We’re looking for a summer gamedev intern
Hi everyone,
We’re seeking a summer intern to help us with some upcoming software development work for Prismata. Details of the position are listed below:
Position: Game Development Intern at Lunarch Studios
This full-time position is open to literally anyone with a background in programming or game development, but is ideal for a student or recent graduate of a college/university program in computer science, mathematics, software engineering, game development, or similar.
This is a remote position. You can work from everywhere in the world. Our team hangs out on Discord nearly 24/7, meets daily, and gets a lot of work done!
Requirements
- Exceptional programming, debugging, and problem solving skills.
- Object-oriented development experience. Bonus points for AS3, but we’re happy with similar languages (javascript, C#, java, etc.)
- Ability to rapidly learn new tools/technologies and work in an unfamiliar codebase.
- Passion for gaming and Prismata.
- Decent comfort in using Unix, git, and command-line tools.
- Ability to get a lot of shit done in a remote work environment.
Tools we use
- Actionscript 3 (Adobe AIR, FlashDevelop, Starling, FlasCC)
- Python (Twisted, SQLAlchemy, Boto, etc.)
- Amazon Web Services (EC2, S3, databases, redis, etc.)
- Cygwin, Github, Sentry, and a lot of our own analytics and build tools
Possible projects
- Localization development. This is the biggest one. We’re looking to get Prismata translated into a number of languages but our codebase is not yet ready to begin the process. You’ll make it so that people can add a new language to Prismata just by editing a single file. This will be your first project; you’ll do a pass over the entire Prismata UI source code, which will help you get up to speed on how it all works.
- Mobile porting. A possible project if you have experience with mobile development in Adobe AIR or publishing via google play, the iOS app store, etc..
- Junior dev ops. Typically these projects are difficult for interns unless they’re already quite experienced, but if you know a lot of python and Amazon Web Services, there might be a few things you could work on.
- Single player game development. We’re be working on a lot of new single player content all spring/summer and there’s lots of work to do!
- Game design. Not something we particularly need help with, but all Prismata developers are invited to create new units, missions, and puzzles for the game.
- Something else? We’re a small gaming studio so most of us wear many hats and dabble in many different things.
About Lunarch Studios
Our team is stacked with MIT PhD students, poker millionaires, and winners of international awards in mathematics and computer science. We’re all massive nerds, driven and hardworking (and at times furiously competitive), but united through our love of gaming. The games we develop are games we love to play. See more at lunarchstudios.com.
Questions
Q: What do I require to work remotely?
Your own computer, an office where you can be free from distractions and get shit done, and a good microphone/headset. You’ll need to run fdbuild to compile the code, which requires Windows (you’ll probably need a Windows VM if you’re a Mac user). You’ll also need some kind of unix-like development environment (we all use Cygwin and can help you set it up). We do a lot of screensharing and large file transfers, so it’s absolutely imperative that you have a solid, reliable, high-bandwidth internet connection.
Q: What are the hours?
This is a full-time position, but we’re extremely flexible regarding hours. Evenings, weekends, overnight, etc. are all fine. Just stay in regular contact with us and get shit done.
Q: Do I have to live in Canada or Ontario?
Not at all, but please let us know if you do.
Q: How long is the internship?
3 to 4 months, but we’re open to longer.
Q: When can I start?
We’ll be looking at the applications and conducting interviews in early May after our chapter 2 launch is completed. After that point, you can start anytime.
Q: What’s the salary?
Depends on your level of experience, but it will be a typical salary for an intern-level position at a Canadian game development studio. We can pay you in USD or CAD.
Q: Will I be an employee or an independent contractor?
In most cases, the latter, but we’re open to whatever arrangement works best.
Q: Do I need to be a co-op student or anything like that?
No. That said, if you are a co-op student in Ontario, please let us know. If you’re part of an undergrad or graduate program with an internship or co-op requirement, we can probably make this position work for you.
Q: Do I need to know a language other than English to help with localization?
No. In particular, you won’t be asked to translate anything, except to test that your code works. Translation is a challenging task and we’ll leave it to the pros. That said, it can be useful if you are familiar with the nuances of characters sets used by other languages or if you regularly use a computer or play games in languages other than English. If you have specific experience with game localization, even better.
Q: Who will I report to?
We don’t have a lot of structure at Lunarch. Elyot will onboard you and guide you through the setup process. Elyot or David will do your code reviews. You’ll work fairly independently but we’ll always be around if you have questions and we’ll do some pair-coding during the first week to help get you up to speed.
Q: Do I need to be good at Prismata?
No. That’s only necessary if you want to create hard Prismata single-player content or work on unit design/balance.
Q: Can I continue on as a full-time developer after the internship ends? Can I work on future Lunarch Studios games?
If you’ve proven to be an outstanding contributor during the internship, we’d be happy to have you.
Q: How do I apply?
Email careers [at] lunarchstudios.com and include Summer Intern in the subject. Feel free to include:
- a resume or CV
- an unofficial transcript if you’re a student or recent grad
- links to past work you’ve done, projects, games, a github repo you’ve committed to, etc.
- anything else about yourself that might make us interested in you or might be relevant to the projects we’ve listed above
- your Prismata username if you’re a Prismata player
- dates you’re available
Q: What’s the deadline to apply?
We’ll consider all applications that are received by May 1st. We might still read late applications, but we may have already filled the position by then, so try to get yours in on time.