Insomniac Games is currently looking for a Technical Artist. What does that mean? We are looking for an excited team member to be responsible for the front lines of cutting-edge real-time graphics and technology development. This role helps develop Insomniac’s future technology by continually looking for areas to enhance the team’s current methods of content creation with innovative and optimized workflows and pipelines. This developer helps deliver the creative and innovative artistic possibilities for the studio. Please read on for more details:
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:
Designs and develops improved content creation pipelines, processes, and workflows
Provides documentation and mentors the content creation teams to fully take advantage of our tools and technology
Creates sample content to prove out new workflows and demonstrate visual improvements
Collaborates with the content creation teams and support them with new tools and shaders to elevate visual quality
Keeps current with the technological developments and advancements throughout the game industry
Understands memory and frame-rate budgets for console platforms
Other duties may be assigned
Education and/or Experience:
Bachelor’s degree (B. A.) from four-year college or university; or two to four years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience
Strong knowledge of physically based shading and lighting
Strong knowledge of cutting-edge content creation pipelines
Strong grasp of mathematical concepts and analysis techniques as they apply to technical art
Experience in node-based shader networks such as those found in Unreal Engine
Experience in Substance Designer/Painter, Houdini, or Maya
Working knowledge of HLSL and Python
Other Skills: Ability to meet deadlines under tight schedules. Willingness to receive direction and work closely with a team. Develops and presents new and emerging techniques to team. Be open and generous in sharing advancements with the game development community.
If this sounds like the opportunity that you have been looking for- we want to hear from you. Please use the link to apply directly to this role. Thanks!
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-21-2020, 10:19 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Report: China-owned mobile studio Playtika is chasing an IPO in the U.S.
China-owned social and mobile games company Playtika is looking to go public in the United States.
Reuters is reporting that the company has confidentially submitted paperwork to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.
Although Playtika hasn’t revealed the size and price range of its proposed offering, Reuters has previously indicated the company is working with Morgan Stanley to put together an IPO that would see it valued at around $10 billion.
The news comes just over a year after Playtika forked out $275 million to purchase Finnish mobile developer-publisher Seriously, which is best known for creating puzzle franchise Best Fiends.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-21-2020, 05:18 AM - Forum: Windows
- No Replies
The importance of bringing broadband to libraries during COVID-19
Books are amazing things: little worlds of knowledge or fantasy you can pick up and take with you. Libraries have always acted as custodians of that wisdom and wonder – but here in the 21st century, there’s a lot more to what they can offer.
And the role of the public library has evolved over time. “We continue to do all the things that we traditionally did, but we’ve expanded our role as the world has shifted and become more digital,” says Michelle Jeske, the Denver City Librarian and president of the Public Library Association.
As we move online at an even faster rate, knowledge, entertainment and opportunities for education and employment are found on the internet. Those living in well-connected, affluent places may have come to take internet access for granted. But there is a digital divide in the U.S. that has left people at a disadvantage – particularly since the arrival of COVID-19.
Digital divide
Finding ways to overcome that divide in a sustainable, community-led way could help bring the benefits of the internet to those who need it most. One solution is to use technologies such as TV white space to facilitate wireless broadband – as Microsoft’s Airband Initiative is doing. With this program, broadband is brought directly to individuals and, more economically, to a community hub such as a library, which can then act as a wireless hot spot.
In 2019, Microsoft Philanthropies donated $400,000 to the Public Library Association to support more widespread connectivity alongside $20,000 each from Microsoft’s Airband and TechSpark initiatives. The money is helping the association deliver much-needed tech equipment – typically laptops and portable Wi-Fi hot spots – to a network of public libraries in communities in rural parts of the country.
The rollout of hot spots has become even more important now, and the PLA has become a key partner to Microsoft in its global aim to give 25 million people access to digital skills training.
“Suddenly, the lifeline for so many people across this country has been cut off,” says Jeske, who, as Denver City Librarian, oversees a system that serves over 4.4 million people a year. “Public libraries had to shut their doors for public health reasons, so it was great that we had this platform to jump off from.”
Some of the support from Microsoft is being used to extend Wi-Fi outside of buildings in libraries that previously didn’t have that ability – so people with their own devices can plug into those access points.
In Denver, Jeske says, “We are now offering laptop use outside of 12 of our 26 locations, because it’s safe.”
Deploying fast broadband infrastructure in places with low population density is expensive for network operators.
Vaughn Public Library in Ashland, Wisconsin, is one of the libraries taking part in the Microsoft program. Nestled on the southern shores of Lake Superior, this town looks much different than it did decades ago, when its business was paper mills. Ashland’s population is now 8,000, down from about 12,000.
The director of library services at the Vaughn Public Library Foundation, Sarah Adams, has recently introduced a program to get people started on the path to digital literacy. She says she is driven by a real passion to improve access to learning and technology for all.
“If you don’t understand how to navigate a form, or maybe just know which website is the actual website you need, you can find yourself locked out of things that might improve your life,” she says.
Party-Based RPG Battle Hunters Pushed Back To November On Switch
Update: Developer Phase Two Games has announced that its squad-based fantasy adventure RPG Battle Hunters will now be launching on Switch on 5th November, slightly later than the original October plan.
Toby Charlton, Co-Founder of Phase Two Games, has shared the following:
“The old adage that time waits for no man is certainly true in our case, we wanted to synchronize the final submission phase and release efforts and felt we needed a little more time to coordinate that.”
Original Article (Tue 25th Aug, 2020 10:30 BST): Independent developer Phase Two has announced that it will be bringing its fantasy RPG Battle Hunters to Nintendo Switch. The game will launch on both Switch and Steam this October. [Now incorrect, see above].
Originally released on mobile, Battle Hunters features a turn-based, real-time combat system which has a focus on strategic command of your heroes. There are all manner of melee and ranged options to choose from, with swords, spells, blades, and blasters all being available on the battlefield.
You form a party of three heroes in total, hoping to find a good balance between each character’s own fighting skills. Your heroes can be upgraded or swapped around if you like, and each is said to bring a different range of strengths and weaknesses to battle. Here’s an official description:
The Kingdom is in Danger and the oldest and wisest wizard stands alone, the last bastion of hope, struggling to keep a nameless villain at bay. Players will command a team of 3 plucky adventurers, plunging headlong into dungeons, caves, forests and swamps as they heed the call for help from the old one.
A huge variety of beastly adversaries and monstrous villains will impede your quest, hellbent on your party’s destruction as you make your way across different regions of the kingdom. Yet mighty heroes also stand ready to join the fight as your valiant band takes on the forces of darkness. From the Great Forest, inhabited by devious goblins and lumbering trolls, to the high Cliffs of Desolation, where vicious gargoyles and unstoppable stone golems await you.
Let us know if you’re intrigued by Battle Hunters in the comments below, and feel free to check out our guide to the best RPGs on Switch if you’re looking for something to play before it arrives.
Truck Driver Sets Course For A November Release On Switch
Soedesco has revealed that Truck Driver will be launching on Nintendo Switch on 17th November. A new trailer has been released to mark the occasion, which you can see for yourself above.
Truck Driver arrives both digitally and physically on the same day and has been fully optimised for Nintendo’s platform. The game will support Switch’s HD Rumble, touch screen, and gyro controls, and can also be played using a single Joy-Con if you prefer.
With the Nintendo Switch version of Truck Driver, players can take on the profession of a trucker wherever they go. They get to build their career and work with all kinds of people. Players will always know who they’re driving for and what cargo they’re hauling. With loads of different trailers, the quests stay versatile and challenging.
Each character in the game has their own reason for needing the help of a trucker. Along the way, players will get to know how their work will change the lives of these characters. Companies will grow and trusted relationships develop between the character and the player. Truck Driver offers players a unique view into their own trucking journey.
In case you’re planning on picking this one up next month, we’ll leave you with this quick feature list. Make sure to share your thoughts on the game in the comments below.
Features: – Enjoy a trucking experience focused on your career as a truck driver – Build stronger relationships with the local community with each job – Customize your truck with tons of parts and tune it to your liking – Navigate through beautiful landscapes and interesting locations
Among Us players are always on the lookout for impostors. Some take the game so seriously that they've started to role-play as security guards, watching over other players while they finish tasks and use the security cameras.
"You gotta love randoms," said Redditor Supermav27 about a random player who protected him as he monitored the in-game camera feeds. "This dude just guarded the doorway while I watched cameras the whole game."
Among Us security guards Credit: supermav27
A lot of players have started to take on security guard duties. They change their in-game name, buy the police officer skin, and then go to work. Sometimes they even ignore their duties when they're an impostor.
Humble STEM Productivity Library by Mercury Bundle
There is a new e-book bundle of interest to game developers, the STEM Productivity Library by Mercury. This is a collection of books around the theme of STEM, or Science/Technology/Engineering/Math. Of particular interest to game developers are the following titles:
3D Character Development Workshop
Python An Introduction to Programming
Quantum Mechanics
Artificial Intelligence Basics
Mathematics For Computer Graphics and Game Programming
Solid State Physics
Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems
Data Structures and Program Design Using Python
Newtonian Mechanics
There are a dozen other books in the collection with topics ranging from AutoCAD to Radar Systems and Tensor analytics. Several of the books in this bundle have been featured in previous bundles, so be sure to check your library before purchasing. As with all Humble Bundles, you can decide how your money is allocated between Humble, Charity, the publisher and if you so choose (and thanks if you do!) to support GFS using this link. You can learn more about the bundle in the video below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 10-20-2020, 02:52 PM - Forum: Windows
- No Replies
New COVID-19 at home testing kit has potential to help beyond pandemic
A population-level disease monitoring system that employs at-home self-swab kits is being expanded today, at no cost to participants, as part of an infection prevalence study in the San Francisco Bay Area. The system could have broader impact on testing not only for COVID-19, but for other diseases as well.
The service uses the Vera Cloud Testing Platform which continuously aggregates test results and data about symptoms submitted by volunteers to study COVID-19 prevalence in real-time across the region. The system is the result of collaboration by Stanford University with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates Ventures, the University of Washington, Microsoft Research and other private and public institutions.
Vera is a scalable and low-cost “testing-as-a-service” platform that could also be used by public health departments and employers. With its sample self-collection kit and population health monitoring system, it can also be used on a broader scale to help with back-to-school COVID-19 testing for students and staff at schools and universities, an option not readily available today.
“We’re hoping that this can address inequities in testing by reaching underserved populations who are often at the highest risk,” says Stephen Quake, co-president of the Chan-Zukerberg Biohub.
Its impact could extend to other types of testing in the future, such as for other viruses, new strains of flu, or to help monitor diseases, says Stephen Quake, Ph.D., the Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University, and co-president of the Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub.
“What we’ve learned through this pandemic is that there’s a real mismatch between testing capacity and testing need. Certain parts of the country have more than enough testing capacity, and others do not,” Quake says.
Vera helps address that problem by providing a way for people to collect their own sample at home then mail them for testing to labs that can be based anywhere, he says.
To initially test the platform, Stanford Medicine has been conducting a pilot study known as CATCH – Community Alliance to Test Coronavirus at Home – for the past few weeks, and now is officially launching the full study to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in all 12 counties of the greater Bay Area, with the hope of securing up to 100,000 participants during the course of the flu season.
“We’re hoping that this can help address inequities in testing by reaching underserved populations who are often at the highest risk – people who work in essential occupations and may have difficulty accessing health care facility-based testing,” says Quake. Testing is free to those participating in the CATCH study.
Yvonne Maldonado, M.D., a professor of pediatric infectious diseases and of health research and policy at the Stanford School of Medicine, also a leader of the CATCH study and an advisor to the Vera team, says the platform’s compatibility with any type of COVID-19 test means it has the potential to be adopted by a range of organizations, well beyond the initial CATCH study.
Yvonne Maldonado, M.D., Stanford School of Medicine professor of pediatric infectious diseases and of health research and policy, is one of the leaders of the CATCH study.
“While the CATCH study uses the Stanford laboratory’s RT-PCT assay, you could use an Abbott test, or any other lab or test you want. The software platform allows you to link test results and monitor how infections are spreading through the overall population,” she says.
All Vera participant information and test results are securely protected, Maldonado says, although COVID-19 results are reported to public health departments as required by law. Vera – derived from the Latin word for “truth” – includes a customizable enrollment and testing system, a self-swabbing kit, and a secure participant portal for obtaining results and any other medical follow-up that may be needed.
Microsoft technology, including the Microsoft Healthcare Bot, Azure, Power BI, and Power Platform, was used to help create Vera and CATCH, which adhere to Microsoft’s policies on data and privacy, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Microsoft’s commercial software engineering team helped scale SCAN’s epidemiology testing platform that Vera is based on. The Healthcare Bot is used by the Centers for Disease Control, as well as thousands of hospitals around the world, to help screen people for potential COVID-19 infection and treatment. Microsoft’s AI for Good program has been supporting the project team as they have scaled up their efforts.
“What’s exciting about Vera is the ability to track this pandemic in real-time to the degree possible, and give people who might not otherwise be reached access to testing,” Maldonado says. This real-time system also enables health care providers and public health agencies to implement more complex testing algorithms, including increasing testing rates as symptoms are reported, as well as programmatic epidemiological sampling plans, tailored to local exposures, demographics and other characteristics over time.
The researchers say the inspiration for Vera was work done earlier this year by the greater Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN), a program that receives funding from Gates Ventures and technical assistance from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and public health authorities.
SCAN uses an at-home kit that allows participants to collect their own sample with a simple swab within the front of each nostril — a far more gentle and less-invasive process than other COVID-19 tests which require a nasal swab to be placed all the way to the back of the throat. The CATCH study uses a similar self-swab method as SCAN.
Vera and CATCH offer “the ability to better understand the disease spread in a given community, which is really very valuable,” says Vikram Dendi, general manager for Microsoft Health NExT. Photo credit: Stanford University.
From SCAN, CATCH shares “the broader population-level epidemiological understanding of the disease,” says Vikram Dendi, general manager of Microsoft Health NExT. “Where is it breaking now? How is it spreading? How many people are symptomatic?
“Being able to do that by sending kits to your home is a very powerful way of ensuring that you can actually have a much better understanding of the pandemic, and also do it in a much more equitable way,” says Dendi.
COVID-19 disproportionately affects people of color as well as those in low-income neighborhoods. But it’s often these communities that have the least access to health care and the greatest barriers to testing. “The design of CATCH as a study intends to try to overcome those kinds of inequities and really develop a very clear and comprehensive picture of how things are evolving,” he says.
From a research and science perspective, Dendi says that Vera and CATCH offer “the ability to better understand the disease spread in a given community, which is really very valuable, and we were very happy to help.”
“It really has quite a bit of potential for not only now, but down the road,” he says. “The promise of return to school, and to have that happen not just for one school, but beyond, is certainly something that we will celebrate as and when that happens.”
Top image: The Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory will provide testing for a pilot use of Vera with the CATCH study. Photo credit: Steve Fisch.
Guide Humanity To Mars When Mars Horizon Lifts Off On Switch This November
Developer Auroch Digital and publisher The Irregular Corporation have revealed that Mars Horizon will be blasting off on Nintendo Switch on 17th November.
Mars Horizon is a strategy simulation game which has you leading a major space agency, guiding humanity to Mars. You’ll need to construct a base, design and build rockets, conduct missions throughout the Solar System, and write your own history of space exploration.
Impressively, it was actually developed with support from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency, meaning that we should be treated to an authentic experience. You can see the game in action in the trailer above, as well as some screenshots below.
What do you think? Will you be checking this one out on Switch next month? Tell us below.
