http://www.epicgames.com/epic_jobs.html for full details, contact email is jobs@epicgames.com

Art positions listed in brief below

CONCEPT ARTIST/UI - HUD
FX ARTIST
HIGH-RES MODELER
TEXTURE/CONCEPT ARTISTS

Rorshach, Please understand that I consider Epic a game studio I see my self ending up at later on in my carreer. If this follow question comes as too invasive. Please allow me to apologize.

I am curious. How does epic devide up the work load on the art side? Where I am, it's as fallows:

1. Concept Artist
2. Environmental Artist
3. Then EA's send there work to the LD's "Level Designers".
4. Level is completed By LD's then CODE and Content lock.

ALl programers and animators in our company are considered tech side. They provide what we need to play the game. Duuuuuh...

How does it work with Epic?

I don't see you ending up at Epic with the attitude you display in every post you've made on this board. There's about a half dozen people from Epic that check this board so some of us would veto you at the interview stage to avoid working with someone with an attitude.

This is why people here routinely tell you to watch your attitude.

I see......Sorry to here that. I did say Later in my carreer. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] And, I do see my self there. Not now, but later.

thanks for the heads up ror. the high-res modeler position would be a dream come true. i'll look into this and apply immediately. if you hear about my application you can feal free to bad mouth me as much as you'd like [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] hehehe

Hey Ror,

This is Carl Kidwell - aka Slaine in the old days from Quake 1 - Skins Tutorial on PlanetQuake I'm sure you remember me (if not what have you been drinking and where can I get some)...

So do I fall into the "dont bother applying" category too? Or should I send in a resume? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Carl - aka - melkior - aka slaine

Hey Carl, I remember you, you were the first other skin artist I learned about after Bickell!

I don't see any hi poly in your resume, you should bear in mind ( and in fact everyone applying should ) that Epic has moved onto Hi poly normal mapped technology so low poly skills won't impress.

That said we are still looking for texture artists that can work with Normal maps, Specular Maps, Diffuse maps etc.

It is hard to judge how a regular texture artists will cope with changing their technique to completly avoiding shading depth and shadow on a texture without seeing practical examples.

I'd advise anyone looking to apply, not to rush an application with their current resume. It is best to make a couple of Unreal Universe tailored creations to demonstrate both willingness and ability within the world which you would work here.

We are very interested in Environment artists capable of building or texturing incredibly detailed assets.
As is usually the case, there are always more people looking to do the characters than the environments. With Hi poly though, theres a lot more freedom and variety in building level assets than there used to be.

Hey Ror,

I had texture artist in mind anyways high poly characters is not my speciality at the moment - so building a tree, a rock,a wall, some pipes, or alandscape and texturing it, UVW, normal maps etc is exactly what I think Id be best at right now.

So I think Ill send one along for that then!

Thanks for the reply.

Ah,

I see now I jumped the gun a bit - you said you recommend folks get some more experience with the new next gen technology before applying - and I've gone and sent off my resume already.

I figure that not too many have had their hands in this yet- I'm no worse off than 6 dozen others who havent had a chance to work with it yet and who are going to be working on it soon.

I have great texture skills and they should translate so Ill hope management sees that and gives me a ring - otherwise I'm working on some console/portable platform games so I'm not upset if they dont either!

Although our focus is hi poly, if you are a great low poly / texture artist we will still be very interested.

The main thing is that you show skill in what you do and that you are not a 1 trick pony.

There are essentially 4 stages to be an artist with the new tech.

1. Hi poly
2. Low Poly & Process Normal Maps
3. Creation of Textures
4. Creation of Materials / Effects

IF you can do any 2 of these well, then apply. Don't rule yourself out simply because you are not a hi poly monster.

*sniff* I smell the sweet fragrance of burning bridges (top few posts) [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Keep those vacancies open for another 2 years, please... Actually, by then we'll all be wearing VR helmets and sculpting in Zbrush 5.5 with glove-manipulators. Or something.
*hurries his degree along*

Rorshach, could you give some examples of the kinds of environments that you are looking for?

UT2k3/4 are so varied in the kinds of levels presented I guess it's probably all over the place concept wise, but any direction you could provide for protfolio presentation would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

robert clapp
robert.clapp@gmail.com

http://unrealchampionship2.com/ - This will be our next game released after UT4 so it would be good to trawl through the sites videos and screenshots and save them off for reference of the newer styles we are doing.

I'd pretty much ignore UT2k3 as a point of reference.

http://www.unrealtournament.com/ is a good reference point to trawl through for ref of UT4.

I think it will always be a safe bet to include some of the standard heavy metal scifi stuff that has always been a staple of the franchise.

Here's some concept art from Unreal2 that might push you in the right direction...

http://www.gamened.com/Wallpapers/Un...allpaper_2.JPG
http://www.computerandvideogames.com..._pic_30338.jpg

I found these 2 doing a google on Unreal2 , I expect you could find more if you took some time.

Hey Rorshach,

I made some skins myself back then mostly for Swedish clans, dunno if you remember me (okkun_Swemob).

Anyways, have you considered outsourcing? I've got an art house in Seattle and we've got some great talent here.

Don't want to send you a bunch of stuff if you're only considering hiring people but it's just something to consider.

I know most companies are reluctant to hand off critical assets but we've had very good experiences creating entire environments clients(along with animations, chars and props).

Regards,

Joakim Wejdemar

Rorshach, Thank you for the links, direction, and the google suggestion. All were very helpfull. I should've started with google first instead of bothering you about it, hopefully you don't think I'm a complete wanker.

-robert

Hey Okkun,

Yeah, you did Swemob's Mobster skin in QW with dark pinstriped trousers and whiteshirt around '97 right?

I wouldn't be the one to make the final call on outsourcing but I would not rule out the possibility if you are capable with the new Normal Mapping tech and the new skillset it requires for texturing.

Feel free to send stuff to kevin.johnstone@epicgames.com and I will forward it along to the LA & AD, or just send it to the job addy.

Robioto: Nah, not a 'complete' wanker [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
You could also check out www.yemyam.com as he still has the Epic Art Test he did on his site and its a good style guide as well as inspiring eyecandy.

ahh, if only I was 10 years younger.

Ruz, surely age doesnt matter, its what you can do that counts. Go for it.

Rorshach, thanks for the Yemyam link, it's all that you said.

Thank you also for the partial wanker pardon, now I can look at myself in the mirror when I shave [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

So, with Normal Mapping tech, you longer have to paint in shadows? WOW, that is freaking cool. But, wouldn't the amount of work be more as apposed to the way companies with out that tech tecture now? I've used some normal Mappening with Max and using the Nvidia plugins. Took a while to understand it.

Working for Epic would be a dream come true for me. Creating games has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Working to create my own games for years has allowed me to develop a multitude of skills which I'm am continuing to improve each day. 3d modeling, texturing and concept art is the aspect of game development I enjoy the most. I am comfortable with both 3D Studio Max and Maya pretty equally, though I've been working with Max a bit longer. I am currently working on a portfolio website and content which will better show my current abilities and will feature a large spectrum of my work from low poly and high poly characters, environment objects, and digital concept paintings.

In addition to artwork, I also have programming skills. I know Visual Basic and C# very well and understand C++ but have less experience in it. Though a career in programming is not what I'm looking for, programming and creating art for my own game projects has taught me how the engine code works with the art resources, granting me an understanding of game engines and ways to create art that will work more efficiently with them.

I'm currently enrolled at the School of Communication Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina, and will Graduate in June. I will have my portfolio site done long before that (probably in a couple weeks) and I will post a link.

I realize a job with epic is a long shot. Though I have alot of experience with my own games projects/ mods. I don't have any proffesional experience in game development. However its an opportunity I can't ignore.

Kevin: Work on environment assets for your resume, if you make that your focus you will stand a much higher chance of getting a junior position (based on your lack of industry experience) or intern position here.

Those extra 'technical' skills are worth their weight in gold also as theres a host of extra techy challenges involved in making games with our technology so if a college guy could come in armed with knowledge of our techs shaders and particles and be focussed on environments they would stand a very good chance of a job.

Moose is pretty much a poster boy for what we are looking for here at Epic. Although his resume was composed of characters mostly ( like everyones...), he took the suggestion to do some environment map textures to heart and knocked out an impressive enough set to get hired as a junior artist pretty much straight out of college.

When he arrived, he quickly showed that he was also technically savvy and had spent some time on learning the shader system to a higher degree than many artists.

Within 2 months he was promoted to a full artist.

Moose can do pretty much every art task there is but he has worked mostly on the UI and HUD for UnrealChampionship2 and made one of the most amazingly pretty and interactive Hud's I've seen in a game for a while.

We're looking for more people like Moose, people who can do a variety of things but are willing to do what we have a need for.

Right now we really need environment artists.

Theres been a few people applying as character artists and every one of them that applies we suggest the environment artist position politely.

There is noone on this board good enough for the character positions other than perhaps Daz who would still need to prove himself in an arttest to show he could do work significantly more detailed and in the unreal style.

http://www.unrealtechnology.com/scre..._creation1.jpg

The above was made a couple of years ago now, if you are trying for a character position, you would need to be a lot better than everyone else here to bully your way into a slot that is not open atm.

I hope I am not coming across as arrogant here, I'm trying hard to reinforce the facts and avoid wasting peoples time.

Everyone wants to do characters. We need environment artists.

Doing environment art here is a lot of fun, look at YemYam's art test, these are the sorts of things you get to build.
It's not like working on GTA where you make low poly buildings and street signs, there is a wide variety of highly technical concepts to follow and articulate in 3d to cinematic quality for ingame assets.

We have not hired an artist here in 10months because everyone who is at the novice level at hipoly and applying wants to do characters and we already have very experience high poly people.

Thats as clear as I can make it folks.

Rorshach,
I'd be thrilled to come work for Epic doing environment stuff, and have years of industry experience, but like lots of people I've mainly done character stuff when doing portfolio pieces (not entirely, but mostly). Do you have any advice on either how to pitch myself as an environment artist although my portfolio makes it seem like I'm mainly a character artist? Also, are there any recent concept pieces around online that would make good "Epic envirnment building" practice? I assume even with experience it would be super helpfull to do a piece or 2 with an Epic look.

Thanks for the information. I am definatly interested in working on environment resources. I will take your advice and focus on high poly environment assets for my resume. I would also like to mention that I do have experience working with pixel/vertex shaders. I have coded some shaders by hand as well as with ATI's RenderMonkey and Nvidia's FX Composer. I've mostly worked with HLSL.

You will hear from me again soon once my work is prepared.

Hey Rorshach,
This is a very informative thread, it's much appreciated.
The opportunity to work at Epic would certainly be wonderful. Ever since I got involved with UT community I have been interested in a possible career at Epic in the near future.

I would like to take this chance to introduce myself,
I've been developing art assets for games for almost 3 years. A year and a half ago I got evolved with Red Orchestra as a junior environment artist and worked my way up from there. From March of last year up until November I have held the post of Art Director at RO with great success.
Currently I am enrolled in the Vancouver Film School majoring in 3d Animation and Visual effects. (I have since passed my responsibilities at RO to Bill Monk and stepped down to a position that demands less of my time!)
I will be graduating in August. My demo reel is geared towards high rez organic (Characters) and hard surface (Environment/props/etc) modeling as well as Character Setup (TD), Lighting and Texturing. I am proficient with a variety of 3d and 2d packages, including but not limited to 3ds max, Maya, XSI, Photoshop and Painter. I also have a solid foundation in traditional arts, such as sculpting, classical animation, storyboarding, character design; film editing, art direction and etc.
I am not sure whether it would be shrewd of me to apply at this point, seeing that in the best of scenarios I would not be able to relocate until graduation; however I am really looking forward to future discussions with Epic, and will work hard to secure a position at Epic.
Cheers.