   [MMO] Vizual F/X Studios
Team name:Vizual F/X StudiosBrief description:Vizual F/X Studios is looking to fill several immediate openings for Mid-Senior level engineers at our Dallas (Richardson) Texas office.  We are looking for highly motivated individuals who are passionate about what they do.  We are looking to double our current development staff.Target aim:PC (possibly Mac and Linux) RetailCompensation:Full time, salary (competitive, based on experience)Technology:3rd party: VWorldTerrain, EmotionFX, Ageia, Kynapse, Pixelux, SFML, librocket & others Dev env: Visual Studio 2008, C++Talent needed:Candidates must have:A minimum of 3-5 years of C++ game development experienceSolid OOP/OOD and a good understanding of design patternsA team oriented work ethicBe able to assimilate information quickly A PersonalityCandidates should have (some combination of the following):Network programming experience and understanding of client / server architectures Graphics programming experienceSimulation programming experienceTools development experiencePlusses:MMOG dev experienceFamiliarity with any of the technologies listed in the Technology section.Familiarity with C#Team structure:We currently have a small dev team of 5 consisting of 3 full time, 1 part time, and 1 intern developer(s).Website:http://www.vizualfxstudios.comContacts:steve at vizualfxstudios dot comPrevious Work by Team:none (as a whole.  Individually there's too much to list here)Additional Info:Vizual F/X Studios has two principle locations.  Our headquarters is located out of the way in Ruston Louisiana which houses our art, design, sound (pretty much everything except engineering), and our Dallas office which houses our dev team.  Relocation is required (unless you're already a Dallas native). The game in development will feature some pretty cool tech including: single instanced online play with limitless world size. The game is played anywhere in between a planet's surface (sub-surface) and its galaxy, being able to travel between planets, solar systems, or galaxies w/ no annoying "loading..." interruptions.Feedback:any   
  bump.A listing for these positions will be posted to the game jobs section of the site as well.   ;  I can really recommend these guys. I have been in very good contact with their sound designer and it is a very nice and professional company.   ;Quote:Original post by -MadHatterCompensation:Full time, salary (competitive, based on experience)I wish this company nothing but the best, however I do have to pinpoint one section I find fault with. I have a close friend that nearly took a job with Vizual FX, but turned the down because the salary he was offered was about 20 to 30 thousand dollars below what is commonly considered competitive. This friend also had a great deal of experience in the video game industry. I'll not say who it is because he told me in confidence, nor will I saw how much he was offered or what position he was applying for. I wont even say when this happened. :) I'm not here to flame this company, just to point out if you're going to list your compensation as competitive, make sure it is. Otherwise, you're fooling not only yourselves, but all of those that apply. Best of luck!Nathan   ;  The position he was offered was not from our office or department.  While I'm not an expert on salary ranges (nor have I ever been a game developer prior to starting this company), I would assume that salary ranges depend on location.  A while back I was contacted by Microsoft for a position in their corp. offices, and the salary they offered was about 40% more than I made in Dallas.  If I lived in Redmond and discussed a position in Dallas, I'm sure I'd be offended to hear an offer that would be much less than what I made in Redmond, or the same position I had here (and Microsoft isn't the most competitive employers either).  Considering cost of living increase between Redmond and Dallas, what was perceived as a 40% pay increase wouldn't have been in reality realized because of the difference in the cost of living between the two locations.  I'm not saying anything about what our other office offered anyone (because thats really between the HR dept in our other office, and the candidate interviewing for the position), but Ruston Louisiana is considerably less expensive to live in than California, or Texas, or anywhere else that houses lots of game studios.  I am sorry to hear about the experience your friend had with our company.Our (engineering) office is located in Dallas.  For local talent we compete with the likes of id and gearbox (just to name a few large shops in the area).  Add to that, we're a fairly new company and we couldn't get anyone hired without being competitive, all things being considered.  Thanks for commenting on that and allowing me to respond.   ;  I know what kinds of businesses are in the Dallas metro, I used to live there for several years. I also know several of the guys in various studios there- like Gearbox, id and Ensemble for example. I'm also well aware of salaries in the Dallas area and what is fair to offer people. If your Dallas office is paying more then that is acceptable. I'm sure the cost of living in Louisiana is quite a bit lower than in a place like Dallas. Perhaps one thing to consider is allowing more experienced crew to work in Dallas over Louisiana because I doubt many pros are going to want to work for peanuts. Also few professionals are going to want to relocate to a smaller town. Fewer opportunities, few things to do. Fewer peers to network and collaborate with. If you're truly wanting to design top notch games you're going to need a top notch crew. Offering crappy salaries in a small(er) town with a total population of 20,665 is hardly a great incentive for a highly skilled, talented and experience crew member. Just my thoughts.   ;  oddly enough we have like 20 something people over there as opposed to the 4 we have working here (one of our part time developers is Sean O'Neil who lives in ATL but works remotely for our department but works from there), so obviously they're doing something right else they wouldn't have the numbers that they do (now thats not to say they haven't changed the way they're hiring their personnel).One thing I've noticed as I switched from working for someone else to doing my own thing is that in the absence of substantial liability, it was a lot easier for me to criticize, find fault, or have the better solution to the way that others did things.  Having transitioned over to ultimately being liable for millions of dollars, situations that seemed so black and white are no longer just that simple.  Running a business can be a tricky thing to do.  Especially when you don't have a cash cow like WOW to fund your next project.  You have to make decisions that will be best for the company as a whole.Something that you should really think about before being critical of smaller companies is that there are large corporations who make money hand over fist on projects that they pay out very little for.  The smaller ones (like us) aren't making a penny (right now) and are paying everything out of our own back pockets.  Unlike the EA's of the world, we're paying out 100% of what we have to our employees. Those who take less up front (assuming they can afford it) are rewarded later on.  Those who take more up front miss out on the reward later on, so as far as I can see it, its more a matter of personal preference and a knack for investment.  If all you ever want is an industry standard salary, then a small business may not be something to consider.  If having fun making games and getting in on the ground floor with a company who wont stay small for long, and helping that company ultimately become the success it is, is more your speed, then the smaller companies are where its at.  There are two strategies employed by the smaller company: 1) they pay more than an employee is worth, to compete with the larger companies who have benefits out the ears and have budgets to spare, or they 2) cut the employee in on profit sharing and or stock in exchange for lower pay (than they could get at the larger companies).As for your friend, I can understand being offended by a low salary offer (which I'm glad he declined), but who hasn't had one of those before (I'd like to meet and congratulate that person)?  Fact of the matter is, not all interviews go well even if the candidate is exactly what the employer is looking for (but might not be able to see).  Not every skill one has shows through in every situation; There are humans involved in the hiring process, and thats your first point of failure.  One employer can have two totally different views on a single candidate if interviewed by two different individuals with the company.  That being the case the perceived worth could be skewed, and I'm sure something like this is what happened in their situation.I just wanted to end with saying, I personally (as the person making the decisions for this position) believe that you get what you pay for, and what goes around comes around.  I take care of my own, and in return expect the same out of them.   ;  No need to lecture me on managing a small business- I already own one. :) Madsen Studios is my baby and I have to pay for all of my equipment and materials that I use. This past year I had to invest a great deal more than what I earned. However it is totally worth it because it helps me work at a high level and will (hopefully) lead to more clients. While I'm sure my costs are MUCH lower than yours, I have to manage things very much in the same manner. This is one reason why I get offended so much when I consistently see small teams only willing to recruit members for deferred payment (which in my experience has never profited me even one penny)- or even worse for no payment. RANT: I see so many younger teams here that refuse to even pay $50 to an artist, composer or programmer because they want it to be free. These teams (or people) need to wake up and realize that a majority of the business work requires payment. (This rant isn't to you at all, just related to the topic at hand.)I want to congratulate you and your company on paying your employees and taking care of your own. I hope that it works out for you. I also didn't mean to imply that I'm only interested in industry standard salaries. That whole section was in response to how you detailed compensation in your original post. Perhaps it would be best to state your salaries are competitive to the region, experience and job duties. This makes it clear that you're not aligned with the entire industry, just your section of it. (I don't know, perhaps that should be understood as well- I'm just looking for a way to minimize confusion) As for my friend, he is doing fine and there are no hard feelings. Best of luck to you, Nathan[Edited by - nsmadsen on April 18, 2008 7:59:56 AM]