Some proof of MS In-house AoE4 Franchise Team. This is Microsoft Redmond, not Relic.
"focus on developing a cutting edge RTS specific navigation solution for Age of Empires engine for use in Age IV and anything beyond"
Do you love Real Time Strategy games? Do you hate it when your gatherer units get stuck to trees or wander off to enjoy the scenery? We sure do. If you do and are a skilled software engineer with the proven ability to keep our gatherers in-line and on task the Age of Empires franchise wants your help!
We’re looking for a Software Engineer to join our team to drive the navigation systems for Age of Empires. If successful you will closely collaborate with design and engineering teams globally and focus on developing a cutting edge RTS specific navigation solution for Age of Empires engine for use in Age IV and anything beyond, as well as offering support and guidance to help improve navigation in our older Age of Empires titles. You should have experience building cutting edge RTS navigation solutions and be keeping up with, if not pushing, what the state of the art in the field of navigation is.
Responsibilities
As a senior member of the Age of Empires Franchise team you will
- Be the navigation subject matter expert for the franchise.
- Understand and be able to implement state of the art for large group pathfinding techniques.
- Collaborate with partners both internal and external on titles new and old.
- Guild and possibly step in and help implement, if not design and lead efforts to build pathfinding solutions.
- Help teams troubleshoot issues, build more robust solutions and test frameworks.
- Find new ways to drive what the state of the art in the field is.
Qualifications and skills
4+ Years of experience in feature level development
Experience working in an Agile Environment
Ability to multi-task
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Ability to quickly gain familiarity with existing large code bases and quick ramp up effectively contributing to a code base.
Comfortable engaging with diverse teams and disciplines
Be able to collaborate with both internal and external partners, local and all over the world.
https://www.facebook.com/mikolai.stroinski/posts/1995217320556685
Mikolai Stroinski
I'm super excited to reveal one of the projects I've been working on for the last couple of months- the legendary "Age of Empires 4"!!!- thank you Relic Entertainment for inviting me for this crazy ride.
The problem IMHO is the Wargame community (one of Eugen's game series). This community hate SD series because theres not a "Wargame sequel" done and they flamming SD game in social networks until the death.
SD - WW2
Wargame - modern warfare
Its kind ridiculous, but it's true.
Thx for explanation. Seems like a similar fan reaction to Valve Artifact announcement:
IMO, there is a real risk the same could happen to CoH as Sega/Relic try to expand the franchise.
Fans like what they like, trying to belittle them and change their minds is counterproductive.
One of the reasons why marketing, clear communications and knowing your audience/fans expectations is so important.
The '80s are back along with Stranger Things. Cobra Kai has some of the best writings I have seen.
Highly recommended, I just finished watching season 2.
Original actors and writer from the Karate Kid.
Careful with genetic studies and "research" nowadays. They now have an agenda too.
People just need to think critically and question everything. The world is not just black and white, there's a lot of grey area.
Who created the infrastructure for the internet and information revolution?
Ignorance and freedom are incompatible.
Want peace? That is easy, just surrender and let someone else control the past, present and future.
Want freedom/individual sovereignty? That doesn't come free..
Relatively speaking, STEM fields are still pretty useful.
Intellectual smugness/arrogance and confirmation bias is one of the reasons higher education have been corrupted. Psychological & financial warfare/manipulation (follow the money) is another reason.
Hence the saying: the road to evil is paved with 'good intentions'.
Some good Epic analysis why developers/publishers are pissed off about this mega-sale.
Epic Store sale, and why it's pissing off gamers and developers/publishers alike https://twitter.com/CaseyExplosion/status/1129713218321027073
@caseyexplosion
Hey folks, today let's talk about the Epic Store sale, and why it's pissing off gamers and developers/publishers alike. Because it's easy to snark and say "lol, the Gamers™ are angry about a sale!" but this is a good deal more serious.
To understand why, let's talk about sales!
Now, what normally happens during a sale event (like a Steam sale) is that the publishers or developers opt in, and they set the discounts. What Epic is doing however, is something very different.
Take special note of this: "...at no cost to the publisher or developer."
That additional $10 discount? That is money that Epic is paying out to the developers. They are effectively buying those discounts, so even though a game is significantly reduced for the customer, the developers still earn the same revenue they would have at full price.
So, why are developers pissed off about this, and are yanking their games from the Epic store, or altering the prices? Even though they still get paid for it out of Epic's pocket? Because they had no say in this, and it immediately devalues their games, especially indie titles.
Epic are paying developers that $10 even if their games are only just up for pre-order, which means that for indie developers pricing their games around $15, it's now worth $5 in the eyes of customers before it's even out. It's been devalued for good, and they had no say in it.
With indie games, pricing and discounts are very serious subjects, because the perceived value is on shaky ground. Ever see snarky responses to indie devs at launch? It's sometimes downright cruel!
"Why would I pay 20 bucks for this, when it'll be in a bundle in 6 months time?"
So right now, you can buy a game that isn't even out yet for a third of the full asking price, because Epic is paying that $10 discount. So before this game is even out, it's perceived value is $5.19.
That's why games are being pulled from the store, or controversially bumping their prices, see for example indie titles Hades and Oxygen Not Included suddenly bumping their prices. They didn't have a say in their games going so cheap, even if they still got paid for the discount.
And the reason that The Gamers™ are furious over this, and saying silly things like "Epic are BRIBING gamers!" is that it's another example of Epic throwing their money around. As reactionary, and over the top as they can be, it's not entire wrong...
They're buying customers.
There's an anxiety about Epic because what they're doing is aggressive. They don't want to be competition, they want to be the last man standing and be the defacto monopoly. That's the end goal, drive Valve out of business and reap the benefits.
And they have the money to that.
To a lot of gamers, competition would be someone coming along and building a better platform than Steam. They never imagined someone could just come along with more money than god and buy a load of exclusives to force them to use a garbage platform nobody wants or even likes.
*SNIP*
Eugen Systems make some good lower budget strategy games and I wish the best for this sequel and the studio.
I loved to play Wargame: Red Dragon.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news/info. But previous news indicates that the studio has serious internal problems and on-going pay disputes with the French video game union.
For the working class, this is a big issue in France and not something that is going to blow over any time soon.
Unlike many other countries, France has an independent video game union also known as STJV and connected to https://www.gameworkersunite.org/.
Steel Division: Normandy ‘44 developer Eugen Systems has fired six staff that were part of a strike over pay earlier this year, allegedly for using insulting language in a private chat channel and for negatively affecting the mood in the studio.
Twenty-one developers at the Paris-based studio walked out on strike earlier this year alleging "serious violations" of their rights including delayed payments, denied overtime pay, and wages that were below the country's minimum wage. The strike ended in April after negotiations failed to make progress, and the staff vowed to take the matter to the French Labour Court. The case will be heard in March.
The firings, which occurred on December 19, were revealed by Video Game Workers Union of France this week. The union has been helping staff with the ongoing dispute. In a press release, it said that six workers were fired under the "pretext of having negatively affected the mood ('dégradé l’ambiance') of the studio and used insulting language in a conversation that took place in a private chat".
The union claimed the move was "an act of retaliation and a preemptive move by management" ahead of the court case, which is being brought by 15 employees.
Before the firings the studio had 21 staff down from 50 at the start of 2018, the union said, which would mean its work force has been cut by nearly a third. The developer is due to release Steel Division 2 next year.
I've reached out to Eugen Systems for a response and will update this article when I hear back.
https://www.pcgamesn.com/steel-division-2/steel-division-2-russia
However, perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement is the reveal that Paradox Interactive, who published the last game and its expansions (as well as a good handful of the best strategy games you can play right now), will not be involved in the sequel. Instead, Eugen Systems will be self-publishing Steel Division 2, the first time they’ve done so.
That being said, the studio founders have not left yet so maybe they can recover.
IMO, Sega Europe should buy the studio or make a partnership for 1-2 games. Sega Europe already have another strategy studio in Paris, https://www.amplitude-studios.com/
However, it failed to explain why it pulled Borderlands 3 from the Epic Games store.
Here's the statement sent to Eurogamer by a 2K rep this evening:
"We are working closely with Epic and have temporarily removed Borderlands 3 from their storefront. We look forward to the game being back on the Epic Games store soon. Games bought during their Mega Sale will be honored at that price."
Epic games store caught in Chaos as games pulled (temporary)
It appears that EGS put games on mega-sale, without asking for permission.
This mega-sale is mostly Epic-funded but some feel it may devalue their games.
https://twitter.com/AngriestPat/status/1129141438313312256
@AngriestPat
So I can confirm that me buying a whopping 5 games (ranging from 5 bucks to 50) on the Epic Store flagged my account for possibly fraudalent. Maybe if you guys had a fucking shopping cart jesus christ.
Well this is different: Epic have kicked off a store sale where THEY fund a large part of the discount. This is fairly unprecidented, and seems to be another angle to drive user growth.
To be clear, this doesn't mean that all of the games presented at the PC Gaming Show are partnered with Epic. Expect more than 20 different developers to show new trailers or make announcements.
Chinese news site Techweb, translated by Google and spotted by PCGamesN, reports that "the Epic Games Store quietly unlocked" in China earlier this week.
https://venturebeat.com/2019/03/25/epic-games-store-qa-tackles-china-metro-exodus-backlash-and-mature-games/ China and the perceived threat of Tencent
One person asked the panel why the Epic Games Store isn’t available in China yet. While the gaming industry there is worth $30 billion, the Chinese government is incredibly strict about what kind of games — especially games from foreign developers — can be legally sold in the country. Allison alluded to those challenges in his answer, adding that Epic’s office in China makes it a more precarious situation for them.
“That’s a complicated question. … The way our competitor operates offshore is not legal in China, and they don’t have an office in China. We have employees there, so we are very sensitive to what is legal and what is is not — more for the benefit and safety of our staff. We just don’t want to take any risks that can put them in any legal fire,” said Allison.
Denmark
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ihitto(wwU)
PanzerGrenadierAngreifen
TheMachine
Relic Entertainment
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