Train2Game News: Train2Game Students helping Help for Heroes

Help for HeroesA few of our Train2Game Students have taken it upon themselves to help out Help For Heroes. They will be attempting to break the world record for a gaming marathon.

Christopher Edwards and his friends contacted me a while ago with their plan and they have since got in touch with Guinness. They have had their record accepted and they have the support of Help For Heroes.

They are planning on playing Battlefield 3 for a total of 150 hours, beating the current record of 135 hours. In total, there will be five people competing to beat the time, the game will be played online so other members of the public can join and play with them.

They will rent a server where they will place a banner and a friendly message for players to see before they enter the game, mentioning their pledge to Help for Heroes and the fact it is a Guinness World Records attempt.

The Guinness World Records rules state that the group are allowed a 10 minute break every hour which can be saved up to use when they choose. The location is not yet decided, however, where ever it is staged the attempt is going to be live streamed online and will include a link to make donations.

Chris said “I hope that you find my cause a worthy one and that myself and my friend’s can count on your support and sponsorship. We hope to make a lot of money for charity, if not we may just make it over the hundreds, however we believe any amount could be a great asset to Help for Heroes.”

If you wish to support Chris and his friends you can do so by visiting http://www.bmycharity.com/150hoursgaming4charity

You can also like and follow their progress at https://www.facebook.com/150HoursOfGaming4Charity

I wish Chris and his friends the best of luck!

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio – Muir Halleron

Muir HalleronI got the pleasure of interviewing a young man named Muir recently who is just coming to the end of section 1 of his course. You may have seen Muir on Twitter or the Train2Game Forum as he is always very active on there. Now you can find out more about him!

You can here the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1391947-train2game-student-muir-halleron-talks-to-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below:

Hi my name is Muir, I’m a Games Development student with Train2Game and I live in Widnes, Cheshire.

Hi Muir, how you doing mate?

I’m alright thanks Mark, how are you?

I’m good cheers buddy. So tell me, how did you get into Games Development?

Well, I’ve always loved games. My first games console was when I was like four years old and it was an Odyssey 2, if you can remember back that far! Showing my age. I’ve just been really interested in games going all the way up to Nintendo, Xbox360 and PlayStation. When I saw the Train2Game thing online I went on the website, filled out a form and didn’t think twice about it really.

Was there any particular game that made you want to get in to development its self?

Probably the Elder Scrolls series. I had a play with the Elder Scrolls, Skrim it was, there game engine that they use that they have opened up to allow people to mod the game. I was just absolutely gob smacked by it and everything that goes in to making a game. I’d say that’s probably the biggest series that’s worked.

Yeah. Were you into coding before that or is it something you have learnt through Train2Game entirely?

It’s pretty much something I am learning just through Train2Game. I remember when I was really little, about five or six years old, my Dad bought a home computer and I actually had a go at learning BASIC on that. It got to the point where I could make a really, really simple game on BASIC and that was about it.

So what have you been up to with your games development at the minute?

Well right now I’m nearly finished with Section one in the course and I’ve lately been doing the one game a month challenge that’s online. That’s www.onegameamonth.com

Oh yeah? How’s that going?

It’s going pretty good, this month has been pretty slow, I’ve had a mental block with coding for some reason this month but the last 3 months I’ve made one game a month. The first one was something based on one of the Game Maker tutorials in the intro booklet for the Train2Game course and the other two were ones I came up with, on myself. The last one being completely done in C++. I’m actually really proud of that one!

Nice, so it sounds like you are progressing quite well then?

Yeah and I just recently I’ve also been accepted with Road Hog Games. Doing there student initiative.

Ah very nice and what are you doing with them?

Well right now it’s a group of two developers, two designers and two artists I believe. We are in the process of making a game under the tutelage and support of Road Hog Games.

Finally, What is your greatest ambition for your career?

Well I am hoping eventually to be able to get to a point where I can either work for a well developed gaming company as a developer or go in as an indie dev and make my own games.

Is there any company in particular that you’d want to work for?

Well in this area, just in Widnes, there’s actually Sony Evolution Studios is in Runcorn which is real close to where I live. So I’ve been feeling the waters with them a bit and there’s a few other small gaming companies in Liverpool and Manchester as well.

Excellent. Well thank you very much Muir!

Thank you Mark!

Train2Game News: Help SpecialEffect get a charity bucket at Chelsea F.C

SpecialEffect Train2Game’s friends at SpecialEffect have had an amazing opportunity put forward to them. They have the chance of getting a charity bucket at Chelsea F.C’s grounds.

SpecialEffect has been chosen in the Military Charity category for its work with injured military personnel and it would be great if you can donate a few seconds to click and fill in a few basic details to vote for SpecialEffect. The gaming charity is up against some really stiff competition and this sort of cash contribution is exactly what the charity needs.

Excellent causes like Help For Heroes are in the running to receive the opportunity and although equally as deserving, SpecialEffect needs the games industry’s support to make sure its niche area of life changing charity work receives this funding.

To give you an idea of the work SpecialEffect does, SpecialEffect has worked hard to help some of the more unfortunate members of the military such as Lloyd. Lloyd is a young war hero who lost both legs and some of the fingers on his right hand while serving in Afghanistan. One of his passions was playing computer games with his friends, but he found that his injuries had devastated his ability to use a controller.

SpecialEffect loaned him a range of one-handed games controllers to try, and after finding one that’s just right, he’s been back in the game and competing with his mates ever since!

Mark Saville, Communications, SpecialEffect: “We’re dealing with something that’s often overlooked but that’s essential for rehabilitation, the fact that injured service personnel want to enjoy themselves, and in doing so regain the sort of quality of life that we take for granted. Time and time again we’ve seen hardcore-gamer servicemen who are desperate to regain a sense of normality, and regaining the ability to play video games competitively again is one of the very few activities that can absolutely level the playing field. It can be a huge step to increasing self-esteem and inclusion.”

If you would like to help SpecialEffect to get their charity bucket at Chelsea F.C then please click here to cast your vote: Vote for SpecialEfffect

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio interview with Icey Monty

Icey MontyI got the pleasure of interviewing the Train2Game Student Studio Icey Monty earlier this week. They are really going from strength to strength in this industry and you can read about or listen to their company adventures below.

You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1350533-train2game-student-studio-icey-monty-talks-to-t2g-radio

Or read the following transcript:

John: Hi, my name’s John, I’m on the Developer course and I’m from Scotland but now live in Newcastle.

Nick: Hi I’m Nick, I’m also on the Train2Game course and I’m from Newmarket, Suffolk.

Hi guys, how you doing?

John: I’m good, how about you?

Nick: I’m good, really good.

I’m good cheers guys, so tell me who you guys are and what you have been up to?

John: We’re Icey Monty, we started our own company two weeks ago and we are now officially working on a couple of clients games.

Very nice. So what clients, what games? If you can say of course

John: Nick is working for a professor in California at the minute, he specialises in eye to brain coordination. He’s asked for a thing to be created that will measure reflexes, how quick the eye can send a message to the brain. So Nick’s been working on that for the past two or three weeks now and I’m working on a racing game for a client in the Ukraine. He’s got a website that currently gets about three hundred thousand hits a day so that’s pretty cool!

You seem to get a lot of international work. Where do you source your work from?

John: I’ll let you answer that one Nick.

Nick: Sure. Well we started off by just posting in the Unity commercial forums just saying we are a small start up and we are available for work. After that, we had about two or three jobs leading from that and from there we had the funds to start a website and since then we haven’t had to contact anyone really. We’ve had people contact us for the last few weeks.

So, is it just the two of you working then?

Nick: It is, yeah.

Are you happy working in a small team?

Nick: Oh absolutely yeah!

John: Most Definitely.

Nick: So much better than with the pressure you get with a large team.

John: Especially from a management side of things.

Nick: Oh definitely yeah. Things are a lot more flexible for us now. Things are a lot more laid back. Some days it doesn’t even feel like working really. A bit of a cliché but we really enjoy it so it’s nice.

Excellent. So you’ve had quite a lot of success so what advice would you give to students who are looking to start making games professionally?

John: Oh, be prepared to work, a lot. That’s how we done ours. When we got a clients job we literally wouldn’t rest because the way we thought about it was, this is our dream and they’ve given us the opportunity to where we want to be with our careers and our lives, so really we are indebted to these people.

Nick: You give them everything you can offer them. Don’t think of it as a job, you’re giving them your expertise. You’re showing them that you can do these kind of things, your proving yourself in the market, in the work you do.

So work hard and you will be noticed, kind of thing?

John: Yeah. The other thing we do is, if we know we are ahead of our schedule, we will actually contact the client because we’ve had an idea, literally me and Nick will talk all day – obviously we still get our work done, we don’t sit down and have a nanny chat, but if we come up with a cool idea we will contact the client and say “Look, we are a bit ahead of schedule, would you like this added to your game?” at no extra cost, it won’t cost you anything, we are just really enjoying what we are working on at the minute.

Perfect, so always go that extra mile for them?

Nick: Yeah, it pays back ten-fold.

John: It does, insanely.

So finally then lads, where can people find out more about Icey Monty?

John: If you just go to www.iceymonty.com which is our professional website or you can go to www.iceymontyblog.com and there are things we are working on personally for our clients projects, obviously with permission, some of the systems we create or just some general ideas and some doodles we do through the day.

Perfect well thank you very much guys!

John: No problem, thanks very much!

Nick: Cheers!

Train2Game News: Word slinging game Spellirium

SpelliriumUntold Entertainment introduces Spellirium, a trashpunk comedy adventure with monsters, mystics, and linguistic spellslingers.

In a future when reading and writing have been outlawed, Brother Todd of the Runekeepers and a motley crew of characters must journey across the devastated landscape, bringing peace and order to a ruined civilization. But outlandish legends thrive on oral tradition, and Todd uncovers a painful truth written in the margins of his life’s story.

Untold is setting its sights on older players with Spellirium’s darkly comic approach to themes of betrayal, individualism, and privilege. The company hopes Spellirium will please venerable adventure fans who remember a time before pointing and clicking, when entire worlds were explored through text parser commands. Puzzlers who delight in crosswords, Scrabble, Boggle, and logic challenges will find something to love in Spellirium.

Using word-based spellcasting to battle monsters and shadowy overlords, Spellirium is an adventure for clever players. More than just manipulating letters to form words, players must utilize palindromes, synonyms, color combos, rhymes, and more. One monster, for example, can only be defeated through onomatopoeia (CRASH, BANG, BOOM). A certain achievement sees players building semordnilaps – words that spell valid, entirely different words when read backwards (ROOM <-> MOOR). A mindless word-search this most definitely is not.

Pre-order customers immediately receive an alpha download of the game, which includes the prologue and two of three acts. The “kickENDER campaign,” as called by Untold Entertainment founder, Ryan Henson Crieghton, will be used to fund further development, including the implementation of the final act, voice-overs, and sound effects.

Rewards for financial backers at various tiers include voicing a character in the game, designing a creature, and branding a word in the Spellirium Dictionary; a collectible list of 50,000 words that can be used to buy items and craft power-ups. The Reserve-A-Word tier is already proving popular with players, who have reserved a bizarre list of words including SLUG, LIZARD, MOIST, BARF, MOMMY, SAMURAI and SAUSAGE.

In one of the support tiers you also get access to the UGAGS game logic and a “God Panel” so you can tweak and play around with the game as much as you want or just see the coding that went in to how the game works. This should be very helpful to any Train2Game developers.

This sounds like an interesting new take on an old system that was used in the likes of the text based adventure, ZORK.

You can watch the trailer below

You can pre-order Spellirium, support them and find out more at www.spellirium.com

Train2Game News: A visit to Special Effect

Kirsty Payne from SpecialEffectI had the great pleasure of going to visit SpecialEffect at its headquarters in Oxford on Wednesday. The charity held a get together to thank supporters for their work during the Art Charity Auction back in December.

As I arrived at the building I was struck by how incredible it looked. I drove up a long road, flanked by trees all the way up to a Manor building where SpecialEffect is housed. I parked around the back and entered the easily accessible building where I was met by Hannah Whittaker, who works at SpeciaEffect.

As I entered the office I was greeted by Gavin Tan, who is a developer for the charity. I chatted with Gavin for a bit about games, that is the reason we are in this industry, and he then showed me some of the controllers they use to help disabled people to be able to play games.

The first controller I tried was the “EyeGaze”. This is a device which tracks your eye movements and lets you do all the things you want on a computer using nothing but your eye movement. Following a quick calibration I got to play racing game, Dirt. To control the vehicle you moved your eyes to the top of the screen to go faster, to the bottom of the screen to brake and reverse and direct your eyes left or right to turn. I am normally terrible at racing games but using the EyeGaze I managed an average time which pleased me!

Following on from the EyeGaze I got to experience voice activated controls in Street Fighter. A control was set up which is used for movement and can be controlled by your chin with a sensitive microphone for the voice commands. The commands were simple like “Punch” for an uppercut, “Kick” for a spinning kick and “Move” to do a Hadouken.

Seeing and experiencing these controllers for myself really showed me how helpful these can be for people trying to get back in to gaming and back playing games on a level playing field. It truly is an amazing thing that the people at SpecialEffect do.

Over the next half an hour several games industry people turned up to the office for the event. There were people there from Sega, Warner Bros, and Take-two. Once everyone had arrived it was time for the main event.

Everyone was welcomed to the event by Kirsty Payne, a Vice President of SpecialEffect, who can be seen in the picture above. She gave a quick run down of the event in December. The art auction featured games art from across the industry and was held at the London City Hall and was visited by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The auction managed to raise over £30,000!

The floor was then given over to Dr Mick Donegan, founder of SpecialEffect, who showed where the money will be going and who is being helped.

After the presentation SpecialEffect offered us drink and food. It was lovely just being able to talk with some of the games industry people who do so much for our industry and hearing their opinions on the games industry at the moment.

It was an incredible day and I will continue to do what I can for this amazing Charity! I will leave you with this amazing video of a young man called Alex who has been able to play games again and has used Special Effects help to be able to become a Train2Game student!

Enjoy!

Train2Game News: Rapid2D £10,000 competition winner announced!

Rapid2DValca Entertainment announced as the winners of the Rapid 2D app design competition

Today lives changed for the team at development company Valca Entertainment as they were granted £10,000 as the winners of the Rapid 2D app development competition 2013. In this exciting competition entrants were tasked to develop Windows 8 apps but it was all about quality and quantity with developers entered into a draw with each game they produced. The winner was announced on www.rti.fm at 3.00pm adding kudos to this already life changing prize.

Myra Smallman, Director of Rapid 2D, said about the games engine “What we have tried to do with Rapid2D is to make it available to everyone and anyone who wants to make games. So, we have a free basic version on the Rapid2D website and very little coding knowledge is needed to be able to operate that. The novice that wants to be games designer can produce a game from the free version.”

On working in the mobile industry, Rik Alexander managing Director at AppCrowd, said “With a smaller company you can turn around apps a lot faster in the mobile market and it is a lot more enjoyable. You don’t need as many overheads and you don’t need as many people, you can be much more nimble as a team. A smaller team can communicate easier which means you make less mistakes.”

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Myra Smallman and Rik Alexander

For more information visit http://www.rapid2d.com

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 27.03.13

The Train2Game jobs this week is another Aardvark Swift special!

C++ Developer

Manchester

£Competitive

Our client is looking for a C++ Developer. This is an exciting opportunity that has arisen for a market-focused game software developer. This role is key to the production of a continuous pipeline of quality games to our networked digital estates. The successful developers will need to quickly understand the markets and territories in which we operate and adapt their methods accordingly.

The candidate will develop games content for video slot machines in a variety of markets including the UK, Italy and Latin America. Content is written using C++ so creating new content using simple, modular coding style and good C++ practices is essential.

Responsibilities:

• Writing high quality, maintainable, game content software.
• Diagnosing and problem solving discovered issues
• Communicating and working with the design, art and test departments.
• Producing and analysing game data to prove stability and fairness.
• Inputting into game design where appropriate
• Adhering to agreed designs
• Follow source control processes to ensure stability and security of work
• Rigorously adhere to deadlines agreed with line manager
• Following processes and procedures as defined to successful task conclusion
• Deciding what and when to escalate to the manager
• Adhering to the procedures and work instructions of Inspired where they relate to the job.
• Working effectively as a member of an individual team as well as Inspired as a whole.
• Ensuring you report for work on time and are prepared to work.
• Assisting with mentoring of new and/or less experienced staff as required.

Requirements:

• Highly proficient knowledge of C++
• Experienced in Visual Studio 2010
• Be able to apply themselves to a wide and unpredictable range of software tasks.
• Be able to manage and switch between several concurrently active jobs.
• A good understanding of Subversion.
• Relevant degree e.g. Computer software, programming.
• An understanding of DirectX
• Must be a highly motivated individual.
• Must be able to perform well under strict deadlines
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Be able to pioneer new techniques

Further details are available by contacting Mark Hope at: Mark@aswift.com

Apply now

 

C++ Programmer All Levels

Bristol and Dublin

£Excellent + Benefits

C++ programmers – Bristol and Dublin

Our Client is part of a Global companies R&D team creating the technology game developers use to make great video games. They have created the programming tools used to develop on some of the world’s most popular gaming platforms. The company has built a reputation for understanding and meeting the needs of game developers, by creating innovative software and providing first-class support.

If you join as a new graduate you will initially spend time developing tests to ensure you get to know our products and code base. This is a great entry point for starting your career as a developer, working alongside talented, experienced engineers.
If you join us with some experience you will primarily spend your time developing new features and maintaining the current product range.

In addition you will be required to:
• Provide estimates for tasks
• Develop and deliver work to schedule
• Provide input to technical writers working for product documentation
• Work with support engineers on customer issues
• Participate in code and documentation reviews

Occasionally there are opportunities to attend conferences in the US/Europe and to visit customers to demonstrate products. Some travel between SN Systems’ offices is also likely.

Qualifications and experience:
• Computer Science related degree or similar.
• Graduates will need to demonstrate strong C++ ability gained through their studies or similar.
• Experienced candidates will be required to demonstrate 2-5 years C++ experience in a commercial environment.

Skills required:
All candidates will be required to demonstrate an understanding of SN Systems products, and a genuine desire to work on them.

Experienced candidates will be required to demonstrate the following skills:
Essential
• Strong C++ and STL development skills.
• Demonstrable OO (Object Orientated) design skills.
• MFC 9.0 (VS C++ 2008) and practical experience of developing Microsoft Windows applications with graphical user interfaces (for example GDI).

Desirable
Knowledge and experience of:
• Visual C++ frameworks including ATL/WTL.
• Debugger internals.
• Debugging file formats.
• Developing debuggers.
• MIPS, PowerPC or ARM architectures.
• Multi-threaded experience.
• Presentation skills.
• Team leadership/mentoring experience.
• Knowledge of MSBuild.

If you are interested in this position and would like to apply, please contact Mark Hope: mark@aswift.com or 01709 834 777

Apply now

 

Tools Programmer and Graduate Tools Programmer

North West, UK

£Neg + Bonus

Our client has been making games for more than 15 years. They now employ more than 150 people and have released games on major platforms like PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS. They also work with some Great IP’s and a variety of game types.

They are seeking a Tools Programmer or Graduate Tools Programmer to join their team developing technology at the core of all their productions, from AAA games on every major console and handheld device (over 100 million units sold to date), to their award-winning TV shows, broadcast around the world.

If successful, you will play a significant part in shaping the way art, animation and designs are produced across new projects, as well as keeping our technology up to date with the state of the art in the industry.

They are looking for candidates with:

• A good degree in Computer Science, Maths or Physics or related subject (2.i or above)
• Fluent in C++ and object oriented programming
• Experience of Direct X, OpenGL or similar graphics APIs Experience of writing user interfaces using one or more common UI libraries (Win32 GDI/wxWindows/Qt/…)
• Ability to interact with non-technical disciplines (such as artists and designers), understand their needs, deliver solutions they find intuitive and helpful
• A real desire to make users’ day-to-day work easier, simpler and more productive

A strong candidate will also have one or more of the following:

• Experience of writing plugins for common 3D and 2D packages (Autodesk Maya and Adobe Photoshop preferably)
• A confident grasp of the mathematics involved in CG rendering and animation
• The ability to analyse and optimise algorithms for efficiency
• Experience developing products for one or more non-PC gaming devices

For more information or to apply for the role, please contact Mark Hope at Aardvark Swift on +44 (0) 1709 834777 or e-mail mark@aswift.com

Apply now

 

Game Programmer

South East

£Excellent + Benefits

My client is an energetic and enthusiastic company of experienced video game developers with offices based in Brighton, UK.
They are a growing company working on projects with small team sizes. They are looking for a Game programmer that is happy to work in whatever area is required of them – this could change on a daily basis!

*Junior/Graduate Programmers with relevant demos and a positive attitude are encouraged to apply!*

Required
• 2.1 degree in Maths, Physics, Computer Science or related, or equivalent industry experience
• Excellent knowledge of C# or C++
• Excellent knowledge of algorithms and data structures
• Experience of creating games on desktop or mobile platforms
• Desire to make great games
• Great communication skills (verbal and written)
• Happy to work as part of a team
• Demonstrable love for some area of game technology
• A passion for playing games and solving problems
• Flexible and keen to learn new skills

Desired
• Knowledge of two or more other programming languages (for example Java, Python, PHP, Clojure)
• 1 or more years of games industry experience
• 1 or more shipped titles on console, desktop or mobile platforms
• Strong knowledge of console, desktop and mobile architectures
• Knowledge of asynchronous engineering techniques
• Experience of Unity, Unreal or XNA
• SQL
• Experience using digital content creation tools (for example Max, Maya, Photoshop)

In return the company offer an excellent Salary and Benefits.

More details are available by contacting Mark Hope at Aardvark Swift via email: mark@aswift.com

Apply now

Train2Game News: BOOMBA! launches like a three pronged bazooka with the help of Train2Game

Boomba LogoTrain2Game helps to achieve national and international coverage for student’s studio’s title with the support of Train2Game’s PR team.

Student Fee Stewart has been working with Train2Game internal PR team to deliver worldwide coverage for Radiation Burn’s latest title Boomba! Fee, who is an Artist and Project manager at the studio, took advantage of the additional support Train2Game offer and coordinated withTrain2Game’s PR team to draft and distribute a press release on behalf of the studio.

Coverage was achieved on sites in the US, Spain, France and of course the UK. Highlights include Nintendo Everything and Develop Online

Nintendo EverythingDevelopThis support is available to all students commercially releasing games, whether they be independent student studios or working at organisations outside of Train2Game. Train2Game love to support the successes of its students and the student body love to hear about them, so make sure to keep us informed of everything you are working on.

You can see some of the international articles in the links below, including sites from Spain, France and Brazil.

Blogocio_Train2Game_students_Fee_Stewart_is_awarded_free_PR_for_her_first_game_release_by_Train2Gam1

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Well done Fee!

Train2Game News: Train2Game student releasing Boomba!

Boomba LogoTrain2Game Student, Fee Stewart, has been working with Radiation Burn LTD to create a new exciting game called, Boomba!

In the game you get to play as punks, rockers, emos, soldiers, cops and many more characters in an exciting and enjoyable turn based strategy game that is based described as Angry Birds meets Worms.

This turn based physics shooter is completely unique and plays like no other. There are over 50 different teams to choose from, with more to follow. Aimed at aged 7+ casual to medium game players, this title really is open to everyone. The accuracy of your shooting is combined with a range of exciting weaponry to be victorious; use chainsaw missiles, boxing glove bazookas and metal anvils to defeat your opponents.

Boomba

Boomba will be available on: Nintendo 3DS, iOS, Windows 8 and Windows Phone, Kindle, Blackberry, Andoid, PC and Mac next month.

RadiationBurn Ltd. strives to provide fun and original IP for your enjoyment. The studio, founded in Middlesbrough 2010, creates fun and original titles of all sizes. The company was founded through winning the Microsoft Dream.Build.Play Challenge, Old Spice competition. A worldwide competition in which RadiationBurn Ltd. were voted winners, by a panel of judges and the gaming public.

Fee joined the company in October 2011 after finishing a Train2Game student placement at the company.

When asked her opinion of the game she said “Boomba! is something I thought I would be doing only once. It soon became a daily habit to both create the game and play it!”

You can find out more about the game by going to www.boombagame.com