Category Archives: Developer

Train2Game News: Mass Effect 3 producer praises benefits of modding for aspiring developers

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game students looking to show that they have that little bit of extra dedication in attempting to break into the games industry should be building and finishing mods.

That’s according to BioWare producer Michael Gamble, who is currently focusing on Mass Effect 3 DLC.

Speaking to the BioWare Blog, he said building a fully working mod shows potential employers that you can finish something that you’ve started.

“Work on a lot of mods and finish them. This shows that you have the rigor to complete something you have started, and gets you working in a team environment.” said Gamble.

“Developing mods will also show you what it’s like to pour your heart into a creative work, and to expect nothing in return!” he added.

The BioWare producer’s advice is almost identical to what id Software creative director Tim Willits has previously told The Train2Game Blog.

“What I suggest to people who want to get in the industry is find their favourite engine – Unreal, Source, it doesn’t matter, id tech – find whatever engine they like, what games they like to play, get the mod tools and make a mod.” he said.

“And make sure they complete it! Lots of times we have people who send resumes’ in with 20 half completed mods; we don’t want that, we want a handful of one’s that are actually done, and that’s really important.” Willits added.

There’s more advice from industry professionals right here on The Train2Game Blog, while be sure to keep reading for the latest news from BioWare.

What are your thoughts on the advice from BioWare producer Michael Gamble? Are you already following it?

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

Train2Game News: Aliens: Colonial Marines delayed until 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game News recently reported that both Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite have been delayed until 2013, and now Gearbox Software and SEGA’s Aliens: Colonial Marines has suffered the same fate.

The game based on the classic film franchise was previously delayed from a spring release date to autumn, and now until next year. It’ll be released on February 12th 2013.

“I am thrilled to announce the definitive launch date for Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said President of Gearbox Software Randy Pitchford. “Aliens: Colonial Marines is the culmination of a life-time of inspiration from the films and relentless passion and drive from the exceptionally talented development team behind the scenes.”

“We knew this game would be incredible from the moment Gearbox began developing Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said  SEGA Senior Vice President of Marketing for Gary Knight,  “Now that the title is in its final stretch of development, we can confidently release the exact date that gamers will finally get to experience this blockbuster thrill-ride.”

Aliens: Colonial Marines is scheduled to appear at PC and indie gaming show Rezzed in July.

There’s more from Gearbox Software here on the Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the Aliens: Colonial Marines delay?

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

Train2Game News: Reminder – Blitz Games ‘meet the experts’ live stream tonight

Posted on by
Reply


Train2Game students can get advice from experienced industry professionals when Blitz Games host a live ‘meet the experts’ web chat at 6:30 p.m. this evening.

“Two of Blitz’s experienced programmers from our BlitzTech and R&D teams will be sharing their knowledge on a variety of topics aimed at aspiring newcomers to the industry as well as experienced coders looking to further their career in a new field or specialism.” reads the announcement on the Blitz website, suggesting that this session will be of particular interest to Train2Game game developers, who’ll be able to watch it here.

Will you be tuning in tonight?

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

Train2Game News: XCOM: Enemy Unknown developer diary discusses ‘modernising a classic’

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game students can get behind the scenes of XCOM: Enemy Unknown in the latest developer diary from Firaxis and 2K Games.

The new video, entitled ‘Modernising A Classic’ sees lead programmer Casey O’Toole speaking about developing XCOM: Enemy Unknown and how they’re bringing the classic strategy title into the modern age.

Watch the developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s more about XCOM: Enemy Unknown here.

What are your thoughts on the developer diary?

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

Train2Game news: Unreal Engine 4 unveiled by Epic Games

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game students can get a first glimpse at Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games in a huge feature published by Wired.  It contains the first details about the engine that’s hotly tipped to appear alongside next-gen consoles.

“There is a huge responsibility on the shoulders of our engine team and our studio to drag this industry into the next generation,” said Epic Games’ design director Cliff Bleszinski, who last month provided advice to Train2Game students during Make Something Unreal Live.

“It is up to Epic, and Tim Sweeney in particular, to motivate Sony and Microsoft not to phone in what these next consoles are going to be. It needs to be a quantum leap. They need to damn near render Avatar in real time, because I want it and gamers want it—even if they don’t know they want it.”

It isn’t the first time Bleszinski has called for Avatar like visuals for PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 consoles.

Epic Games founder Tim Sweeny is more reserved, but hints that they’ll have a hand in suggesting the performance for next-gen consoles.

“We’re much more in sync with the console makers than any other developer is. That means we can give detailed recommendations with a complete understanding of what is going to be commercially possible.” he said.

Read the huge Unreal Engine 4 feature and see images of what it looks like over at Wired.

There’s more Unreal Engine 4 news here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your initial impressions of Unreal Engine 4? What do you think it needs to bring to the table?

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

Train2Game news: Free-to-play “the only sustainable option” for MMOs say Turbine

Posted on by
1

Train2Game Blog readers will have noticed how many MMOs have switched from being subscription based to a free-to-play model, including Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeon and Dragons Online.

And Turbine has told games.on.net that free-to-play might now be the only sustainable model for MMOs.

“The great thing about F2P is that it makes it a lot easier for players to check out the game or even come and go from another game,” said the unnamed interviewee.

“We continue to have hundreds of thousands of players in DDO every month and I doubt that could be the case if we were in a classic subscription model. It also allows different players to spend more or less in the game and everyone can contribute to the community in different ways and we can focus on improving the service for everyone. Overall it was and continues to be a great change for our game.”

“Is it sustainable? We would argue that it might be the only sustainable option.” they added.

Of course, the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic and the continued success of World of Warcraft suggests there’s still some life in subscription MMOs yet.

There’s on free-to-play here on The Train2Game Blog.

What do you think is the future for MMOs? Will everything end up free-to-play? Or will there still be a demand for subscription based games?

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

Train2Game News: Go behind the scenes of Epic Mickey 2 in developer diary from Junction Point

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game students can get behind the scenes of Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two in a brand new developer diary from Junction Point.

Creative Director Warren Spector and the rest of the team discuss subjects including making a game “worthy” of the Disney name, how introducing co-op with Oswald changes Epic Mickey, the advantages of now building the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and much more.

Watch the Epic Mickey 2 The Power of Two developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s more about Epic Mickey here .

What are your initial impressions of Epic Mickey 2? What do you think are the challenges of building a Disney game?

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

Train2Game News: New Batman: Arkham City video focuses on sound design

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game students can get behind the scenes of Batman: Arkham City’s audio design in a new developer diary from Rocksteady Studios and Warner Brothers.

Making Batman Arkham City : Inside Rocksteady Studios. ‘Sound Effects’ comes ahead of Harley Quinn’s Revenge Pack being released at the end of this month.

The video features Game Director Sefton Hill, foley artist John Roesch and Audio Director Nick Arundel discussing  how sound was created for Batman: Arkham City. Discover things like how the sounds of Mister Freeze being punched in the face, or that of gunfire, were produced to sound as realistic as possible.

Watch the video below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s more about Batman: Arkham City here.

What are your thoughts on the work behind sound effects in Batman: Arkham City? How important is sound in game design?

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

Train2Game news: Tribes: Ascend passes 1 million downloads in less than a month

Posted on by
Reply

Train2Game Blog readers may have read this post at the end of April, about free-to-play shooter Tribes: Ascend reaching 800,000 players in its first weeks of release.

Well, the growth didn’t stop there, with developer Hi-Rez revealing Tribes: Ascend has reached 1.2 million downloads since its release on 12th April.

“We’re thrilled that over 1 million gamers have discovered the fast-paced and skill-based gameplay of Tribes,” said Hi-Rez Studios COO Todd Harris. “It is truly the player support of the title that has driven the population growth and fuels our team to deliver updates.

“We see the community expanding primarily thru positive word of mouth. Since release we’ve already recognized seven players who have each individually referred over 500 new people to Tribes: Ascend.”   he continued.

“The game’s success allows us to give back to the community through free DLC updates, tournament events and expansion into new markets in coming months.”  Harris added.

As previously reported by The Train2Game Blog, the Hi-Rez COO believes free-to-play is the best business model for both studios and gamers.

There’s more on the rise of free-to-play here.

Are you playing Tribes: Ascend? What are your thoughts on the success of the game?

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

Train2Game News: Tomb Raider delayed until 2013 to allow extra development time

Posted on by
1

Tomb Raider reboot Train2Game blog image

Train2Game News listed Tomb Raider, the series reboot from Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix, as one of the most anticipated games of 2011. Obviously, it didn’t appear in 2011, and in fact, won’t be released until the first quarter of 2013.

The announcement came on the Eidos forum

“When Crystal Dynamics first set out to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise, there were two goals that we were extremely passionate about. The first was to create a modern Tomb Raider game that would surprise and excite gamers. The second was to make this the best game of our careers, something we would be really proud to be a part of. We truly believe that we have something very special on our hands and we can’t wait to share it with you.” said Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher

The reason behind the delay, much like that of Bioshock Infinite’s, is to allow the development team more time to take the best game possible.

“Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.” Gallagher continued.

“We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.” he concluded.

There’s more Tomb Raider news on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the Tomb Raider delay? Disappointed you won’t get to play it this year, or relieved you won’t be playing something that’s been rushed?

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