We are happy to announce that the Public Documentation is back! We've had some troubles with the platform that was used to provide the content, and we took longer than expected. For that we would like to provide our sincere apologies to the amazing and talented community making games with CRYENGINE that have been waiting for the documentation to return.

We hope the documentation will serve you well as it has in the past, the existing content is all there, however we would like to stress that we did have to migrate the entire content manually, this took quite some effort, and there may be things that went wrong that we haven't found or are still working on. If you do find any problems, your best bet to inform us is by using either the Contact form, or joining us on our Official Discord channel and letting us know there.

We did update the format of the documentation content and navigation. If you are a licensed Xbox or Playstation developer, and are looking for console specific documentation, please reach out to us using the Support Contact form using the Technical Support category.

We are looking forward to seeing all the great projects you are working on, be sure to register your game via the Game Registration page.

Don't forget - if you happen find a bug in the engine, we would be grateful if you could report it directly on the official CRYENGINE GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Looking for an exciting and fulfilling career doing what you love? We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page.  

 - CRYENGINE Team

Tell us a little about yourself, Matthias. Introduce yourself to the world!

Hi, my name is Matthias Otto but in these circles everyone calls me Matto! I am Principal level designer at Crytek and recently also a very little independent publisher and developer. My level design career got kicked off in 2004 when Crytek released Farcry. A game that shipped with Sandbox, an editor that was intuitive and easy to use. I was buildings maps and mods until I released my last Farcry Mod called Matto4 in 2007. I was like 16/17 years old back then and during that process, I had no idea what job I would do in the future. Finally an E-mail arrived from Crytek, offering me an apprentice ship as media designer. This was a fantastic moment solving my issues not knowing what I would do and giving me a big boost in confidence. So 2008 I started at Crytek and was involved in many different games beginning with Crysis 2. I have learned a ton in that time and expanded my knowledge into visual scripting. At some point I was very good at prototyping mechanics which for example led to the VR game The Climb. Nowadays I’m on Hunt: Showdown creating unique compounds for the game.

Congratulations to your release of Spinshot Party! What inspired you to make this game?

In summer 2021 I was sitting with friends eating pancakes brainstorming about what little game mechanics I could prototype using multiple gamepads and a single PC screen. During covid I got tired of online games and I was looking for better times in the future where everyone can meetup again and play games in front of a TV like Gang Beasts or Mario party. And then suddenly foosball popped up in the discussion and my brain started working how to control foosball with gamepads. And there it was, a simple mechanic: Use the analog stick to push the rod back and forth and the trigger to spin the Rod. I think I had a first working prototype within a week. And when I was trying and playing that for the first time, I thought this is fun and showed it to other people. It was nice feedback I got from friends and colleagues that was inspiring and encouraging me to continue the development!

You're just one single developer. How did you go about the development process?

I like finishing a project. So my goal was to turn the prototype into a game that’s polished enough that I would feel comfortable releasing. I certainly did not aim for perfection, if I would aim for that I would never be finished. So it’s important to say “good is enough”. I knew what parts of the game I could do by myself and where I would need help. Crytek supported me in this process. I got help and support from various disciplines which I cannot thank enough. Talented artists created the unique looking tables, menu visuals, logo concepts and sounds. Those contributions were inspiring and kept me motivated to finally spend lots of my free time to finish the game.

What was the most fun part of development?

I think most fun was the scripting and crafting of the initial prototype. That moment when I tested the core game mechanic the first time was a great feeling. But I must say I also enjoyed creating high resolution images for the Steam shop, creating and cutting the trailer or tweaking the logo or creating achievements. Those were things I have not really done before and it was fun learning it in the process if making them. And I have to say, it was a great feeling to see my own game pop up in my own Steam library in the end!

What's the best thing about Spinshot Party in your opinion?

The best thing about the game are the simple and easy to learn controls. Yet I’m aware that controlling the rods properly is not easy at all. If you want to trap the ball, move it to the right position to then kick it into the goal, or do like 45° shots, it’s challenging. If you want to be good at the game you need to learn using the controller in a new way like playing an FPS game with a gamepad for the first time. But the good thing is you can also just wildly spin around the mannequins and something cool will happen in any case, so if your opponent isn't much more skilled than you, the game is still fun to play. So there is something for everyone, and the game is fun right from the start. Easy to learn, hard to master, I would say.

Any tips for other developers from your experience?

The most important thing in game development is passion. Passion is what keeps you moving and motivated. You should believe in the game idea you are trying to build. And be realistic in what you or your team can achieve. If you have challenges that you don’t exactly know how to tackle, look at them early in the process and use them as stepping stones towardsa a more rounded experience. If you leave the tough parts for later, you risk them becoming roadblocks in your way.

And where can I get Spinshot Party?

The game is now available on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/2310130/Spinshot_Party/

Thanks Matto, for your time and insights! If YOU want more game design tipps and tricks from this and other seasoned developers, check out our Breeze Tutorial Series on YouTube!

Are your ready to register your latest CRYENGINE project? Let us know about it via the new and improved Game Registration page on the CRYENGINE Launcher, and share news about your game with the community in the comments or via Facebook and X. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel.  

If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page.  

CRYENGINE Hub is receiving some cool new updates based on community feedback. The way how online communities interact is constantly changing and more immediate communication methods like Discord are being used in favor over older variants of community spaces like static forums. To adjust our CRYENGINE web presence, we are making some needed changes to the community space. Let’s dive right into it: 

Public User Profile 

CRYENGINE Hub is the centerpoint of the CRYENGINE community alongside our Discord server. To unite developers and give them something to show off, we are enabling the public dashboard for users who want to share their achievements with fellow CryDevs.  

To set up your new public profile: 

• Register or log into CRYENGINE.com on the top left corner of the screen.
• Click on your user icon and choose ‘Dashboard’.
• Choose ‘Public Profile’ on the left-hand-side.
• If you want to make use of your public profile: Start filling out the form with info!
• If you don’t want to make use of your public profile, just leave everything blank.

At the bottom of this page, you will find an option to enable or disable four profile for public view or just display it to registered and logged in users instead. Users can click on your user name when you comment on our news blog or review assets on the Asset Database and find your public profile, or you can link people to it directly by clicking ‘view profile’ on your dashboard page and share the link. 

Let us know which other cool achievements you would like to share with the world so we can consider them for future updates! 

GitHub Registration Automation 

We know that access to source code is important for the CRYENGINE developer community, and getting it fast can be crucial in the agile world of development. To expedite the process, we have created a way to request source code via your user dashboard.  

All you have to do is navigate to the user dashboard area at the top right of your CRYENGINE.com account, then request to connect your GitHub account with CRYENGINE 5.7 LTS on GitHub and follow the steps promped to you. And it’s done! Please allow 48 hours for your request to be processed. 

Connecting your Discord Account 

As mentioned before, we see the internet shift towards aile community spaces. Where forums were a crucial place to gather and find information, users actually using static platforms like forums are dwindling according to our data. Therefore, we enable a new feature where CRYENGINE users can connect their Discord account with their CRYENGINE account and appear as Registered Users of CRYENGINE. You can do this in the same way as requesting GitHub access, just click on ‘Discord’ instead in your user dashboard. 

Forum Deprecation 

As mentioned before, we have seen the numbers of developers actually using the CRYENGINE.com forum dwindling in recent months. We have decided to deprecate the community forums for CRYENGINE and instead focus more on Discord.  

We had good times with the CRYENGINE forum, but the php.bb platform is outdated and keeping it up takes time we would rather invest into other endeavors for the community. The forum will be turned offline after a grace period of two weeks after this post.  

All links to the public forum have been removed from CRYENGINE.com as of today, but if there is any information you would still like to review, save or change on the good old forum, you can do that through this link. 

Are your ready to register your latest CRYENGINE project? Let us know about it via the new and improved Game Registration page on the CRYENGINE Launcher, and share news about your game with the community in the comments or via Facebook and X. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel.  

If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page.  

We are pleased to let you know that the CRYENGINE launcher has received a large update packed with new features, enhancements, and a range of bug fixes, that will make your CRYENGINE experience quicker, slicker, and more productive.

As with any substantial release, we would appreciate your feedback to help us fix bugs that might occur and help focus our efforts on future updates. 

CRYENGINE Hub Improvement Highlights:

• The Game Registration page has been updated to allow more detailed information which will help us process and support new projects
• Downloads can now be resumed even after the launcher has been closed
• Users can now select a specific package version to download through the Launcher
• Brand assets are now located on S3 storage and available under CDN for improved performance and availability
• Emojis are no longer allowed in asset reviews to ensure clear communication
• Issues with the image upload flow in Asset Editor have been fixed, ensuring proper validation of uploaded images
• Asset cards can now be flagged as “deprecated”

General CRYENGINE Launcher Fixes: 

• A critical issue related to the “Remember me” token has been resolved
• An issue causing the dropdown menu to be cut off on lower resolution screens is fixed
• An issue causing new projects to not appear in the Launcher is fixed
• An issue causing users to be logged out after Launcher updates has been resolved
• An issue preventing the download of certain dependencies has been fixed
• Issues with downloading files with .asar extension have been resolved

You can read the full release notes here.

Are your ready to register your latest CRYENGINE project? Let us know about it via the new and improved Game Registration page on the CRYENGINE Launcher, and share news about your game with the community in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. 

If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. You can also subscribe to our official Twitch channel for live streams!We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. And don't forget to show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over at the official Crytek Store.

The latest installment in our Game Dev Tips & Tricks series is filled with invaluable insight about how to create awesome game trailers. A game trailer is your most important marketing asset and, very often, the first time your potential audience sees your game. First impressions count, and your trailer can make or break interest in your game. Today, we're delighted to be joined by Philip Roberts, Crytek's Director of Creative and Cinematic Services, who has led the creation of over 700 trailers during his career in games! Philip oversees the production of cinematic scenes and video game trailers across Crytek's games, and these tips will help you make sure your trailer lands with a splash! 

Three Tips for Creating Great Game Trailers

Think about the message!

A trailer is a sales tool and your most valuable one. It’s often the first time a potential player sees your game in action. A great trailer can raise awareness of your game and create online discussions, hopefully spreading the good word. So, consider what you want to say and its purpose at the beginning of any trailer project. Do you want to create an announcement trailer telling the world about the game for the first time? Or a feature trailer focusing on a single aspect of your game, such as a new DLC or gameplay mechanic? Or do you want to get the engaging elements of the story across? Once you know your core message and purpose, it’s important to keep this in mind throughout the whole process to create a well-focused marketing asset. Whatever you decide, your trailer should allow the audience to easily understand what type of game it is, for instance, FPS, RPG, or RTS, and if it is single-player or has co-op or multiplayer modes. Most importantly of all, make sure you leave them wanting to play it!

Consider narrative and structure

Generally, viewers will watch the first ten seconds of your trailer if they have stumbled across it or are viewing it out of curiosity. Beyond that, nothing is guaranteed. So don't waste time on logos or messaging slates at the start of your trailer. Present them with your best footage up front and show them what is unique about your game. Try and include a narrative hook that will keep them interested in watching more of the trailer. Viewer retention for a full trailer is a tricky thing to achieve, so thinking about narrative, pacing, and structure will improve your chances. The narrative of the trailer doesn't have to be story-driven, although it can be. It is more about the pace and flow of the shots. Try grouping similar elements together and always end your trailer with a call to action, so the viewer knows where to find out more about your game, when it is coming out, and the platforms it will be on.

Quality over quantity!

When someone sees a small black dot on a white sheet of paper, they fail to see the big picture, the almost pure white sheet of paper. Their eyes are instead drawn to the imperfection, the black dot. It’s always tempting for first-time trailer makers to show everything about their game in a trailer, but if a feature in your game is not ready or not that important or interesting, then don't show it. Trailers are your opportunity to show your game at its best, so focus on doing just that. Don't be forced into feeling you must fill a certain amount of time for your trailer or throw the kitchen sink at it. Typically, there are no rules on a trailer's length, and very often, less is more. So go for quality over quantity and show well-focused footage that delivers your messaging and leaves the viewer wanting more!  

You can check out some of our incredibly talented Creative Service Team’s work on Hunt: Showdown for further inspiration below:

Want more game dev tips? ICYMI, you can check out the previous installments in our Game Design Tips & Tricks series below:

Visual Effects Tips & Tricks

Narrative Design Tips & Tricks

Level Design Tips & Tricks 

Marketing Tips and Tricks

Have you made a trailer for your latest CRYENGINE project? Share it with us in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. You can also subscribe to our official Twitch channel for live streams!

We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. And don't forget to show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over at the official Crytek Store. 

For over 20 years, Crytek has been pushing the boundaries of games with disruptive technology and gameplay innovation at the heart of our success. And we'll be doing the same for the next 20 years. If you're seeking your first role in games or you already have experience and you are looking for a new place to build your career, we are growing and hiring. We have a wide range of positions available across our game teams, on the CRYENGINE team, and other roles across the business. You can browse our open jobs on our careers site.  

We offer studio, hybrid, and remote-first jobs with competitive salaries, great benefits, and a positive work environment. Whether you want to work on world famous IP, forge the future of the gaming technology that powers them and other games around the world, or play a vital role in a number of crucial support functions, it’s a great time to press start on your career at Crytek. 

Today we're checking out just some of the key roles available right now.

Gameplay Programmer 

Are you an experienced games programmer with a passion for gameplay? Do you want to play a crucial role in the next installment of the legendary Crysis franchise? Then this could be a dream position for you. As a vital member of the team, you'll use state-of-the-art technology to create incredible gaming experiences. Design, game code implementation, and working on tools will be part of the daily job, as well as working within cross-disciplinary groups. If you have great communication skills, a solid understanding of C++ in a games development environment, and at least two years of experience as a programmer in the games industry, we’re looking for you. Find out more and apply here.

Rendering Engineer

Play an integral role in creating the future of your favorite game engine by joining our CRYENGINE team as a Rendering Engineer. The ideal candidate will have excellent C++ programming skills, solid GPU and CPU debugging and optimization skills, a bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent, and at least two years of Rendering/Graphics experience in the industry. If you're a self-driven team player, willing to learn, and have a strong understanding of graphics pipelines and rendering techniques, take the next step in your career by applying for this position. 

Environment Artist

Join our award-winning Hunt: Showdown Team as an Environment Artist. We're looking for someone with two years of professional game industry experience and a portfolio of work that demonstrates outstanding creative and technical prowess. You'll be able to create beautiful and believable environments within a game engine and have a strong knowledge of 3ds Max, Photoshop, and ZBrush/Mudbox. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of shader functionality, be able to derive a well-structured low-poly model from a high poly-model and have a real passion for games. Find out more about this position and apply by checking out the full job description.

More Open Positions

From VFX and Lighting Artists to Game Designers, Producers, and Engineers, we have all kinds of roles available. And if you don't see your perfect position right now, we welcome unsolicited applications from interns to experienced professionals across all departments. Find your role on the team here.

Are you already making something great with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. You can also subscribe to our official Twitch channel for live streams!

We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. And don't forget to show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over at the official Crytek Store.

Today’s installment in our Game Dev Tips & Tricks series will be helpful for anyone involved in the business of making games. Learn how to pitch your game to publishers, find your game’s audience, and pick up practical tips and tricks for marketing with invaluable advice from Gabriel Yakir Ketteler, Senior Manager for CRYENGINE Ecosystem & Communication, who has been there, done it, and got the t-shirt!

Three Tips for Marketing Your Game

Think about marketing early!

You should think about marketing your game at the very beginning of development, at least if commercializing your game is your goal. There’s nothing wrong with creating a passion project for free using a platform like itch.io. But with the sheer number of games to play and the countless new releases, remakes, and sales, it is becoming increasingly challenging to cut through the noise and reach the right audience for your game. That often has nothing to do with how good your game is!

So, think about the target audience for your game the moment you write down the first ideas for the project. And evaluate the unique selling point or USP of your game. This will be crucial to your game's success. You should also familiarize yourself with your competitors. Look at other studios and their past and present releases that overlap with your game in genre, mood, art style, budget, and even difficulty. 

Then ask yourself: What sets my game apart from other games? Why would I play this game if it wasn't mine? And ask your friends and family about your ideas, demanding honest answers! Keep in mind that not everyone will be supportive of your vision - and that's ok. Making a game that pleases everyone is almost impossible, and trying to do so will set you up for failure. Do all of this before you have spent a lot of time prototyping or making your game, or you will find it harder to let go of already conceived ideas and run the risk of overexerting yourself with unnecessary fluff and details. Do yourself a favor and ask the important questions before you even start prototyping.

Engage potential players online

Unfortunately, the days of entirely free marketing are over, and you’ll have to spend some cash here and there. But even with a small budget, there's plenty you can do. Start building a community around your game early on big platforms like Steam or the Epic Game Store. They usually come with forums or some other kind of engagement platform, and this is where your first players will be.

If you want to start even sooner, use social media to attract an audience of dedicated super fans early on. They will be your ambassadors and help you carry the torch once you're ready to enter the arena. Discord is a great and mostly free tool where you can create a server for your community to gather around the virtual campfire and talk about your game. Those are the good folks who can also help you test your game. Community management is the Alpha and the Omega - small-budget games and large-budget productions are nothing without a dedicated community of supporters, so treat them well.

One thing that has become increasingly difficult to handle recently is crowdfunding. It is still advisable to look into monetizing your community to help build your game but be careful about investing too much in that too early on. It's not the holy grail it once was. 

Platforms like Patreon, Kickstarter, and IndieGoGO or even smaller-scale donation pages like KoFi are nice to have, but your supporters will expect bang for their buck. Don't fall down the rabbit hole of entangling yourself in monetized expectation management - if you ask people for money, you need to deliver. And asking for regular donations, like on Patreon, for example, puts a lot of pressure on your side to keep delivering constant content and news exclusive for Patrons, which can distract you from working on your actual game and using any additional content to promote it freely. 

If you shackle yourself to an additional content pipeline of assets and items worth your supporter's money that you cannot share outside of your already established circle of supporters, that will slow down your effort in broadcasting your game to a wider audience. You would also need a solid roadmap detailing your resources at least 12 months in advance to make that route smooth sailing. 

Of course, crowdfunding is also a source of income. So if you choose that route, don't forget to check the licensing documents of the engine and tools you use when you start crowdfunding. In some cases, making cash with your game even before release can mean you owe money to the publisher of the software you use. And, of course, check your country's tax regulations too!

Refine your pitch and pitch to the right people

Pitching to a publisher is an art in and of itself. It’s important to look for the right publisher. Publishers have a catalog, and your game needs to fit right in, so checking out the publisher landscape before you start fleshing out your initial idea will save you a lot of trouble. And you shouldn't be wasting a publisher's time, ever. It can get you blacklisted, so make sure you do your homework, pitch your game to the right publisher with similar games in their portfolio, and don't start pitchin' before you have the following things:

• A Game Design Document
• Concept Art & Designs that are solid enough to speak volumes about the finished product
• Ideally, a vertical slice that shows the core gameplay loop. This can be whitebox or use prototype assets
• Make sure your Core Gameplay loop shows your USP

Everything should be digestible in 20 to 30 minutes. That doesn't mean you have 30 minutes to explain your game- you should be able to explain it in 10! When you have their attention, they'll give you ample time to show and tell more. But to even get to that point, make sure you can fit your best arguments for your game on one spacious presentation slide. And always remember to be receptive to feedback and be respectful. Games are big business, but it's a small industry. You don't have to take all the advice you might be given but thank people for giving it anyway, as long as it is provided in good faith.

If you want more advice, you can chat with Gabriel directly on the official CRYENGINE Discord, the home of our friendly and experienced CRYENGINE community. And you can also check out Gabriel giving a masterclass in marketing in our Production Guide for Indies video below: 

Want more game dev tips? ICYMI, you can check out the previous installments in our Game Design Tips & Tricks series below:

Visual Effects Tips & Tricks

Narrative Design Tips & Tricks

Level Design Tips & Tricks 

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. You can also subscribe to our official Twitch channel for live streams!

We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. And don’t forget to show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over at the official Crytek Store. 

CRYENGINE and Crytek were proud to participate in Girls' Day 2023, a day of action in Germany intended to increase the proportion of female employees in fields that have been considered "men's jobs" in the past. Women across all departments make outstanding contributions to the production of CRYENGINE and Crytek’s games, and by participating in this event, we hope to encourage the next generation to follow in their footsteps.

In total, we welcomed 15 young girls with an average age of 12 to Crytek to learn more about game development and take a tour of the studio. The day included an introduction to how Crytek operates on a day-to-day basis and how different departments and roles contribute to game development by Gabriel Ketteler, Sr Manager for CRYENGINE Ecosystem & Communication, and Ronja Hoth, Learning & Development Specialist for HR.

Based on their individual interests, the kids spent 30 minutes with different members of staff to shadow their work. They spent time with Franziska Siebert, Graphic Designer for Marketing, Julia Weigel, Technical Artist for Hunt: Showdown, Saskia Schneising, Junior Technical Artist for Hunt: Showdown, and one of our VFX Artists for Crysis 4 (Working title.)

The kids also enjoyed a session where they were introduced to game programming, level design, and game production and then completed a short hands-on task set by Junior Evangelist for CRYENGINE, Roman Perezogin. Additional staff helping the kids build a game were Jan Hellwig, Lead Systems Programmer for Hunt: Showdown, and Nicole Gransitzki, Product Manager for CRYENGINE Tools. This session proved very popular, and many of the participants didn’t want to stop working on the tasks! The day finished with a Q&A session with members of our team and certificates for their participation.

Slots for this year were booked out immediately, but we hope to welcome more girls to the studio next year as part of the initiative. Interested parents, teachers, and girls can learn more by visiting https://www.girls-day.de. A survey saw each of the girls award their day the official top score of “very good,” and six of the girls who came along said they had found their dream career during the tour! But it wasn’t just a great day for the girls involved. Members of the Crytek team gave their thoughts on the day as well:

Ronja Hoth, Junior Learning & Development Specialist for Crytek HR, said:

“It was really lovely to welcome the girls to our studio and give them a taste of the gaming industry. The girls were super-interested throughout, and some didn't want to stop doing the hands-on tasks, which was very inspiring! The thought that we could encourage more women to become part of the gaming industry through Girls' Day is excellent, and we hope to see some of the girls in the studio again as team members in the future!”

Gabriel Yakir Ketteler, Senior Manager for CRYENGINE, said:

 “I am overjoyed that we were able to participate in Girls' Day. Seeing all these bright young spirits shine during the studio visit was inspirational. All the girls enjoyed the presentations and excelled in the hands-on tasks. The game modding and coding challenges proved popular as the rigging, particle effects, and graphic design examples we prepared. I hope to see these young ladies back in the studio in a couple of years as the next generation of female industry professionals!”

Roman Perezogin, Junior Evangelist for CRYENGINE, said:

"We were all really looking forward to participating in Girl’s Day 2023 and offering the group insight into the vibrant world of game development. Their genuine interest and reluctance to stop with the hands-on tasks were incredibly inspiring, and their engagement throughout the day was fun to see. We hope to see the return of many of these bright young minds in the years to come!"

We want to thank all the girls who participated in the day, and we hope to see many of them enjoy careers at Crytek one day!

And if you’d like to begin your career sooner, we have open positions across all departments. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. You can also subscribe to our official Twitch channel for live streams! Don’t forget to show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over at the official Crytek Store.

Crytek and CRYENGINE were delighted to support the recent Trans Day of Visibility with a special stream broadcast live on Twitch with members of the Hunt: Showdown narrative team. In case you missed it live, you can check out the show below on YouTube.

The show is hosted by Junior Evangelist Roman Perezogin and Senior Manager for the CRYENGINE Ecosystem Gabriel Yakir Ketteler, and they are joined by Senior Narrative Designer Bárbara Framil and Narrative Designer Bri Williams from the Hunt: Showdown team. The show takes a deep dive into how the team incorporates a range of gender identities into Hunt: Showdown characters, and you'll pick up tips on how to widen the inclusivity of characters in your game too.

While playing through Hunt, the team discusses Viper, the first non-binary Legendary Hunter on Hunt's roster, and Sophia, an agender character. During the show, the team head into the Bayou with these two Hunters while discussing various topics and answering questions from viewers who tuned into the live broadcast. Topics include the historical research that goes into creating authentic Hunters and their gender identities, developing the character journey, environmental storytelling, and more.

This is a great show for anyone who wants to learn more about gender diversity in games, all while discovering more about the backstories and design of two of Hunt's most interesting Hunters.

You can get more awesome tips and tricks about how to approach narrative in your game from Bri and Bárbara in our recent Game Dev Tips series.

Don't forget to subscribe to our official Twitch and YouTube channels to get notifications about our latest content.

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Want to showcase your project to the community? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design.

We believe in inclusivity, and we're hiring! At Crytek, we value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. Show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over on the official online Crytek Store.

Are you looking for your next role in the games industry or your first? Crytek is growing, and we have a wide range of opportunities available across our game teams, CRYENGINE, and other roles across the business. Check out our careers site for a complete list of all our open positions.

We offer studio and remote-first jobs with competitive salaries, great benefits, and a positive work environment. If you want to play your part in producing games that push the boundaries, there's never been a better time to join us.

Today we're shining a spotlight on some vital jobs available on the team that is creating the future of our legendary Crysis franchise. Don't miss out on a career-defining role!

Lead AI Programmer

If you have at least seven years of experience in game AI development, an excellent understanding of C++ in a game development environment, and have shipped PC and/or console titles, this is an outstanding opportunity for you! As Lead AI Programmer for Crysis 4 (working title), you will lead the AI programming team to enable them to reach their full potential. You will gather requirements and set goals for the team, lead the design and architecture of code development, and work closely with animators, artists, designers, and other colleagues to improve the AI system. You'll also be required to research and develop cutting-edge techniques in game AI to create believable characters and environments. Up to the challenge? Find out more and apply here.

Lead Environment Artist

This is a real creative melting pot of a role for someone who has shipped at least one AAA title as a Lead Artist and has experience in management, project planning, and recruiting new team members. In this role, you will lead the creation of believable, realistic environments while maintaining the artistic vision and style set out by the Art Director. You will ensure that art assets are produced to the highest achievable standards, liaise with external service providers if required, and ensure good communication and coordination with the broader team. Sound like you? Check out the full job description and apply here.

Lead Producer

Help drive the production of Crysis 4 (working title) as Lead Producer. If you have seven years or more experience in game development and have worked on the complete project life cycle of at least one AAA title, then this could be the job for you! You will manage all aspects of game production and work closely with our Game Director to maintain the product roadmap with key deliverables and milestones. You'll set up and maintain the development process, define the scope of the project, and collaborate with the leadership team to prioritize and review deliverables while minimizing bottlenecks and dependencies. You will also recruit and mentor a team of producers in this influential role. Find out more and apply here.

More Open Positions

We have plenty of other opportunities to work on Crysis, including positions for UX designers, gameplay programmers, and artists of all stripes. Find your role on the team here.

Our team is passionate about what we do, and we are looking for people who are dedicated and driven. If you're ready to take your next, or first, step in game development, we have multiple open positions across Crytek. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for roles, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page for all our open jobs.

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. 

If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design.

Want to show your love for CRYENGINE? Pick up merch over on the official online Crytek Store.

Level up your level design with the latest in our Game Design Tips & Tricks series. Today, we have invaluable advice from Matthias Otto, Principal Level Designer for Hunt: Showdown, who has also worked on numerous Crytek IP, including The Climb franchise.

Three Tips for Level Design in Games

Start at the beginning!

"When it comes to level design, you should first think about the game and its overall purpose, themes, and aims. What are the core pillars of the game? And from there, what elements can you put in the level to serve them? Ask yourself where this particular level fits in the game. Is it a tutorial level where you need to teach the player certain things? How skilled should they be at the point of the game they are playing through this level? And, of course, is there a story and theme to the game? What are the story beats that need to be included, and what should the atmosphere be? This will help guide you when you begin the process and will assist you when you think about the pacing of the level."

Block out your level

"When you have decided what you want to achieve, I recommend reference gathering. Whatever your location is, search for imagery on the web for inspiration. If you're working as part of a wider team, speak to your concept artists, who should also be able to provide you with concepts, and then talk through those concepts with them. When you have devoured and discussed the imagery, get your pens out. Begin with 2D sketches of your level spaces, a quick way to visualize your concept. Then when you have a good outline, start blocking the level out in-engine to get a 3D feel for your level. When you have your level blocked out, review it to check that all your game mechanics are, or can be, implemented. You also need to ensure that it aligns with the principles established at the start of the process, like the game's core pillars and how it serves the players."

Gather feedback!

Once your level is blocked out and you have completed your own review, show and play through your level with as many people as possible. Of course, if you're in a team, you'll get important feedback from artists, fellow level designers, and other colleagues. But don't be afraid to show your workings to non-developers, too. Some of the most important feedback you can get is from potential players. You'll gain valuable insights about your concept and how players actually play the level from people with little or no knowledge of your project. Collect feedback from all players afterwards, but also watch them play in real time if you can, and take notes. Do players find their way through the level successfully? Do they get lost? Are there choke points, and is the pacing right? Collate all of the feedback and implement solutions that align with the game's core pillars, the concept of the level, and what you want to achieve. Then rinse and repeat to take your level to final!"

Thanks to Matthias for providing advice drawn from years of experience working on award-winning games. You can get yet more expert-level insight by checking out our CRYENGINE Breeze Academy series on YouTube, where Matthias joins Junior Evangelist Roman Perezogin to discuss level design in general and for the platforming game that is the subject of the show.

Want more game dev tips? ICYMI, you can check out the previous installments in our Game Design Tips & Tricks series below:

Visual Effects Tips & Tricks

Narrative Design Tips & Tricks

Are you making something great with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design.

If you're looking for your next career, we're hiring. At Crytek, we value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. Show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over on the official online Crytek Store.

If you're interested in creating a side-scrolling platform or adventure game, you'll want to check out our latest live stream from Technical Evangelist Roman Perezogin! In just under an hour, Roman shows you how to create and edit a 2D character in CRYENGINE, including movement and jumping animations. This tutorial was initially broadcast on our official CRYENGINE Twitch channel, home to all kinds of great live content. Remember to subscribe so you don't miss out on future streams. But if you missed it live, you can watch the full stream below.

In this tutorial, Roman creates and edits a 2D character with full movement so a player can explore a level. Roman shows you how to add various animations to the character, from idle animations to running and jumping, and demonstrates how to modify those animations too. The tutorial covers best practices for naming conventions, adding particle effects, joint attachments, and more. 

You'll be shown how to set controls for your moveable character, add checkpoints and portals to your level, and how to take collisions into account. Throughout, Roman provides practical step-by-step instructions and advises where to source assets to complete the tutorial. By the end, you will have created a moveable character in a level that can be used as the basis for a side-scrolling platform, puzzle, or adventure game.

Don't forget to subscribe to our official Twitch and YouTube channels to get notifications about our latest content.

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Want to showcase your project to the community? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. 

If you're looking for your next career mode, we're hiring. At Crytek, we value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. Show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over on the official online Crytek Store. 

 

Crytek is growing. Whether you are looking for your first role in the industry or want to step up your career, we have a wide range of open positions available. On our careers site, you will find opportunities to work on the legendary Crysis franchise, the award-winning Hunt: Showdown, CRYENGINE, and various other vital roles. 

We take pride in offering studio and remote-first jobs with competitive salaries, great benefits, and a positive work environment. There's never been a better time to join us and contribute to the production of games that push the boundaries of entertainment and technology. 

Today we're taking a look at some of the open positions we have on our CRYENGINE team. Want to help build the future of your favorite engine? Step right this way.

CRYENGINE is the gaming technology behind our own games and many other games around the world. Used by everyone from solo developers to AAA teams to create unique and cutting-edge gaming experiences, CRYENGINE is always evolving, and we are looking for new team members to push things forward. 

Senior Rendering Engineer - Raytracing Specialist

We are looking for an experienced rendering engineer to develop and maintain our cutting-edge ray tracing pipeline. With five years of experience, you will focus on the unique aspects of raytracing in a real-time context and develop effective hybrid solutions between raytracing and rasterization. Take your opportunity to research and implement next-generation rendering features with this hugely exciting position for an experienced and talented candidate who wants to break new ground. Find out more and apply here.

Lead Tools Programmer

Crytek is looking for an experienced and passionate engineer to shape the next generation of content production tools for CRYENGINE. You will oversee the Tools team, providing technical guidance, mentoring, and an environment that fosters innovation.  Work with the Technical Director to define the roadmap for the editor framework technology stack and drive its implementation. You will also work closely with the CRYENGINE product team, assisting in the design of cutting-edge content editing tools and efficient content creator workflows. Find out more here.

Lead AI Programmer

We are looking for an experienced, passionate, and ambitious Lead AI Programmer. You will be in charge of the design and architecture of the AI code and develop it together with your team. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive engine solution with high performance and an accessible, modular design. If you have seven years of experience in AI development for games and excellent C++ programming skills, we'd love to hear from you. Check out the full job description and apply here.

Further Open Positions

In addition to these roles, various other opportunities are available, including positions for technical writers, software trainers, junior programmers, and many more. Find your role on the CRYENGINE team here.

Our team is passionate about what we do, and we are looking for people who are dedicated and driven. If you're ready to take your next, or first, step in game development, we have multiple open positions across Crytek. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for roles, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page for all our open jobs.

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. 

Should you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. 
Want to show your love for CRYENGINE? Pick up merch over on the official online Crytek Store. 
 

Last Kingdom is a Medieval strategy game from indie developers Blue Iron Labs that is in development right now. We recently caught up with Blue Iron Labs on our official CRYENGINE Twitch channel, which, if you didn't know already, is home to all kinds of great content. Don't forget to follow us so you don't miss out on future streams, and your chance to interact with the guests live. But if you didn't catch the live show, we're pleased to present you with a recording of the 60-minute plus discussion that takes a deep dive into the game and the development process. It's packed full of indie-game dev insight.

Last Kingdom is an open-world strategy game that's been in development for two years. When you wash ashore on a beach, it's down to you to re-establish a kingdom in a vast open world that's yours to shape as you wish. From establishing a hamlet to building your first castle and creating your own Kingdom, you'll need to source and manage resources and compete or collaborate with other kingdoms as you grow your empire from scratch.

Developer Elisha Bonack from Blue Iron Labs, who many of you will be familiar with from the official CRYENGINE Discord channel, is the star guest in the show hosted by Junior Evangelist Roman Perezogin and Senior Manager for the CRYENGINE Ecosystem Gabriel Yakir Ketteler. Elisha discusses why they chose CRYENGINE for the project, showcases the game, reveals the challenges they have overcome during development so far, and outlines the future of the project. 

You can find out more about Last Kingdom by visiting www.lastkingdomgame.com, where you can also learn how to support the team on Patreon, contribute to the game's development, and receive rewards at different tiers. 

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Want to showcase your project to the community? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. 

If you're looking for your next career mode, we're hiring. At Crytek, we value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. Show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over on the official online Crytek Store.

Creating a game, whether as a one-person indie outfit or as part of a wider team, draws upon a range of technical and creative talents from across many disciplines. Today we’re presenting some top tips on creating visual effects with proven-in-production advice from Viktor Ikkes, Senior VFX Artist for Hunt Showdown and an industry leader in the field.

Three Tips for Creating Particle Effects in Games

Effects must deliver a message

“All visual effects in your game must deliver a message, so think about that at the start of the process. Some effects may be ambient, for instance, rainfall. They simply need to convey a certain mood, which is an artistic challenge in itself. But gameplay effects need to be readable and represent what is happening from a gameplay perspective, so you need to understand what the requirements are before you start. For instance, if you have a magical effect where a character absorbs a healing essence from another character, you want to really understand the game mechanics and the message that needs to be conveyed to the player. That will play into different considerations. Where does the health come from on the enemy character? Where does it enter the player's character? How fast does it go? Define these elements as your starting point to convey what is happening to the player as you begin to think about the effect.”

Use reference to guide you

“If possible, try to look at real-life references for what you are making. Try to get a “feel” for the effects and find the components that make the effect up. Most visual effects are based on something from real life, even if you are making something magical or abstract. For instance, if you want to create a fire-based effect for a character, you should check out how fire moves, the shapes it makes, how quickly it moves, and so on. Mostly, you’ll want to look at video references. Photos are fine, but motion is important. Ideally, you can check out something in the real world. Let’s say we want to make a water-based visual effect. If you can, observe a river in real life. Look at the wave behavior, color, and motion. Then think about what will make your particle feel like water, even if it’s an abstract effect. Imagine you wanted to make a waterfall. You might want to consider its multiple components – how the water splashes, the mist that appears, how the water flows down, how individual drops behave, and so on. Break your reference down into components and work out the components you need to get the required effect.”

Test and keep it simple

“Once you have your overall picture and components, like timing, shapes, and colors, you’ll want to get all those components together in a particle and place it in a level. This is an excellent time to discover other elements you need, those you don’t, and what is working or not. Taking the example of a waterfall, testing is an excellent time to see how the mist scatters with light. Find out how the refraction works and if you need to make changes. Then consider other elements about the waterfall – does a player need to pass through it, interact with it, or will it be a background asset? If it’s a background asset and a player can’t interact with it, design towards that and don’t over-complicate it. Remember, there are no points for over-engineering, so keep your things as simple as it needs to be. Work quickly and smart, which is good advice for whatever you do in game dev!

“Another thing you may wish to consider is making it easy for others to use. Often, you will want to give other people on your dev team control over elements of the asset. For instance, you might wish to expose color to them. But when you do that, think about only exposing those colors that you feel will be appropriate within the artistic vision. Make variables available and easy to use but not easy to misuse.”           

Big thanks to Viktor for taking the time to compile some of his top tips for visual effect creation. Go further by checking out a couple of episodes from our CRYENGINE Breeze Academy series, where Viktor presents more yet more invaluable practical advice for creating visual effects.

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. Should you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. 

If you’re looking for your next career mode, we’re hiring. At Crytek, we value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. Show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over on the official online Crytek Store. 

Are you looking for your next role? At Crytek, we have a wide range of open positions across our game and engine teams. Whether you want to work on the award-winning Hunt: Showdown, the legendary Crysis franchise, or the CRYENGINE technology that powers those games and many others around the world, you’ll find open jobs in different departments available on our careers site. 

Studio-based jobs AND remote-first opportunities are available, as well as hybrid roles. We take pride in offering a positive work environment, competitive salaries, and excellent benefits. Plus, you’ll get to work on the cutting-edge of video games! 

Today we’re taking a look at a few of the many positions available on our Hunt: Showdown team. 

Celebrating its fifth anniversary this month, Hunt: Showdown continues to go from strength to strength. The award-winning game has enjoyed record-breaking CCUs each year and new content is added regularly, including new maps, bosses, live events, and hundreds of weapons. There are a range of events to mark this landmark anniversary, including a brand new Twitch Drops event where you can earn free in-game rewards for watching Hunt Streams and you can also check out the on-going Hunt: Showdown Bounty Bash, our Hunt-themed gameshow where streamers battle it out in the bayou and in Hunt-themed quiz rounds to win top prizes for their communities. 

Hunt will get bigger and better over the next five years, and there are career defining opportunities available now. Play your part in creating the future of Hunt by joining the team!

Technical Director

Have you got 10 years of experience in software or games and 3 years of experience in a Lead Engineer capacity? Have you shipped at least one AAA game from start to finish as a technical lead? Then apply to the Technical Director position to be the vision holder for technology and set the highest standards for the game. You will take the initiative and push departments to create the best project possible following the game vision, maintain and improve the technical level of Hunt, and stay on top of the latest technical trends and streamline the development roadmap. Find our more and apply here.

Animation Director

Drive Hunt forward towards the highest quality in the field of animation! Use your experience and the collective experience of our excellent team to identify, assess, and solve creative problems quickly. You will be a passionate animator with an eye for detail and have a deep understanding of quality in animation and how to translate that into the gaming sphere.  If you have 10 years of experience in the games or movie industry in a lead capacity, you won’t want to miss out on this key role. Find out more here.

Further Open Positions

In addition to these senior roles, there are artist, animation, UI, lighting, AI, and production jobs at different experience levels available right now. Check out all the open roles on the Hunt team here.

Our team is passionate about what we do, and we are looking for people who are dedicated and driven. If you're ready to take your next, or first, step in game development, we have multiple open positions across Crytek. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for roles, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page for all our open jobs.

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. 

Should you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. 

Want to show your love for CRYENGINE? Pick up merch over on the official online Crytek Store. 

Creating a game, whether as a one-person indie outfit or as part of a wider team, draws upon a range of technical and creative talents from across many disciplines. Today we’re bringing you some top tips derived from a talk from Crytek’s very own Senior Narrative Designer Bárbara Framil and Narrative Designer Bri Williams, which was given towards the end of last year at the Games Industry Conference in Poland, one of the largest game developer events in Europe. You can check out the full talk below.

Both Bárbara and Bri work on Hunt: Showdown, which is soon to celebrate its landmark fifth anniversary, and other projects, including the Crysis franchise. The wide-ranging talk is called “The Hunter’s Journey: Narrative Design for Live Games” and lasts around an hour. The discussion includes case studies from Hunt: Showdown and gives helpful advice for anybody putting story into their games, whether it’s a live game or not. You can watch the entire talk below, but we've pulled together a few tips inspired by the stream which will be valuable whether you’re starting out with narrative or looking to expand the content once you’ve shipped.

Three Tips for Narrative Design in Games

1.Backstories bring your character to life

Think about your characters, where they come from, what their motivations are, and how that affects their role in your game. This can guide their design and how they act in your world and provides fertile ground for yet more engaging content. Those backstories aren’t always revealed to players, but elements will be. For example, in Hunt, Hunters may have just a two or three-sentence description describing who they are and the weapons they bring to the game, which players can read to give them the minimum of what they need to understand. But beyond that, players can also check out a short two or three paragraphs which describe their story, how they came to the game world, and the reasons behind their weapons. These are still short entries, but they represent a lot of hard work behind the scenes, making them feel more natural within the context of the game and the story. And by offering up more lore for players who want to discover it, you can offer a more engaging experience.

A good way to start is to think about what the characters mean and what they represent to the player. In Hunt, the team wants you to become attached to your Hunters, and feel a sense of loss when you lose them, so they are fleshed out as “real” people with their own desires and events that have shaped them. Inspiration can come from anywhere. For instance, much of the inspiration for Hunt’s Legendary Hunter, Daughter of Decay, came from Celtic culture. But all the details and motivations are grounded in the context of the game’s world. Whether you explain much about your characters in your game to the player or not, establishing backstories for core characters will help define their actions and make them feel more ‘real’ in your game world.

2.Story doesn’t have to be limited to the core plot

Immersing players in your game isn’t just about the action or the main story. Use your game’s setting as a starting point to flesh out a rich world. In Hunt, you can learn more about the game and stories within the world from all kinds of elements, from wanted posters around the Bayou to book entries to transmedia content like blogs and Twitter stories. The core game loop in Hunt keeps players battling through round after round, but the approach in Hunt has been to add all kinds of optional content for players to enjoy, and for those players who do, you can create a more engaging experience. Make your world feel richer and deeper and offer fans more ways to experience the lore of your game by building story elements into game objects and other contact points with your game. This can give further context about the action in your game and your player's experiences in it.

3.Subvert expectations

In Hunt Showdown, you usually play with a specific Hunter each time. For the Serpent Moon live event, a new approach was taken to narrative for the protagonist, Legendary Hunter Viper. The Viper was the first character to evolve through the event, with four different levels of progression. This required a different approach, as in Hunt, you are typically rewarded with a new character for your actions in the game. To add a level of mystery and desire for progression, the usual description of the character was withheld from the start. Instead, as the player progresses through each stage, art and animation was a key to expressing The Viper’s motivation and story arc, with the character developing from a reasonably plain character at the beginning to a very strong, confident, and assured Legendary Hunter by the end.

The mystery at the start of the character’s introduction compared to the usual way characters are introduced, combined with unique visual storytelling(we’ll avoid spoilers here, just in case), provided a brand new experience and a satisfying story arc that proved a hit with players. You can play with your own established norms in your games by setting a particular narrative style and then using different methods for story elements. Just make sure you ground it all within the wider context of your game.

Check out the full talk below for more insights about storytelling in Hunt and pick up further tips that could be applied to approaching your own game’s narrative.

Are you telling stories with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. Should you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design.

If you’re looking for your next career mode, we’re hiring. At Crytek, we value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page. Show your love for CRYENGINE with merch over on the official online Crytek Store.

At Crytek, we love what we do. Every day, we get to make games and the technology that helps our developers and devs all over the world achieve their visions. As we start to wind down toward the holiday break, it's an excellent time to remind you that we have a wide range of opportunities open right now at Crytek. New year, new career?

If you're ready for a fresh opportunity in the world of games and software development, we are growing and hiring across all departments. Competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a positive work environment is just the start. Studio-based and remote opportunities are available, as well as hybrid positions. Level up your career, and check out a few of the many roles available today.

Senior Game Designer

Work on Crysis 4 (Working title) as a Senior Game Designer in our Frankfurt studio! This role will involve taking ownership of game features from initial designs to final implementation, running sanity checks on ideas with relevant stakeholders, creating and maintaining designs and game concepts, and working with other departments to ensure that all required resources are scheduled and delivered. Make your mark on an iconic franchise.

Get the full job description and apply here.

UX Designer

Support the Hunt: Showdown team by developing UX strategies and designs, creating clickable prototypes, and conducting user tests. The role will include interaction design and creating information architecture in collaboration with programmers and game designers. You'll also visualize ideas using wireframes, prototypes, visual mock-ups, and flowcharts. The ideal candidate will be passionate and ambitious, willing to expand their horizons. Is it you?

Get the full job description and apply here.

Technical Development Manager

Help shape your favorite engine! We are looking for an experienced Technical Development Manager for the CRYENGINE Toolchain to join our team. This role will involve assisting in shaping and forming the CRYENGINE Toolchain vision and roadmap into concrete deliverables and tasks. You will coordinate the vision and roadmap with Lead Programmers, enable Lead Tools Programmers to reach their full potential, implement new or improved tools for all departments involved in game production and play a key role in the recruiting process for the tools programming team.

Get the full job description and apply here.

If you are just starting out in the games industry, check out our open positions for Junior Animators, Tools Engineers, and Network Programmers. We are always open to new talent when it comes to development.

Our team is passionate about what we do, and we are looking for people who are dedicated and driven. If you're ready to take your next, or first, step in game development, we have open positions at all levels. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for roles, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page for other positions which aren't outlined above. Don't miss this opportunity to join our team, and let us see what we can achieve together!

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel. 

Should you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. 

Want to show your love for CRYENGINE? Pick up merch over on the official online Crytek Store. 

The next installment in our CRYENGINE 5.7 LTS tutorial series shows you how to add a crouch mechanic to a player-controlled character using C++. You'll also learn how to refine the code you've created so far in the series to provide a solid basis for the future, which is good practice for any project. Your host, as ever, is Technical Author and Video Producer Nick Gillin.

The tutorial builds on the previous episodes in the series. The first shows you how to create a player-controlled character from scratch with traditional WASD movement and mouse-look functionality. The second shows you how to add a sprinting mechanic, and the third episode shows you how to add jumping. By completing those tutorials, you will gain a grounding in C++ and produce the file required to complete this new course.

Episode 1 – Create a player character with C++

Episode 2 – Create player walking and sprinting mechanics in C++

Episode 3 – Add a jump mechanic to your player character

In the new episode, Nick begins by refining the existing code established in the previous tutorials. This process will include modifications to make it easier to work with as the project grows in complexity and is best practice for any game project. Once the code is refined, you will be shown how to go over the code to integrate functions and components that will add a crouching input for the player. Once the process of adding a crouch mechanic to the player is completed, you will have a player-controlled character capable of walking, running, jumping, and crouching!

You can also follow along or complete the tutorial using our written documentation.

Don't forget to subscribe to our official YouTube channel, home to a wide range of learning videos, to get a notification when the next one drops.

If you have questions or feedback about CRYENGINE, let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. You can pick up tips and tricks about our game development, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel.

If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us process the issue quickly and efficiently. You can find out how to submit feedback on GitHub, and access CRYENGINE source code, here. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. Want to show your love for CRYENGINE? Pick up merch over on the official online Crytek Store.

Are you looking for your next career move? At Crytek, we value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds and experience levels to apply to our open positions, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page.

Following the success of last year's visit, we were delighted to welcome over 20 students from the Danish Institute for Studies Abroad to our HQ in Frankfurt am Main for an introduction to the world of game development. The students from around the world learned about the process of game-making and received advice to help them with their student projects and prepare for a future career in the games industry.

The day included a full studio tour and a practical introduction to the wide-ranging capabilities of CRYENGINE, using Homebound, a game jam project built by Crytek devs in just 48 hours, as a case study. Director of Engineering Bernd Raabe, Senior VFX Artist Viktor Ikkes, CRYENGINE Tools Product Owner Nicole Gransitzki, and Senior Manager for CRYENGINE Ecosystems & Communications, Gabriel Yakir Ketteler each gave presentations and held Q&A sessions with the students. The sessions covered the different and diverse disciplines involved in game creation and gave the group insights into how games are pitched and new technologies are integrated.

Aleksei Vaniushkin, PR Assistant, said: "This was a fantastic day for the students and the team here at Crytek. We are committed to helping the next generation of developers achieve their vision for their games and careers, so it was great to see the passion and excitement of the students who were able to learn about the different processes in software and game development from seasoned professionals."

If you're an educator who would like to arrange a tour of our HQ in Frankfurt, please get in touch with us at careers@crytek.com with details of the game development or programming course at your institution to begin the process.

If you're ready to take your next step in game development, we have open positions at all levels. We value diversity and actively encourage people from all backgrounds to apply for roles, so join us on LinkedIn and check out our careers page.

Are you making something cool with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel.

Should you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us to process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design.

Want to show your love for CRYENGINE? Pick up merch over on the official online Crytek Store.