Category Archives: education

Train2Game students invited to take part in Tamarex Beta

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TamarexStudents studying with Train2Game are invited to troubleshoot title created by student studio Icey Monty.

Remember the Tamagotchi? Well Train2Game student studio Icey Monty are inviting you to try there take on the classic virtual pet, only this time the pet isn’t so cute and cuddly. On this title which is soon to be available on iOS, you take care of a hungry T-Rex; feeding, playing and also cleaning up after it, as it grows! Train2Game students will be the first to play the game in an online version which will be available to all students who register an interest and are kind enough to give the team feedback on what they think.

The Beta

The Beta testing stage will be the final step towards releasing the game on to iOS and will be open to students for around two weeks. Those who sign up for the Beta will be asked to create their own pet dinosaur and reply to the Icey Monty team with their feedback over the period.

This is a great chance to see what students on the course are producing and also to take part in a closed preview where you can contribute to a game soon to hit the market.

To sign up to the Beta, contact: beta@iceymonty.com

Tamarex

  • Tamarex is a fresh new take on the Tamagotchi games, combining enticing 3D environments with an engaging and unique pet dinosaur.
  • Bring your Tamarex to life through feeding, various forms of play, and even cleaning up after it!
  • Customisation options! Choose the name, and unique colour of your Tamarex.
  • Your Tamarex lives persistently, even while you are offline.

Icey Monty

The team is made up of three Train2Game students: Lee Sainsbury, Nick Walker and John Esslemont.

To find out more about Tamarex go to:

Website: www.iceymonty.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iceymonty

Tamarex will be released for iOS early in 2013

Train2Game News: Train2Game radio talks to Phil Stevens

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Phil StevensTrain2Game radio spoke to Phil Stevens today who is the Developer for Savage Seas Studios. You can find out more about the studio at their website here: http://www.savageseasstudios.com/

You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1160831-train2game-radio-host-mark-talks-to-student-phil-stevens

Or read the transcript below:

Hello everyone, I’m Philip Stevens. I’m from Paignton and I am on the Game Development course with Train2Game.

Hi Phil, how you doing?
I’m fine thanks Mark and yourself?

I’m very well cheers buddy
Good, Good

So tell me what’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life?
Well, I have quite a few. It’s a fairly long story that I will divulge in to a shorter one. I didn’t exactly have a good Secondary school life, so I spent a lot of my time playing computer games. I kind of felt it was the direction I wanted to go in, nothing at school really felt right. I mean I.T felt more like an Admin course than it did anything proper. There was no coding involved. There wasn’t even mention of code when I was at school. It wasn’t really until I got to college that I discovered I liked coding and Visual Basic. So when my mate said there was a games course called Train2Game that he’d seen on TV, he recommended I should have a look into it. I called them up and they came around a couple of months later and here I am now.

Yeah I can definitely relate to how you feel about I.T at school. I felt the same way, it really wasn’t anything.
It’s terrible.

What started you off coding then, was it just something you were doing at college was it?
Yeah it was one of the 3 courses we were doing over the terms and I was doing HTML, Visual Basic and Databases. My programming teacher, who was called Lydia, was extremely helpful and she gave me a few extra bits of code on paper for me to do in my spare time really. I got so in to it by the end of it, I was able to produce a game, cheatingly using game maker at the time for the games course. I got so in to it that I just couldn’t stop. I think it was during my second year at college that I started Train2Game as well and I was able to breeze through the advanced programming lessons thanks to the combination of College and Train2Game.

Ah that’s good.  You’re happy that you’ve got in to something you have a proper passion for then.
Yeah, Yeah definitely.

So what do you think is the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done in your life?
Um, in my life, not really much. Joining the course was definitely a leap obviously with so many people saying it’s a scam and all the problems that come with that and you realise oh I have just become part of a scam which thankfully, Train2Game isn’t. That was quite a relief when you do the research and you find out it’s not and you can calm down not worry about it and get back on with your work.

The second thing is what Jo mentioned. Me and Joanna both co-created Savage Seas Studios which is a small indie game studio consisting of Myself, Joanna, Chris Straver, Kieron Baker and Luke Jackson. We currently have one project under way which we are doing in our spare time.

So how did you and Jo meet up and decide to start to do it?
Playing on the Minecraft server that I think Craig Moore started on the forums and that’s how I met Sam Welsh, otherwise known as Indie and Jo and a couple of others. We got talking and we played Xbox a lot together, me Jo and Indie. That’s when we decided to create a texture pack for Gears Of War for Minecraft and whilst me and Jo were working on that we decided to take it one step further than a texture pack and start a studio since we worked quite well together.

Excellent, so Minecraft brings you together to make games together.
Yeah!

Very nice, well I think that’s all we have time for today Phil so thank you very much for your time.
That’s alright, thank you very much for interviewing me.

My pleasure!

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 16.01.13

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DEVELOPER

Job Title Graduate Programmer
Job Category Programming
Skills Required Programming
Location Yorkshire, North West

Job Description
Are you looking to join a creative games studio? Then look no further…

My client offers a relaxed and creatively charged atmosphere where talent can flourish. They pride themselves above all on the games they create and their appreciation of the people who create them.

Due to their recent success they are looking to add to their talented team with the addition of a Graduate Programmer.

Responsible For:
– Writing, debugging and maintaining computer code, often in, but not limited to, C/C++.
– Writing code in a human-readable style, using descriptive and accurate class, function and variable names, and comments where necessary.
– Carrying out other technical aspects of a project (for example running and maintaining build processes, setting up installers, providing technical information)
– Clearly and accurately communicating progress on, and problems with, your assigned tasks, and the project in general, to your lead programmer and / or producer.
– Assisting in the production of project milestones and schedules
– Carrying out assigned tasks within the time scheduled for them as agreed with your lead programmer / producer.
– Ensuring that your work integrates well with the work of other team members, and functions correctly as a part of the whole project.

Standards of Performance:

– All work should be performed accurately and in a timely fashion
– Producing good quality human readable code as noted above.
– Being pro-active with regards to problem solving
– Communicating progress accurately
– Taking an active interest in a project so as to ensure a smooth and error free development process.
– The improvement of the quality of the content required for Team 17 software, including but not limited to iterative play testing, reporting problems and addressing any quality shortfalls as requested.

Key Skills:
– Having the ability to solve technical problems
– Having an excellent working knowledge of programming language(s), particularly C/C++
– Have the personal skills and the desire to work as part of a team
– Be able to communicate clearly especially when relating to technical issues

How to Apply
For more details please contact Mark at: mark@aswift.com or 01709 834777

QA

Job Title Quality Assurance Tester – London
Job Category QA / Localisation
Skills Required QA Tester
Location Hammersmith, London, UK & Europe

 
Job Description
Capcom, Beeline is currently seeking a motivated QA Tester to join our London studio.The successful candidate will work with the QA team and the development team to ensure high quality bug free releases of our market leading games.

 
Required Skills:
Excellent attention to details, highly analytical
Self motivated with a professional work ethic
An excellent communicator both orally and written
Excellent organisational skills
Flexible (in regard to hours of work)
Proven decision making ability under pressure
Good understanding of business software applications (Excel, Word, Outlook)Familiarity with bug tracking software
Good command of the English language
Interest in games is essential

Desired Skills:
Previous experience in gaming QA whether console or mobile phones is desirable but not essential

Applicants must be able to start ASAP and will work from our studio in Hammersmith.

Please send applications with your CV to jobs@capcom.com

ART

Job Title 2D Artist for Smartphone Games – London
Job Category Art / Animation
Skills Required 2D / Concept / Texture Artist
Location Hammersmith, London, UK & Europe

 
Job Description
Capcom, Beeline is currently seeking a talented 2D graphic designer and animator to join our London studio. The successful candidate will work with the Lead Graphic Designer and Producer to design, create and animate graphical content for freemium social games.

Required Skills:
Ability to design appealing and original 2D game content.
Highly skilled in 2D animation.
High proficiency with Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator (or similar software).
Experience with isometric perspective.

Desired Skills
Adobe/Macromedia Flash.
Previous experience with graphics for mobile devices.
Previous experience working with a game development team or similar.
Audio experience; proficient with audio editing software.
3D modelling/animation skills: Maya or Blender.

Profile
High creativity and attention to detail.
Strong background in sketching, drawing and illustration.
Ability to work within a schedule.
Genuine passion for the video games industry, design and animation.
Team player with strong social and communication skills.
Willing to learn, cooperate with the developers and open to feedback.
Good English language skills.

Applicants must be able to start ASAP and will work from our studio in Hammersmith.

Please send applications with your portfolio to jobs@capcom.com

DESIGN

Job Category: Games and Level Design, Graduate, Web Development
Area: South East, East Midlands
Location: Chipston-on-Stour, CV36 4BA

GRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES AT GAZOOB
Entry-Level Game and App Developer

Description
We are looking for two full-time developers, designers, and programmers with an interest in game, web or app development. If successful you will join our small team working at the Gazoob offices in Shipston-on-Stour. This is a flexible role which will involve varied tasks and the ability to learn new skills while working. This will give any graduate the perfect opportunity to start building apps, games, websites as well as a job for themselves at a growing company.

About Us
Gazoob is a UK developer and publisher of education and young person friendly digital apps, eBooks and games. Based in the small town of Shipston-on-Stour we provide non-contentious and reliable content for young people from age five upwards. We want to provide a resource where parents can be sure of getting access to content that doesn’t contain anything inappropriate, is educationally sound or just plain fun. We’ve built a team of experts in their field to develop the best products as well as continually looking for new and exciting content to add to our portfolio.

About You
• You may have an interest in game design and experience using engines such as Unity,
• You might be a keen web or graphic designer with skills in Photoshop and Dreamweaver,
• Or you may have experience building professional quality mobile applications.
• You must be confident, enthusiastic, and a positive thinker.
• You will be able to see any job through to completion independently.
• You will have a degree level qualification in any field.
• You will have good time management and communication skills.
• You must be able to travel to the offices in Shipston-on-Stour on a daily basis.
Salary and working hours are negotiable.
We are not looking to work with agencies to fill these vacancies.

To apply
Please submit a full covering letter with supporting material, and CV to:
ed.harmer@gazoob.com

Train2Game News: Dust 514 Open Beta for PS3

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Dust 514CCP Games are doing an open beta on January 22 for their up coming game Dust 514. This is a great opportunity for Train2Game QA Testers to practice what they have learned.

CCP Games have announced that it will merge the servers for its space management simulator EVE Online and Dust 514, the PS3 shooter set in the same universe. By uniting both games, the way has been paved for Dust 514 to head into open beta.

The game is a PS3 exclusive so providing you have one you can download the game and enter the Beta which launches on January 22 for free.

Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP said in a press release “The launch of the Dust 514 open beta is another step towards our long-term vision for CCP and EVE. But this is just the beginning.  As we have done with EVE Online, in the coming weeks, and for years to come, we will continually improve upon and add to the Dust 514 experience, as well as add deeper integration between the two games and their communities”

There are no character resets planned, so anyone currently participating in the closed beta will be able to continue right as rain. In fact, those who’ve played at least one match before January 22nd will receive a 100,000 skill point bonus to take into the open beta.

CCP are very proud of the fact that this is the first integrated gameplay experience between two games that are not only of a different genre, but also exist on different platforms. Order an aerial bombardment on a PS3 game of Dust 514 and an EVE Online player might marshall the power of his PC to deliver the deadly barrage.

This is a very exciting and interesting new step in gaming. How well they do could see further platform crossing in the future.

Train2Game News: SpecialEffect 2013 Charity run

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specialeffect-runGaming charity SpecialEffect are gathering members of the UK games industry to enter the British 10K charity run, and inviting Train2Game students to join in.

The charity run will take place in London on 14 July so there is plenty of time to get in shape for the event if you are looking for a worthy goal to help shift those extra Christmas pounds!

SpecialEffect is facing growing demand for participants as this really event gets bigger and bigger, as such we would LOVE to beat the 75 runners it had in 2012 and get 100 participants taking over the streets of London! If you also wanted to make this event even more fun then do feel free to dress up as your favourite Video Game character to sprint through London in. You’ll be running with lots of representatives from the UK’s gaming industry and it’s a great chance to meet new people while taking part in a very positive event.

By committing to the event, all runners are asked for the registration price of £50 and to aim to raise £200 through sponsorship.

SpecialEffect is a very worthy cause to raise money for. Their goal is to help disabled people play video games through the development of specially made technology that make playing games easier for those who are less able or being treated for severe illnesses.

To find out more and to register for the event visit https://www.eventelephant.com/ee/events/pages/summary.htm?siteurl=specialeffect2013

You can enjoy the video of last years 10K run below

Train2Game News: Train2Game in 2012- October to December

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Train2GameThe last bit of this year has been just as busy as the rest, with Microsoft announcing that Train2Game are one of their sponsors for their new Power Up competition.

Train2Game are also offering a prize for the Power Up competition of a large amount of PR to make sure who ever wins will get a lot of attention from the industry and the public which will highly increase the winners job prospects.

Train2Game also attended this years Eurogamer.

In the Train2Game booth at Eurogamer the public was able to play the winning game from the World Record winning Game Jam, Royal Rush. The player that got the highest score on the game that day won a prize and of course bragging rights.

You can watch the video of Train2Games time at Eurogamer below:

It has been a pleasure to bring you all the news since I started back in September and I do hope you have all enjoyed reading it. I will continue to bring you all the latest news and updates from the industry we love and bring you many more interviews from fellow students and industry professionals.

Train2Game News: Train2Game in 2012 – July to September

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Guinness CertificateThe third quarter was probably the biggest for Train2Game, it was in September that we got in to the Guinness World Record books.

Microsoft sponsored the third Train2Game Game Jam in September and this one was the biggest game jam in the world with just under 300 participants.

It was also here that the Students got to test out Windows 8, before its release, for its game making potential. In the lead up to the Jam, students were put in to teams and worked together to learn how the operating system worked. Once at the 48 hour event they were raring to go and put what they had learned to the test.

When the event started the Students were given a theme to work from, following the great year England has had with the Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee it was only natural that the theme was Pride Of London. This turned out a number of great games and the majority of them have now been released on to the Windows 8 app store for all to play.

The winner of the event was a game called Royal Rush by a team known as Retro Metro. The game saw you play as a cyclist dodging the busy London traffic and picking up coins. It is a nice, fun addictive little game based on elements of the arcade classic, Frogger.

Retro Metro won quite a hefty prize including a new phone, a few games, Microsoft points and most importantly of all, a trip to Rare studios where they will be able to present their portfolio and get valuable advice.

You can relive or experience the event for the first time in the video below:

Train2Game News: Train2Game in 2012 – April to June

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Train2Game at Gadget Show Live gets a surprise visit from a Dr Who Dalek

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live gets a surprise visit from a Dr Who Dalek

The second quarter of 2012 was especially good for me as it was in April that The Gadget Show live was held.

The Make Something Unreal Live was possibly the biggest thing Train2Game had done up to that point. It brought much media coverage and gave the students involved a highly valuable experience.

The 4 teams at the event got to meet such industry professionals as CliffyB, then from Epic Studios, Peter Molyneux who had just launched 22Cans and Jon Hare the man behind Sensible Software,

The event started in November of 2011 following a Train2Game Game Jam which was sponsored by Epic. The top 4 teams from there then had 6 months to create a game which was to be released on the iOS store.

The games that were created were based on the Fighting Fantasy books. This gave the teams more time as it took story creation out of the equation and it already had an existing fan base to work from.

You can check out the video from the 2012 Make Something Unreal Live contest below:

Train2Game News: Train2Game in 2012 – January to March

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Train2Game2012 has been a good year for Train2Game and the students and I am going to take you through some of the best bits.

At the end of January some Train2Game students entered a game jam in Scotland.

The Scottish Game Jam is part of Global Game Jam 2012 and at the event Train2Game Art & Animation students Fiona Stewart and Corinna Bruce were winners of the Best Art Award at the Scottish Game Jam.

It was at this jam where the game Shplem was created and nominated for a BAFTA award.

The first quarter of the year was also the run up to the Make Something Unreal Live competition.

Four student studios: Commando Kiwi, Derp Studios, Digital Mage and Indigo Jam were working hard trying to get together their games which were based on the Fighting Fantasy books which would be displayed at The Gadget Show live in April.

It is a time I remember well as I was a proud member of Digital Mage and it was one of the greatest times of my life.

Possibly the most important part of early 2012 was the government announcing that they would implement the Games Tax Relief. Just the mere announcement of this has seen the games industry grow to new heights.

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio talks to Joanna Janse van Vuuren

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CEO of Savage Sea Studios with Megan Marie of Crystal Dynamics.

CEO of Savage Sea Studios with Megan Marie of Crystal Dynamics.

Today, Train2Game radio Spoke to CEO of Savage Sea Studios, Joanna Janse van Vuuren. Joanna tells us how the studio came together and how an illness led her to the gaming industry.

You can learn more about Savage Sea Studios here.

You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1122380-train2game-student-joanna-janse-van-vureen-talks-to-mark-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below:

Hi my name’s Joanna Janse van Vuuren, I’m on the Art & Animation course and I live in Brighton.

Hi Joanna, how you doing?
I’m doing great thank you very much.

Excellent. So tell me, what’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life and made you who you are now?
Uh, well, I’ve got quite a few of them! I’ve always loved Video Games since I was really small. I remember me and my sister got a really ancient Commodore 64 when we were little, we played it on a little black and white TV and then from there we got a PC. We played games like Age Of Empires 2 and Half Life and that’s what really got me in to gaming. From there, in my teens I got more energetic and I found out about Tae-Kwon-Do, it’s a martial art and I really love to kick people! So from there I went to Uni and did a sport and leisure management degree but unfortunately a couple of years in to it I got quite ill. I couldn’t do Tae-Kwon-Do any more because of the physical aspect of it so I spent a lot of time in bed or on my sofa, playing on my Xbox and I could see myself maybe doing something like that. After that I had a few basic jobs when I was healthy again. Shop jobs and call centres, all the kind of basic jobs. I definitely knew it wasn’t something I wanted to do in the future and then the Train2Game advert popped up in the news paper and I applied immediately.

Do you think you would maybe want to make a game about the old Tae-Kwon-Do and stuff?
Yeah, I’ve been considering it yeah but it’s a very fast sport, I’m not sure how it would work so much. I’ve been thinking about it and comparing it to games like Street Fighter and all those types of games because I used to love them when I was little. I think it’s just the violence of those sorts of things I like!

So What would you say the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done in your life is?
I think this entire year has been quite busy for me! A lot of things have happened. I’ve now started my own Tae-Kwon-Do school which gives me a lot of flexibility to work on my own coursework and portfolio and earlier this year which is probably the biggest thing I’ve done so far is me and Philip Stevens, who is on the developer course, have been playing around with a game idea for a while so we decided we wanted to make this game in to a proper product. So we started recruiting for some other students to help us out and that’s when we created our own studio, Savage Sea Studios.

So what’s the game idea you have been playing around with if you can say much about it?
Well we haven’t got a name for it at the moment. It’s still got a jokey code name at the moment which is, Project Trolling. It does have Trolls in it and some other things in it which I can’t reveal too much at this stage but it’s kind of like the old 2D pixel art games but with bringing more of a 3D aspect to the way it looks.

What sort of platform are you aiming for then?
At the moment we are just going to boot it on to the internet and then hoping when that’s sorted, because it’s our first game we want to develop and kind of continue our education of the game making process. So we are just taking it to the internet on your PC and maybe taking it to iPhone or Android.

What are you using to make the game?
We are using Game Maker Pro

How are you finding that?
It’s quite good. We have two developers that’s, Philip Stevens and Luke Jackson and they obviously do all the codey stuff for it and then there is me and another Artist Chris Straver and a designer who is Kieron Baker. We all work together because it’s quite a simple programme for us all to understand and it’s not to heavy on any of the game making process so we find it quite easy to use.

Finally, What is your greatest ambition and where do you want to go with your career?
Well I would quite like to get this game finished! It’s taking us a long while but obviously we have to balance our own jobs and personal lives and our coursework with studio work as well. All of us want to create a studio together where we would all get money and develop it up quite big or work in a big studio ourselves.

That’s fair enough! Thank you very much Joanna
Thank you very much for interviewing me.