f13.net

I know a lot of you liked Rise of Nations. Well, I work at Big Huge Games now. Which puts 2 of the administrators at f13 working at game companies (Joe at Themis). Obviously I won't be talking about what I'm doing here, but I felt it would be the right thing to do by letting you all know...even though it's none of your business.

Insert Wild Speculation below. I expect a certain other group of people will be donning their tinfoil hats right about..........................now.

I will be the first to say, handouts will be appreciated.

Heh.

Doubtful that anyone is surprised that someone who enjoys gaming ends up working at a game company.  Jealous maybe or maybe not depending on the game/company.  ;)   Anyway, congrats!

congrats, rise of nations was a great game, well I enjoyed it at least. I have some friends who swear it is the best rts ever.

anyway anytime you get mad at the copy machine and can't find your red stapler just slip here and give us some goods.

Congrats.

(random office space note: Swingline didnt even make a red stapler before the movie but afterwards demand was so high they came out with a red model and its one of their best selling products.)

Great, now you can tell Brian to get the hell back to Firaxis to work on Alpha Centauri 2.

That being said, congrats to the job. I hope you get well paid and have alot of fun.

What kinds of things will you be doing from a big picture point of view. (IE QA, programming, etc).

In any case, congrats. I'm a little...ok....alot jealous.

So, where are you (http://www.bighugegames.com/team/index.html)?

Congrats, as someone who gets paid well to pursue my hobby I can only feel happy for anybody else being so lucky. And it looks like a good company to work for (good games, good track record, bright future ahead and good benefits - which signing package did you choose? (http://www.bighugegames.com/jobs/index.html) I must now go to my boss and demand a X-box)

Edit: Added linky to make a point.

Congrats on the job, schild!

Although I find it hard to believe there's actually a city called Timonium in  Maryland (or anywhere else outside of a sci-fi novel).

Bruce

So, when do the banner ads go up?

What good do banner ads do when there's a corporate shill in the forums? Seriously though, my work won't interfere. It's so far removed from what we discuss here that you won't notice a change. Other than me knowing how game development works from the inside.

Edit: Didn't like the wording.

I was pretty sure your 'big announcement' was going to be that f13.net is going a bit more mainstream w/ advertisments and "donate here" buttons going up everywhere.

You wanna tell us all how, in your opinion, the gaming industry works from the inside?

Edit.

It's magical. Or something.

Schild - Gratz on getting a position in the industry of your passion.

Congrats on getting your foot in the door!

Now tell us what job position you accepted.  Are you a programmer, designer, artist, tester, webmonkey, producer, or janitor?  (Ordering intentional.)

Oh good... people can now hate you for taking over this forum, not getting a much coveted EQ2 beta invite and having a job in a field that most here would give their toes to have.  Except me, of course.  I brought you here, I have a beta account and the only job I would even consider, at this point in my life, is a test driver for Ferarri.

I knew you would probably land a magical job as I've always suspected your head is filled with fairy dust.

CONGRATS! :)

I think we can all agree when I say "OK GET TO WORK IN SMAC 2!"

I swear she's my long lost twin. Except I was thinking of testing Lotus or Lamborghini. You wouldn't have to twist my arm to test drive a Bentley concept car either. ;)

But back on topic...

Congratulations on the job, schild. Do good work and make good games.

While I have offered my congatulations and threats of kidnapping and identity theft elsewhere, let me be the first to say..

"Sellout!"

Now that form has been satsfied, carry on.

Xilren

This had better make the world a better place Mr. Schild. For gamers, this is far too serious a role for you to take a typical American work ethic to. We expect nothing less than total commitment, brilliance, a puritan work ethic and the adoption of whatever ideas we consider important on a given day. If the company you work for produces anything less than something which will give us all personal access to literal nirvana, we will of course blame you and only you. That said, congratulations.

I echo all these sentiments.

And always remember my two questions, in case you DO have to make more RTS crap (TBS FOREVAH):

1. Does it allow for pausing and giving out orders?
2. Can you slow down gametime?

;) Now get your bitchass in the kitchen and make us some SMAC2! (Or Colonization 2)

From one guy working in a service industry where people get too close and too attached to little details and have huge emotional hissy fits over small, easily repaired problems to a guy in another with the same problem, let me say....

May you never have to deal with the public.

Grats.

Grats, Schild! Now make with the free lewts.

Rise of Nations is one of two games that I have added to the ghosting image of my hard drive.

The other is Civ III.

Fix it for you(tm)

Yes, Rise of Nations was what prompted me to apply there. Well that and the lead dev.

What's your job title? (without getting into specifics)

New fish.

Best of luck.

Is that like a Newfie?

I think it's one step away from being a shower rapie.

You're an intern?

I beat you to it by a good half week or so ;)

And if my guess is right new fish is a few steps below intern.  The interns have bios ;)

My bio goes up tomorrow. LIke I said, I'm new.

Fucking sellout.

Can I guess or what?

http://www.bighugegames.com/team/ericschild.html

Congrats!!

Ah, a playtester. There's nothing quite like a job you can bitch about incessantly and still like anyway. Congrats. ;)

He should have taken my advice and changed his name to Jason.  There are 7 Jasons in that small company.  Obviously, something sinister must be going on.  It probably would have to his advantage to be named Jason.

I want to write his profile.  I have all sorts of things I want to write about him.

As much as I've been known to give you shit Schild (especially about EQ2) I am happy for you and extremely jealous. The only thing I can imagine potentially sucking about playtesting is the potential to be utterly sick of a game before it ever releases.

Good luck. I'll have to be like "Yeah, I know the guy who playtested this game. Well sorta. We post on a board together. He tells me to shut up. "

... Not to mentioning having to spend days trying to recreate the same bug while being paid like shit.

At least, that's the playtesting I know - this company might be different. And anyway, it is an entry level position, if working your way from th bottom is your thing.

I like to call it paying your dues, which is what I am clinging to in my current job.

I wouldn't go that far, but working your way up is fine. It depends on how difficult a field is to break into (if it's hard and it's something you really want, you should atempt any route, that will bring you to your goal eventually) as well as your age.
Me, I prefer entering at the middle level and then rushing at the top, before people realize what I'm doing - I'm too old to work my way up all the way from the bottom.

I'm 22.

And you don't look a day over 30!

Yeah, you definately don't look a year older than me. I thought late 20's when I saw the pic.

Playtesting something over and over again isn't all that bad if you have the temperament for it, I think of it as programming without having to code or fix anything. Of course I jumped out of programming into a govt job, but that's more because I grew bored with programming than got sick of testing code over and over and over and over again.

It's the late hours, speedballs of caffeine and lack of sunlight.