Yay, spain! :D

Still doing level design?

japp

wat? traitor. where am I gonna crash in stockholm then :<

that was 1 of his main reasons for going after dreamhack

you got until end of feb m8 :D

well cheers for your new job opportunities, really nice =)

spent a weekend there couple years ago, beautiful city, great for nightlife, shopping, art and sports (nou camp is amazing). Most interesting part I saw was the gothic quater loads of smaller less touristy bars which is just off the more touristy la ramblas, but not sure it would be a nice area to live though as there are tons of night sellers on the streets/corners (beer/sex/drugs).

olympic port has loads of nightbars/clubs and although its a little cheesy and might not be that much fun if your not off your face on something, loads of brits/germans/holiday makers etc.

the beach is nice too with very warm sea, although far too many sellers again which gets very annoying. It is very expensive in general, but I guess your used to that being from stklm.

thanks, some nice ideas. Not figured out where to live yet tho :D

Sala BeCool, best nightclub ever, that alone would be worth the move.

Just look for somewhere near your work place or with good transport to it (metro/tram).

Nightlife is too spread out in Barcelona to use it as a factor when deciding where to live.

I tend to be a bit picky with what area I live. I'd rather travel further or pay more than live somewhere depressing or very noisy. Or are all areas of barca ok?

I don't think I was factoring night life into the area where I would live, as far as I can tell? :D

Ah sorry, I misunderstood you then.

The thing is, Barcelona is huge and you don't want to end in the opposite part of the city from where you work, Also, unless you work outside the city boundaries, you usually want to avoid using the car.

Not all areas of Barna (not Barça, that's the football team :P) are okay, but most of them are. I'd recommend places like Sarriá/Sant Gervasi (most of my family lives in that district and I love it, but it's probably quite expensive), L'Eixample (in the centre) or Les Corts, for example.

Avoid neighbourhoods full of immigrants like El Raval or shitholes like Hospitalet (even though most of it is okay).

Thanks, just what I was looking for! :D

http://www.grin.se/about.aspx?i=3 <- here is where my workplace would be, right on the beach :D

why wouldnt you move with an office like that =))

Oh, then you should definitely look for something in Poblenou first. It's really close to the olympic port and you should be able to find affordable apartments there (I'm not 100% sure about this).

It's also close to the centre, close to the beach and it has some of that Barcelona charm that people usually like.

Also, Razzmatazz is in Poblenou.

jesus christ, you're a game designing jet-setter with super rich parents. the only thing that makes me feel slightly better about my life is that nose.

If my parents were super rich I wouldn't have to work. Also I'd have been given a car or something.

Thanks though! :D

you're more popular on the internetz :(

you're big brother though :(

How did get into pro-level design? (I mean, in a company big enought to make a living out of making maps for videogames).

I built quake 3 levels during high school, then like a week after graduation I figured I should get a job or something since I didn't want to study, and then I saw that this game dev company in stockholm were looking for level designers, I mailed them a small description of myself and a link to some screenshots of maps I made, and then I got to go in for an interview, and showed my level to them, and then I got the job.

is your paycheck comparable to what people with academic degrees earn?

what, those people that work in tesco and mcdonalds?

No, it's decent though. If I was a programmer it could be very well rank pretty ok up there.

But gamedev always makes you a lot less money than you could get in business or as a consultant or so as a programmer.

Not if you get good royalty deal and sell a lot!

Well, that's like a lump sum every few years, and nothing you can plan for really.

nice, and you're doing something you like, unlike the rest of the money consultants/programmers.

i envy your job position, and i think you should be happy that you are doing something you enjoy (you probablty are happy anyways), as long as the money is ok then you cant ask for much else!

yeah exactly, thanks, I'm doing almost what I was doing during the days when I ditched school. So I couldn't really ask for more. I'm very happy, mostly for the people I meet but also for my job. I wish the same luck for everyone.

Just out of drunken interest, what do you do doYdY?

i model, and am studying product design at university so i can do a bit of everything, sketching, cad, workshop/manufacture, codeing etc etc. i have finished my 2nd year (out of 3) and am supposed to be on a placement this year (as its a sandwich course) but its so hard finding anything, even in the graphic design department :(. life is really shit for me atm, just doing temp work in factory's and stuff, on minimum wage

i used to make maps for halflife and cs, but from there went into modelling. i was going to do a computer games design course at uni, but decided that i should do product design to broaden my options after uni.

No need to be envious. If you wanna be a level designer, grab yourself the Unreal 3 Engine, make a semi decent map and I asure you someone will give you job.

Because if you can do that, you can be of use in a development environment even more so in today's battery farm esque way of making videogames.

i wish this were true, but i find it hard to believe its that easy matey! i mean there are hundreds of good modellers and level designers in there, but not so many jobs to go around. i am finding it hard enough to find work in the design industry as it is. oh and i like sweden (even though i have never been there and spain, so i envy that too.)

Over 32 design type jobs there.

mostly us
http://www.gamasutra.com/jobs/board.php?category=9

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs/
http://www.gamesrecruit.co.uk/Index.aspx

Crytek are always hiring too, there there is ubisoft, EA.
Almost every game company is always looking for design/art type roles. Its one of the few sectors which are booming at the moment.

Seriously, if you can make something look and play good in one of those editors you'll get an interview I'm sure.

game design degrees are bollocks, you're better off going into testing at 18, spending 2-3 years there and probably getting promoted to design, assuming you do things in your spare time to show you're keen. you'll earn money and gain industry experience.

I agree about product design being better to take.

make sure you don't miss the Sonar festival in June, it's usually a blast. http://www.sonar.es/portal/eng/home.cfm
as for clubs my info is a bit out of date, it was a few years since I last was in Barcelona - but Moog was ace and it should still be around (maybe someone can confirm?)

thanks, that lineup looks really really nice! :D I'll be sure to look around for Moog, I love Moog synthesizers so it sounds like a nice idea :D

But... think of the ping ?!

I'm just gonna have to do something else I guess :(

Nah, it's not as bad as it used to be because now you don't depend on cable to get good ping.

ADSL with fastpath is available almost everywhere and, with a bit of luck, you'll even have access to FTTH.

good luck with it! :)

i fucking love barcalona, nuff said!

Been three times... fucking love it.

Be sure to hit up a Champagneria... basically they sell champagne for 3 bucks a bottle and you just get shittered and then go nuts.

Also, don't go to the side streets near the art museum at night. There are trannies and they will try to jump you for your junk. Unless you're into that sort of thing.