent, you'll have an answer now...
Scientific and social studies were made to confirm (or deny, in that case) that violence in video games leads to violence in real life. The result of these studies shows that not only video games do NOT encourage violence, but they actually do the contrary. Video games help reduce the frustration and stress from everyday's life, and actually makes your brain produce endorphins (endorphins provoke pleasure, the main side effect being addiction... ever wondered why WoW is so addictive? ;) ). So definitely, NO, violence and video games are NOT linked.
Pleasure and frustration are, though. This is probably why in very, VERY rare cases, some people are going nuts and kill people, or at least become violent... The frustration they suffer in real life is too much compared to the pleasure they have in playing games, and since this is their only source of pleasure (no sexual life and no social life) they may turn crazy. But it has been proven that this behavior is mainly due to the society, to the stress induced by life and the mental state of the person (there were murderers and serial killers way before video games existed, right?). Some people are more sensitive to stress than others, people unhappy with their life tend to become violent more easily and more intensively. Ironically you can almost as much go crazy by having too much sex, being on drugs, or even eating too much, because you are not used anymore to being frustrated and you may become violent whenever it happens again...
So, again, violence is not related to video games. It's linked to society, daily stress, and your "resistance" to the amount of pleasure and frustration you may encounter in life. I personally think there is also a factor of risks when watching TV too often though, especially when you see images of violence daily in the news (wars/genocides, natural disasters, crimes and such). Trivializing REAL images of violence (I insist on images of REAL people and REAL acts) makes you unconsciously think it's a normal (or at least acceptable) behavior in society. Humans are violent by nature, the only thing that prevents us from turning crazy is to find some pleasure in everyday's life to counterbalance.
The risk of having only video games as a source of pleasure in your life is that whenever you're frustrated, you may become violent and imitate scenes from video games in real life. Video games tend to play a lot with your nerves, stressing you at every corner and playing with your frustrations. But I could say the exact same thing about social life, sex, job or whatever... Video games is not the source of the problem, it only reveals who you are faster (than a sexual or social life) because the pleasure and frustration are instant. Lots of people play video games daily and are frustrated when losing, but it doesn't mean they'll massacre people. Your mental state plays a huge part in the control of your violent behaviors, and it is directly linked to the society and how it affects you. No need to induce video games in the process.
I should try to find the documents I learned all this from, though it will be in French and a bit hard to translate... The study itself is not French though, I think it was Polish or something... I think it was done after the Columbine massacre, but I'm absolutely not sure. It's very interesting to read anyway. :)
0
Bronxsy answered the question right. V is the shorcut for Game Mode View, which lets you see visual effects such as fog, dynamic lights, and even birds. I also find S to be pretty useful when mapping out of the map bounds. Ctrl+Alt+H also shows the pathing mesh (VERY useful when you have to place No Flying Zones). You can pretty much hide anything: Shift+D to hide Doodads, Shift+U to hide Units, etc... be aware though that pressing D to enter Doodad mode will show Doodads, whether they are hidden or not, then hide them again if needed when switching to another mode. It applies to every mode actually, even Pathing, Terrain, or Points modes... While using the Game Mode View, nothing stays hidden.
About the water waves:
Data editor > Water section > the water type(s) you use in your map > "Cliff Shoreline" field > set to None
+ do the same for the "Beach Shoreline" field, and you won't have waves anymore.
Beach shorelines show when you modify terrain with the Height tools (if your terrain is higher than the water level, waves will be displayed around that part), while Cliff shorelines only show when you modify cliff levels.
0
I agree with Red, I don't think it's a virus... People see viruses anytime something does not work the way it should, but it could also be your HD slowly dying. Did you ONLY lose files located on your desktop (and/or folders placed in the desktop)? If so, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the OS screwing with your files somehow (desktop cleanup is our suspect #1) or you have a really annoying little brother. :D
0
To sum up briefly, art and programming skills... Pretty much everything an architect would learn, but oriented for games (which means there are lots of constraints you must be aware of, and ready to deal with... "Engine, Assets, Time, Money, etc" as Gorandor said). There is a huge difference between map making as an amateur and map making as a pro, mostly coming from the fact that you don't work alone and must follow graphical charts, scenario, timelines, plannings and such... You also need to learn how to work efficiently while waiting for the others to finish their part of the job, especially graphists and modelers (using placeholders everywhere, giving relevant names to each object, placing landmarks, etc...). It's not as easy as it looks, it's mostly common sense and organization but not every amateur map maker can do it.
Yeah, same here... Sadly. I'm still hoping I could find a good job somewhere though, which is why I chose to move. Being a level designer is a weird life... It's pretty exciting while you are part of a project, but you can also spend a lot of time unemployed in between. It wouldn't be that much of a problem if it was paid a bit better though, especially for juniors.
A successful map only shows you are lucky, I'm afraid... There are so many maps on BNet which are popular and don't deserve it! Societies (worldwide) don't mix up your map making experience and portfolio. Portfolio shows your skills in 2D or 3D arts, while map making shows how you manage a whole project (including the programming parts). This is why having skills in both is quite important. If you lack any of the fields required for the job they have, you're one step away from getting the job (my programming skills are limited, I'm pretty sure that's why it's so hard for me to get a job here in France). Talent is just a plus, most of the applicants to the job have it (or learned it) anyway.
OMGWTFLOLBBQ! :D
0
Yeah, the beta only lasts for a few hours... The download is taking ages, it's only half done. :'(
About Gates of Darkness, so far the only main bug I've seen is the vote dialog not closing after voting. I remember it happened in the previous version as well when I played solo. So basically you may have some mistake in your triggers... Sometimes the order at which you place your actions in a trigger can completely change the way it behave, especially with the lag when online. Oh, and I also noticed there were really few items on the ground this time, but I guess that's because you reduced the items generation rate. I don't know if it's normal but my murloc wasn't able to pick any item, in fact I don't even remember seeing the inventory UI.
0
The best way to meet these people is to go to game conventions. Behind the stands, you can meet people who are here to interview people interested in their company. It's better to ask for an interview BEFORE actually going there though... and if you have a nice project you can show them, you should (be careful though, some companies -even large ones- steal people's work... make sure your project is registered somewhere to value your copyrights if needed). Being passionate and dedicated is not that rare, actually everyone in this industry is. You must show that you have more than just a "player-side" perspective of the gaming industry, you must know its rules and facts, how things work in general in such companies, and why.
Aim for a specific company, do NOT try to wander here and there and give your resume pointlessly. They'll notice and you won't get any chance, especially since they spend the whole days interviewing people who are probably more fitting to the job (because they have experience, while you don't). Go there with a real project in mind, and show them you did your master degree in that purpose. Do not hesitate to ask people for their business card, even if they are not related directly to a game company. The more people you will know, the easier it will be to get your project known, and you might even find people interested enough to contact you. So don't forget to have your own business cards ready.
Actually, the ultimate way to have a network in the video game industry is to work with these guys. When I was a student in Game Design, our teachers were real professionals (seniors, lead, and such), which helped a lot to create a network and be known. Since you can't do it that way, I'd really suggest to go for game conventions and get yourself known there. It's gutsy, but it's probably the best way for you to get known. Don't go there empty handed, you MUST know where you are going prior to meeting them.
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Feedback coming! As requested by TheAlmaity, I'll write a few things down about Gates of Darkness.
Last time I played (before last night), I went solo. It seemed completely different at that time and it was also much, much longer to reach the end. Last night was fun, I would have enjoyed it more if it lasted longer though (yeah I know, "that's what she said"). It's much easier as a team, because you have backup if needed. That's why I tend to always use arithmetic when spawning masses of units, so that the more players there is the more enemies are spawned. That would make the game more even, be there 1 or 12 guys playing. The big boss is probably a bit too easy by the way, especially when we're many. Aside from that, I liked the map... It's "yet another TD" (kinda) but it has some cool features and the heroes are fine. I'm glad you reduced the lag too, which was probably due to the red omni lights around the spawn points. Maybe the summoner is a bit too strong though, I haven't tried it but from what I saw last night, it seemed like a walk in the park to whoever played with him (without counting the button spamming bug).
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Actually you can have more than 2 cliff types, I have 3 of them in my Sand Worm Survival map. I can't remember how it was done just by memory, but it was simple enough to be done without having to check for tips and help anywhere. I actually think the absolute limit is 4 cliff types in a single map, I remember I read that somewhere (probably in the TL forums, or the official SC2 forums)... But I can't see any good use for more than 3 cliff types if you can't have more than 8 textures anyway...
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Level design already IS a 4-year degree. :) I agree about other degrees opening more doors, though...
Sadly, no. I'm making mods and maps since I'm 12, I got no job thanks to them. It just shows them you're dedicated, and potentially talented.
True, but don't think it will help that much when it's time to get a job. The problem is you don't only need to do impressive maps, you also need to do them VERY fast. My last known experience was 30 maps in 3 months (6 levels ingame, divided in 5 parts each) and it was a small project on DS. The worst nightmare of level designers is the deadline. They are the last part of the chain and if they're late, the game isn't out in time... which is a really huge problem, especially in AAA games, so they'd rather release a bugged game than taking time to polish it. The more you delay the release of a game, the more players (and games critics) will lose interest in it... which also means your society will lose money, and they HATE to. You cannot do maps only taking the quality of it into consideration, it's very important to show that you can work fast, even when being disturbed every now and then by someone in the team asking you to do this, add that, change this, remove that,... or make coffee.