Train2Game recently sat down for a chat with THQ’s UFC Undisputed 3 Senior Game Designer Wes Bunn at a preview event in London. In an in depth interview with The Train2Game Blog, Bunn discussed developing UFC Undisputed 3, Game Design, QA Testing, getting into the industry and more.

In part two of our interview, the THQ Senior Game Designer discusses getting into the games industry and the importance of QA Testing in game development.   Read it right here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game Scribd page. As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Read part one of our interview with THQ Senior Game Designer Wes Bunn here.

How did you get started in the games industry?

I actually got started as a QA Tester back in 2000. It’s funny how this industry works because it’s really small. I started at a Crave Entertainment, who had the UFC license way back in 2000, I tested UFC Tap Out 1 and 2 back on the original Xbox. That’s how I got started and that’s how I got introduced to UFC.

So how important is testing to the game development process?

I think testing is huge. Back when I started there wasn’t these education programmes where you could go to the different schools and learn about game design, which is cool now, but back then they didn’t have that. But I think in QA Testing you get to see the whole development process, so you get to see iterative builds come in and see the changes, learn the debugging process; that’s a huge part of making sure the game comes out polished, that there’s no imbalanced things in the game, that there’s no exploits, so testing is a huge process, not just with our game but any game.

How did you work your way up from being a QA Tester to being a Senior Game Designer now?

As a QA Tester you get the opportunity to suggest things, that’s basically how I got started when I was working on the original UFC was suggesting ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we do this, and this is how I think this should work.’ I went to different studios but eventually became a Lead QA tester and was mentoring other QA Testers, then I got into working into production. From production I found out I didn’t really like the production aspect of it, I liked the creative aspects, so from production I got into some junior design work at a Sony studio. I’ve been designing ever since.

For those who might not know, what are the differences between game production and game design?

The production aspect deals more with scheduling, making sure everything comes in on time, making sure that if you’re working with a licensed product, especially, you deal specifically with the licensor. Production also deals with managing the QA Testing process, the development process, dealing with the licensor and marketing as well. Designer focuses on the creative aspects of the game, the game content. That’s where I prefer to be.

So how big is the game design team for UFC Undisputed 3?

It’s pretty big! The situation that we’re in is kind of unique. We’re a co-development team, so we have a group of game designers at the THQ offices and then we have a group of game designers at Yuke’s office in Japan and we co-develop UFC Undisputed 3 together. Most of the design concepts are generated by the THQ team, implementation is done by Yuke’s then the balance and tuning is done by THQ. But there’s a lot of back and forth with Yuke’s, they’ve been great to work with and have offered up some suggestions and have been willing to accept suggestions and things we come up with.

With Yuke’s being based in Japan and THQ in the USA, how do you go about collaborating with them?

It’s been really challenging, we’ve done a lot of teleconferences with them, but we’ve made a lot trips out there. Last year alone we made ten trips to Japan, so I’ve racked up the frequent flyer miles! There are a lot of TV conferences in addition to meetings on site.

Back to getting into the industry, what advice would you give to those aspiring to work in it?

Probably the biggest thing to do, the best thing, is play a lot of games. Not just the mainstream games, the blockbuster games, play a lot of indie games and expand your pallet so you can touch every area. As far as getting into the industry is concerned, you break in through focus group tests. Usually a company will bring people in to test their game and give feedback on what they think of the game. We do focus tests for our products, there’s usually an opportunity there if they like your suggestions enough to bring you on as a QA Tester or something. Now they have the schools you can go to that’s an avenue as well, I have some friends who are enrolled in schools now, but back when I was around they didn’t have that!

And would community created content, such as that of UFC Undisputed 3, be something an aspiring game developer could show to potential employers?

That’s true actually, especially for an artist, creating stuff with user generated content and saying ‘this is what I made’ will help with a CV as well. I think publishers and developers are looking at that stuff.

Thanks for your time Wes.

UFC Undisputed 3 is released on 17^th February 2012 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Part 1 of The Train2Game Blog interview with THQ Senior Game Designer Wes Bunn is here. 

For more about UFC Undisputed 3, and some great advice about getting into the industry, see The Train2Game Blog interview with UFC Undisputed 3 Neven Dravinski  from last year’s Gamescom.

The Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress and Left 4 Dead developer also announced that a closed beta will be available for iOS and Android devices.

The Steam mobile app will allow you to chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and of course, will let you keep up to date with the latest Steam sales.

“The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers,” said Valve co-founder and President Gabe Newell, who as recently reported by The Train2Game Blog, offered some excellent advice to aspiring game developers.

“Seeing which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale – these are all features customers have requested.” he continued, before adding that mobile is having a huge impact on the games industry.

“Mobile is changing way people interact, play games and consume media, and the Steam app is part of our commitment to meet customer demands and expand the service functionality of Steam to make it richer and more accessible for everyone.” said Newell.

Train2Game students who wish to take part in the Steam mobile beta, should download the app for free from http://store.steampowered.com/mobile then use it to log into their Steam account.

Keep up to date with the latest news from Valve, here on The Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Steam going mobile? Will use the Steam via your smartphone?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

He also reveals a little about Commando Kiwi, his team for the Train2Game & Epic Games Make Something Unreal Live contest later this year at The Gadget Show Live.

Read what Jonny has to say about his Train2Game work placement  here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game Scribd page.

You can read his previous industry experience diaries from Jonny here on The Train2Game Blog.

As usual, leave your comments here, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game students who wish to take part in the Gotham City Imposters Xbox Live beta just need to register their interest on the official website.

Gotham City Imposters is a download only multiplayer shooter which pits Batz, vigilantes dressed as Batman against Jokerz, criminal gangs dressed up as The Joker. It’s a light-title that looks to boast massive customisation and plenty of unlockables.

Train2Game students who take part in the Gotham City Imposters beta participants are encouraged to leave feedback on the Warner Bros. forum.

Beta testing is an excellent way for Train2Game students, especially those on the Games QA Tester course to practice their bug hunting skills. Not only that, but in an interview with the Train2Game blog, Trion Worlds Senior QA Tester Karl Tars said that beta testing is potentially a way to get into the industry.

For more on beta testing and opportunities to get involved in it, see the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, will you be getting involved with the Gotham City Imposters beta? What are your impressions of the game?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

In the first part of this two part interview, the THQ Senior Game Designer discusses the game design process for UFC Undisputed 3. Read it right here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game Scribd page. As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Part two of The Train2Game Blog interview with Wes Bunn is right here.

Train2Game Blog: First of all, tell us what your role as Senior Game Designer for UFC Undisputed 3 involves?

Wes Bunn: Pretty much every area of the game from combat to modes to everything! And I’ve been on the franchise since 2006; I was the original designer on the project so I’ve been working on this game for the past six years.

How did you get started with the first project, and how have you keep UFC Undisputed titles fresh?

It’s actually pretty crazy to see the evolution of the past three games. Back in 2006 when I first started there was no game, it was all on paper, all theories about how the game would work. To see where it is now, it’s come a long way and UFC Undisputed 3 is really what I say is five years of development, not just the last two years that we’ve been working on it. Because we’ve always been trying to improve each year and I think that this year when people play it they’ll feel a difference and see it’s by far the best one.

So when you’re designing the game, how difficult is it to create a balance between all the fighting styles, making sure one isn’t overly powered or another isn’t overly weak?

It’s definitely a tightrope that you have to walk, balancing the strikers versus the grapplers. Typically, the guys who are very dominant in their striking skills are lacking in other areas, or are not as effective in other areas. Chuck Liddell is a good example, he’s a great striker, but off his back he’s not very good, so my counter to that would be a good wrestler who can try to take him down and put him on his back and see what he can do. It’s been challenging to get the balance in there, but we’ve been able accomplish that I think, in this game specifically with the additions that we’ve made to the stats and working with the UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, I think players will see the fighters are balanced pretty well.

Pride fighters feature in UFC Undisputed 3, was them and their different rules like developing a whole new game in addition to UFC Undisputed 3?

Yeah, we always joked that it’s a game within a game because when you jump into pride it’s a completely different experience because you’re playing with different commentaries, different rules, different fighters, a different environment… The different moves were probably the most challenging, because getting the soccer kick in there, and the foot stomp, because it isn’t something we’ve had to do in the past.

Tell us about the new community created content sharing options for UFC Undisputed 3.

Yeah, actually that’s a new feature this year, we have this content sharing thing. Not only is it created fighters you can upload and download, but it’s also your created logos, so if you have any kind of tattoos you can create those and post those online, people can download and rate those, as well as our highlight reels, that’s a new feature. So you can upload and download those as well.

UFC Undisputed 3 has moved the series away from a yearly release cycle. How has that changed development and why was that decision made?

The switch in the development time just gave us more time to polish and tune the game as well as introduce new features and systems. It’s something that I think you’ll see in the product when you play, the polish that we were able to get done and the tuning, as it’s really substantial compared to the previous titles. I think moving forward that’s going to be the plan, we’ll do the two year cycle because it gives us more time to what we want to do.

Last year saw the release of UFC Fitness for Kinect, have you thought about somehow implementing Kinect controls into UFC Undisputed 3?

Maybe in the future we could do it for the training. I don’t know how you’d actually do it from character to character with Kinect because then it would just be grappling an invisible person on the floor!

Or multiplayer with a friend!

In that case I’d rather go out there and grapples for real rather do something with an invisible person or somebody for the game! But that might be something for the future, maybe for hitting mitts or something with Kinect, potentially.

How much input into UFC Undisputed 3 did you have from UFC fighters themselves?

We get a lot of “suggestions” I’ll say from fighters about their stats and move sets. I know “Rampage” Jackson has been asking for a head kick three games! I told him if he does a head kick in a fight then I’ll give him one in the game, but most the time people are pretty happy when they see their character in the game. Most of them are just blown away that they’re in the game and their visuals and tattoos are in there and they say it really looks like them. As far as how they play themselves, some of the fighters are big gamers so they get it, some of them aren’t so much so it varies, but most of the time I’d say it’s been positive.

There aren’t any aspiring game designers among the UFC fighters then!

Rampage has said once before that he could design the game for us and I’d like to have him come in and do it!

UFC Undisputed 3 is available from 17^th February 2012 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Part 2 of The Train2Game Blog interview with THQ Senior Game Designer Wes Bunn is here.

For more about UFC Undisputed 3, and some great advice about getting into the industry, see The Train2Game Blog interview with UFC Undisputed 3 Neven Dravinski  from last year’s Gamescom.

That’s according to THQ Senior Game Designer Wes Bunn, who was speaking to The Train2Game Blog in a soon to be published interview.

“Probably the biggest thing to do, the best thing, is play a lot of games. Not just the mainstream games, the blockbuster games, play a lot of indie games and expand your pallet so you can touch every area.” said Bunn, speaking to The Train2Game Blog at a UFC Undisputed 3 preview event.

And the Senior Game Designer, who started his career as a QA Tester, said that taking part in testing programmes is also a good way to get a foot in the door.

“As far as getting into the industry is concerned, you break in through focus group tests. Usually a company will bring people in to test their game and give feedback on what they think of the game.” said Bunn, adding that if a developer likes your feedback, they could offer you a role as a QA Tester.

“We do focus tests for our products, there’s usually an opportunity there if they like your suggestions enough to bring you on as a QA Tester or something.”

Bunn added that schools, are also a good way of learning the skills needed to get into the industry, though of course, Train2Game students already know this!

“Now they have the schools you can go to that’s an avenue as well, I have some friends who are enrolled in schools now, but back when I was around they didn’t have that!” said the UFC Undisputed 3 Senior Game Designer.

The full Train2Game Blog interview with THQ Senior Game Designer Wes Bunn will be published soon.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on his advice? Do you agree that playing a wide range of games is helpful for getting into the industry?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

The event in association with BAFTA, takes place on Saturday 11^th February at BAFTA’s central London headquarters and developers who’ll be there include, Frozen Synapse developer Mode 7 Games, Hard Lines developer Spilt Milk Studios,  Size Five Games and many more!

Not only will Train2Game students who attend the Guardian Gamesblog Indie Social get the chance to speak to indie developers, but they’ll also be able to get their hands on the PlayStation Vita ahead of its UK launch.

More information about The Guardian Gamesblog Indie social is here, while Train2Game students who wish to attend can sign up for the free event here.

Train2Game has previously attended interview some of the industry’s most well known figures at BAFTA events. You can find them here on The Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, will you attend The Guardian Gamesblog Indie Social? What would you ask the indie developers?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

BAFTA’s public events and online resources bring you closer to the creative talent behind your favourite games, films, and TV shows. Find out more at www.bafta.org/newsletter,www.facebook.com/bafta or twitter.com/baftagames

[Source: Guardian]

RiotZone is a free-to-play, browser based title set in a tropical jungle where players take part in the civil war of fictional Latin American state Merania. You take control of one of two factions, The Red Alliance or the Coalition of the Crown, and fight for supremecy. RiotZone sees players train their soldiers, upgrade weapons and expand their base in single player and PvP missions.

Train2Game students who wish to get involved with the RiotZone open beta should visit www.riotzone.net, where much more information about the game is available.

Beta testing is an excellent way for Train2Game students, especially those on the Games QA Tester course to practice their bug hunting skills. Not only that, but in an interview with the Train2Game blog, Trion Worlds Senior QA Tester Karl Tars said that beta testing is potentially a way to get into the industry.

For more on beta testing, how it’s useful for Train2Game students,  and opportunities to get involved with it, see the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, do you think you’ll get involved with the RiotZone open beta?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Read what Guy has to say about his Train2Game work placement  here on The Train2Game Blog, or on The Train2Game Scribd page.  Read previous Train2Game industry diaries from Guy here on The Train2Game Blog.

As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

TIGA make call after figures show the UK economy contracted during the last quarter of 2011, with fears of a double dip recession as a result.

“Today’s GDP figures show that the UK economy is now skating perilously close to a recession.” said TIGA CEO Dr. Richard Wilson,who gave a speech to Train2Game students at last November’s Train2Game & Epic Game Jam

“Weak economic growth also means that the Government will find it much harder to reduce the public sector deficit. The best way to reduce the fiscal deficit is economic growth, as a growing economy will generate larger tax revenues and so speed up the deficit reduction programme.”

Dr Wilson said that the continued growth of the games industry could help the UK economy.

“The UK urgently needs economic growth to come from business investment and exports in order to rebalance the economy. The UK video games sector can contribute towards economic growth. The global games industry has grown by 23 per cent through the global financial turmoil, and is projected to grow by 8.2 per cent each year to 2015.”  he said.

However, the TIGA CEO argued that games tax relief is needed to help secure jobs and investment.

“UK games developers are high technology, highly skilled and export oriented businesses. Yet while governments in Canada, France, Singapore, the USA and elsewhere back their video games sectors with tax breaks for games production, there is no equivalent tax break in the UK. As a result, the UK is missing out on jobs and investment.” said Dr. Wilson, who  has previously spoken about the potential benefits of games tax relief for Train2Game students in an interview with The Train2Game Blog.

“TIGA will bring forward proposals for a well-targeted Games Tax Relief, better R&D tax credits, a Creative Content Fund and incentives for investment on workforce development in advance of the March Budget in order to power growth in the video games sector and so contribute to the UK’s economic recovery.” he concluded.

As reported by The Train2Game Blog, TIGA were recently accompanied by MPs to discuss games tax relief with The Treasury.

Keep reading the Train2Game Blog or all the latest news from TIGA.

So Train2Game, do you think the games industry can play a part in reviving the economy?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.