I heard about the job opening through a friend that I went to university with. She told me about the opportunity, and since I had already got inside information on the fantastic work culture at d3t, I thought this would be the perfect fit.
What do you do day-to-day?
My day tends to start with a big cup of coffee! I then move on to my daily activities such as looking at Jiras, emails and figuring out what tasks need to be done for the day. Once I have a plan, I then get cracking with the artwork! As I start my days early, I’ll have a few hours to work with before the daily stand up. This is when everyone on same project across multiple disciplines discusses what they’ve done, and what they will be doing throughout the day.
My stand up is around 10 o’clock, which often gives me a few more hours to get down with the artwork before lunch.
My typical workday frequently includes addressing reviews, asset creation, texturing, optimisation, and more fun artwork! Thanks to d3t’s flexi and hybrid working, I am then able to pop out to the gym for a few hours on my lunch. This gives me the time to have the proper break, step back from my work and return with fresh eyes before finishing the rest of my day.
Do you have any tips for people looking to get into the games industry?
As an artist looking to get into the industry, my advice would be to not think there is only one specific way to do game art. There are multiple ways to reach a look, and figuring out which workflow is going to be the best for that situation and not getting discouraged from branching out/learning new techniques will only aid you in getting better!
Also, have a fantastic portfolio! Show your working out and not just the final composition – dev cams, cleans UVS, topology, texel density and showing that you can do the job is a massive plus!
We are hiring
Stay tuned for more spotlight features coming soon. In the meantime, if you’re feeling inspired and want to join our team, check out our vacancies page!
Tell us a bit of information about your experience/career background?
I haven’t worked professionally in the gaming industry before, and this will be my first job within the sector, however, I have been actively programming game related systems for the past 2 years – e.g., rendering engines built with OpenGL and Vulkan. Even though my real passion lies in graphics programming, I am looking forward to undertaking a generalist role to further my development.
Why d3t?
d3t seems to have worked on all the games that I have enjoyed playing so much in the past!
I have also always wanted to work on high quality games and d3t has consistently been working on some of the world’s best AAA games, which for me made the studio the perfect place for me to begin my journey in the industry and thrive in.
I’ve also had the chance to have a casual chat with some of the d3t team at the Develop:Brighton conference, and speaking to them they all genuinely seemed happy to work at there, which was great to hear.
What do you love about games?
I love the way how games can tell stories in an interactive way. Games also have so much more potential to have the players connect with the characters they’re portraying compared to something like a movie. This is mostly because of the interactivity and control they offer over these characters. If done right, people can relate to these fictional characters and their real-life characters start to merge with them. I love seeing games trigger such emotions and that is ultimately what I want to achieve with the games I create in my career.
What games are you currently playing, and what is your favourite game?
I am mostly playing epic adventure games nowadays like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Days Gone. I’ve heard that d3t worked on one of the most anticipated games of this year, Hogwarts Legacy and I’ll definitely be playing that one too!
My favourite game is another adventure game called The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. One hell of a game I have to say! Unsurprisingly, d3t contributed to the development of this game too, in 2015!
Do you have any fun facts or hobbies?
I frequently lift and play the guitar. You can always count on me to play you a few songs around a bonfire should you decide to host such an event!
I have been in the games industry for a while now, having worked my way up from QA Tester to Senior Designer over the course of several years – but was ready to work in a studio where I could spread my design wings a little more.
Because d3t co-develops alongside several other studios, the games the team get to work on can be quite varied in terms of both the design, and development processes. All of this sounded perfect to me, as I wanted to improve my skills in many different areas of design.
I got my job at d3t after completing the most interesting test I’ve ever taken – designing a game based upon a news article that had been released that day. Because it was a relatively slow day for news, I had to choose between an article about sharks enjoying jazz music, or the latest Royal Family drama. The latter won, and I have no regrets.
What do you do day-to-day?
My day-to-day work very much depends on the current needs of our client. It can range from feedback on user experience, to designing whole game systems and anything between! Right now, I’m helping to design and setting up core gameplay features.
Do you have any tips for people looking to get into the games industry?
See every new challenge as an opportunity to learn something new. Build up your knowledge and keep engaging in the world around you – think about how elements of your environment have been designed and for what purpose. Playing games is great but should never be your only source of inspiration for your designs – read books, listen to music, play board games, watch theatre, visit museums, and enjoy art. Never stop feeding your hungry brain!
We are hiring
Stay tuned for more spotlight features coming soon. In the meantime, if you’re feeling inspired and want to join our team, check out our vacancies page!
Tell us a bit of information about your experience/career background?
I’ve been animating professionally for one and a half years, so I’m still very much new to the industry. Beforehand I took a higher national diploma (HND) in VFX and did extra training with an online animation school. I learnt a lot about game animation whilst doing the training, and that assured me on what career I’d want to pursue.
Why d3t?
I was drawn to how much d3t values their employees. During the interview I got a really good impression of the team and felt I could work well with and learn a lot from them. Because d3t are a co-developer studio, I saw this as a great opportunity to work on a variety of AAA projects, and further develop my skills as an animator.
What do you love about games?
I think games can be used as an amazing way to immerse people into a rich story by utilising engaging gameplay as a way to interact with a world full of memorable characters. I personally love story-based games for that reason, but also love how games as a whole can bring people together and make lasting connections.
What games are you currently playing, and what is your favourite game?
It’s hard to say which game is my favourite, I like certain games for their own reasons. I’ve recently finished Outer Wilds and before then Disco Elysium, both are amazing games for very different reasons. I’d say my first favourite game that I played for hours on end would be Halo on the original Xbox. I could quite happy go back and replay it and still have a great time, especially on couch co-op with a friend,
Do you have any fun facts or hobbies?
Well, I have fun riding my motorbike – I’m still on my CBT but am hoping to save enough up to get my full licence. Generally, I find outdoor activities a lot of fun, visiting national parks around the country and doing hikes. I would also love to do a mini expedition around Europe on a motorbike with a tent on the back. When I was younger, I did Karate and gained my black belt at 16, but it’s been a while since then and I miss the active lifestyle, so I’ve been trying out other martial arts to see which one I’d like to pursue.
Tell us a bit of information about your experience/career background?
Many moons ago, in 2011 I joined the IT department at TT Games. I learned a great many things during my time in the department but ultimately decided to take a turn away from IT and head a little further towards game dev. Recently during 2022, I spent the year primarily working on my own projects in Unity and pondering what the next generation of video games might look like.
Why d3t?
I’ve heard numerous reports of how great a place d3t is to work at, and what’s more I already know a good number of folk in the team too.
This role is also a great opportunity for me to gain new skills and experience, whilst also being in close proximity to many fantastic projects. Needless to say, I am excited to be a part of the team.
What do you love about games?
We live at a time where the Earth in most cases has been explored and technology isn’t quite there yet to explore space. Games bring the opportunity to do both while getting caught up in stories and adventures with others…
I love space, technology, and adventure, so naturally games like Kerbal Space Program where you can do all three for the cost of a take-out, is a big win for me.
What games are you currently playing, and what is your favourite game?
Star Citizen is a project that I am following closely whilst also being quite involved with the community. Again, space + game = empty wallet.
However, the next game on the horizon for me is KSP 2, the sequel to Kerbal Space Program which adds multiplayer. I can’t wait for some more crazy fun trying brute force a space station into existence with friends.
Do you have any fun facts or hobbies?
I’ve lived all around England, the South-West, the North-West, the Midlands, and the South-East. So, if you can’t place my accent, you now know why.
I also spent a little time in the UK Armed Forces and used to play the piano and trumpet. At home I also have a room (aka mess) that is dedicated to all kinds of electronics and DIY physics.
Tell us a bit of information about your experience/career background?
I have just completed my degree in Computer Science at Cambridge University doing my dissertation in fast emulation techniques. I specialised in OS level systems such as networking and modern computer architecture.
Why d3t?
I undertook an internship with d3t during my degree and thoroughly enjoyed my time with the company, so I decided a full-time position would be an excellent start to my career in the software industry.
What do you love about games?
Games have a history tightly knitted with the history of computers, and as a whole and I love seeing the creativity required to get games running on early computers. The Atari 2600 had just 128 bytes of scratch memory – not even enough to store the text in this answer!
What games are you currently playing, and what is your favourite game?
I’m currently working through each generation of the Pokémon games and am on a quest to find out empirically which is my favourite. I also enjoy speedrunning Super Mario Odyssey; the movement system in that game is one of the best I’ve ever tried, making speedrunning it a joy.
Do you have any fun facts or hobbies?
I played for my college’s ultimate frisbee team at university, where being left-handed made it much easier to curve throws around marksmen.
Tell us a bit of information about your experience/career background?
I started my career working in film and TV as a Camera Assistant. Back in those days most of the work was on 35mm film – digital cameras were around but the quality was nowhere near what was achievable on film. I was trained in lighting for miniatures, stop frame animation and VFX shots. It was a fantastic grounding in lighting and cinematography.
I then went on to work as Lighting Camera at the BBC and I was Director of Photography on various stop frame productions including Bob the Builder and Pingu.
In 2007 I did a crash course in Maya at Escape Studios, and got my first job in 3D Lighting on a kids TV show called What’s Your News that was rendered using a game engine.
I then moved on to TTGames, where I worked on six LEGO games, and was also the Lighting Lead on the movie Lego Batman: DC Superheroes Unite.
My last job was as Lighting Lead on an unannounced title at Ballistic Moon, and I also moonlight at Norwich University of the Arts teaching lighting for games and asset production.
Why d3t?
The chance to head up a lighting team to work on some great IPs – yes please!
I had already heard good things about the culture at d3t and about how the wellbeing of staff is a priority. Clearly people like working here and I believe that a happy team is a creative and productive one, and that is something that I am excited to be part of! I can’t wait to get stuck in!
What do you love about games?
I’m a sucker for beautiful imagery and a good story. Anything cinematic, branching narrative or adventure driven and I’m in. I have mad respect for a well-crafted game cinematic where the lighting, camerawork and animation come together to support the story and create something bigger than the sum of the individual parts.
What games are you currently playing, and what is your favourite game?
Gah! – impossible to pick a favourite! I have been playing the Tomb Raider games since the OG game on PS1! But I’m a sucker for all things Naughty Dog. Dragon Age: Origins has also got to be up there, and I loved Detroit: Become Human. I also can’t wait to see what Quantic Dream does with Star Wars Eclipse.
I have recently been playing As Dusk Falls which has an original art style, fantastic lighting, and a great story. I love Stray – it’s such a beautifully lit game and an amazing achievement for such a small dev team. There is some great character lighting in The Quarry and The Calisto Protocol both of which I am also dabbling in at the moment. But more hours are needed in the day…!
Do you have any fun facts or hobbies?
I live with my wife, two beautiful children, and three cats. I love cooking, watercolour painting, yoga, and roller skating. I also play roller derby for the East Anglo Smacksons and my derby name is Grandmaster Smash.
I initially came to d3t as a Programming Intern back in 2020 and spent the better part of 15 months full-time as part of my sandwich year for my university course. Before I left, I was offered a permanent position, to my delight once I had completed my final year. Fast-forward to June this year and I’m back again working on more exciting projects.
This time around I didn’t need to go through the typical application process, but I did initially to secure my internship – and the steps don’t differ for graduates.
Usually, it involves sending your CV in before being asked to complete a 24-hour programming test. In my experience, it is one of the more interesting tests to do and more typical of your expected day-to-day activities compared to other tests that I have done in the past. If you make it through that stage, you are usually invited to a face-to-face/phone interview with several of the lovely people here.
My advice here to any students that are finishing their final year of study is to do this early in the year, so that it can-save you the stress of interviews and tests when you are also having to balance exams and coursework.
What do you do day-to-day?
Most days are usually start with a brew to sip on while I catch up on emails and the previous day’s events – considering I get in early this is a must! I then try and get an hour or two of work done before our daily stand-up meeting. Even though a lot of people have returned to the office, d3t is running a hybrid scheme when it comes to working from home and individuals are able to manage their time and choices to their needs. This means that meetings are still mostly done online. But for me who likes to spend as much time in the studio as possible, it means I’m also getting a lot of face-to-face time with colleagues who may even be on different projects to me – which is great, and much needed after COVID!
It’s difficult to describe the work that I do day-to-day because each day can be totally different to the next. Usually it involves either bug-fixing or working on creating new systems for the games we work on or their engines.
At the moment my particular role is focused on optimisation, which is new and exciting territory for me, so I am learning a lot about memory limitations and different techniques to better deal with them. Whilst I was an Intern, I was always amazed by the trust d3t had for me and that has continued now that I’m a graduate. Even though I am still relatively inexperienced compared to a lot of my peers, they are providing me with the opportunities to take on some advanced challenges and tasks, while still providing me with a great support network.
It’s not all work though. During lunch and breaks a few of us enjoy spending time in the breakout room where there are a lot of consoles, arcade machines, and other games to play (shuffleboard being a favourite). I’ve recently started a little chess club too and I try to take part in games as often as I can.
Do you have any tips for people looking to get into the games industry?
In a nutshell: do an internship! For students it is helpful in both getting industry experience, but it also helped me a lot during my final year as I had that extra year+ to hone my skills. When looking to apply, make an effort to reach out to companies – a polite email can go a long way, attend university career fairs to meet potential employers (this helps with putting a face to the name), make a portfolio, and show passion!
We are hiring
Stay tuned for more spotlight features coming soon. In the meantime, if you’re feeling inspired and want to join our team, check out our vacancies page!
Tell us a bit of information about your experience/career background?
I’ve always loved playing video games, and then when a tutor at college introduced me to Game Design, it completely changed my life. I then went on to study it for two years in Southport College before continuing my studies at the University of Central Lancashire for another three years, where I enjoyed every moment of it.
Video Games have always been my passion, and when I started studying it and pushing the boundaries of them, I instantly knew that I wanted to be in the industry.
Why d3t?
I’ve heard nothing but great things about d3t and the whole culture and community seemed amazing, and I want to be a part of that. I’ve played a bunch of the games that d3t have worked on and their work just amazes me. I also can’t wait to begin working with amazingly talented team on all of the awesome projects!
What do you love about games?
I love that games can make you laugh, scream and cry; they allow me to escape into crazy adventures and become a powerful hero or a fearless villain. Once I’ve started a game that pulls me in, it’s hard to get me to stop playing it!
Games also connect people to each other no matter the distance and allows them to explore many different worlds that creative minds have put together for our enjoyment.
What games are you currently playing, and what is your favourite game?
I am currently playing League of Legends and Cyberpunk. My favourite game of all time however is Disco Elysium because you get to play as a detective who has lost his memory and he’s on an on-going case – it gets so chaotic! Plus, you even have a tie that talks to you!
Do you have any fun facts or hobbies?
I am completely obsessed with D&D and sushi! (I have tattoos of both) I have so much sushi merch and I play in 7 D&D campaigns. I also love drawing my D&D characters digitally and drawing my friends’ characters too!
