ValvE Employment Created 17 years ago2007-09-20 00:58:57 UTC by Tetsu0

Anyone ever consider it?
If i had more experience, I certainly would send them a Resume`

http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs.html

3+ years of industry experience means PROFESSIONAL experience. not mod work.

Methinks even the folks working on BM would require quite a bit of luck getting a job there.

Oh well, it doesn't hurt to try. Im gonna apply for the level maker position.

Wow. Tosse is more fucking retarded than I thought. That is hands down the funniest shit I've ever read on TWHL. Ever.

in all honesty, i must agree. not even the most experienced and talented mappers at TWHL stand a chance, because as far as i know, no one has had extensive industry training and/or experience.

You guys realize there's no listings for level designers on that page? =/

They're actively seeking people to work on the Steam platform, and software engineers. No listing generally means no position at any company, unless you are exceptionally talented and more than fit the requirements for your job.

Rabid is correct.

I live in the UK but I'm gonna apply anyway and hope I gets a job. Then I can feed my family

...i really hope you're joking. i feel sorry for the guy who has to read all those fake applications.

I'm just throwing it out there =]
i would apply but i dont meet the criteria so i'm not going to bother.

It's every amateur mapper's dream to be contacted by Valve, but it's largely a fantasy.

Get a professional engineering or computer science degree first, then they might consider hiring you.

The bottom line is that you got to do well in school to do the things that you want to do. Good grades give you options.

Which is why I'm sticking it out as a mechanical engineer.
After the first 2 semesters were over and done with, iIm really starting to enjoy the curriculum

I've worked 1 year at Taketwo interactive / Ubisoft ..I've helped them with games such Splinter Cell 2 , Tombraider legend, Rayman 3 Hoodlum then they fired me ?!

... anyway I made some pretty games for Sinclair Spectrum 16k (not 48k! it was more complex)

Truth is I consider myself only a medium mapper but I've got plenty of ideas for games plot
my maps maybe are not tech groundbreaking but are always inspired

Interesting. So you can make custom maps for Splinter Cell? OO make some co-op maps for SC3 ;D

No no Habboi ..I'm joking
though real software house designers are not
gods and often are not better than many people on this community only cause they do it as a job .. if u know what i mean.

I've seen a backstage of Bungie (creators of Halo) that made me laugh for their disorganization, amateurish style and superficiality ..they seemed the boy next door. (I think Halo 2 is the more overrated game in hystory but this is another story)

Yeah I knew you were joking but I wanted to get it out of you without flaming. I dunno. Sometimes I think professionals do a good job but they can seem unorganised at times.

Who says the creative process is pretty? I go to the Art Institute of Boston, and let me tell you, no one's work place looks professional.

Of course I wouldn't mind applying for a job with ValvE. I would however, only do it if I met the requirements they were after. I could probably get a customer service or administration job because unfortunatly thats the only field I have "Commercial experience" in.

Rather than applying for jobs with existing games companies the only real way to get the experience they want is to start your own damn company, release some commercial games (meaning you need licensing and permission) and wait for them to buy you out IF THEY SEE FIT.

Of course, that requires a hell of a lot of patience, time and a fuck load of cash for licensing to even get noticed.

Notice how most game developers are in they're late twentys - early thirties. Thats because they've been out getting things done. You can't even pass a course in GAMES DEVELOPMENT and walk into an established company demanding a job at age 19 / 20.

They would say: "No problem, you can either fetch our mail and coffee for ?10 a week or you can GET THE FUCK OUT!"

In a nutshell: You could be a one man development team capable of crafting realistic worlds, coding top notch AI and creating masterpieces in Photoshop but no company will care unless you have been selling it for a few years already.

Well actually, when they first went hiring people into Valve, most of them had never even been to college, and certainly never had any background in the industry. They were just Quake modders. However, this was a highly unusual situation, because they were a poor unheard of company at the time. Also, it was more common-place to do stuff like this back then, because game development wasn't considered quite as valid of a career path as it is now, and there weren't schools dedicated to getting people into the industry.

Well yes I see your point. Back then some of the talent floating around the net today would have been snatched up. Todays standards are much higher in comparison.

Its the same for everything.

They sure need those Software Engineers, that new xfire-ish update is buggy as hell.

I remember Bungie did a big article on how some of their employees came to work there and stuff. It was pretty cool. Most of them involved luck though. They also said that a Fine Arts degree from a four year university is almost a requirement to do any design or art-related work in the industry today. In four years I'll at least be that far!

From what I gathered, game design is big business and education and training organizations are opening up courses in video-gaming and programming. I haven't learnt much about about what they contain but you have to admit, this is big business now.

video games is a big buisness? o rly?