Hey! The Black Flag co-op is looking for a content designer for Orphan Age.
Black Flag is an indie game co-op created in 2013 focused on making uncompromising sandbox games for PC, Mac & Linux.
We are based in Bordeaux, France, but a good third of the team works remotely from different places. We are dead set on making great games while providing the healthiest work environment possible. We also advocate for inclusiveness and unions. As of today, Black Flag is a mostly women crew.
Here are our main policies:
Democracy on board: every crew member has a vote in the affairs of the moment.
No crunch: crunch is terrible and is prohibited. A week is 5 days and a day is 7 hours (35H), no more. We are also experimenting the 4 days work week of 32H.
Health and mental health first: we will not deny a need for a break, actually we enforce vacation if you don't use your vacation days.
Equity of wage: We are in favour of equal wages, so there are only three salary levels: junior, senior & captain.
Equity of plunder: at least 25% of the yearly benefit is shared between employees.
Co-op principles: after two years in the team you can be promoted to captain and become a co-owner of the ship alongside the other captains.
Life balance: we only offer permanent contracts therefore there's no fear of non-renewal of the employment contract.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Orphan Age is a dystopian life simulation game in which the player creates and takes care of a society of orphans during a cyberpunk civil war.
It's a sandbox game with a lot of procedural features that blends micro-management, survival, base-building, exploration, craft and RPG with a pinch of proc-gen. A bit like a crossover between the Sims / Rimworld and X-Com.
The game is made with Unity and is in active private alpha with the goal of releasing in a very polished Early Access.
JOB DESCRIPTION
We are looking for a designer with a modder mentality, who will use the tools created by our dev team to generate in game content and stories.
Since Orphan Age is a very rich game, there is a lot of variety in the type of content to create or balance: AI behaviour of the orphans & NPCs, balancing loot, designing new objects to build or craft, adding quests, dialogs, encounters...
You'll work closely with your designer colleagues:
Establish content priorities and high-level guidelines with the lead game designer
Plan & create the content of the levels with the world/level designer
Finetune the game by taking into account the user data provided by the UX designer
Implement the dialogs, quests & story elements written by the narrative designers
You'll also work hand in hand with the dev team that will improve the in engine tools that allow for content creation & balancing (character personalities, quests, buildable objects, crafting recipes...).
Ideally we are looking for someone interested in a CDI contract (French permanent contract) starting around March (if possible), preferably in Bordeaux, but remote working is okay.
At least one game released, whether it is a video game, a mod or a tabletop game
Experience with content/level editors
Solid knowledge and culture of systemic & sandbox games
Mastery of Excel/Google Sheets, databases
Good writing skills
Being well organized, having an analytic mind
At least a basic knowledge of Unity
Ability to accurately timebox features & tasks
Being curious and open-minded
Being a team player
At ease with English (both spoken and written)
Ability to receive and give feedback
Content creation (crafting recipes, quests, character archetypes, objects to build...)
Balancing & finetuning
Content integration using our in house tools (implementing quests, dialogs...)
Participation in the GD meetings
Participation in the QA and decisions process
Unusual profiles and self-taught welcome
Knowledge of tools such as Machinations.io
Previous experience with proc-gen in games
Experience in data driven design
Ability to bind with our community
Knowledge in data visualisation
Notions of math (statistics, basic equations, probability)
A modder mentality
A sweet spot for cyberpunk & science fiction
Speaking/writing French (not a deal breaker though)
Being involved in an NGO or a cause
Not being a bigot
CONTRACT INFORMATION
Starting date: can start as early as December
Salary: 27K€ to 33K€ based on experience
Hours: 35h/week (5days) or 32h/week (4days), no extra time.
Location: Bordeaux or remote (with a preference for Bordeaux since all of the designers are already there)
Contract type: CDI (permanent contract)
Benefits:
Health coverage
Transportation bonus
Luncheon vouchers
1 week of fixed vacation + 4 weeks of free vacation
Can become an equal partner after two years among the team
Free & unlimited coffee and tea (at the office)
Lots of cakes
RECRUITMENT PROCESS
The recruitment process is pretty simple:
Send us your application in English with your resume here: jobs@studioblackflag.com
We'll reach out to you in order to ask a few questions before a...
Skill test, the goal here is to get your feeling about Orphan Age and thinking process.
A job interview and hopefully...
Welcome to the team! We would love you to start in December/January.
We are very attached to our working conditions and try to foster the best environment as possible. For this reason we will always favour "soft-skills" and personality rather than experience and raw skills.
Thank you!
Team Black Flag