"You’re not alone. We’re out there. No matter who you are, someone like you is here and would love to connect."
Meet Joana, a talented Technical Artist who played a key role in expanding the #FemDevsMeetup to Frankfurt in 2018.
Starting from 2017, the #FemDevsMeetup has been expanding beyond Düsseldorf to other regions in Germany. It's all thanks to the hard work and dedication of a passionate team, including Joana, who strive to create a friendly and secure space for gaming professionals to come together and connect.
We got the chance to chat with Joana and pick her brain about what it's like to work in the gaming industry and the super-important role that Technical Art plays in making amazing games.
To kick things off, we'd love to learn more about you and your current position in the game development world. Could you share a bit about yourself and what you do?
Heya! I’m Joana, Tech Artist at Massive Miniteam. I’m from Portugal, studied Animation & Game at the Hochschule Darmstadt (after a less successful stint in computer science. Depression kinda ruined that), and entered the game industry in 2014.
Previously I was at Ubisoft, where apart from being a Tech Artist I was also the co-founder of UbiProud, Ubisoft’s Queer ERG, and assisted in general with the Diversity & Inclusion efforts that were being pursued there.
The last two released games I worked on are Rainbow Six Siege and The Settlers: New Allies.
From the early days of the #FemDevsMeetup, you've been an active member. Can you tell us what drew you to this group in the first place?
When I started in the game industry, it was pretty lonely. I came from uni where we had a balanced gender split to an environment where I was at best one of two women in my team, sometimes even the only one on the entire floor.
So when one day at our regular studio update at Ubisoft we were introduced to #FemDevsMeetup in Düsseldorf I naturally… whined that we never get anything nice in Frankfurt. I was desperate to be around more women, for a less male-driven environment.
The thing about a need like this, is that there are definitely others who feel the same. So after a quick conversation with Linda and a successful FemDevs dinner at GermanDevDays, a team formed to run a #FemDevsMeetup right in the heart of Frankfurt. Just as important however was the expansion of the Discord server, connecting the members of the individual locations (and further!) even between the meetups.
In the end #FemDevsMeetup proved to be all I needed and more. It’s a place to break the isolation, to find solidarity, to get advice, to joke and share, to be there for each other.
This need doesn’t only exist for women of course, and women are far more than just their gender, which is why #FemDevsMeetup has grown to be a community where we want any marginalized identity to find a space they feel safe to be a part of. This doesn’t mean at all that we exclude cis men, for one, we need everyone’s support, and for another, they too can sometimes use a space that isn’t male-dominated.
As part of the team that brought #FemDevsMeetup to Frankfurt in 2018 to create a safe space in the gaming industry, what advice would you give to women who are just starting out in the gaming industry, and are looking for ways to connect with others and build their careers?
Connecting definitely is key. Not to toot our own horn, but joining #FemDevsMeetup is definitely an excellent step. You can also see if there are groups within your company that bring together people like you. Groups like that can be known as Employee Resource Groups. But you can also look further afield. SavePoint Industry Gathering for instance is a global group of people of underrepresented genders that regularly meets up online.
You can also find several organizations that help with scholarships to attend Conferences among other things. I got to know many great people through the IGDAFoundation’s Next Gen Leader program. But you can also find others like the Pixelles who hold a variety of workshops.
And just keep in mind you’re not alone. We’re out there. No matter who you are, someone like you is here and would love to connect. Generally, no matter our level of experience, we’re just happy that you’re here too.
Apart from that, take care of yourself, you are more important than any cause.
However, advice shouldn’t go just to women, or generally just the marginalized. Having been both part of the #FemDevsMeetup team as well as Diversity & Inclusion efforts at Ubisoft you notice that you’re often preaching to the choir. You’re talking with people who already know and asking people who might already have it harder to do more.
There’s a lot for the others to learn as well, how they can make a safer, more welcoming space. It takes everyone working together, listening to the affected, advocating for those with less, actually doing something, and clearly standing by and enacting the ideals you state. Surround yourself with people who are different from you and learn from them.
Imagine you have the ultimate power to shake up the gaming industry - if you could wave a magic wand and change one thing, what would it be and why?
I guess, if only one thing, I’d go for what I see at the root of everything. I’d want everyone to gain an understanding that every person is a different individual with different needs, tastes, and circumstances, and that we shouldn’t leave anyone behind, just because they don’t fit the standard that everything was built for. We need to support them.
Also everyone supporting and working on game preservation (I’m so sad about the 3DS and Wii U eshops closing). I’m sorry, I can’t settle on a single thing!!!
Let's dive into your world as a Technical Artist - what exactly does this role entail, and how does it fit into the overarching field of game development? Can you give us an example of a project you've worked on?
Oh boy. What IS a Technical Artist indeed. Ask two and you’ll get two different answers. We fit between Artists and Programmers of course, but that can be extremely variable as the Artists might be more comfortable with some more technical tasks, and some Programmers might have some understanding of the artistic needs.
So tasks can take many forms. Tech Artists will of course in most contexts be a link between Programming and Art, helping to balance and communicate the needs of both departments. They might be teachers, helping Artists learn the tools they can use to achieve their goals. Some will be craftings new tools to make many of the artists’ more complex concepts possible, or improving their workflows so that artists can create their visual assets as smoothly as possible.
Some will be putting that art into the game engine (and making sure that the project structure stays clean and assets follow agreed upon standards). Some will be making shaders and materials turning that static beach-side scene that the artist just finished into one with a roiling frothing sea, and trees bending in the wind as a storm coalesces overhead. Some might add further visual effects to it, for instance with particles, creating rain and lightning, and leaves flurrying in the wind. Someone will also be working on the player character’s cloth flapping in the wind, and the raindrops flowing down their momentarily flush face. Others spent hours and hours making the wet fur on the pet companion just perfect.
Another technical artist might build the User Interface that indicates the current danger level in that scene with a pulsing red icon that slowly cracks the longer the player stays in the area. Another Technical Artist ensures that everything happening in that scene doesn’t make the game’s Frames per Second fall dramatically, improving the techniques used to make the scene possible, optimizing away excess, and changing how things are rendered. Most importantly, this is all in support of the art, elevating it and allowing it to shine exactly as it was intended. Technical Artists will be doing all of the above, or only parts, depending on the Team’s needs and the Tech Artist’s available time.
Personally I’m far from having worked on all of it. My work is mostly the parts that happen in the engine itself. In Might & Magic: Heroes 7 you can find my first steps in many areas. In particular it’s where I got into creating particle effects. Much later, in Rainbow Six Siege, I leveled up my teamwork, delving into all our tools and sharing my knowledge with my team. I created or helped create many parts of the main menu and 3D particle effects you might find there. My current project (at Massive Miniteam, like and subscribe!), which is still under wraps, is particularly special, as I’ve been able to improve immensely on my skills with materials and more.
Has there been a piece of advice that has stuck with you throughout your career and has been particularly helpful? And if so, what is it and how has it impacted your work?
Weirdly enough, the most enduring advice I received was from a random stranger nearly two decades ago on Deviantart:
”Don’t criticize your work before others have had time to judge it for themselves.”
This frankly applies to not just work, but all aspects of life. You are your own worst critic. You know yourself and your work intimately, you’ve spent so much time with it, that you know every little bit of it. However that means you have a warped perception of it.. You no longer see what really is there, but rather you see its entire history and all the feelings you’ve had about it, with a high weighting on the negative.
It doesn’t mean a different person can tell you the objective truth, they’re fallible themselves, but they do come to it with fresh eyes and are more likely to judge it as it is. You might find the individual flaws you see in fact contribute to what makes the whole as appealing as it actually is.
By telling others what you see, you’re ruining it for others. Why should they enjoy it, when you clearly don’t enjoy it yourself?
Now, the reason we like to prejudge, is to show others that we’re better than we think we’re presenting ourselves, and are aware of the imperfections. However, see first if it really is an imperfection, and if someone does bring it up, you can still say that you agree. Now you have a conversation partner with whom to discuss technique.
Also some people just don’t know what they’re talking about when criticizing things, and they don’t deserve your time and energy. Easier said than done, of course, but that’s where the people you’ve connected with and can lean on come in.
Looking to the future, what are your professional goals? Are there any dream projects that you'd love to work on?
Okay, real talk? Pie in the sky dream? I’d love to direct a racing game, where the race is just a medium for the story. It’s not about winning, it’s more of a conversation where different actions in a race are essentially different dialogue options. You’d have alternate goals, a quick smuggling detour, or maybe a photo op, or maybe you’re trying to prove a point about an evil organization. You’d have considerations to make like alliances and relationships and how you’re affecting them through your actions in the race. You won? But what did you lose for it?
For those who are aspiring to work in the games industry as Technical Artists (or artists in general), do you have any tips that you wish you had known when you were starting out?
Pace yourself, your career and anything else you want to achieve is a marathon, not a race, no matter what you see others do. They’re struggling too in their own ways. Just make sure you’re taking care of yourself and don’t burn out.
It’s okay to be different. It turns out people in the game industry are pretty different and out of the ordinary in general, so don’t be afraid to be different yourself, and heck, different from them as well. Who you are is a boon to the industry.
You know more than you think you do.
Job descriptions describe what you will be doing, not what you do right now. Any good workplace will be wanting you to grow into the role and beyond. They’re looking for potential, not a perfect machine that can already do everything without mistakes.
First weeks at the job are for learning and getting used to it. Don’t worry about not being productive or good enough. The better your foundations, the smoother it’ll be later.
Be curious. No topic is really outside of your field, no matter what your role. It will help you work with others. No topic is too advanced for you. You might not understand it yet, but one day when it becomes relevant, you’ll have a starting point. Always be learning.
You might never find THE right way to do things. Each project, team, and person has what works best for their particular circumstances. Of course follow best practices if there are any, but keep an eye out for your own needs, maybe there’s better.
You’re more than your work. Have more than your work.