Advanced C2 Programming Position [Paid]

Hi,

I'm the founder of a U.S. based company looking for help in game development.

We're currently working on three games, with one deep in development, one with less progress, and one in the planning stages. We need someone to help advance our skills as programmers by essentially babying us by tutoring us and writing code for us at times (i.e. giving us solutions and then explaining those solutions).

This one-on-one tutoring is designed to enhance our skills quickly by explaining things extremely and coming up with solutions to our problems relatively quickly. You must be great at communication as well as have plenty of patience and act in a professional matter. Naturally, the subject matter is Construct 2 (with a focus on elements that would appear in RPG games), especially slightly more advanced topics such as:

• Creating a very organized and efficient save data system capable of: storing and loading data such as parameters for sets of characters, storing/loading multiple independent save files for the same game but at different stages, storing/loading temporary save files at certain points in the game

• Efficiently loading text through a custom, external script format which is then rendered by Construct 2 to render dialog text. In other words, we should be able to easily write scripts in an external format, code Construct 2 to handle that format, and then just tell it to load that file everytime we need to load dialog.

• Similar to above, but instead of loading text, we need a set of specific coordinated actions, i.e. an event scripting system that essentially moves the process from Construct 2 to an external script, making it easier and more efficient on several levels.

• Create an animation scripting system where sound effects and other effects can easily be applied to certain points of an animation

Obviously one might not instantly have all the answers to these, but the idea is that you not only have the skills to come up with the solutions without struggling greatly yourself, but also have the experience and teaching ability to aptly communicate what you did, what it encompasses, etc. to us.

This paid position can be compensated on a task-per-task basis or on a timed ($15-20/hour) basis.

You can assume we have a basic understanding of Construct 2 but not a higher-level understanding of elements such as XML, JSON, and Dictionaries.

For privacy and other reasons, I am not disclosing the name of our company or any of our projects on this forum. However, if you are interested, please PM me or contact me on Skype ("ballin1337") and I will gladly link you to them and answer any questions you might have. You may also ask questions here and I will try to answer them.

If you're interested in a greater programming position (such as actually working on the game development with is), we cannot pay by the hour due to a lack of funding, but we can certainly negotiate profit share or other terms, and would potentially welcome new team members with open arms.

"Create an animation scripting system where sound effects and other effects can easily be applied to certain points of an animation"

Spriter just added support for that.

I am willing to lend advice where I can on the logic and programing fronts, but on a question by question basis for free. I can't take you up on the position itself mainly due to time issues (I work full time and have 6 hours a day of commuting on top of my side game development business). You may also want to look at raising your prices a bit. I don't know what the going rate is for experienced game developers but personally I average about $65+ dollars an hour for my non gaming development work which is a rough break down since I am salary, but most contract folks tend to charge even higher for hourly work. I could be biased though as I work in the silicon valley... If you don't get anyone taking you up, you may need to raise your compensation a bit.

[quote:1eliogu0]"Create an animation scripting system where sound effects and other effects can easily be applied to certain points of an animation"

Spriter just added support for that.

Seems very helpful, I'll probably try it out myself a bit before asking for help, thanks for the tip!

[quote:1eliogu0]I am willing to lend advice where I can on the logic and programing fronts, but on a question by question basis for free. I can't take you up on the position itself mainly due to time issues (I work full time and have 6 hours a day of commuting on top of my side game development business). You may also want to look at raising your prices a bit. I don't know what the going rate is for experienced game developers but personally I average about $65+ dollars an hour for my non gaming development work which is a rough break down since I am salary, but most contract folks tend to charge even higher for hourly work. I could be biased though as I work in the silicon valley... If you don't get anyone taking you up, you may need to raise your compensation a bit.

That's too inefficient and not what I'm looking for, not to mention that due to the nature of the project information about it needs to be kept private, and I'd also need actual thorough explanations and help, not the (no offense) "quick and dirty" help provided on forums that just gives a general vague idea of what might be involved to solve a problem.

Construct 2 and by extension this is not a high-level programming job or such. They are not being asked to code major parts of a game from scratch. I actually think you're forgetting to factor in a lot of elements. $10 an hour isn't generous but the job isn't actually particularly demanding. It's essentially a side-helper job. I work a job myself and $10 seems reasonably fair; I'm not asking people to commute, gain new skills, work during specific times of the day or for long periods of time, etc., if it were a higher-level programming language job then yes one might expect more but that's not really the case.

That's my take on it, the numbers are always negotiable, that's sort of a given, depending on the quality of a candidate I'd be willing to go for $15-20, but at the same time I have a budget to keep in mind and it's no good if I'm spending money I don't have etc. XP

EDIT: In retrospect I think I may have come off a bit unwilling to take advice, ungrateful, etc., sorry, that wasn't my intention, I only meant to imply that I didn't feel exactly how you did and that I did think about what I need and what I am asking for a bit. I do see where you're coming from and have adjusted accordingly (though of course people are almost always going to want more than what they're offered...), I just like to think for myself a bit and try to reason out things.

Well I'm up for giving this babysitter job and the occasional solution a go around.

Sweet; would you mind hitting me up on Skype ("ballin1337") so we could discuss a little further, or does that not work for you? I'll try not to take up too much of your time.