Nick P

FX Artist

Bio

Just your typical geek. I play games, I work on effects, and love it!

Length of time I have been employed in the industry

I worked at a small studio in Seattle for about 3 years, took a break when I had my son and then came back again this year. I don't intend to leave again :D

Game companies I have worked for

Flying Lab Software
Gearbox Software

Titles I have worked on

Pirates of the Burning Sea
Some in the pipes!

Advice

Resources I would recommend for those interested in getting into game development (books, tutorials, sites, etc)

Read as much as you can. There is a lot of great information out there for people to find and soak up. Don't get discouraged. If your work isn't the best, keep working at it and seek as many critiques as you can in places like cgtalk, polycount, conceptart.org etc. DON'T GET DISCOURAGED!

Also, don't expect to go to an art school or something similar and learn everything you need to know to land a job. Your portfolio is your #1 good that will get you a job. School work will likely not get you a good portfolio. YOU must work hard at it. It isn't a cakewalk to get into the industry, so work hard and learn hard.

Favorites

First game I remember playing

Oh man.....Asteroids on the arcade. My dad had one when I was really little and I used to play it. I remember the arcade art. Terrible, but still somehow totally awesome!

All-time favorite game

The Zelda series comes to mind. Unfortunately, I have been into art/graphics for so long that even in the old 8 and 16 bit eras, I found something wrong with the games.....

Non-video gaming hobbies

Snowboarding, working on cars, programming/web development. <-----geek

Favorite bands/music

Lots of music. Hard to really say. Though I would say Foo Fighters are still toward the top of my list.