Studio seeking stream processing programmers

Expected duration of contract period?

Until it's done [smile]

In all seriousness, the R&D phase is probably on the order of 12 months. Also, if the programmer ends up working out well with the project, there would likely be a clause in the contract for upgrade to a permanent hire. The legalese of that is not my particular specialty, though, so if more specific details are needed, please let me know, and I'll put you in direct contact with our production manager for further discussion.

If you've not done so already, I'd suggest you may get a better response from listing this in the Game Jobs section of the site. Best of luck with it! [smile]


Anyone reading this thread and considering the position, this is the real deal. If you've got the required skills then do give this some consideration.

...damn. This would've been my exact line of work.

I'm unavailable until next october because of administrative reasons.

It sounds really interesting, I have a few questions:

1)How will we test code, since desktop PCs have a very small number of cores? Do you have access to PS3 type hardware to enable remote access perhaps?

2)I take it this is C++ right? I assume it must be but it doesn't say and I wanted to check.

3)How many hours per week are you looking for? Is it expected to be full time or part time?

Also, please check your PM...

Thanks.

Quote:

Original post by jbadams If you've not done so already, I'd suggest you may get a better response from listing this in the Game Jobs section of the site. Best of luck with it! [smile]

I personally don't have the authority to purchase the listing, but Someone Who Does is working on it. I know it's also technically uncouth to have a commercial entry in Help Wanted, but we thought we'd gauge the level of interest first before springing for the listing - I have no idea how many qualified programmers are hanging around here.

Quote:

Original post by ToohrVyk ...damn. This would've been my exact line of work. I'm unavailable until next october because of administrative reasons.

October of 2008 or October 2009? October 08 isn't really that far off - practically speaking - and there may still be opening(s) at that point. If you're interested don't hesitate to apply; the plans for this R&D project are still very flexible at this point.

Quote:

Original post by d000hg It sounds really interesting, I have a few questions: 1)How will we test code, since desktop PCs have a very small number of cores? Do you have access to PS3 type hardware to enable remote access perhaps? 2)I take it this is C++ right? I assume it must be but it doesn't say and I wanted to check. 3)How many hours per week are you looking for? Is it expected to be full time or part time? Also, please check your PM... Thanks.

1. I don't have full details on this at the moment, but at least one person on the R&D team would be working with a PS3 devkit. Obviously if we are geographically distributed then we may have some practical issues to work out, but I wouldn't rule out a devkit-per-developer arrangement. Please note though that such details are out of my hands personally and I'd need to get further confirmation from the production manager before making any promises - devkits aren't cheap [wink]

2. The original core code is C++, yes. There is also some Lua scripting involved. The target language is still undecided for reasons I cannot comment on publicly.

3. Full time would be preferred, or at least 20 hours per week part time at a reasonable minimum.

---

Thanks all for your feedback. If anyone has any further questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Is location a factor? You don't mention we need to be in the USA but is that actually the case?

Can you say what exactly you'd like to receive in an application? Obviously some sort of CV but what else would you like to see? It doesn't look like the kind of thing where a demo is so relevant so I'm guessing some detail on past work/experience is most useful?

Quote:

Original post by d000hg Is location a factor? You don't mention we need to be in the USA but is that actually the case? Can you say what exactly you'd like to receive in an application? Obviously some sort of CV but what else would you like to see? It doesn't look like the kind of thing where a demo is so relevant so I'm guessing some detail on past work/experience is most useful?

Location isn't a big deal; it's hiding down at the bottom of the post:

Quote:

Original post by ApochPiQ Additional Info: Location is not currently important; however, location in the Atlanta metro area (U.S. office) or within easy travelling distance of Aachen, Germany (primary office) would be ideal. Assistance with relocation may be available in special circumstances.

As for application materials - a standard CV is fine; send some representative examples of your best code as well (multithreaded is a plus; doesn't have to be stream processing oriented though). From there I'll get in touch with any applicants personally and work through some further interview type questions; after that I'll hand you off to Bernd Lehahn for final approval, at which point additional materials may be requested on a case by case basis.

Quote:

Programmers who are experienced in working with existing multiplatform code. A solid understanding of multithreading, parallel programming, and stream processing is mandatory

I've experience with multithreading in traditional ways (in C++/Java) as well as with OpenMP (I have some published articles). I've worked on multi-platform game projects in C++. I have worked with SIMD in terms of things like MMX/SSE assembly, BUT I haven't worked explicitly with specialist stream processors.

Does this take me out of the running?

Quote:

Original post by d000hg Quote: Programmers who are experienced in working with existing multiplatform code. A solid understanding of multithreading, parallel programming, and stream processing is mandatory I've experience with multithreading in traditional ways (in C++/Java) as well as with OpenMP (I have some published articles). I've worked on multi-platform game projects in C++. I have worked with SIMD in terms of things like MMX/SSE assembly, BUT I haven't worked explicitly with specialist stream processors. Does this take me out of the running?

Definitely not; while we'd obviously prefer a candidate who does have experience with stream processors, they're obviously going to be fairly rare. Stream processing hardware is still fairly uncommon and so developers with a lot of skills in SPU land are few and far between. We're smart enough not to ask for 5 years of experience on a technology that's only been available for development for 2 or 3 [wink]


While I'm thinking about it, experience with stuff like DSPs would qualify as well, since a lot of DSP work is very similar to kernel/stream processing.

OK thanks for that clarification. I think my final question on the actual work is if you could give a little more detail on what the chosen person would actually do? You mention it's R&D related, but you also say one of the aims is to port existing projects to hardware such as Cell. So would I actually be working on these existing projects to port them, or would I be doing research which is used by other people in their projects?
Obviously the two areas are pretty different so if you could suggest the expected breakdown of my time between researching and porting that'd be helpful.

There would be two phases of the project. The first would be the R&D phase, where the feasibility of the port would be assessed and (if applicable) a comprehensive plan for porting would be developed. Additional support tools would also be developed in this period if necessary. From there, full-on porting would begin, and run until the completion of the title port.