Find (pt. 2 - The People)

So it's been a whole month now since I've started work. During that time, I've gotten to know all the people on my team, and a few others.

What baffled me initially was that the FHWII team is made up of (only) 17 people, with 3 of us being juniors (n00bs). Why would that be astounding? Because we're expected to deliver a full blown A+ title in less than a year. People say we'll be growing quite a bit in the coming months, but, as far as I'm concerned, we're fine right now.

So, we have 1 Producer, 1 Art Director and 1 Environment Artist, Senior and Junior Game Designers (one of each), 2 Level Designers, 1 2D Graphic/Texture, 1 Character/Concept Artist, 1 3D Graphics, and the rest of us, programmers (2 Juniors).

... and we're gonna kill the market come spring. Mark my words.

The people themselves, are however at times far more interesting than the work on the project. On my first day here, I was only briefly introduced to my mentor (the producer), and left to get to know the others on my own. That first week, everybody was busy with some design meetings, but I managed to pull some time off them and talk to a few of them. Across the desk from me, is Andrei, our Art Director/Lead Game Designer. First impression on Andrei was: weird clothes, weird haicut, must be a concept artist or something. But, on that first evening, I got to introduce myself, and shake his hand. I was stunned when he said "Andrei Fantana". If you don't know who that is, you haven't followed romanian gaming for the past 15 years or so; google it.

It was I think 1996. The first time I ever layed my hands on a games magazine. "Game Over" read the title, and it was the first of it's kind I saw written in Romanian. Inside, articles and reviews about the games of the time: Quake, Heretic 2, etc. I still have that issue at home (I actually have 2 crates of games magazines I've collected over time... talking about this with my girlfriend at some point, she said that a girl's reading habits grow with her: seventeen magazine, bravo, popcorn -> elle, cosmopolitan, etc. where as mine remained constant... I said I knew what I wanted in life early on; but men's habits evolve also; ergo, the third crate of magazines in my stash is filled with FHMs; so yeah, it's basically gaming and women lifestyle). I can still recall reading through the articles that formed my first opinions about games and gaming; some of them were signed 'afantana'.

It was like meeting the father you never knew; the person who influenced your whole life in some way or another, without actually being there. Had I never picked up that issue of the magazine, I might not have been here today. And so the story came full circle.

During the past weeks, I got to know people around here better (at least now I know all their names). An have also looked into people working for Ubisoft but on other teams. It's nice to be sharing (at least) the virtual community with people like Jordan Mechner, Yannis Malat, Patrice Desilets or Jade Raymond. It feels brilliant to have the names that have actually changed the industry at just a click away.

And if you can't relate to my story, think about the person that inspired you to go the way you're heading, and imagine how it would feel to work with them, and learn from them every day.

That's what get's me out of bed at 8:30 sharp every morning. And you? What are your expectations from your life?

RidgeWalkers feat. El - Find

Rise Up (pt. 1 - The Place)

It's been a week now, since I've started living my dream... It's been a week of discovery and awe.

To my friends, my dream of being a game developer in a big company should be nothing new. They've made fun of my determination to work at Blizzard ever since I first said it out loud (I was in the 7th grade then). Well, slowly but surely, I'm making my way toward it.

As of last Monday (April 7th) I'm an employee of Ubisoft Bucharest. In a few words, Ubisoft is the 3rd largest video game publisher this side of the ocean (Europe). If you want the detailed figures, look them up. My job title is "Junior C, C++ Game Developer", shorter said, I'm a programmer (more exactly gameplay programmer).

After this glimpse of time I've been here, I can already tell you the truth of the saying "Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life."

I never thought it could be so nice to have an 8 hour working schedule. I never thought I could love waking up at 8 in the morning (as you might already know, I've never been a morning person). And most of all, I'd have never believed I could want to stay in after work hours. And it's not because of any big 'Wow!' discovery, but all the little 'Oh!' moments that make their way into every day I spend here.

First of all this comes from the fact that respectful multi-national companies cherish their employees. A happy employee is a productive employee. As such, they gave their all to have us satisfied (well, there's always room for improvement, we don't have free ice cream, and we don't wear silky PJs and bunny slippers at work, but comparing to other employment opportunities around, I'd say we're pretty privileged... and I think I'll try coming in to work in silky PJs and bunny slippers, just to see if anybody minds).

Our office building is 5 stories high, divided in two major sides, and we share it with 3 other companies (Gameloft, AMA, and Guillemot). It used to be a parking lot, but it's come a long way from there. The automatic doors and card based access past the reception area are just the tip of the iceberg. The location is open 24/7, we have a doorman and receptionists, and there is no other conduit for entering aside the badge (you need it to open doors). We don't have offices... at least not what people usually understand by the term (there are offices for HR, Sales, and Management, but not for Production).

We work in teams (structure is almost strictly hierarchical), each team with it's own share of people for each of the positions required to make a game. And we're bunched up in HUGE rooms. The one I'm currently sitting in is shared by about 5 teams (FHMKT, FH, SH, MNG, ChA - I'll let you speculate on the meanings of those). We each have our own desks, PCs (I'm talking 3GHz q-cores with 2G RAM, LCD screens and other mouth watering bits), and dev units ( big, ugly black boxes with lots of switches and cables and sparkling lights). Oh, and we have these brilliant chairs that tilt, rotate and have wheels (yes, we race around the room sometimes). We have several king-sized LCD TVs, lots of gaming consoles, and stacks of games, right in the office (for research purposes, of course).

Then again, we have a fitness area with instructor and dancing classes, relaxation area with pool tables, table football, consoles and massage, mess hall (we still have to pay for our food though), vending machines for coffee (and various byproducts), snacks and drinks.

The bathrooms are eat-off-the-floor clean, always have soap, paper towels (and blow-driers), and toilet paper. We also have dedicated kitchens on each floor with bar-style tables and chairs, refrigerators, microwaves and sinks, plus cupboards and any and all other equipment needed to eat. It's all inclusive. We even have several couches you could count on if you stayed in so long that public transportation was out.

And, best of all, we have no crap policies. We have admin rights on our computers, we can install any and all applications we want or need (as opposed to not being allowed to use instant messengers or listen to music) - even games. Standard working hours are 9 - 13, 14 - 18, but it's not set in stone. What actually matters is that you have common sense, and don't abuse other's good will. You can come in to work later (some even as late as 14 o'clock), or leave earlier should you need to. You can take a day off, provided you let people know about it in advance. All that matters is, at the end of the month, you have your share of working hours done (8h * n working days that month).

I guess that about sums it up about the place itself. But I am sure there are other details I haven't even discovered yet.

Yves Larock - Rise Up