Jonathan Gauvin

Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios Group acquired Monster Closet Games (founded by Ubisoft veterans) in October last year and integrated its developers to launch a new studio in Montreal. Yesterday, this studio was shut down 8 months after launch, along with Avalanche’s New York studio, cutting 50 jobs. In an “exceptionally difficult decision” taken by Avalanche, the shutdown was “necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company”. Avalanche even expressed regret for losing 9% of its workforce but gave no updates on how it plans to help them after this. For big studios, posting on social media is easier and a one-time thing. But what about the 50 devs who are left with tougher days to come? When AAA giant (Avalanche) entered their lives last year, they promised the devs big game projects. For eight months, they worked hard on a title with Xbox, getting excited about how they would thrill gamers from different corners of the planet. But instead of receiving due credit, they are informed that they are no longer needed on the project and that the company has to lay them off to sustain themselves. If this is sad to learn, consider the sudden mental toll on these developers and the possibility of many falling prey to self-doubt. I also tried finding the impacted folks to give them a shoutout, but I can’t see any #opentowork banners except one or two. If you know of anyone who was impacted, please mention them below, and we will do everything in our power to give them maximum visibility. If you were impacted and saw this, I am listing three resources and various other ways for you to get back into the games industry ASAP. First💎 Layoff Support Kit 2.0 - https://lnkd.in/gCCXW_Wp My team and I have dedicated countless hours to curating hundreds of online game development resources so you don't have to. This comprehensive collection includes top programming boot camps, renowned game dev educators, free game assets to help you build great games, insightful podcasts, and much more. Second💎 A 100% scholarship on our $11,000 Full Stack game dev program - https://lnkd.in/gZKqNBFh If you were impacted by the recent bloodshed of layoffs, here’s a chance to Re-skill and revise your game dev knowledge with our advanced C++, OOPs, Unity, and Data Structure modules. Additionally, you will receive exclusive one-on-one mentorship from top game programmers who will help you strengthen your already solid foundations. Third💎 Our Discord Community of over 10K game devs - https://lnkd.in/gH-wZe2G Here, we listen to everyone’s take on game development, support aspiring game developers in building stronger portfolios, and solve each other's doubts. Also requesting Kelly Bender, Alexander Rehm, Caitlin Cooke, Jordan Mazer, Ruty Rutenberg, Hailey Rojas, Kevin F., Kat Craig, Ali Farha, Matt Barney, and Ash C. to help this reach all the folks who can benefit from this. #layoffsupport

80

17 Comments

👶 Game producers = great parents… ? 🎮 Problem-Solving: Working with different partners/audiences with varying comm methods. 💬 Empathy/Sympathy: Seeing the world through other viewpoints. Interpreting signals! 🧘‍♂️ Stress Management: Resilience in the face of constant pivots & uncertainty… Are you a creating clarity or chaos when having to clean 💩? 📅 Organization: Scheduling routines and adjusting when your plan goes south. Have a mitigation? That helps! Game production = solid parenting prep! 🌟👾🍼 #parenting #chaos💩 #empathy

48

5 Comments

Do you want to level up your game dev team? Do you want to learn some of the magic that makes some of the greatest games? Alex's course is a great place to start. And if you have designers on staff you think would benefit, I highly recommend this bootcamp. #bootcap #gamedesign

17

First test build for an initial demo on my audio implementation processes. I still need to mix, but I think the concept is there. It gives an idea of some of the principles I use. It's not flashy and it's not a game; it's research work on possibilities. P.S.: The video isn't interesting without the sound.

10

1 Comment

#Ubisoft is gearing up to launch games featuring #Web3 technology this year. Nicolas Pouard Vice President of the Ubisoft Strategic Innovation Lab and head of #blockchain initiatives, is spearheading these developments. The company has broadened its blockchain efforts, forging new gaming partnerships and expanding its blockchain team. It's licensing intellectual properties to Web3 gaming firms like VeVe and Cross The Ages and collaborating with blockchain platforms such as Aleph, Flow, XPLA, and Sequence. Ubisoft is also developing Champions Tactics with Oasys, and plans to release two Web3 games to the public by the end of the year. This push into Web3 gaming positions Ubisoft at the forefront of the industry, offering fresh opportunities for growth and innovation. For the blockchain gaming community, Ubisoft’s involvement not only legitimizes the space but also drives technological advancements and broadens the market, promising enhanced gaming experiences and new interactive possibilities. Sources: GamesBeat, Dean Takahashi

37

3 Comments

Last night I finalized my tool for loading .csv files on the fly. I can now assign a preset choice to an animation timing (without touching the animator) to set the SynthOne of Wwise in-game. Additionally, I can use my csv files to switch between engines (Unity-Unreal) to load the SynthOne configurations, so I can work on the sound comfortably in Unity and, if a project arises in UE, retrieve my work without having to redo the settings in Unreal. I will stop development for a while; there is one more thing to address which is the randomization. Currently, you need to manually change the last two values in the CSV to configure the randomization that will be played by the CSV player (the randomization works in-game). So here are my last two scripts for the sound designer community, enjoy them, real-time synthesis is life, I've been waiting for this for years. Download link: https://lnkd.in/eQczAqaH

5

Project "One Tool - Zero Byte Audio - Binaural" (Binaural = headphone listening = VR) A project where I use a single ultra-basic synthesizer to create all the sounds. I don't use a DAW and I don't pre-produce any sounds, everything is done in real-time, created as it happens on the screen. I still haven't figured out how to trigger the big explosions at the end, and I still need to create the basic sound for the worm laser, but I'm getting closer to my first pass at setting up the basics. There is no reverb on the explosions; it's a synthesis rendering. In short, I need to finish modeling a few sounds, then work on the behavior curves, do a second pass of sound design, and mix. #Wwise #SynthOne #ZeroAudioAsset #NoDAW #Synthesis #Realtime #Audio3D #VRAudio #VR #Unity

5

Creating games is very difficult. And building games is challenging. The process of build requires to compile the code and all the data required in the game in a specific sequence involving many dependencies. As such monitoring the outcome is essential, but not sufficent. What if we were able to predict the outcome of a build ? What if we were able to decrease the required computing resources while increasing our iteration capability ? #Ubisoft #Ubisoftlaforge #innovation

80

Based on my experience as a Game Professional and Educator, let's discuss Game Production as a discipline. We must start by stating the Game Production's purpose and objective. A simple definition I give my students about Game Production is: Ensure the project's completion and shipping under heavy economic and productive restrictions. These restrictions are Time, Money, Experience, and Technology. For this very reason Game Production work is invisible to the players, the only evidence of success is a completed and shipped Game. Under this framework, I suggest my students to ask themselves, at the beginning of each day, the "Game Producer" question: What do you think we could do with today's available resources? I remarked to them about the present state of the aforementioned question; our available resources change every day, forcing us to pivot constantly and adjust our iterations. I hope more seasoned producers can give me feedback about these definitions. #GameProduction #GameDesign #GameEducation #HigerEducation

5

2 Comments

Struggling with audio implementation for your game? Check out these helpful tips to ease your development stress and improve your player experience! #gameaudio #gamesound #gamemusic #gamedev #indiedev #sounddesign #vgm #voiceacting #unlockaudio  

13

1 Comment

I'm a quarter of the way through the job, so this is a test of a project done entirely in synthesis, only with the Synth One from Wwise. I really need a developer to make something polished, but at least I can test with my prototype. I've added a distance warning in draft form; you can really sense the presence of volume when you get close enough to an object, especially with headphones. I have no idea in terms of CPU resources if it's too much or if it's within limits, but still at 0 bytes in data. #Wwise #SynthOne #WIP #OnlySynthesis #Realtime

1

Game Testing: All in One, 4th Edition is available now. This is a revised, updated, and classroom-friendly version of the leading textbook for game testers and test managers. Order your review copy at the link below: https://lnkd.in/gDhH8gsq #gamedev #QA #gametesting #testing #gamedesign

35

1 Comment

Here is my latest script. In the link, you will find my work base for sound design of an animation. It includes tools to trigger Wwise events without using events in the animation, generate a curve for an RTPC and play it based on an animation, launch synthesis configuration presets according to the timing of an animation, and as mentioned in my previous two posts, retrieve points from an existing animation curve and reconstruct it through interpolation. These are basic tools for working and prototyping with Unity and Wwise. Unity is excellent for prototyping with its simple scripting and very responsive nature, which allows for quick development. The next step will be to eventually port the concepts and prototypes developed in Unity directly to Unreal by generating C++ to automatically create Blueprints :) To download my scripts if you want to test them: https://lnkd.in/exA4ikku

28

I felt like explaining my audio workflow today. The equipment I use to control the quality of the sound (crack, click, noise, ...) includes Yamaha HS8. They don't embellish the sound; it's ultra-flat, which is great for monitoring. Then, when I'm in the testing phase for integration processes, I use only the VU meters. I look at how the sound behaves; I don't need precise listening. Next, I move on to the mixing phase: I use a gaming headset JBL Quantum 810 to work in stereo and binaural, then I switch the headset to 7.1 to check the surround behavior in upmix. It is important, when working for long periods, to take care of your ears. Listening to sound is tiring (even stressful for some listeners; the choice to mute the sound is frequent for users, and it's not for nothing). That's why it's important to alternate between monitoring systems, headsets, screen speakers, and Hi-Fi. The video concerns the transition of my stereo demo project to 7.1 to hear the result. The sound of the video is encoded in stereo, so you can't experience the full effect, but you can see the switch from my stereo configuration to the 7.1 upmix with the VU meters.

13