Brad Wardell's views about technology, politics, religion, world affairs, and all sorts of politically incorrect topics.
Published on August 25, 2008 By Draginol In PC Gaming

Stardock is looking for developers and artists to work on our upcoming games ranging from the fantasy strategy game, an RPG, an MMORTS, and of course future versions of GalCiv.

So what do you need to do to work at Stardock?

Here is the check list:

  1. Work in Plymouth Michigan. We're near Ann Arbor Michigan. Seriously.  We get lots of people saying how great they can "work from remote".  We already have lots of remote people. We need people here.
  2. If you're a developer, you need to know C++ (at the very least) on Visual Studio. We don't care how much formal experience you have as long as you can code. We can't teach you how to do that, you have to already know it and be pretty good.
  3. You have to be into gaming. At Stardock, everyone participates in the game design. There is no such thing as a game designer at Stardock and there will almost certainly never will be. We all take part.
  4. If you're an artist, you need to know 3D Studio or Maya (preferably both).  You also need to have a portfolio of cool stuff you've made.
  5. You need to be self-starting. Seriously. Raises at Stardock are not based on percentages, they're based on what you produce. We have people here who started out making <$30k who now make over $100k. 
  6. You must be able to get along with others.  We get a lot of people interviewing who are quite certain that they're the smartest people in human history and make every effort to impress that on us.  Look we're just a bunch of Monty Python loving, Simpsons watching goons but we are reasonably bright too, mutual respect amongst the team is crucial.

If you think you or someone you know may fit this basic criteria, send us your resume.  bwardell@stardock.com and jobs@stardock.com should do the trick. 

Also, no interns, co-ops, etc. We're looking for people who are ready to get into making cool stuff right now and stay at it until the game is done.

A few other things about Stardock:

  • We don't lay off after projects. Once you're hired, as long as you do a good job, you're here as long as you want.
  • We've been around for 15 years as of this October. It's a very stable environment.
  • Very laid back working environment. We like to have fun.
  • Typical work week is about 45 hours a week. Crunch times are rare and short. Since I am there during crunch time and I'm lazy, I tend to work to schedule things so that there aren't much crunch times (I.e. I pad the schedule).

Comments (Page 4)
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on Aug 26, 2008
Yeah i've heard a lot how developers end up sleeping at their desks from working so long.

It sounds kind of fun really, doing something you love afterall.
Unless it was EA, at least the old ea. ;[

Nope, Demigod artists would all be at GPG.

Heh kay
on Aug 26, 2008
Game development is a dream I killed many a year ago.

For now, I'll stick to playing the games y'all come out with.
on Aug 26, 2008

Lots of nifty jobs out there nowadays, and i live on the ... of the world.
on Aug 26, 2008
@Lost_Wld

Coding C++ is a piece of cake. I have a college credit in it, and it only took a summmer. (one of those advanced classes) If you need help, I'm sure I can dust off my old book, and give you some help.

@ The main topic,

Does stardock have a lounge or anything? Seeing as devs spend a lot of time working, I'd expect they'd have a cafe/restaurant, and an area to relax.
on Aug 26, 2008

Effective C++ and Effective STL are excellent books to read if you already know C++ and I ask everyone who I interview if they've read them. 

 

on Aug 26, 2008

Effective C++ is something every C++ developer should have read at least once.  Another good book for those with a solid grasp of C++ is Design Patterns, which will stir your creative juices.

 

Do you folks at Stardock do real OOP?

 

Also, does anyone know how Plymouth, MI compares to Rochester, NY in the climatology area?

on Aug 26, 2008

I thought that all people in the gaming industry lived at work, slept under their desks, ate from vending machines and used a hose behind the building to shower

I certainly DID all of that and much more... ya gotta understand the mere pressure of release date breakpoint to grasp what is really involved; anything that was bent up and recompiled between morning and afternoons could end up locked all the way to the 17:00'o'clock rush for "homes".

There i still was - staring at the buggy results hoping someone else would notice.

What sleep.

Slurp... another gush of coffee, cold and yet even the best indent structure couldn't slap back to my face unless verified - twice & over.

Programming is (or in my case, WAS) fun -- when you know what to do & when.

on Aug 26, 2008
How long is this offer? Is it like, now only, or what? I'm a freshmen in college, but I have a fairly impressive resume as far as programming goes. Unfortunately, I'm majoring in physics, but I have a job doing C++ programming for at least this winter and next summer, and indefinitely after that (although I have other potential offers that may be more attractive). This would look interesting in about 3.5 years, but I'm out as of now, given the no internship rule. Moving will be no issue when the time comes, since I have little to tie me down, given that I'm a college student.
on Aug 26, 2008
How long is this offer? Is it like, now only, or what?


As long as we need game devs, I'd imagine
on Aug 26, 2008
Something tells me that won't last four years. Ah well, there will be something else.
on Aug 26, 2008
Keep the GPA up, get a co-op/internship or 2 and companies will be all over the place wanting to hire you. co-op/internship I think is super important so make sure you do that
on Aug 27, 2008

I second Cari's recommendations on the Effective C++ and Effect STL books.  They will help you to get a better understanding of how the language and STL classes work so you can use them, well, more effictively

 

on Aug 27, 2008

I second Cari's recommendations on the Effective C++ and Effect STL books...

 

As long as these helped you fix the Query images = Planet tile names & descriptions when i click on any 72 locations found on multiple consecutive surfaces in a scan mode loop - i'll be happy with v2.0 and beyond.

 

 

on Aug 27, 2008
Yep STL is a very powerful library, I'm glad our school really hit it hard. We actually had to re implement all the data structures in the STL which was a very nice learning experience. I thought the multi-map implementation was the most interesting with linear probing/bucket hashing.

on Aug 27, 2008

Also, does anyone know how Plymouth, MI compares to Rochester, NY in the climatology area?

Jeff Bargmann, the lead on Impulse is form Rochester NY. It's similar climate.

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