Train2Game Student Jonny Robinson has been writing his own blog. He talks about his experiences on being a fledgling games designer. He covers subject such as his time at DR Studios and his work with Commando Kiwi, the winning team of the Make Something Unreal Live at the Gadget Show Live earlier this year.
You can read Jonny’s blog below:
The OnLive console is not dead according to CEO Charles Jablonski and UK general manager Bruce Grove. The new plan is all about forming partnerships to provide OnLive’s service, instead of relying on PCs and its own console.
The Volus race has come to Mass Effect 3 multiplayer with the new DLC, The Retaliation Pack. The comic relief character has been put in to the online game play to show the ever expanding war according to BioWare’s Chris Schanche. The new pack also sees the return of The Collectors to battle against.
Earlier this week it was announced that Windows 8 will primarily use real world currency over Microsoft points. This had the games world speculating that the Xbox Live Arcade was going to start phasing out MS points. Microsoft have announced this is not the case. XBLA will still use the previous points system.
Rovio and LucasArts have teamed up in an interesting combination to create Angry Birds Star Wars. The game will see the birds dressed as the main Star Wars protagonists and the pigs are going to be dressed as Storm Troopers and Darth Vader. The levels will be famous Star Wars locations such as Hoth and Tattooine. The game is being released November 8 for iOS.
IGN have brought their application to Xbox in the UK. The app is already available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA. The app offers content, shows and access to its pro-gaming league.
Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Facebook has now surpassed one billion users. Since Facebook’s formation in 2004, it has seen more than 140 billion friend connections made, 219 billion photos uploaded, and 1.13 trillion likes. Facebook’s director of developer products said around a quarter of its active user base, about 230 million people, play games on the site in a month. He also noted that Facebook has more than 130 apps.
A one-man company, Cryptic Sea, has created a game called A New Zero. The game has no animation and only uses physics for any movement in the first person shooter. In addition, visuals are also procedurally generated, chopping Zero’s total size below a single megabyte. You can download the game from Cryptic Sea’s website.
This is going to be another regular blog where I post up the latest jobs from around the games industry. Making it easier for you to find the jobs you want.
ART
CREATIVE ASSEMBLY are looking for an Animator. The job is based in Horsham.
Key responsibilities:
Full responsibility of producing high quality animation for in-game animations and cinematics as set by the animation lead.
Deliver work in the required time.
Make sure all work is implemented correctly, providing feedback to other members of the production team so all issues are driven to closure.
Reports to the Lead Animator
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
Have an excellent understanding of animation principles – timing, weight and staging
Must be self-motivated, enthusiastic and a team player
Good knowledge of a 3D package (Motionbuilder, Maya, Max, XSI)
Good knowledge of human and animal anatomy
A strong passion and enthusiasm for animation and video games
Critical analysis and problem solving
You can find out more about the job HERE.
Futurlab is looking for a Junior Artist for their studio in Brighton. As Junior Artist you will be assisting the Lead Artist in the creation of both 2D and 3D game assets. You will be working closely with all other members of the team to ensure high standards of presentation are maintained across each project.
Requirements:
Exceptional 2D draftsmanship essential.
Strong ability in 3D modeling and texturing a plus.
Animation, lighting and rendering skills a plus.
General understanding of game design and development.
Ability to work both individually and in a small team.
Excellent communication skills with a friendly and positive demeanor.
Self motivating and diligent.
You must also be excited about working in the sci-fi genre!
You can find out more about the job HERE.
DEVELOPER
SEGA is looking for a junior developer for their studio in central London
Key Responsibilities:
Learn and help develop various areas of the game on handheld platforms
Work with Senior Developers and increase skill set
Help analyse existing projects and improve upon them.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
Experience in C/C++
Comfortable with game design and implementation
Examples of own demos, with source code, very beneficial.
You can find out more about the job HERE.
Q & A
Creative Assembly are looking for a games tester. The job is based at their studio in Horsham. These fixed term contracts are for our established Total War team, testing our project currently in development
Requirements
Test games in development for software bugs
Enter bugs clearly and accurately into our bug database
Verify and recreate bugs as required
Report additional balancing, design and accessibility problems
Essentials
A clear understanding of QA process
A keen enthusiasm for gaming
Good communication and reporting skills
Driven and flexible approach
You can find out more about the job HERE.
Microsoft are developing a new technology to read hand gestures. The device means more games design potential.
The device, currently named Digits, is worn on the wrist and creates a 3D model of the hand gesture that you do. It has been designed to be more comfortable than sensor gloves.
The technology was developed at the University of Cambridge, with help from researchers at Newcastle University and the University of Crete. It was unveiled at a conference on user-interface technology and a video has been posted online demonstrating the device in action.
Digits uses a camera-based sensor that detects infra-red (IR) light coupled with software that interprets the data produced to construct a model of a fully articulated hand skeleton. This is then used to interpret what the user’s hand is doing.
The equipment involves a IR laser beam which sends out a thin invisible line across the user’s hand to measure the distance to their fingers and thumbs to determine to what degree they are bent upwards.
David Kim, project leader, said “The Digits sensor doesn’t rely on external infrastructure which means users are not bound to a fixed space
“Ultimately we would like to reduce Digits to the size of a watch that can be worn all the time.”
Microsoft have given some ideas of how the device could be used including, but not limited to, shaping your hand like a gun for first person shooters and pressing your thumb down to fire, further improving your immersion without the need for a lot of space, like is the case with Kinect.
Microsoft’s team acknowledged the current device was still some way from being ready for market. It currently needs to be attached to a PC to carry out the necessary computations, making it impractical for real-world use. It also struggles if two fingers are crossed, the hand is flattened or if the user is holding something while making the gestures. However, the researchers suggested all these issues could be overcome with further work.
The first free-to-play MMO is coming to Xbox360 next week. The game looks action packed, fun and very cute.
The game, Happy Wars, has been developed by ToyLogic who have previously assisted in the development of Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers Brawl. You can certainly see the Smash Bros. influences in this game.
The 30 player strategy/action title pits two teams of up to 15 players against each other as they attempt to lay siege to enemy castles and defend their terrain. Each player’s character will be completely customizable with thousands of items, including outfits, weapons, and shields. In addition to the large-scale multiplayer battles, the game will also feature an offline single-player campaign mode, co-op mode with computer-controlled adversaries and more.
You must be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber to get the game but it is free to download and play. You can purchase ‘Happy Tickets’ from within the game to spend in the in game shop.
Although the ToyLogic developed title is Xbox Live’s first foray into free-to-play, it isn’t planned to be the last. Signal Studios’ Ascend: New Gods will rely on micro-transactions for its money, and is set to launch next year.
The free-to-play business model has been long used in the mobile industry but this is the first time it has been used on an Xbox title. Time will show how it plays out.
You can watch the trailer for Happy Wars below:
Five months since its release, Minecraft on the Xbox 360 is still selling 27,000 units daily. That’s an estimated 4 million copies sold, further solidifying the games legacy.
Valve’s Steam distribution service now sells software as well as games. The software is for games development. The products currently available on the store are ArtRage Studio Pro, CameraBag 2, GameMaker: Studio, 3D-Coat, 3DMark Vantage, 3DMark 11 and of course, Source Film-maker.
Halo 4 won’t be getting Kinect controls, says 343 Industries’ Frank O’Connor. His opinion is that while the motion sensor has its uses when it comes to the UI, controlling a core game is not what it’s for. Kinect will be used for Halo Waypoint however, which can be launched from in the game.
Reportedly, Arkane studios’ Dishonored will take over twenty hours to complete playing stealthily with killing no one. A brutal play through, killing anyone in your path, will take between 12 to 14 hours but that’s without exploring every nook and cranny, and knowing the solution to everything beforehand. It should take more thorough or inexperienced players longer than that.
PlayStation Europe is offering a month long internship to who ever can make the best game on LittleBigPlanet for the PS Vita. The best submission, as voted by a PlayStation judging panel, will be rewarded with a month-long internship at Swedish studio Tarsier. Games will be judged on gameplay, originality, and commercial appeal. The winner will eventually help work on official DLC for the game. To register an interest, go here.
A new mod has been developed for Crysis. The mod, StarCry, sees many different hit sci-fi shows making their way into the new user made campaign for the game. Franchises such as Stargate SG1 and Star Wars are featured in the mod.
Chasing Aurora developer, Martin Pichlmair, says that Nintendo is working hard to make the Wii U eShop friendly and open for independent developers. This opens up a whole new market with a new innovative console to work with.
World of Tanks official site, Wargaming.net, say that registration numbers have passed the 40 million mark. Players have been pouring into servers to check out the big 8.0 update, which overhauled WoT’s visuals and added proper physics. World of Tanks is one of the biggest free to play games in the world.
Cliff Bleszinski has announced he is leaving Epic. After two decades with the company he is moving on to expand his career. Whilst with the company he was responsible for games such as Jazzy Jackrabbit and the highly acclaimed Gears Of War series.
Bad Piggies, the Angry Birds spin-off from Rovio, shot to the top spot on the US iTunes App Store within three hours of launch. The firm said the game was the fastest chart-topper in the company’s history. The game is the third from the Finnish studio this year to hit the top spot within it’s first day of release. The other titles were Amazing Alex and of course, Angry Birds Space.
JOB OFFER
I woke up today feeling great, yes it was a work day, however work was now entwined in my life and I liked what I was doing with my life.
I arrived at Unity, sat down and began to go through the support cases. it got to about 13:00 and I was feeling hungry and ready for lunch when suddenly a small stapled stack of paper was placed next to me. for some reason I knew what it was. “Read it carefully and sign if you agree” I heard.
I slowly drew the document in front of me and began to read…
“TERMS OF CONTRACT”
This was it! My hard work and perseverance has paid off. I had been offered the full time position!
Of course I was not a game designer, time to make games! No, I was a support specialist, dealing with tedious support issues and licence migration. I thought of it like this; I worked in a kitchen once and washed over 100 dishes a shift for 1 year, I got angry in my job because I wanted to be a chef.
The chef said to me “To be a chef like me you must first wash the dishes, we have all done it!”
I knew from this life lesson I was now washing the dishes of the games industry! A great place to start my journey to becoming a successful game designer!
The GameCityNights festival is going nationwide. The event annually held in Nottingham it is now hitting the road.
The festival celebrates everything from the game world with previous keynote speakers from Crytek UK, Harmonix music systems and Sony London Studio.
This years event is sponsored by Edge Magazine, SimCity, Maxis, EA and more. Previous years the festival has had no financial support so to get such big names is a big step forward.
“After three years of Nights gigs in Nottingham and loads of brilliant guests and audience members, it seemed like a good time to share the love,” says Iain Simons, director of GameCity. “The one thing we love more than doing GameCityNights events is driving – so this really is the ideal combination for us”
More details of the event are soon to come – it’s guaranteed to feature many playable games, intimate talks and panels with industry icons. There’s also the GameCity Arcade: a free space for indie devs to put their games. All the games will also feature on Edge’s website.
“So if you’ve got something to say or a game to show, get in touch,” says Simons.
If you have been working on a game lately and are looking for a place to show it and get feedback from the public, this is a good time.
Dates and locations are below:
November 13: National Media Museum, Bradford
November 20: BFI Southbank, London
November 21: Dublin Science Gallery, Dublin
January 24: Antenna, Nottingham
January 29: Arnolfini, Bristol
January 31: Junction, Cambridge
February 5: MAC, Birmingham
February 22: Animated Exeter Festival
February 23: GEEK2013, Margate
February 25: Carriageworks, Leeds
February 26: FACT, Liverpool
For more details on the event go to nights.gamecity.org
Train2Game Students Aaron Reeve, Michael Wittington and Scott Williams have been featured in their local newspapers for being a part of the world record breaking game jam held at University of Bedfordshire in Luton.
You can see the articles in the links below.
Sevenoaks_Chronicle_September_2012
Southall Gazette September 2012
Woking Informer September 2012
Well done guys. Good luck with everything you do.
Whilst Train2Game were at Eurogamer over the weekend, they witnessed the beginning of the Zombie apocalypse.
The link below shows the picture evidence of these nightmare creatures with Train2Game
http://www.facebook.com/Train2GameEuroGamer2012
See everything Train2Game got up to at Eurogamer 2012
Not for the faint hearted!
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