Monthly Archives: April 2016

Train2game News Games Finance Market

Posted on by

image

The Games Finance Market launches as part of the Brand New London Games Festival.

When: Wednesday April 6th, 9.30am – 6pm

Where: The Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Cooper’s Row, London EC3N 2BQ

The Games Finance Market is a brand new financing event and the only one of its kind in the UK. Handpicked British game developers will be introduced to potential VC’s, investors and business partners who are ready to sign up new product and finance deals. Games London will match some of the most promising games businesses in the UK with a carefully selected set of high profile financiers in a ’speed dating’ style event that includes over 500 pre-organised 20 minute  pitching meetings.

The following spokespeople are available for interview by appointment:

Dr Jo Twist: CEO of UKIE the governing trade body for the UK Video Games Industry. Jo can talk about the UK games industry in terms of what it’s worth to the economy and what the recent tax breaks have achieved.

Adrian Wootton: CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission. Film London has a long history marrying investment with British movie talent.

Alex Fleetwood: Founder of London-based games studio Sensible Object, which is working on an innovative new toys-to-life game for iPad.

London Venture Partners: A venture capitalist firm based in the city that has invested in a number of influential games developers around world including Supercell, creators of the world’s biggest game Clash of Clans.

Please contact Caroline at caroline@indigopearl.com directly for an appointment.

Train2game News 2 Brothers Form Student Studio

Posted on by

image

Train2Game studio on the hunt for more team members

Turrall brothers have formed SolarFlare and now looking to grow the team

Two brothers based in West Midlands are looking to expand their studio and take on new volunteers to create games with them. They are using the studio to get hands on experience and want to offer others the same opportunity.

The team called SolarFlare are made up of Edward and his brother. Edward is studying with Train2Game, he’s had a positive experience with Train2Game and wants to get more students involved in studios. The Turrall’s created SolarFlare to release games in the UK on Android, and looking to take steps into Switzerland in the future.

The brothers are using SolarFlare as work experience in their games making journey and the door is open for more students to join them. They also want anyone who is interested in gaming to join up and experience is not necessary, new team members will learn on the job and thrown straight into a working company.

Edward Turrall, Train2Game student and SolarFlare founder, said: ‘My name is Edward James Turrall, 23 years young and live in the West Midlands.’

‘I did a course with Train2Game a few years back. It was the Arts and Animation course, however I did not finish that one and got transferred to the App Development course which I am still doing as we speak. Admittedly, I am taking longer than I thought I would as a lot of other things have come up since I started.’

‘Both the courses have been very informative for me and helped me gain more experience in each field. App Development and Art & Design. My experience with Train2Game was amazing and 100% positive, I would, in future, work together with them to get more Students involved in new Studios, existing Studios and more Student arranged Events.’

‘SolarFlare is a new start-up Studio that my brother and I have formed because we love making games and wanted to get into the Industry in the UK and Switzerland as we want to take the Gaming Industry over there.’

‘We founded the Studio in November 2015 with the aim to develop Android and iOS games at the beginning and then large scale multi-platform MMORPGS based in the distant (or near) future. Another aim that I have had for the UK Office was for Students to get the opportunity to work together with some professionals and gain experience, almost like work experience, just this won’t be anything like it.’

‘I myself aim to give Students a chance to be part of a large company without having to go through years of University or education. They will be able to join us (as long as they Study anything to do with games, art & design or App development) to hone on their skills, get experience and build an amazing Portfolio/CV for the future! Any students we like, could even be offered a starting position in the Studio and work themselves up the ladder.’

‘We are a family run business as it is my brother and I. We get along well, work gets done and we give the players what they want. Games have been a HUGE part of my life growing up, and have helped me through times where I had nothing else to do as a kid. They’ve given me a new sense of my imagination and inspired me to do a lot of things such as Photography, 3d Art and Design and more. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have done all of those things without games, but I certainly wouldn’t have been able to adjust my imagination in such a way without them.’

‘I want to help other people and show them that not everyone needs to go to school for years just to get a great job. I want to be able to pick a few students from a College, give them all a computer and an office to work in and give them 2 months to make a game. And then hopefully over them a job if they can pull that off. If not, I will give them a chance to change their lives and learn more than they could ever learn in a College or University as they would be working on real games, with real people and with real money involved. Sure the College/University Degree/Diploma will be needed at some point, but I hope to be able to work together with Train2Game so that they could work towards that degree while working for us at SolarFlare Studios.’

‘At the moment we only develop for the Android market place as we do not have the funds available to release onto iOS devices. But we plan on working that out in the near future and then develop iOS games as well as Android games. I can’t tell you much about the latest project as it is still on the drawing board, however I can tell you guys about the game already released.’

‘The game we already released on the Android Market is called Count Rockoola and features a Rock that happens to be a Vampire. You adventure as this rock, collect Blood as the Score, Premium Garlic as the “Coins” in the game and avoid the normal Garlics as they will, as you are a Vampire, hurt you and then kill you if you happen to find too many of them (5). The project itself is still in its infant stages but I am bringing out new updates soon to fix a few issues we’ve been having. Crashing issues, Sound issues, Sprite issues, etc. The other things I am also working on are procedurally generated Levels as I do not have any Level Designers that could help me make any at this point.’

‘We are looking for new people!! However, you cannot really call them “employees” as they will not be getting paid as of yet. But in the near future, if we make enough games and enough people download them & buy in game currencies, they will be paid per Level they make.
For example; You make 1 Level for a game that’s got 500,000+ Downloads, if 50% out of those 500,000+ people buy currency, you will be paid. Depending on the length of the Level you made, you will be paid around £1 – £50. It all varies on your experience as well.’

‘But for now, we just want Students to get involved as we want them to gain experience and get a good feeling with the Programme we are using. You just need to know how to use a Programme called Construct 2, which was made by Scirra LTD. You will need to know how to make a Level in it and how to send it as an individual file. Nothing special J’

‘The main objective of our “employees” will be to make Levels and improvements to the game if they wish to do so, in future, I want to be able to have over 500 levels, if not over 2,000. They will need to be able to attend weekly, if not daily Skype calls to give us updates on what they are doing and give us weekly/monthly reports on the Levels they have made, if they hit any issues or if they’ve made a mistake in the game.’

‘This is a great opportunity for a Student to jump out of their comfort zone and show everyone what they can do! If you are someone that wants to show everyone what you can do, then you should come help us out! You will learn a lot about is and about the gaming industry in the UK. You will have the chance to meet new people and get closer to something you love doing – MAKE GAMES.’

‘We aim to be the first ever Gaming Studio to succeed in Switzerland and bring games to the people down there in Central Europe. We aim to help Colleges and Universities with Student Projects and give them support with Students that don’t know how to do a certain thing. We want to show people that making a game isn’t always “fun” or “lazy” or something you do because you are a Nerd/Geek. I myself, want to give everyone the opportunity to jump out of their seat, shout at the TV and say “I HELPED MAKE THAT GAME!!!!” without having to hide it. Be proud of making a game and be proud to be a gamer. The future is now, not tomorrow.’

‘Join SolarFlare Studios as a volunteer, help us spread our wings and you might just get a chance to be part of the Studios first ever employees to bring out amazing games for Kids, Teenagers and Adults in each and every country of the world.’

Visit SolarFlare here: http://solarflare-studios.com/

For more information contact: mark@train2game.com
Train2Game, bringing City & Guilds to the Games Industry
Read the Train2Game blog at www.train2game-news.co.uk Train2Game is a proud supporter of  www.gamatier.com

Train2game News Windows Android Emulator

Posted on by

image

KOPLAYER is a Windows Android emulator that lets you run one or more virtual Android instances on your Windows 7/8/10 PC-bridging the gulf (or filling the void) between relatively scarce Windows Mobile games, Windows PC games, and Android games.

KOPLAYER makes it easy to enjoy the larger screen and added convenience of playing some of your favorite Android games on your Windows PC, whether it’s a little Angry Birds side action to distract you from work, catching up on your favorite strategy game, or playing multiple games simultaneously if you’re a gaming multi-tasker.

Installing KOPLAYER is as easy as running a simple Wizard, and KOPLAYER emulation works seamlessly via mouse right out of the gate. Opening a new KOPLAYER instance starts a basic tutorial and presents an uncluttered Android screen with a Google Play Store link. Just connect a GMAIL account, open the Play Store, and then install your favorite games.

KOPLAYER also includes KOPLAYER Multi-Manager, which lets you run multiple, simultaneous virtual Android instances-which you can name and even quickly clone, so you don’t have to re-configure every instance. For example, if you create an instance and have already installed all your favorite games, you can then clone that instance. You can run as many instances as you have screen space for, and run a different app in each one.

Thus KOPLAYER can be perfect for keeping up with your favorite ‘time-based’ F2P games like Clash of Clans, checking in on virtual villagers and their building progress when your mobile device isn’t available-or when you just want the benefit of a larger screen.

The KOPLAYER supports 1280×720 resolution and 1024×600 resolution, and it even enables you to configure the amount of video RAM dedicated to the display. You can also customize the resolution manually. There are also convenient buttons for taking screenshots and video of your games in KOPLAYER icon bar, as well as buttons for activating your camera (if your PC has one), configuring/accessing a shared folder, and adjusting your volume. And if you’re the sort who wants to play some Angry Birds on the sly at work, there’s even a default ‘boss key’ (CTRL+ALT+W).

For games with touch screen controls, you can activate the ‘keyboard’ (press F12 or click the icon in the left menu) to assign key commands on-the-fly. Click a location on the screen, and then press a key to assign the keypress to the touch screen control. For example, in Angry Birds Go! You can click the keyboard, then click over the directional arrows to assign the A and D keys to the left/right touchscreen arrows. This does mean that in some games-Angry Birds Go! For example-you must first start the action and then assign the keys because the touchscreen controls don’t appear on screen until the action starts. The keyboard control editor isn’t the most intuitive element of the KOPLAYER, so you may need to experiment with it a bit to find the optimal keyboard/mouse combination for different games. And a game designed for a touchscreen may still not play as well with emulated keyboard controls.

That said, the KOPLAYER still works very well with a variety of games, with real time and turn-based strategy games (i.e. those where a mouse makes a suitable replacement for a finger) being particularly well-suited to it. Angry Birds (and its various incarnations), Clash of Clans (an RTS game), and Clash Royale (a tower defense game) all seemed to work flawlessly, at least within the limited scope of testing performed for this review. Similar games would likely play and perform equally well.

For the true gaming multi-tasker: Using KOPLAYER’s Multi-Manager to play multiple games simultaneously.

Train2game News Jamchester

Posted on by

image

The UK’s biggest ever game jam for professionals is to take place in Manchester this May, bringing together more than 200 developers working within the industry across three days to create brand new games from the ground up.

The first major game jam of its kind to take place in Britain, ‘Jamchester’ is the brainchild of local games industry network Gameopolis and HackManchester, which has successfully hosted scores of 24 hour coding competitions over the last five years. Jamchester will also be supported by headline sponsors Microsoft, mobile publishing giant Chillingo and regional business accelerator Tech North.

Other sponsors lined up include PlayStation, Unreal, recruitment agency Amiqus, and local game development college SSR. Jamchester is designed to fly the flag for games development within the North West of England and the UK as a whole, highlighting its strength, diversity and, most importantly, its future.

“We’ve created Jamchester to have fun and to showcase Greater Manchester on the national stage as a great place to make games,” said Gameopolis chair Simon Smith of the event. “In the past year alone our local game jams have produced Titan Souls, Sublevel Zero, Unbox, and Super Rude Bear Resurrection with more on the way. We welcome everyone to come along and be inspired by the creative spirit of our fantastic city.”

Jamchester also has the support of UK trade association Ukie, with CEO Dr. Jo Twist claiming the body is “excited to support Jamchester as a new celebration of creative skills development in the UK.”

“Game jams are one of the best ways for devs to learn new skills, stretch their creative thinking, network within the industry, and ultimately have fun. We’d love to see as many Ukie members as possible taking part in this event, and I look forward to seeing some of the work that is produced!”

Teams of between one and four people will compete on a level playing field, with Jamchester’s defining theme set to be revealed at the start of the competition. Student teams will also be taking part, giving them the perfect opportunity to network with other studios and industry professionals in attendance.

Jamchester has also teamed up with Special Effect, with all ticket proceeds going to the charity to help gamers with disabilities. “We are honoured to have been chosen as the charity partner for Jamchester,” offered Nick Streeter of Special Effect. “It will raise vital funds and awareness of our work helping gamers with disabilities, both in the north west and across the UK. As demand grows for what we do, support from events like Jamchester really are a game changer for the charity.”

With a judges line-up that includes Gary Napper of PlayStation VR, Creative Assembly’s Catherine Wooley, Microsoft’s Technical Evangelist Lee Stott, local indie developer Alex Rose and PlayStation’s Claire Blackshaw, Jamchester will take place in The Studio, an events space right in the centre of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Prize categories will include (TBC) – Best Game, Best Audio, Best Graphics, Best Gameplay, Best Tech Achievement, Innovation Award, Best Company Game, Best Student Game.

You can find more information at www.Jamchester.org.uk , or contact jamchester@hackmanchester.com

Tickets are onsale at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jamchester-2016-tickets-21038079462?aff=es2

Train2game News London Gaming Market

Posted on by

image

Replay Events is proud to announce that they are bringing back the London Gaming Market on Sunday April 3rd!

As part of London Games Week, this all-day event will see over 50 retailers set-up shop and provide a space where people can buy, sell and swap videogames, board games, memorabilia and anything connected to the wonderful world of gaming.

Last year there were over 2000 attendees visiting 35 retailers, and it was a huge success. This year, Replay have hired out more space at the Royal National Hotel, Russel Square, to accommodate the extra vendors, and they invite everyone to come on down Sunday and check the place out.

Tickets will all be available on the door which opens at 11:00AM. Early entry tickets cost £5.00, tickets after 12:00PM cost just £2.00. Children under 14 can enter for free when accompanied by a paying adult.

Visit the website at http://www.londongamingmarket.com for the latest news, stall booking information for traders and directions to the event.

You can also check out their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/londongamingmarket/