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Megan Bishop

Aug 30 2018

Developer of the Month: Brian Giaime

Say Hello to Brian Giaime

Senior System Designer

 

What does a Senior System Designer do at Undead Labs?

My responsibilities cover making sure that the game systems we build are reasonable to work with and produce fun experiences that stay fresh and interesting for many hours. On State of Decay 2 and its DLC, my focus is on base building, ranged weapon gameplay, consumables, items, and the scavenging experience.
Wow! That is an important job!

 

What made you get into the game industry?

I’ve played games since I was very young, often with my younger brothers or our cousins. For fun, I used to make mods for Warcraft 3 when I was young. One day I realized someone was getting health insurance for doing the stuff I was doing for fun, and from there I made a breakneck sprint to get a job as a game designer, heading to DigiPen Institute of Technology cross-country from NY to study for some 80-100 hours a week, and working full time starting in the summer of my junior year.
Nowadays, I get to make stuff that my family enjoys playing, and I find immense fulfillment in this.

How did you end up at Undead Labs?

I wasn’t originally going to go to PAX in 2013, but my wife insisted we go, so she gets some of the credit for me working here.
Though employed, I was quietly looking for new job opportunities that year, and while we were at PAX, we happened to bump into some of the Undead Labs crew manning the old booth spot at the top of the stairs. I asked some questions, liked the answers I heard, and asked if they were hiring any designers. Luckily for everyone involved, Undead Labs was, in fact, looking for a designer! I was working here less than a month later.
Please pass on a big thank you to your wife from all of us at Undead Labs!

You seem to be very happy working here, what is your favorite part about working at Undead Labs?

We make large games for our studio size and as a result each developer has relatively significant agency and areas of responsibility. It’s really fulfilling to be able to make such an impact on the games we work on.

 

Last but not least, we would love to hear an interesting fact about you, maybe some information about your life outside work?

I have purchased Escape Velocity Nova 6 or 7 times, used to play Jazz Trumpet in my youth, and have two very talkative cats.

Have questions for Brian? He’d be happy to answer them! Just comment on the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram post this link was on, and we will collect his answers and send them back to you.

Written by Megan Bishop · Categorized: Uncategorized

Aug 07 2018

Luis Yepez – Social Media Q&A

To learn more about Luis visit, https://undeadlabs.com/2018/07/uncategorized/developer-of-the-month-luis-yepez/

Related imageWhat do you think about the option to rename your character?

Thanks for this question! I love it because it’s a question much deeper than you would think of initially. This is a feature that a lot of players immediately think of when playing a game like this one. We have come to think of it as a given option in a lot of games. 

The core of this question though reveals something very interesting when you think about it a little more in depth. Why do people want to rename characters? Well other than to have funny names and the ability to do whatever with your character, what this really reflects is a player’s desire for autonomy and ownership over their experience.

In State of Decay 2 we took that feeling and rolled it into the core experience. You cannot rename because the premise of our world is to explore HOW WOULD YOU SURVIVE the zombie apocalypse. If this were (I mean when this becomes) a real-world scenario, you won’t really have a chance to draft an all-star team or anything of the sort. You will be stuck with the people surrounding you and the ones you ally with and meet along the way. This plays deep into our desired experience for players. These are real people with real stories and a background. We give you the autonomy on how you would face this world and how your decisions will impact those surrounding you.

Names have heavy significance in the real world. They reflect values, culture, and society as a whole. They help you understand someone’s walk in life. This was a great tool for us to utilize in giving our characters a sense of being grounded in the world and having an existence before the zombies came on chomping. They’re relatable people. Renaming characters at will would just shift the focus of your community’s experience when they get frustrated, become ill, or inevitably meet up with a juggernaut.

I hope this helps you see this question in a different perspective and why it makes sense in a lot of games but didn’t make sense for us.

Image result for Weather IconConcerning Weather:

Weather is something we are not looking at at the moment. Any new addition that might make it to the game we want to ensure amplifies gameplay to a level that makes changes like this one a positive to gamers and not just a checklist item. Weather is always one of those tricky ones because it involves all our departments from sound to art, FX, design etc. So a lot of people would need to be involved in order to make sure we do it right and deliver an experience that enhances State of Decay 2 and all its systems.

Image result for guide iconWhat techniques did you use to help guide the player to areas of interest?

The maps are designed in a way to loop you around eventually. We wanted to make sure you had main paths to always fall back on as a safety net when exploring (especially at night) but that something always piqued your interest in the distance.

We also use a lot of subtle techniques to keep moving you forward, from storytelling to hint at a loot spot up ahead to very subconscious pathing in the terrain and flow of lines in the environment that point in the direction we want you to go. Ultimately though you can head anywhere in our maps from the beginning so we just need to make sure you always find something to be engaged with, while deliberately reducing interaction in areas that might be taking you far away from the action.

What is your favorite part about the process of environment creation?

I love helping make a world come to life and figuring out how to remain flexible while doing that, so that gameplay can evolve and change for the better. Cementing a past and a firm sense of history in an area so the player can feel that this world existed beyond them and they are but experiencing a slice of time from this world. Building up tension and enhancing gameplay mechanics present a challenge to the artist in me that always wants to put in more and more stuff. So finding the balance of art, design and immersion is always a great fun challenge. Every project has different constraints and when we can deliver a good flowing environment that is fun and has a sense of history then I feel we have done our job.

Making environments usually involves more time solving how you can sell it with less and make it as lean as possible so the game can run efficiently, and being able to redo or make new areas as fast as you can while not sacrificing visual fidelity. Our main goal is to immerse you in the world by selling the atmosphere rather than the individual quality of the assets. 

Are there any plans to bring in big building like structures like hospitals, prisons, skylines?

Can’t answer on future plans, but we do have a hospital in Drucker, a quarry and dam in Cascade Hills, and an abandoned factory in Meagher Valley.  

Image result for terrain iconWhy does terrain slope seemingly have different accessibility (the starter base in the desert biome has some steep paths, where gentler paths elsewhere are inaccessible)?

When it came time to make the world in which you would survive we wanted to present some challenges and variation in pacing to each map. Every region in the real world has areas of easy accessibility and others that you will need an offroad vehicle and hiking time in order to access.

We went about making your initial play areas as smooth as we could while accentuating the biome you were in (farmlands, desert cliffs, forest areas) to help you get a hold of the systems and get you familiar with your surroundings. As you progress we add pacing in travel in order to keep players alert for dangers that may come from any corner. This helps our dynamic system create great moments in which you thought you could straight line to a house only to run out of gas, find yourself at sunset time and with a horde right around the corner.

As world builders for our game, we need to think about the fact that you may be coming from 1 of 5 possible angles to a building. So we try to make many options available to you (even if you are unaware of them) so that you have autonomy and control over how you will clear out a building or neighborhood.

Image result for future iconWhat’s next?

The Daybreak Pack will be releasing next. It’s a new game mode that we are excited for everyone to take part in. Details should be coming out soon so stay tuned for more announcements about this.

(Release date is planned for September, see second to last paragraph at the link below for all information released at this time. https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2018/06/28/state-of-decay-2-independence-pack/)

Luis, can you get me a job?

For information related to Undead Labs please visit our website. That will always be one of the best channels to contact the correct department for inquiries like this. (https://undeadlabs.com/jobs/)


⇒ Developers are not aloud to discuss or hint at future content. All of you asking about possibilities for future content or release dates, I’m afraid Luis is unable to answer. We can tell you that we are always monitoring for fans feedback and suggestions and taking everything into consideration. So even though we may not answer your questions/comments we are listening.

Thank you for understanding. For updates on future content remember to continue following us on Social Media, we promise to let you know as soon as we can.

Thank you for the great questions!

Have a follow up question for Luis?

Catch him on our live stream tomorrow (Wednesday Aug. 8th) 1-2pm PST.

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/undeadlabs Mixer: https://mixer.com/UndeadLabs

 

Written by Megan Bishop · Categorized: Uncategorized

Aug 04 2018

Official rules for “One if By Head”

OFFICIAL RULES “Undead Labs – One if by Head” NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN 1. TO ENTER: No registration necessary, participants must have a either a Facebook, Twitter or Discord account.  Only one entry per member will be accepted. Entrants should not create or use multiple social media accounts or member accounts to enter the Promotion. Entries that contain defamatory, obscene, lewd, or inappropriate text, language, images, or other material will be disqualified (as determined by Undead Labs in Undead Labs’ sole discretion). No registration or paid subscription is required to enter. All entries must be received by August 10th, 2018. Entries are limited to one entry per person over the Promotion Period (described in Section 2). Any attempt to exceed this limit may result in disqualification. By entering, entrants agree to comply with and be bound by these Official Rules including all eligibility requirements. Undead Labs reserves the right to verify eligibility of all entrants. Illegible and/or incomplete entries and entries submitted by entrants who do not meet the eligibility requirements (including all requirements with respect to age and residence) are void. Undead Labs and its agents are not responsible for lost, late, or misdirected entries, for technical, hardware or software failures of any kind, for lost or unavailable network connections, or for failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions or any human error which may occur in the receipt or processing of the entries. Proof of entering information at a website does not constitute proof of delivery or receipt. Undead Labs reserves the right to modify the scheduling of the Promotion without prior notification. Use of computer programs, macro, programmed, robotic, automatic and other similar means to enter the Promotion is prohibited and will result in the disqualification of entries and/or the entrant. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting an entry, the entry will be deemed to be submitted by the person in whose name the account is registered on the date the entry is submitted. Undead Labs may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Promotion or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines such entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Promotion in any way by cheating, hacking, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other parties or representatives of Undead Labs. 2. PROMOTION PERIOD: The Promotion begins at 10:00 AM PDT on August 4, 2018 and ends 11:59 AM PDT on August 10, 2018 (the “Promotion Period”). A computer owned by Undead Labs will be the official time-keeping device for the Promotion. 3. ELIGIBILITY: The Promotion is open to all. 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Return of any notification or Affidavit as undeliverable, the inability of Undead Labs to contact a potential winner, the failure of a potential winner to contact Undead Labs in a timely manner, the inability of a potential winner to accept or receive the prize for any reason, and/or the non-acceptance by a potential winner of any prize for any reason will result in disqualification of such potential winner, and an alternate winner will be selected from all remaining eligible entries received. In the event that, for whatever reason, Undead Labs cannot select a winner after two attempts, including, without limitation, because a potential winner does not respond, refuses to accept a prize or for any of the other reasons identified in the preceding sentence, Undead Labs may, in its sole discretion, forfeit the prize for, and terminate the Promotion with respect to, that drawing. By entering the Promotion (including submitting an entry), entrants agree to the use by Undead Labs and its designees of their name (first and last name), Social media username (if other than their real name), photograph, and likeness for advertising, promotional and other marketing purposes, in perpetuity, in any and all forms of media (including the Internet) without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. The winner may be required to sign a document to this effect. All entrant information will be used solely for the purposes of administering this Promotion, unless the entrant otherwise consents, and will be subject to the www.undeadlabs.com Privacy Policy http://www.undeadlabs.com/privacy-policy/. 5. PRIZE LIST: One (1) Game code good for a copy of State of Decay 2’s Independence Pack.  value $4.99.  The winner is not entitled to the difference, if any, between the stated approximate and actual retail value of the prize. 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Written by Megan Bishop · Categorized: Uncategorized

Jul 31 2018

Developer of the Month: Luis Yepez

Say Hello to Luis Yepez, Senior World Builder!

“Senior World Builder.” Does that make Luis some kind of god? Unfortunately no, it just makes for a really cool job title. (Once you get to know this awesome dude, you’ll understand why we say “unfortunately.”) So, what does he do?

It’s a bit of a mixed discipline. I do some stuff that would be considered art and other things that would fall under level design. Basically, I build the world you play in. The nature of the games we build requires the people making the world and playable areas to pull tools from both the environment artist’s palette and the level designer’s trick bag.
For State of Decay 2, our Grandmaster World Builder (James McMillan) put together all 3 open-world maps in the game. He established the overall flow and layout. I then came in and worked on composition, navigational awareness, neighborhood layouts, environment storytelling and set dressing.
At the end of the day, I get to make you feel the world you are in is real, and that you can traverse in it in fun and exciting ways without hindering your progress or making you feel lost.

We are curious, Great Builder of Worlds, what made you want to get into the game industry?

I’ve always wanted to make games since I was little. I wasn’t really sure what that meant or how to even do it, but I knew since I was 8 that was what I wanted to do when I grew up.
When I was 17 and had to choose what college and profession to pursue, I still wanted to make games but had very little information or anyone around to ask. So the best information I got was to study something computer-related.
I prepared as if I was going into the Computer Science field. I was enrolled and ready to go, then 2 months before I started I found an article in a gaming magazine about making art for games. Being that I had always been into drawing and more visual stuff, I pivoted last-minute and went the art route. The rest, well, it’s taken me to where I am today.

So after several years in the gaming industry, how did you end up at Undead Labs?

I was working in a small studio as Art Lead on Brass Tactics, an RTS for Oculus, when I got a message from an old friend at Undead who I had worked with previously. He let me know they were looking for an Environment Artist and wanted to see if I was interested. I had approached him years before, letting him know I was interested in the studio because I enjoyed the first State of Decay so much. I really wanted to work with the kind of team that made that happen. We had just hit production in the project I was leading and I had to think (just for a second, though), but decided to pursue it and see if it would go anywhere. I got the usual art test, followed by an interview and well, I guess I did OK since they decided to bring me in. lol

You seem to be very happy working here. What is your favorite part about working at UL?

The team is amazing. Everyone is focused on working and making a game. No one is just focused on making a portfolio piece or some sort of tech that will show off them as individuals. We all work to lift each other up so the game is the best it can be, because at the end of the day we all care about the player being the happiest they can while spending time in our worlds.
The dogs-at-work policy is great, too. Actually, scratch the first part, it’s just the dog policy.
Well, with a Corgi like Kyra how can a company not allow dogs to come to work with you?

Last but not least, we would love to hear an interesting fact about you, maybe some information about your life outside work?

Well the most obvious one is that I am Mexican and moved from Cancún. I usually hear a lot of, “Why would you ever leave Cancún?” All I can say is I love making games more than living in Cancún, I guess. I do some personal art on the side for Emerald City Comic Con, too.
I like fashion quite a bit. My wife is a fashion designer and I have come to learn more and love that industry. So sometimes I’ll stop random people and just say, “I love that jacket.” They look at me weird but hey, they need to know they are rocking it.

Have questions for Luis? He’d be happy to answer them! Just comment on the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram post this link was on, and we will collect his answers and send them back to you.

Cascade Hills (One of the maps Luis worked on) © State of Decay 2

Written by Megan Bishop · Categorized: Uncategorized · Tagged: Developer Q&A, Environment, State of Decay 2, Team Building, Undead Labs developer diary, Undead Labs developer Q&A

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