Category Archives: Developer

Train2Game news: Skyrim mods downloaded over 13.6 million times using Steam

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Train2Game News reported that in February, two million The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim had been downloaded since the release of Skyrim Worksop on Steam.

Now, Bethesda has announced Skyrim Steam mods have topped 13.6 million. Modding is a great way for Train2Game students to show off their skills, with Ubisoft’s Adrian Lacey last week telling us that the Ghost Recon team features a number of former modders.

The Train2Game Blog has previously shown you some of the stranger Skyrim mods, including ones that let you turn Dragons into My Little Pony or “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and a mod that turns Mudcrabs into Futurama’s Doctor Zoidberg.

If you want to get involved with the Skyrim modding scene, but are unsure where to start, can watch this helpful Skyrim Creation Kit tutorial video from Bethesda. You can also look at this thread on the Train2Game forum in which students are sharing their own Skyrim mods.

There’s much more about modding here on The Train2Game Blog,

Are you involved in the Skyrim modding scene?

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

Train2Game News: “Free-to-play is the best model for gamers and studios” says Tribes: Ascend studio chief

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Free-to-play is the best business model both for development studios and gamers. That’s according to Hi-Rez COO Todd Harris, who has recently seen his studio release Tribes: Ascend.

As reported by The Train2Game Blog, the free-to-play shooter with an old school feel has reached over 800,000 users in the weeks since it launched.

“It’s really our belief that for an online multiplayer game, particularly, free-to-play is the best model for gamers and for studios,” Harris told Gamasutra.

” We really saw the potential in free-to-play, for gamers and for studios. With Tribes: Ascend, we really wanted to do a AAA, free-to-play game that’s the level of production, polish and gameplay that we were shooting for. Fortunately, reviews have been good.” he continued, adding that despite the free-to-play model, Hi-Rez has ensured Tribes: Ascend isn’t “pay-to-win”

“Our philosophy is to focus first on making a fun an engaging game, second, by making it free you create a large audience to play the game.” said Harris.

“And third, you implement the store so that it doesn’t give any gameplay advantage to a paying player, but it gives a time advantage or a prestige advantage — the latter in the form of cosmetic skins.” the Hi-Rez COO added.

Earlier this year, Brawl Busters developer Rock Hippo told The Train2Game Blog that the advantage of free-to-play is it allows them to reach a much larger audience.

There’s more about free-to-play and its impact on the games industry, here on The Train2Game Blog.

Do you agree with the statement that free-to-play is the best model for gamers and studios?

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

Train2Game news: Get behind the scenes of Diablo III in new developer diary

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Train2Game students can get a look behind the scenes of the upcoming Diablo III in this new developer diary from Blizzard.

Game director Jay Wilson, and art director Christian Lichtner and Lead programmer Jason Regier discuss Inferno Difficulty, release expectations for Diablo III, PvP, their excitement about making the game and more.  Watch the Diablo III developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

Previous developer diaries from Blizzard can be seen on the Diablo YouTube channel.

As reported by The Train2Game Blog, the recent Diablo III open beta weekend attracted 300,000 simultaneous players.   The full-game is released for PC on Tuesday 15th May.

There’s more Diablo III news here.

What have you learned from the developer diary from Blizzard? Are you looking forward to Diablo III?

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

Train2Game news: Fable Heroes developer diary gives insight into life at Lionhead

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Train2Game students can get an insight into life at Guildford based studio Lionhead thanks to a Fable Heroes developer diary. The XBLA game is released on Wednesday 2nd May.

The video explains how Fable Heroes started life as part of Lionhead’s yearly ‘creative day,’ before the project was given the go ahead. The multiplayer XBLA title has been developed by a team of five people. Watch the Fable Heroes developer diary below.

Lionhead Head of Art Paul McLaughlin gave tips on how to be a great games artist earlier this year, you can read his advice here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on Fable Heroes? How positive is it that Lionhead are letting younger developers work on their own projects like this?

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

Train2Game news: Witcher 2 developer diary discusses additions for Enhanced Edition

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Train2Game students can get an insight behind the scenes of The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings in a newly released developer diary from CD Projekt. The game took top spot in the UK Charts this week.

The video sees the team discuss how they added new content to the enhanced edition based on fan feedback, before moving onto talking about the new characters, quests and locations they’ve added. Watch The Witcher 2 developer diary below.

For more about the development of The Witcher 2, read The Train2Game Blog interview with CD Projekt Environment Artist Marek Ziemak. There’s more news about The Witcher 2 here.

What are your thoughts on the new developer diary from CD Projekt? Have you been playing The Witcher 2?

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

Train2Game news: Mobile developers “ignore Android at your own peril”

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Train2Game students looking to develop mobile games would be best producing them for both iOS and Android devices.  That’s according to mobile developer Mobile Deluxe, in an article posted on Gamasutra.

“Ignore Android at your own peril! Planning an iOS only release strategy is short-sighted and disastrous in the long run.” said Mobile Deluxe’s Sean Thompson.

“Android is too big of an opportunity to leave undeveloped. There are ample resources out there providing best practices for developing for both iOS and Android.”

Towards the end of last year, The Train2Game Blog reported that Android app downloads had topped six billion, a number which will now be even higher. 2011 saw Android significantly increase its user base, closing down on Apple and their iPhone and iPad.

The full Gamasutra piece therefore very much worth a read for Train2Game students.

Keep up to date with the latest Android news here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the report? Is developing for Android on your radar?

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

Train2Game news: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier trailer showcases Kinect and mobile functionality

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Train2Game students can get a glimpse at how Ubisoft’s upcoming Ghost Recon: Future Soldier utilises Kinect and a mobile app in a new, somewhat tongue-in-cheek trailer. As previously reported by The Train2Game Blog, Ubisoft see a ‘bright future’ in Kinect.

The Gunsmith trailer shows off how you can build your own weapons using the Xbox 360’s Kinect functionality, or even a smartphone app when you’re away from the console. Watch it below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is currently in closed beta, with the game scheduled for full release for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on Friday 25th May, with a PC version arriving on Friday 15th June.

There’s more Ghost Recon news here on The Train2Game Blog, including our interview with the development team at last year’s Gamescom.

We recently spoke to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Creative Director Jean-Marc Geoffroy and Ubisoft IP development director Adrian Lacey about getting into the industry, with their advice to Train2Game students to be published soon.

What are your thoughts on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s Gunsmith trailer? And what do you think about both Kinect and mobile integration?

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

Train2Game news: Gabe Newell praises advantages of fan feedback to developers

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Fan feedback is one of the greatest assets available to game developers. That’s according to Valve co-founder and managing director Gabe Newell in an interview with Seven Day Cooldown.

“What I think is best for the industry is that games developers used to be very far away from their customers,” said Newell.

“Nowadays you can have a game developer talking to a customer while they’re playing a game and fix an issue, or improve the experience, and do that in a matter of hours, if not minutes.”

Game developers often use beta tests to get fan feedback ahead of full game releases.

The Valve co-founder said fan-feedback about video games provides better opportunities to make customers happy than it does feedback about films.

“Steven Spielberg is pretty much screwed. By the time he gets feedback on his movie, it’s too late. He’s done. Everything he could do to make customers happy, he’s lost that opportunity by the time he can get reactions from his customers.”

“The closer developers are to their customers, and the more the line blurs between both, that gives us a gigantic advantage over any other entertainment field.” Newell added.

Listen to the full Gabe Newell interview on the Seven Day Cooldown podcast.

Train2Game students can get some great advice from Gabe Newell about being successful by focusing on your customers here on The Train2Game Blog. You can also get a fantastic insight to life at Valve thanks to the recently published online employee handbook

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

What are your thoughts on Newell’s comments about fan feedback? Is getting more and more important in game development?

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

[Source: Develop]

Train2Game news: Paradox CEO to take questions in Warlock: Master of the Arcane live stream

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Train2Game students can get an insight behind the scenes of Paradox Interactive’s Warlock: Master of the Arcane, when CEO Fredrik Wester hosts a live stream tomorrow.

The Paradox Interactive CEO will also be taking questions from viewers, meaning you could potentially pick up some great advice.

The live stream will begin on Thursday 26th April at 19:00 (20:00 CEST) on Paradox Interactive’s official Twitch.tv channel http://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive

Warlock: Master of the Arcane is described as” a turn based strategy game set in the fantasy world of Ardania, a planet divided between archmages and grand wizards – each convinced that they alone have the power to unite the world under the protection of their mighty spells.”

Players will build cities, research spells of creation, destruction and blessing and build armies to as they attempt to defeat their neighbours.

There’s more about Warlock: Master of the Arcane here on The Train2Game Blog. The PC strategy title is scheduled for release on Tuesday 8th May.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news from Paradox Interactive.

Will you be tuning into the Warlock: Master of the Arcane live stream? What would you ask CEO Fredrik Wester?

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

Train2Game news: Job interview advice from Crytek UK

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Train2Game students often apply for jobs in the industry. So, for those fortunate enough to get interviewed for a full-time position in game development, here’s some excellent advice on echnique from Nottingham based Crytek UK, developers of Crysis 2 and the upcoming Homefront 2.

“Research the company you are applying for, know what business they are in, what games they make and what makes them good at doing this.” Crytek Lead Programmer Richard Semmons told Develop in their April recruitment spotlight, adding that potential employers are impressed if you know the company.

“We’re always impressed by people that have taken the time to understand why they want to get a job with us rather than just because it was a mail shot to every company out there.”

If getting interviewed for a job, Semmons suggests having questions to ask the staff conducting the interview is also helpful.

“Prepare questions. You will most likely be sat in front of leads or directors within the industry, these guys will have a wealth of experience and if nothing else comes of your interview, ask questions to further your development or understanding of the jobs you are going for.”

He added that if the developer has a free engine that’s out there to use, then you should definitely use it, in another example of how modding is great for aspiring game developers.

“The CryEngine Free SDK is out there for people to experiment with. You have a chance to demonstrate your interest in the engine, an insight into how we work and how we utilise our technology; take it!”

Develop’s recruiter hot seat is sure to make interesting reading for Train2Game students looking for a job in the industry; you can read it in full here.

There’s more helpful advice from industry professionals on how to give yourself the best chance of getting that all important first job here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the advice from Crytek? What interview advice would you give?

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