Tag Archives: game production

The Internship Chronicles – Ben Cortijo

By Ben Cortijo (GDES ’19)

I worked at Edoki Academy, a well-oiled machine which churns out multiple games a year while maintaining their main product: Montessori Preschool. Montessori Preschool is a subscription-based service which provides over 10,000 users with a plethora of mini-games designed to teach children in ways they’ll find fun and interesting. With this, users can learn the basics of math, English/French, Mandarin, and practical applications such as taking care of a pet. Along with this, anyone who subscribes to the service is also given access to all of the company’s other games. These other games range from beginner programming skills in Code Karts to gardening in Montessori Nature. Edoki has a catalog of over twenty-five games each of which has their own teaching point and helps teach children basic problem-solving.  While interning there I filled many roles for the company, the primary one being a translator for the company’s emails. Creating English versions of their PDFs for their subscribers who do not speak French. This is what I did for the majority of my time at the company, but it was by far the most lenient duty I had. By which I mean that unlike many of the other jobs I had done this one had no real constrictions, and thus I was able to express my creativity in the formatting. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Kyle Mayes

By Kyle Mayes (California Lutheran University ’18)

When it comes to what my goals in life have been, the opportunities I’ve found often presented themselves to me in ways I wouldn’t have particularly chosen. In that way, I have chosen to take that as a lesson to be more excited for the times in my life that I didn’t plan for: Where things don’t go according to plan, and seeing how I am able to get to the same place I was going from where I ended up, or for finding a new place to go to with what I learned. For better or worse, I feel like this way I learn a greater amount about the world and myself. With all the highs and lows unexpected experiences that stem from the mystery of the unplanned unknown might bring me to, it all leads to me being whoever I become, wherever it ends up leaving me. I’ve accepted this as an inherent good aspect of life, even if it takes for some struggles to find the good it brought me. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles: Conor & Amanda

By Conor Tully (GDES ’19) & Amanda Gates (GDES ’19)

“Congratulations on becoming International Arms Dealers!” our new boss, Ryan, hollered as we came in for an initiation breakfast during the first week. With a little piece of context, this excitement makes a bit more sense.

As a company, IronBelly Studios makes most of their profit off of weapon assets for the Unreal Marketplace and Unity Asset Store. Their weapons have been used in a variety of popular games, such as Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, otherwise known as PUBG. Additionally, they cover other client based requests related to development, 2D and 3D art, level design, user interfaces, and virtual reality. Continue reading →

23 Reasons to Study Abroad in Montreal

By Amanda Gates (GDES ’19)

[Throughout the Spring ’18 semester, Social Media Ambassador Amanda has explored Montreal and its many hidden corners. Here she gives her best reasons as to why students should consider coming up here with the Champlain Abroad program]

1. New way of living

College dorms can be boring. Picture this instead: hotel-style rooms, kitchens, and freedom. Continue reading →

A Pizza Advice

By Kyle Mays (Multimedia – California Lutheran ’18)

Like the DemoNight I attended last week, this was event where my expectations had to be put in check in a great way, but for entirely different reasons. I hadn’t expected the alumni pizza night to be anything more than hanging out with past students while also getting free pizza. What I had not taken into account was the number of alumni that would show up, that they were nearly all full time developers at professional Montreal game studios such as Ubisoft and Rogue Factor, and that they were mainly there to talk to us!

The Q&A they hosted was full of solid and insightful advice on how to start looking for jobs upon graduating, their workplace environments, and necessary communication skills. Some of the best tips I heard included the importance of being able to read conversations you are having with recruiters at social events, and how important it is to try and be likable and relate to their interests rather than your own personal interest in getting a job from them. They stressed the importance of being able to put yourself out there and practice conversational skills as much as you can, and if you can’t do it on your own, go with a friend who might help keep the conversation flowing and accentuate the qualities you have that you might not even recognize. None of the advice felt like it was condescending or a show they put on for us: it felt really genuine and practical and I really appreciated it.

Continue reading →

Getting In The Game

By Kyle Mays (Multimedia – California Lutheran ’18)

Attending the DemoNight was a fascinating experience, mainly because I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve never attended any sort of developer event like this before, and upon entering the show-floor I was hit with a wave of familiarity from convention parties I had attended in the past back home in California. I wasn’t expecting a stuffy, no-nonsense environment for a night of game demo presentations, but I guess I was not expecting it to be as casual and energetic so it was one of a number of pleasant surprises had that night!

Having not a whole lot of hard-asset skills and very little experience in the field of game-making I found it hard to squeeze into conversations myself, but it was refreshing to see how social the community truly is. Being able to grab a drink from the bar and just talk about aspects of the industry and personal projects with the level of enthusiasm and joy I saw in myriad developers dispersed all throughout the giant room was really invigorating. It felt thrilling just to be there!

Continue reading →

A MEGA (Montreal Electronic Game Arcade) Weekend

Image from http://mega-mtl.com/#welcome

Alex Dalton (Game Producer ’19) had the opportunity to attend MEGA as part of his internship. Alex tells us all about the event.

When you first look at Montreal, you would probably see the vibrant history of the city. If you look carefully you would be able to see the thriving technology scene. From Place des Arts to Centre Phi, tech is everywhere. The game industry is thriving in Montreal. A number of students, myself included, have managed to land internships within the game industry. When I was seventeen, I wanted to be where I am right now. I work as a production intern for an indie studio in Montreal. The internship has been great and towards the end of the internship, I was given the opportunity to go to MEGA. MEGA or Montreal Electronic Game Arcade was an event similar to the concept of Penny Arcade Expo. MEGA was meant for developers to show off their projects and receive feedback. I had a good time. Continue reading →

The Internship Chronicles – Alex

Alex Dalton (Game Production ’19) tells us about his internship at indie studio, Back to the Game, during his semester abroad in Montreal. Alex also had the opportunity to table the game he was working on at MEGA and MIGS.

When a student comes to Champlain College, what do you think they came here for? For many, it was the opportunity for a higher education. For me, it was all about the internship opportunity. Champlain College offered a number of connections that I could use to break into the highly competitive game industry. Upon arriving in Montreal I was thrilled to be starting my internship. Unfortunately for me, I did not find one for a few weeks but when I did, I hit the jackpot. I landed an internship at Back to the Game. Back to the Game or B2TG was founded by my boss Richard Rispoli, three months before I came around. The team was small, consisting of industry veterans. Richard worked in the game industry for fifteen years prior working on platforms ranging from PC to the Nintendo DS. Our lead programmer Ivan has been working with Richard for quite some time and I have become quite in awe of his programming skills. Back to the Game’s lead artist Michael is a quite and talented soul. Michael has worked on some great projects like Disney’s Zootopia and I have been honored to work with him. The same goes for everyone at Back to the Game. I could not be the producer I am today without the continued guidance of Richard.      Continue reading →

Production II In Montreal Is A Game Changer

Matt Rhine (GDES ’18) plays his game, Avian Arena, with one of the industry guests from Ubisoft at the end of semester demo event.

By Matthew Rhine (GDES ’18)

Each and every year there is one class that gets every game development student riled up.  Production is our chance to simulate the video game industry in the classroom.  So you can imagine my excitement, to find out that I could take Production II while abroad in Montreal.  Montreal is a hub for the gaming community and industry, so my Production II professor, Aurelie Le Chevalier (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurelielechevalier/), would come straight from her day job at Ubisoft (*internal screams of joy*) to mentor us as we worked in teams on our student games.   Continue reading →

THE INTERNSHIP CHRONICLES – MAX

Max Sanel (Game Production’18) interned at Ironbelly Studios during the spring semester.

Ironbelly studios is a games company that offers services from 3d art, to level design, to programming as well as producing their own games. They have an office in Montreal where some of the members work, with the rest working remotely from all over the world. I’ve been interning there this semester, and it’s been an absolute blast. Continue reading →