Tiago Martines

After over 10 years as a Technical Director in the video game industry, I’ve realized that real progress often comes from questioning old habits and exploring new frontiers. I’ve worked on everything from small indie gems to AAA blockbusters, taught budding devs, and guided teams through complex technical challenges. Now, I’m ready for a fresh adventure, maybe in a new feild, or maybe still in gaming, if it sparks my curiosity. The size of the company doesn’t matter; I’m driven by the thrill of tackling tough questions, working with curious minds, and never stopping my own growth. I’m also up for relocating anywhere, new horizons keep me inspired 🛩. If you’re looking for someone who blends hands-on tech expertise, leadership experience, and a thoughtful approach to innovation, let’s chat. I’d love to see how I can help your team tackle its next challenge 🙌 #NewHorizons #TechDirector #OpenForOpportunities #KeepGrowing #HeadHunter #VPTech #TechnicalProducer #OpenForWork

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Building apps with embedded analytics shouldn't be complicated. Meet Synthia, the Compose SDK AI assistant by Sisense. 🛠️ Here’s what makes Synthia a game-changer: 1️⃣ Real-Time Assistance: Get immediate guidance, from onboarding to advanced troubleshooting. 2️⃣ Plain Language Support: Understands your questions without technical jargon. 3️⃣ Seamless Integration: Built into your existing workflow, enhancing productivity and speeding up development. Want to see how it works? Start your 30-day free trial: https://bit.ly/4dGzK7j #ArtificialIntelligence #SaaS #DataScience

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Exciting news for app builders! Check out this insightful blog post on the new Compose SDK AI Assistant by Sisense. Seamless integration and enhanced capabilities are just the beginning. Dive in to see how you can elevate your app development game!

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🖐 5 Questions with EA SPORTS FC’s Head of Engineering! ⚙ Jinsong Li, Head of Engineering for EA SPORTS FC, discusses the making of EA SPORTS FC 25 and careers in tech! ➡ Check out the full Electronic Arts (EA) article here: https://shorturl.at/P04QK

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Your first VR game should take 3 months to build. Not 2 years.

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Capcom has released a less-than-positive annual report. There's nothing critical in it; all the declines are tied to a pause in releases. Capcom certainly has a vast catalog of successful franchises for upcoming releases. Resident Evil (RE) stands out distinctly. While Capcom didn't start with RE, it played a crucial role in their history and has had a significant impact on the gaming industry as a whole. Today, RE comprises 32 releases across 33 platforms. These are incredible numbers and a testament to success. Moreover, judging by Metacritic scores, Capcom manages to maintain a high standard of quality. I gathered a timeline of all RE releases on one website (link in the comments). I thoroughly enjoyed watching videos, reading books, reminiscing about my own experiences playing the games, and playing with friends and colleagues. Here are a few interesting facts about RE and Capcom: - Resident Evil 4 was released on 14 platforms. - The first RE took 3 years to develop, instead of the usual 3-6 months for Capcom in 1996. Consultants hired from the U.S. advised shutting down the project when it was almost complete, predicting its failure. - Devil May Cry and Dino Crisis were born while searching for fresh gameplay for RE. - Capcom was one of the first companies to start paying revenue shares to developers, which is particularly noteworthy for Japanese companies. - Toy Story I and RE I were released around the same time. - For a while, music for RE was composed by a well-known Japanese composer who was said to be deaf. It later turned out that he wasn't actually deaf and didn't compose the music himself. PS. In 2026, the series will celebrate its 30th anniversary, and there will likely be a special release or edition. Or perhaps they'll simply release a version with full DualSense support.

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Laws of game Dev (Proposed) #6: Do your own ports In this day there is significantly less reason for any teams to not be doing their own console ports. Once upon a time porting meant: - Acquiring rare and very expensive console dev kits and their even more expensive and rare profiling hardware version. - Rewriting large chunks of your engine in custom assembly after learning a brand new CPU's instruction set. - Learning completely new pipeline of custom compilers, converters, packaging, burners, OS's, quite often it involved building entirely new workflow per console. - Writing a completely new rendering path for a custom (read 10 years behind) and under performing graphics chips with limited memory. - Doing instruction pipelining in your head because compilers were 1 offs and had the optimization abilities of the DMV, or CPU didn't even have L2 cache. - Trying to transfer your audio engine over to the least expensive chip they recycled from returned Sony camcorders. - Packing and compressing all your data into a single 1GB continuous files so entire game could be read off a DVD with only 3 seeks. - Testing against 100's of unique TCR's and packaging your submission just right to not get a tech Failure. These were the days when the port team was 1/3 - 1/2 the size of the original team and it was were you sent the hardcore or the people you were trying to managing out. Crunching full sized PC games down to something that would even fit and run well on consoles was not exciting or glamorous. It was just waking up every day and eating glass until all the bugs had been filed on the new SDK, the code was a sea of #ifdef's and you stripped enough out that the game is no longer effectively a slide show. Today things are very different:   - All consoles are supported by Linux or Windows.   - The CPU / GPU is almost all AMD.   - The memory delta is no longer 20x but now 2x.   - Middleware is a thing on consoles.   - Most commercial engines natively support all platforms, their workflows, submissions and TCR's. Thus the majority that is left for the developers now is:   - Select new platform in project type.   - Make the games' input system still feel intuitive on controllers.   - Pick a bunch of LOD and detail setting until game runs at desired FPS.   - Hack on the UI until it fits inside TV safe zones & still looks good.   - Maybe add in support HDR. It is no longer entire teams but often just a few people can now kick out the console versions if the game is designed with porting in mind.   And there is the crux of the issue, if the team making the game has never done the ports, they will not understand the impact their decisions are making on it. These teams often do create hack projects that are significantly harder to port than they should be. Thus unless your working on a custom engine that has never been ported to the platform, train your team up and have them do their own console ports.

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Would you like to learn more about the Unity Memory Profiler? Next Thursday (November 21) at 5pm GMT Martin Tilo Schmitz will host a webinar talking through the features and some recommended profiling workflows. Register here if you're interested: https://lnkd.in/eXqx-wK2 Hope to see some of you there! #unity3d #unity #gamedev

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It is awful. Truly awful. Around 15% of Intel Corporation's staff (meaning over 15,000 people) are facing layoffs this year. I want to provide as much support as I can about this happening. I know that Intel is not a games studio, but the amount of support they are giving games studios is not to be under-estimated. When I worked at other games studios in the past, we had wonderful working relationships with them, getting support through driver optimisations, supporting technical tests, even offering to feature our games on their network and providing exclusive access to gamers to our closed alpha or closed beta tests. This kind of relationship was special. Regardless of which areas of Intel are going to feel layoffs, with 15% of the workforce, that will be felt everywhere in the organisation. Those of you who worked even remotely in gaming, please make use of my resources below: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/eWvkdYjk You can find over 6,000 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #intel #layoffs

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Good Game Producers are also great Game Designers. 🤝 If you're in the precarious position of being months away from launching your title, with too much work to do, you'll need to triage. De-prioritizing bugs, especially if you have a fantastic QA team, is simple enough. 🐞 De-prioritizing or cutting features is a different manner, all together. Often times, it's not enough to just cut or postpone a feature. You have to accommodate the #design of the title around that, and create a skateboard-to-car 🛹 solution that can be iterated on later. That can take some significant work and planning. However, that work should always be less than the burden the team would bear if the feature was not cut from the beginning. 🏋 A heavy #feature, that the title may have been dependent on, is now gone. What does the game look like without it? Can you solve the original problem another, more simple way? Can you use that void to your advantage, and stub it out for players to preview? In these particular situations, if you're lacking a solution, you have to do more than just step back from the game's design. Play your #game, and write down all of the issues you have due to that feature not existing? Re-check your comps, how did they solve this? Solicit team feedback. There's ALWAYS a better idea. 💡 Remember, its not only your job to clear the way, lighten the load, and ensure everybody knows everything, it's also your job to be a hammer, and hit nails at the right time. Obligatory skateboard-to-car because I love using it for design, not just product iteration. #gamedev #problems #gaming #videogames #development #executive #producer #projectmanagement

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 received FOUR nominations for next month's 2024 'The Game Awards!' 🎮✨ 🎧 Best Audio Design – For the explosive soundscapes that immerse players in every battle. Every reload, explosion, and stealthy footstep wouldn’t be the same without the genius behind the audio. 👥 Best Multiplayer Game – Redefining the multiplayer experience yet again with modes that bring players together and keep them on their toes. If you’ve squad-ed up, you know the magic. 🔥 Best Action Game – Where adrenaline meets flawless execution. Black Ops 6 doesn’t just raise the bar—it rebuilds it. 💡 Innovation in Accessibility – For making sure everyone can jump into the action. This one’s about breaking barriers and ensuring the joy of gaming is universal (shoutout to Steve Saylor!) Huge congrats to the incredible teams at #RavenSoftware, #Treyarch, and our many partners who made this possible. #TheGameAwards #BlackOps6 #CallOfDuty #GamingCommunity #GameAwards2024 #AccessibilityInGaming

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How I play video games with my non-gamer partner 🎮💑 (𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 2017) So, Vessel of Hatred just dropped. Since Diablo is our go-to game, I've got some hard-earned wisdom from years of roaming the Sanctuary together. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵. I'm all about the endgame. I would just storm through the initial stage, but I let my gf take the lead. I don't need to optimize for every 0.5% of damage. I'm just enjoying slaying demons 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆. She can ask, "Where do I heal?" and "Where do you click to get on the horse?" as many times as she needs. Not everyone is used to playing games. She might have forgotten how the controls work, so I'm just being helpful. 💡 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲. I don't freak out when she's building a character as she likes. Just because I wouldn't play that way doesn't mean she isn't having fun. 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿. If she says after 30 minutes that it's enough, then it's enough. Games can be overwhelming. I'm very used to playing Diablo and half the time I'm just looking at the health bar and CD on my skills because I have no clue wtf is going on the screen. Honestly, I'm writing this down more as a reminder to myself. While I'm casual, I do like to optimize every damn 0.05% of damage I can get! 😅 But at the end of the day, I'm just grateful to have a partner willing to enter the Burning Hells with me. That's the real mythic unique loot. (Terrible joke, I know, even I cringed.) Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 🎤 Fellow gamers, how does it look at your households? What would you add to this list? 👀

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I understand the challenges many face when trying to break into the games industry and find the right role. Before contacting a team member or recruiter, I recommend checking the job listings on the company's careers site to identify suitable positions. This approach not only demonstrates professionalism but also expedites the process. Simply reaching out to inquire about available roles may not be the most effective initial contact, as it can lead to a less fruitful conversation. For those interested, here is a link to all the current open roles at WB Games: https://lnkd.in/enp8Q8YN #GameIndustry #CareerOpportunities #Professionalism

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Gigi v0.99.2b released https://lnkd.in/gp-MqKXR Shader asserts are in. Thanks Alexey Gladkov aka @Rewlion! Example: /*$(Assert: i < 5, "i was %f", i)*/ See UserDocumentation/GigiShaders_Documentation for more info. Functionality: * Set Variables have support for min and max * Subgraph loops can use CONSTANT variables for loop count. Dynamic variable support coming later. Compiler: * Better error messaging when subgraphs fail to inline. Says what the problem is. * Large graphs were having slow downs due to ReferenceFixupVisitor scanning the graph too deeply too often. A visited flag cleaned this up. Viewer: * Variables can have a UI scope to group them better in the UI * Conditional Copy Resource nodes now say whether their condition is true or false in the render graph window. * Better protection against using bad formats for depth textures * Better explanation when a texture can't be created (like, when it has an invalid size specified) * New snapshots interface to be able to save and load cameras, variable values, imported resource settings, or what window is being viewed. Generalizes a couple pre-existing features that needed more functionality. Techniques: * GigiJam2024 techniques added * A depth of field comparison demo at Techniques/PostProcessing/DepthOfField/dof_demo.gg

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Today I came down with a bad case of "someone is wrong on the Internet." It started innocently enough on LinkedIn, commenting on my usual friends posts, doing some PR reposts, commenting on some other thought leaders' posts. Unfortunately the algos got me. Those evil algorithms that are trained to measure engagement... clicks, likes, comments... rather than conversations... ideas, different perspectives, insights. I found myself commenting on more vitriolic posts, going from trying to reframe a problem someone was raising to just saying dumb stuff. And my network loved it! They see me active, I'm correcting someone, go Serge! Fortunately after <large number> years of falling into this trap, I'm faster to find my way out. I notice faster when my amygdala is fully online... people are responding not to the post but my comment about the post... and likes on the tangent of a tangent that have nothing to do with anything. I can disengage quickly once I spot it. Hope you have a great week and stay clear of correcting the Internet. And in completely unrelated news, Sora is now available as the latest GenAI product.

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How does somebody get game programming experience to break into games? Learn to use a new game engine? Make a game without a game. There are many types of games: side scroller, 3rd person, 1st person, top down, 2D, 3D, shooter, puzzle, exploration... That is not important to get started. Unless you are an awesome game designer, ignore the game part. Too much to focus on to start. Build everything a game needs. Add a game later. Use your game playing experience and create: ・ A splash screen. ・ A main menu with a New Game, Continue, Load Game, Settings, Quit buttons, with game version. ・ Use an image for the game title on the splash screen and main menu. ・ Add audio/video settings (music/effects volume/mute, full screen/windowed) ・ Add controller/keyboard/mouse support. ・ Add button/key indicators that switch between controller/keyboard/mouse use. ・ Add button/key re-binding support. ・ Add "reset to default" settings support. ・ Make sure to save any settings changed and reload them when the game is restarted. ・ Add localization support. Add 3 languages: Mixed-case English, lower-case English, ALL-UPPER-CASE ENGLISH. Add support for updating localized images (remember the game title image above?) ・ When new game is pressed, enter the game that has 3 buttons: Win, Lose, Add 1 Point. Show the Score (points) somewhere on the screen. ・ Support Esc with options to: Load, Save, Return to Game, Quit Game. Provide Save slots and save the game state (score). Loading a game should restore the saved state. ・ Have a win screen! ・ Have a lose screen :( ・ Data download flow at start (can you update localized text by downloading data only). ・ Data hotfix flow (can you update 1 Point to 2 Points (or more) while the game is running?). ・ Fill in the obvious functionality not mentioned here (confirm quit game, continue would require an auto save, validate save game data, etc.). ・ You don't have to implement everything at once. Break it into smaller tasks first, but code in a way that will let you add the rest later. ・ Make sure there are ZERO bugs and all features work as YOU would expect as a player. This advice works for any game engine or platform: PC, mobile, web, Unity, Unreal.... You will have everything you need for a basic interview to talk about programming games. The skills you used above will be part of your toolbox of daily tools you use. Have more time and an idea for a game? Great, you have a framework to make any game type you want. Make a simple demo game that flexes everything you built. A co-worker used a similar methodology to learn Unreal and make a Steam game for experience. Check out "The First Step" (Nifty Red Panda) on Steam to see what he did with asset packs and programmer art. Programming interviews are not about designing a game; they are about how you would implement various design needs. You've got this.

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Another big publisher set to fire 600 employees. This post is intended to support those who were recently laid off. Please share it within your community and tag studios and recruiters who are actively hiring. "We'll hear troubling news from the offices of Zynga, Gearbox, 2K, and even Rockstar—a far cry from earlier statements about layoffs from Take-Two's CEO." To combat, I am adding 5 resources below for all impacted professionals : 1) Our flagship Full-stack game programming bootcamp worth $11,000. We're giving course content out on 100% scholarship for anyone who's willing to transition into game programming or upskill in programming. (Mail: community@outscal.com) 2) Join our Discord Community and help professionals who are asking questions related to portfolio building, job seeking, interviews, and broadly their next career step. We have added help roles for programming, Unity, Unreal, DSA, Careers. Pick these roles and only get notified when someone asks questions related to your expertise. 3) Your team is hiring? Here's a list of 900+ professionals who were laid off recently: https://bit.ly/49Ah2vT Do them a favor by sharing this list with your 1st degree connections who're hiring. 4) We now have 14368 gamedev jobs from all over the world. https://lnkd.in/gerWUkc5 5) Become a volunteer: If you're a senior professional, you can mentor these professionals, conduct mock interviews, assess their portfolios and give feedback on what would work for them and what wouldn't. Join by adding your name here: https://lnkd.in/gwPhHen4 Get more out of Game Dev community on LinkedIn 🍄 Amir Satvat is back on LinkedIn with the OG list of resources. 💼 Caitlin Cooke is the fastest source of fresh jobs in the industry (yes, remote jobs too) 🎤 Follow Jordan Mazer for greatest tips and pointers around game jobs & interviews. 🔥 Hailey's feed will keep you updated with everything that's happening in the gaming world. 🔝 Connect with Arin Goldsmith and be part of her amazing #SocialSunday initiative. #games #gamedev #jobs #layoffs

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