Vanessa Bölke is the first student who has financed her education with an ISA from CHANCEN eG. In 2018 she started making repayments to the CHANCEN cooperative. We had a great interview with her where she speaks about her training at Games Academy and her new job, about crowdfunding projects, galaxies, women in the games industry and about the good feeling of being the first person to pay back to CHANCEN community.
Vanessa, you are a very special person to us as you are the first member who has started to make repayments to the community! Where and what have you studied?
In 2015, I started the 2-year study program “Digital Art” at Games Academy in Frankfurt (Main). During my studies, I acquired basic skills of 3D modelling for games.
Besides my studies, I have also taught myself many skills at home to gain an advantage over other students in order to find a job in a successful developing company (which is of course the aim of everybody who studies at Games Academy).
You have indeed managed to find a position in a successful developing company: since october 2017, you are working for Foundry 42 / Cloud Imperium Games. What is the company’s product and what distinguishes it from other companies in the games sector?
Foundry 42 / Cloud Imperium Games is a game developing company based in Frankfurt (Main) and currently working on a Science Fiction game called “Star Citizen”.
“Star Citizen” holds the record for the highest sum ever collected in a crowdfunding campaign (180 million US$). The game development is financed through the crowdfunded money.
The goal of the project is to develop the most complex game of all times: players will be able to discover the universe, visit many different planets with numerous spaceships (and no loading time for the players), play missions and trade with other players.
Your job title is “Junior Environment Artist”. What exactly do you do at work and what inspires you about your job?
As an “Environment Artist, I am responsible for visualizing the 3D aspects of the game based on 2D concepts drafted by “Concept Artists”. Their drafts in return are based on the ideas of the founder of Cloud Imperium Games, Chris Roberts.
My job includes the design of vegetation – trees, bushes, grass – but also different types of stones, rocks, pebble, etc. or other, more unusual objects, depending on the ecosystem of the planet.
We also design terrains and whole cities.
As we need to construct entire planets and not only single levels like in most games, we distribute our objects procedurally over the planets because they are simply too large for us to place objects manually. The constant development of new techniques by CIG’s programmers facilitates our work.
Because the ecosystem of every planet is unique and different objects need to be constructed, potentially with a very different style, my work is highly varied and offers ample creative leeway. This is great fun, in particular because the team atmosphere is really good.
Working in the games industry as a woman – what is that like?
Being a woman, at least in my company, does not make any difference. Even though less than 10% of our team is female – it is a male-dominated sector – we don’t experience any disadvantages.
I cannot speak for other companies, but I think that many development studios value their employees’ well-being and are happy to employ women – who are of course just as good as men. After all, what matters is a person’s skill level, not their gender.
What does being the first repayer of CHANCEN community mean to you?
For me, that is of course a great success because I have managed to quickly find a well-paid position which enables me to already start repaying to the community.
It is a great feeling to know that I can return something to the people who have supported me in reaching my current situation.
What does repayment to CHANCEN eG feel like (compared to a bank loan)?
I have never taken out a loan, but what I greatly value is CHANCEN eG’s cooperation and willingness to find solutions to repayment problems. That avoids a lot of stress on my side and makes repayment more pleasant.
