I like the Heavy and Spy artwork. Heavy looks several times more badass, and the Spy having a full facemask is an interesting idea (although understandable for it to not be in the game, as unless you didn't give the Spy any mouth motion, the mask's chin would just be bobbing up and down while speaking and all that).
Then again, all the pictuers look badass. But no love for the Scout, Demoman, or Sniper, Valve? :saddowns:
You should have snuck off, started the SDK, and "leaked" portal 2.
Then we can troll at Valve because we had huge expectations.
or ep3 arts
[QUOTE=Reg;22861016]I bet the engi object is this [img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2951174/thislol.png[/img][/QUOTE]
Remember me?
[QUOTE=Mechtroid;22858506]I I'm not resting until I work there. The place is developer heaven. Seriously.[/QUOTE]
Aye I'm with yah on that.
More Q&A!
Q: How can I work at Valve?
A: This was actually a question on the presentation they did. There's really two parts to the question: What is Valve like, and what are they looking for?
Before you can know what they're looking for, you have to realize Valve has a very unique employee structure. Unique, in that they don't really have one. Ever noticed how the credits just list "Valve is:", and then just a bunch of names in alphabetical order? Yeah. That's because there is no "sound director" or "Project manager" or "Dev lead". [1] People just work on what they think would be best for the game or best for the company. In fact, when I asked the other guy presenting, Charlie, what he did at Valve, he was confused by the question.
To anyone who's worked in a large company, this sounds horrifying and scary. To anyone who's never worked with idiots before (I.E. never had a coworker before), this sounds amazingly efficient and wonderful. [2] And that's the big secret behind valve. They don't hire idiots, so they don't have to manage idiots. They hire people who are not only really good in multiple fields of study, but also are diligent, self-motivated workers who are able to actually finish what they started.
And that's really what you have to do to get a job at valve. Finish something you start. Ship a product that you or a small team made. It doesn't matter how awesome your idea is, even if you thought up the next portal, if you can't see it all the way through to the end, you're not made of the right stuff. [3]
---
Q:What's the deal with Ricochet, anyway?
RW: *Nervous laughter* Um... Well... Let me put it this way, I was one of the original developers, and I don't remember it so well. Anyway, we noticed something. If you release a game after working on it for two years, you'll get X sales. However, if you release a complete game after working on it for a single year, then spend the second year iteratively developing it and getting feedback from players, you'll both create a better game and have more sales. [4] The question then became "How far can we push this?" So we decided to make the smallest team with the shortest timeframe possible. It was me and two other guys. Then, we were going to iterate for as long as possible until they made a fully-fledged, amazing game. Part one resulted in Ricochet. Part two got kicked in the head for a reason that even I can't remember. My hand in the game has become a running joke among employees. [5]
---
Q:How does Valve feel about piracy?
RW: We think piracy is a value problem, but not a money problem. Let me explain. The prime example of this is Russia. When we first looked into selling in Russia, the other development companies said "Piracy runs rampant there, we've tried to sell games to them. It doesn't work, stay away from Russia." Valve looked at it, and realized that the pirate's games were actually a higher value for the Russian people. The pirates would take a game and completely localize it, some even going as far as to add their own voice acting in Russian to the games. If I [Robin] had a choice, I probably would have chose the pirated version too. So we did a full localization, sold it at a slightly lower price (Since the copies are digital, steam allows us to prevent the cheaper versions from flooding the grey market).
The one type of piracy Valve actively fights, and the main form of DRM built into steam, combats day-zero piracy. When a game is pirated before it comes out, [Valve's] die hard fans are put in a tough situation: Support the company they love, or play the game as soon as humanly possible? And having an earlier release date increases the "value" of the pirated game exponentially.
--------
Q: What's your favorite Easter Egg in a valve game?
RW: Well, there's all the crazy and inventive ways our mapmakers hide their names in their maps. There's few maps without them. However, the one that I've never seen anyone notice comes from all the way back when we released the trailers for HL2 at E3. Every scene we showed had a toilet in it, some hidden, some not.
----
Okay, that's enough for now. If I remember a few any better, I'll post 'em.
[1] This is actually a continuing problem with the press, as they don't really understand the idea of not having a leader or creator. They want to write about "The genius behind game Zed", not "Programmer 18 of the game Zed cabal, who did a few cool things for it." So Valve's just given up, and Doug Lombardi sometimes introduces programmers to the press with fake titles that try to describe what they do.
[2] They obviously put it in nicer terms when they did the presentation.
[3] Here's a fun test, to see if you're on the right track. Go read [url]http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=958863[/url] . If this seems like common sense stuff to you, congratulations, you'll be able to have your soul crushed at Generic Online First Person Shooters, Inc. Sorry, I mean Activision. No, I mean EA. I mean... Wait, who the fuck made Killzone? *ahem* ANYWAY, good, you've got a better chance of making something that impresses them than that 13 year old going "OMG I WANNA MAKE A MOD, HERE, I HAVE THE IDEAS WHILE YOU DO THE WORK." And you're going to have to do work. A lot of work. With potentially no payoff. So play to your strengths, do something you enjoy creating. If you still want to work at Valve, good luck and godspeed.
[4] The accuracy of this can be debated.
[5] Apparently, ONE employee even ordered a ricochet T-shirt. I say we flood Valve for requests for an official one in the store.
[QUOTE=Mechtroid;22865413]
Q:What's the deal with Ricochet, anyway?
RW: *Nervous laughter* Um... Well... Let me put it this way, I was one of the original developers, and I don't remember it so well. Anyway, we noticed something. If you release a game after working on it for two years, you'll get X sales. However, if you release a complete game after working on it for a single year, then spend the second year iteratively developing it and getting feedback from players, you'll both create a better game and have more sales. [4] The question then became "How far can we push this?" So they decided to make the smallest team with the shortest timeframe possible. It was Robin Walker and two other guys. Then, they were going to iterate for as long as possible until they made a fully-fledged, amazing game. Part one resulted in Ricochet. Part two got kicked in the head for a reason that even Robin can't remember. Robin's hand in the game has become a running joke among employees. [5]
[/QUOTE]
So halfway through the interview, Robin starts referring to himself in the third person?
[QUOTE=Swiket;22865589]So halfway through the interview, Robin starts referring to himself in the third person?[/QUOTE]
Heh, no, that's my mistake. I didn't transcribe his responses or anything, this is all from memory.
It still sounds like something he'd do.
[email]store@valvesoftware.com[/email]
The Valve Store e-mail address. If you're gonna demand a Ricochet shirt, send it there.
[QUOTE=Swiket;22865589]So halfway through the interview, Robin starts referring to himself in the third person?[/QUOTE]
When he remembers Ricochet it drives him mad.
valve buy facepunch before he buy you :D
I'm going to have to watch the HL2 E3 stuff again to find those toilets.
Everyone, please dear mother of a child request a Ricochet shirt from Valve.
[editline]11:57PM[/editline]
I just sent my request.
Actually, he mentioned in passing "T-shirts are just fanservice, really. We make them for the fans, not for profit."
Also, just requested a Ricochet T-Shirt.
Just looked up Riochet on youtube, holy shit that game looks confusing.
Soon as I leave uni, I'm shipping off to valve.
Lucky fuck!
[QUOTE=Musicfreak59;22861789]Wow, that's actually pretty cool. Thanks for all the info, rated heart!
What else of worth mentioning did you see?
What was the overall attitude in the workplace?
And I'm sure the question on everyone's mind is: Did you see Gabe? And if so, what was he doing?[/QUOTE]
Oh, I forgot to say, I saw Gabe twice! First time he was in his office working, the second was actually outside of valve, I assume he was walking to lunch with some coworkers. He saw my pyro shirt and smiled. :D
you should have asked him what was up with the Aliens vs Humans iteration of TF2. we don't know anything about it and it seemed really cool.
Why are there 190 people reading this now?
Did someone invite the Steam forums again or something?
[QUOTE=Stizzles;22875970]Why are there 190 people reading this now?
Did someone invite the Steam forums again or something?[/QUOTE]
214 people and rising.
[QUOTE=Stizzles;22875970]Why are there 190 people reading this now?
Did someone invite the Steam forums again or something?[/QUOTE]
Some people just got home from work/college/school.
[QUOTE=Stizzles;22875970]Why are there 190 people reading this now?
Did someone invite the Steam forums again or something?[/QUOTE]
these people don't have the IQ to understand and will misinterpret 95% of the content of this thread
fuck
Awesome thread, thanks for the info!
Damn, I had a lot of fun reading this.
P.S: Time to spot those toilets >_>
Jealous. If I had the money I would go live in Washington to work at Valve.
Nice thread and info. Should've taken more pictures, though.
You want more pictures? I've got a few. ;)
[b]MOAR PICTURES:[/b]
[img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/Crowbar_Statue.jpg[/img]
[img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/HeavyStatue.jpg[/img]
[img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/TankStatue.jpg[/img]
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