Ask the Developers a question or two
- Thread starter Callum Rowley
- Start date
We don't have anything on the horizon for the RCT franchise, but who knows what Atari is cooking up? We'll see what happens when we wrap up development on Kinectimals and The Outsider.
cherylfoster
C
Thanks For sharing best information. Here i share some more. Assuming the use of a procedurally generated galaxy in Elite IV, like in the earlier Elite games, how difficult would it be to give the planetary bodies, asteroids ect, a graphical update, were there wouldn't be an excessive amount of replication across various star systems, eg a 10,000 identical Earths.
Hi. I posted a thread in the help section about this, but it seems that a few other users have the same problem. I posted this problem on the atari forums and there has been no solution. One user there also has this problem. It is regarding rct3 platinum crashing on windows 7 x64, but we can't find a solution to the crashing....
Is there any other solutions that may work? I've almost tried everything that I can think of..
Is there any other solutions that may work? I've almost tried everything that I can think of..
Voice work in games
I was talking to an actor friend about acting and how the industry works and the subject of voice work came up. Which go me to thinking, how do developers go about selecting voice actors for games?
I was talking to an actor friend about acting and how the industry works and the subject of voice work came up. Which go me to thinking, how do developers go about selecting voice actors for games?
Michael Brookes
Game Director
There's a variety of ways, the most common are agencies who can find the right person, or old fashioned word of mouth. The audio guys (and other developers) build up a knowledge of good people so generally know where to at least start looking for people.
Michael
AUDIO/Sound Design QUESTION
What software do you use to track and edit/sequence/manipulate audio?
Do you carry out location recordings? if so, with what sort of equipment? - i.e, microphone choice, zeppelin choice, recorder choice, etc...
Do you use sound libraries or create all the sounds from scratch?
What software do you use to track and edit/sequence/manipulate audio?
Do you carry out location recordings? if so, with what sort of equipment? - i.e, microphone choice, zeppelin choice, recorder choice, etc...
Do you use sound libraries or create all the sounds from scratch?
Michael Brookes
Game Director
What software do you use to track and edit/sequence/manipulate audio?
We use common audio production / editing software such as Vegas, Cubase and Soundforge to create content. The company uses Wwise as an audio engine and pipeline, and there are various in-house tools for implementing sounds into the game.
Do you carry out location recordings? if so, with what sort of equipment? - I.e, microphone choice, zeppelin choice, recorder choice, etc...
We have a Tascam HD-P2 recorder for field recordings, which we use with a decent Sennheiser shotgun mic with a Rycote mount / windshield. We also use some Zoom handheld recorders, which are handy for quick and easy recording.
Do you use sound libraries or create all the sounds from scratch?
It depends on the timescale and needs of the project. We like to record / create as much bespoke content as possible but it’s not always necessary or practical. On the other hand it may be essential if the type and scope of sounds we require aren’t in any library. We tend to use library source as a basis for creating new content by processing and layering etc. It’s unlikely that we would take a ‘raw’ sound straight from a library and put it into the game.
A good example is some of the cat sounds from Kinectimals, we recorded some of these at various zoos.
Michael
We use common audio production / editing software such as Vegas, Cubase and Soundforge to create content. The company uses Wwise as an audio engine and pipeline, and there are various in-house tools for implementing sounds into the game.
Do you carry out location recordings? if so, with what sort of equipment? - I.e, microphone choice, zeppelin choice, recorder choice, etc...
We have a Tascam HD-P2 recorder for field recordings, which we use with a decent Sennheiser shotgun mic with a Rycote mount / windshield. We also use some Zoom handheld recorders, which are handy for quick and easy recording.
Do you use sound libraries or create all the sounds from scratch?
It depends on the timescale and needs of the project. We like to record / create as much bespoke content as possible but it’s not always necessary or practical. On the other hand it may be essential if the type and scope of sounds we require aren’t in any library. We tend to use library source as a basis for creating new content by processing and layering etc. It’s unlikely that we would take a ‘raw’ sound straight from a library and put it into the game.
A good example is some of the cat sounds from Kinectimals, we recorded some of these at various zoos.
Michael
Thanks for your reply Michael, I have my own Zoom Handheld recorder. It's one of the older ones (a Zoom H4) But I am going to invest in a field recorder like the Tascam and a collection of high end microphones at some point.
I sent an email through to Frontier speculatively asking for Audio related work experience, and was just wondering, what experience did the Frontier Audio team gain before landing their jobs?
I mean, it seems impossible to find work experience anywhere in the UK, due to the confidential nature of Games Developers not being able to allow me behind the scenes on an upcoming game, so what sort of routes did people take to end up working on a game?
Can any of the team offer any advice to me? I have been working on a Mod DB game called legend of the peach girl. And I have been reading a lot about the art and science of sound design.
Thanks again for the time you took to reply, I really appreciate it.
I sent an email through to Frontier speculatively asking for Audio related work experience, and was just wondering, what experience did the Frontier Audio team gain before landing their jobs?
I mean, it seems impossible to find work experience anywhere in the UK, due to the confidential nature of Games Developers not being able to allow me behind the scenes on an upcoming game, so what sort of routes did people take to end up working on a game?
Can any of the team offer any advice to me? I have been working on a Mod DB game called legend of the peach girl. And I have been reading a lot about the art and science of sound design.
Thanks again for the time you took to reply, I really appreciate it.
Michael Brookes
Game Director
A few questions from a student...
Hello,
My name is Lindsay Gurr and I am a 2nd year BA(hons) Games Design student at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). For a current project we have been asked to research a Games Developer, and, being an avid fan of Frontier’s games and style I have chosen your company.
The information gathered (history, location, games, employment routes, etc) will be compiled into a powerpoint presentation and presented by me and a team member to the rest of the class (currently around 55 students). I have found most of the information needed for my presentation from your website, but I was wondering if I could ask a few specific questions?
Being a well established company you’ve watched the games industry within the UK evolve into what it is today. How you have adapted to the changing markets and tastes of the consumers? Have you found that a well executed game is successful in spite of current trends?
What are you looking for in prospective employees? And what do you look out for in a prospective designer’s portfolio? Do you have more emphasis on idea generation, or advanced artistic skill? Or are these two aspects generally given to different team members?
How would you describe the working atmosphere at Frontier? Is it quite formal, with everyone sticking to their assigned roles, or is it more flexible, with everyone pitching in where they get ideas and inspiration?
How is the studio run? For example do you have a dress code and strict working hours? Or can employees stay as long as they need after hours? Or does this depend on an employee’s role within the company?
Finally, as a developer, do you have anything you would like to say to 55 budding students/prospective employees?
Thank you so much for your time,
Lindsay Gurr
Hello,
My name is Lindsay Gurr and I am a 2nd year BA(hons) Games Design student at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). For a current project we have been asked to research a Games Developer, and, being an avid fan of Frontier’s games and style I have chosen your company.
The information gathered (history, location, games, employment routes, etc) will be compiled into a powerpoint presentation and presented by me and a team member to the rest of the class (currently around 55 students). I have found most of the information needed for my presentation from your website, but I was wondering if I could ask a few specific questions?
Being a well established company you’ve watched the games industry within the UK evolve into what it is today. How you have adapted to the changing markets and tastes of the consumers? Have you found that a well executed game is successful in spite of current trends?
What are you looking for in prospective employees? And what do you look out for in a prospective designer’s portfolio? Do you have more emphasis on idea generation, or advanced artistic skill? Or are these two aspects generally given to different team members?
How would you describe the working atmosphere at Frontier? Is it quite formal, with everyone sticking to their assigned roles, or is it more flexible, with everyone pitching in where they get ideas and inspiration?
How is the studio run? For example do you have a dress code and strict working hours? Or can employees stay as long as they need after hours? Or does this depend on an employee’s role within the company?
Finally, as a developer, do you have anything you would like to say to 55 budding students/prospective employees?
Thank you so much for your time,
Lindsay Gurr
Michael Brookes
Game Director
The main focus for new markets is new platforms (we've developed games for most platforms in recent generations) and game types, a good example of this is the family friendly titles like Dog's Life and Kinectimals. Games like LostWinds appeal to more core platform game fans.
While quality is usually a good indicator, this isn't always the case.
We do generally have a seperation between design and art (although obviously there is some overlap).
This varies slightly depending on what stage of the project you are in, while everyone has their role, ideas are welcome from everyone. However as production on the game advances you tend to work within your role more. It also varies between people, some people are happy to share ideas, and others are more comfortable staying within their job role.
We don't have a dress code, although we do prefer people to be clothed
We have our normal office hours, but in busy times (such as near deadlines) people will put extra time in.Good luck in your studies, at Frontier we get involved in a range of interesting projects and hope to hear from some of you in the future.
Michael
Michael Brookes
Game Director
Michael Brookes
Game Director
Not as far as I'm aware.