Slant Six Games » Development

Fireteam Bravo 3 headed for E3

Zoe — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:57:28 +0000

With the yearly Electronic Entertainment Expo cued up for next week in L.A., our Fireteam Bravo 3 team has been hard at work on a shiny new build to showcase at the event.

Some of our friends in the press have already been playing the latest build, that now includes the recently announced four player cooperative play! You can read their thoughts on the co-op play experience here. We’re looking forward to receiving feedback from those of you who get your hands on the game next week!

“After an afternoon of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3, I can tell you that I’m ready to convert to the Church of Slant Six as well as call my bud and tell him he might want to think about buying a PSP and preordering this game.”
-IGN

Match Making in Confrontation

Zoe — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:05:54 +0000

A new update from our friends over at the official SOCOM blog gives you the scoop on one of the highly anticipated feature updates in the upcoming 1.5 release for SOCOM Confrontation… the Tournament feature! Find out how tournaments will function with details on structure, registration, scheduling and teams. Read it all here…

Fireteam Bravo 3 in Action

Zoe — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:34:43 +0000

For those of you who haven’t checked out the game trailer, be sure to watch it and send us your feedback. Looking forward to hearing what the FTB fans out there think…

Fireteam Bravo 3 Announced!

Zoe — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:26:55 +0000

It’s a big day at the office as we’ve finally let the cat out of the bag! And also, Sony officially announced SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALS: Fireteam Bravo 3, a PSP game that we’ve been working on for awhile now. It’s nice not to have to be so secretive about it anymore. See, we have been working! We don’t just eat pastries and play hockey and take pictures. Be sure to read the press release, or visit the SOCOM blog for all the juicy details.

Smart People Work Here

Zoe — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:57:16 +0000

So we have a lot of smart people who work here. It’s sort of a prerequisite on top of being superbly witty and incredibly funny, combined with really really good looking and, of course, humble. All jokes aside, our hard working engineers have been kind enough to offer access to some of their recent technical exploits. If you’re a fellow smart cookie (or, like me, just find yourself enamored with sequences of foreign looking mathematical functions that you can show to your friends and pretend you are smarter than they are) you’ll enjoy checking out our new Tech Papers section on the Dev Notes page. Guaranteed to make you 10% smarter, or atleast feel that way!

Another Update for Confrontation

Zoe — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:49:36 +0000

Our friends over at Sony’s official SOCOM blog have posted a nice long list of the tweaks that you’re going to find in the shiny new 1.5 update for SOCOM Confrontation. Instead of making me type it all out again, how about you just click this handy link? Release dates will also come via the official blog but you are still welcome to pester us on Twitter. We love attention.

New Confrontation Patch Released

Zoe — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:30:12 +0000

In our continued effort to support our ever growing community of Confrontation players, we’ve got another update ready to download. The 1.42 patch landed yesterday and addresses issues around player spawning, removal of voted out players, and extreme ragdoll values. Also, we’ve included some general bandwith optimization goodness!

Thanks again to all of you who continue to write and give feedback. You’re patience and support (and even the ranting and stomping of feet) is important to our efforts here. The team is hard at work on a 1.5 update that will continue to improve the online play experience, as mentioned at the official SOCOM blog. Now stop reading and go get that 1.42 update!

Slant Six website 2.0

Zoe — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:27:44 +0000

Welcome to the new home of Slant Six on the web. After listening to our fans and team members, we decided it was time to give a voice to our studio and let people know just what we’re working on, who we are, and why our studio is such a great place to be. Plus we wanted an excuse to draw cool hotrod inspired artwork.

Be sure to visit often as content will update regularly and frequently (atleast relative to the old website!). If you’re interested in specific content, be sure to drop me a note on Twitter @SlantSixGames or even personally at @ZoeFlower. You can also email media@slantsixgames.com or join our Facebook page. Yay Web 2.0!

-Zoe

Slant Speaks at GDC 2009

Zoe — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:12:52 +0000

Who is this guy and what does he have to say? Well, it’s Technical Director, Paul Martin, who once again has been invited to speak at an industry event. This time, Paul will leap technical hurdles and logistical buildings with his “Audio Adventures on the PS3″ which tackles SOCOM Confrontation from an audio perspective (in case you couldn’t glean that from the title).

You can see a detailed breakdown of just what will be discussed here. If you’re attending GDC, be sure to stop in and say hello on Friday morning at 10:30am. If you say you read about his talk on this blog, he might be nice enough to offer you a lollipop.

Spotlight: Game Designer, Tyler McCulloch

Zoe — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:14:20 +0000

This week we’ve cornered Tyler McCulloch, and forced him to give up his dark secrets of game design. I don’t think we succeeded but you can atleast find out why he’s here and what he pretends does.

Quote:
“motion blur is the new lens flare.”

Years in Industry:
Just over 5 years

What do you consider prerequisites for your job?:
Being able to build ideas like lego, but allowing them to be molded like clay.

How long you’ve been at Slant Six Games?
2.5 years

Best part of the job:
Waking up each morning and knowing I get to hang out with a bunch of awesome people all day.

Morning web surf:
Shacknews and Kotaku usually for game stuff, Gamasutra and various game dev blogs for development stuff, and finally the ‘oddly enough’ section of Reuters for my news updates.

Favorite Work Perks:
Slant Six is a great company to work for, and they’ll go out of their way to try and make you happy. They are constantly try to improve the quality of life here by listening to their employees, encouraging company backed outings, to having a BBQ just because!

What do you like about Vancouver?
You couldn’t ask for a better location, than where Slant is located. Beautiful views of downtown from across the water, Granville Island a couple steps away. Umm, plus the Emily Carr University of Art + Design is really close by. And umm, those Arty girls are pretty. Yeah.

What kind of person do you need to be to work here?
The great thing about Slant is that everyone gets along so well, regardless of the type of person they are. There are no egos here, just a bunch of people sharing ideas while trying to improve themselves and the game they are working on.

What do you do for fun outside the company?
I once met a guy who thought it was really fun to run full speed into a wall with enough force to knock him out… Well, actually it was me. Um, well, actually it wasn’t fun either, I just didn’t see the wall.

What games do you play?
I love playing all sorts of games. One of my greatest pleasures though is playing a game that may be considered a ‘flop’. I love trying to figure out what went wrong and coming up with solutions that I think may have helped if they had the time to implement it.

If I weren’t working at Slant Six games I’d be:
On my own private tropical island pretending I was a survivor of Oceanic flight 815… until I got hungry and heading back to my resort when my chef would have made me a deliciously ginormous meal which I would eat with one hand on a controller.

SOCOM: Confrontation Patch 1.41 Released

Zoe — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:13:21 +0000

Developer Posts on SOCOM.com

Zoe — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:26:38 +0000

Since we’ve got our own blog now, I thought it would be nice to have a link to the Developer Interviews on SOCOM.com. There are a series of six posts featuring our design director, Dave Seymour. He’s nice. You can follow him @david_seymour on Twitter if you can handle reading through the hundreds of enigmatic posts about Resident Evil 5 and new iPhone apps. I’m not exaggerating. He really loves Twitter.

Spotlight: Artist, Dayna Bland

Zoe — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:16:39 +0000

Favorite Quote:
“NO Body Expects The Spanish Inquisition”

How many years have you been in the games industry?
Five years.

What do you consider prerequisites for your job?:
BFA , strong 3D Package and photoshop skills, experience in games, highly adaptable.

How long you’ve been at Slant Six Games?
2 years

Best part of your job?
Being Happy!! The people at slant are the best I have ever worked with. Everyone is excited by what we are doing, hard working, and fun to create with!

Morning web surf:
http://www.tastespotting.com/
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/
http://www.cbc.ca/

Favorite Work Perks:
Cypress ski passes! Can’t wait for winter!!!

What do you like about Vancouver?
I was born in vancouver…something not many can say….and there is a reason I have chosen to stay and build my career here. Every time I come back from travelling I realize how lucky we are to live somewhere that is so beautiful, clean, and outdoor oriented. Beaches and mountains…how can you beat that!?

What kind of person do you need to be to work here?
Friendly and Enthusiastic. We work together to make fantastic games. Confidant and independent in your work, knowing what you need to accomplish in the time we have.

What do you do for fun outside the company?
Paint (yes artists still use paint) ,Travel, yoga, ski, and cook

What games do you play?
WoW

If I weren’t working at Slant Six games I’d be:
A Draenei Shaman =P

Software Engineer

Zoe — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:32:12 +0000

While we don’t currently have any engineering opportunities available, we invite you to submit a resume for us to keep on file. Below is a general idea of what we look for in a production team member. Please send your resume to jobs@slantsixgames. For more information, read our Career FAQ.

The Software Engineer works closely with our existing production team to write code for a next generation software product.

Key contribution areas:
-Help to maintain code in a specific area of expertise
-Help to maintain common code for the project
-Conform to any coding standards and guidelines
-Implement software in C++ and other languages
-Debug and optimize software
-Participate in design and code reviews
-Design software systems through consultation and coordination with other programmers
-Write design documentation
- Assist and mentor other programmers in areas of domain expertise or specialization

A successful performer in this role will:
-Collaborate with artists and designers on the requirements and design of tools and systems
-Have a strong aptitude in math and programming
-Demonstrate strong architecture and software design skills
-Windows applications experience
-Require strong C++ skills
-Communicate effectively at all levels and interact well with others

Education and Experience:
-Degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience
-4+ years of game development experience
- 2+ shipped titles

Spotlight: Software Engineer, Bram Stolk

Zoe — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:16:56 +0000

Today we’re having a chat with software engineer, Bram Stolk. What kind of name is Bram? Well we didn’t ask him that but you can find out a few interesting things about him below:

Favorite Quote:
“Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot- proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.” (R Cook).

How many years in the games industry?
1, after 10+ years as a Virtual Reality software engineer

What do you consider prerequisites for your job?:
MSc in Computer Science

How long you’ve been at Slant Six Games?
1 yr

Best part of the job:
You develop games! …and the company actually pays you to do this.

Morning web surf:
geenstijl.nl

Favorite Work Perks
Getting an award from the hands of none other than Seth MacFarlane (yes… the dude from Family Guy!)

What do you like about Vancouver?
The girls are prettier here

What kind of person do you need to be to work here?
You need an immature sense of humour (which is a good thing to have of course)

What do you do for fun?
Excessive speeding on a motorcycle and learning to fly a small airplane.

What games do you play?
Mercenaries

If I weren’t working at Slant Six games I’d be:
Developing Virtual Reality technology for Academia.

Spotlight: Associate Producer, Vivian Tan-ng

Zoe — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:17:25 +0000

For anyone curious about what kinds of people work in our production department, meet Viv! He’s a very down to earth and talented Associate Producer (working hard on one of our top secret soon to be announced titles). He’s also pretty good at keeping pucks out of the net during Slant Six hockey games. Below are his thoughts on working at Slant:

How many years have you been in the games industry?
- 5 years

What do you consider prerequisites for your job?
- Eye for detail, good communication skills and ability to offer solutions to problems

How long have you been at Slant Six Games?
- Almost 2 years

Best part of the job?
- Great work life balance

Morning web surf?
-Kotaku, Sportsnet and CBC

Your favorite work perks?
- Tickets to the local pro sports teams

What do you like about Vancouver?
- The weather - warm summers and mild winters… though it can be very wet

What kind of person do you need to be to work here?
- Someone who can consistently deliver results with little or no supervision

What do you do for fun?
- Golf in the summer and hockey in the winter

What games do you play?
- I like RPGs and FPSs. Currently playing Battle Field: Bad Company

If I weren’t working at Slant Six games I’d be:
- a stay at home dad!