[GD-General] Re: [GD-General][OT] Prices of well-known 3D engines

[Toni <to...@4d...>]

Javier Arevalo wrote:

>Developing games in Spain has advantages and disadvantages:
>
> - Lower total cost for salaries (furnishing / equipment is probably
>similar).
>

For my experience in the university, most of wannabe game developers 
flee to DB programming, both for non good graphics topics and the little 
possibility to work in they industry and the low salaries (when i went 
to an international game company  to work as student worker (sorry, 
dunno the word in english) they offered me 3'60 euros/hour, and ubi is 
at 1 hour from my home, it was out of Barcelona). I have to say that at 
least that company, that i won't say the name, plays with the illusion 
of people for making games, and that's not serious.

> - Less competitors hiring potential candidates or grabbing your own people.
>
Well, i've found that people is not prepared, and due the situation of 
game industry in spain (big comanies are only in madrid and barcelona, 
you force people to move, and people doesn't like to move here)

> - Impossible to compete with offers from US/UK job opportunities.
>
Obviously, i would emmigrate if i didn't own my own company :)

> - Less candidates, and less experienced ones (designers & producers in
>particular).
>
As i've stated above, people here is educated to do "serious" software. 
I asked a professor once why we didin't get Real Time graphics in our 
university, the answer was that there wasn't demand. Seems that only 
universities and hospitals can do graphics here!, I'm talking only about 
graphics, i think CS carreer is good enough in other topics (at least my 
univ, can't talk for others).  I will talk about producers below.

> - Public perception of pursuing a videogames career is *even* worse than in
>other places.
>
Well, teenagers think it 's cool :) but that's all... but it's normal. 
This is a profession you have to do because you like it, no because you 
want a lot of money... you don't earn a lot of money here... the above 
international company payed 900 euros/month to game programmers, and... 
well... that's a crap to be honest.

> - Less opportunities to leverage game skills in another job makes the
>career less safe.
> - "National" tastes, cultural quirks, and licenses are not viable in the
>global market.
>by them as potentially more cumbersome.
> - Insufficient (and piracy-ridden) local market, it's tough for new studios
>to start small and grow from there.
>

ok, i will answer this 3 together. As Gonzo stated past March in 
barcelona, there's no national market here, due piracy. That's a big 
truth, but Javier, you can't expect everybody buys good games when they 
are so expensive, perhaps 50 euros doesn't seem high enough for some of 
you, but it is for the mean income of spanish people. So what they do? 
they pirate them, I don't say you have to low the games to 20-30 euros 
but, they're too expensive, and that's a fact. It's not a excuse, but if 
you want a game because is cool and you can't afford it (and most 
teenagers can't afford a game each 15 days) you will pirate it.
Obviosuly this degenerates in: "Why i have to buy a single game if i can 
download it with eMule or www.warezthelatestgamesforfree.com?" and 
that's the situation here. This ends in:
a) Producers won't invest in your game if it's not a world-wide targeted 
game, so little studios can't develop little products for national market
b) As you can only make international titles all the national tastes, as 
you say must be ripped out, for example one can't add national jokes or 
so to the game, even when would be funny to see Maria Teresa Campos in a 
video game ;)

> - Knowledge and practice with the English language is still very scarce.
>

We do our best, but english is hard, at least speaking  it without 
accent and correct pronounciation Javier, English have a lot of strange 
phonemes ;)

>That probably covers 90% of the issues.
>  
>
Yep, and i'm totally agree in 90% of the 90% ;)

Toni
Lead Programmer
insideo.com