Category Archives: education

Train2Game News: Student diaries – 06.11.12

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Amanda Blatch week 6

So for my diary this week. To be honest with you my memory is a little bit shoddy, especially when the cold weather hit and my body seems to have started shutting down into a weird state between wanting to hibernate, and needing to stay functional. However despite needing to do that, in the few minutes it took me to write that opening paragraph in my morning-daze, I have been sipping at my coffee and recollecting my thoughts of the past week.

I do remember finishing off some work from the previous week of a couple of characters who just needed to be cut out, rigged and imported in game. Luckily I was able to finish that lot in an hour or so before moving onto daunting and important piece for the game; The Splash Screen. As most of you know, the splash screen is a pretty bit of artwork that advertises the game and is one of the first points of call for the player when they load their freshly download game from the app store. So to me that is pretty important task as an artist and I, admittedly, often judge a game based on its opening. To me it shows that if developers are putting that much care and attention into an opening sequence and/or image for a game, then the rest of the game would surely receive that sort of treatment as well. So daunting. But I got to work and got a lot of input from everyone in the studio to find that ‘perfect’ medium that would make the majority happy. It took a little while to get right, but we got there in the end and were able to create a splash that seemed to sit well with everyone. And that was pretty much my week! It got rounded off nicely with another bit of character work for our tutorial guide which I managed to get all done in about half a day (whooo setting new records for myself!) to our designer’s standards. But that is about it, so enough of this writing thing for now and back to the work!

Craig Moore

Student Diary

Week 49

Not a great deal has changed since last week; it’s been a heavy week of work and a weekend of T2G coursework, to come, for me.

We had a big push in regards to presentation of the game this week, title screen has gone in and work on the font has happened. I have also begun adding music and sound which helps to make the game more fleshed out and actually feel like a *thing*. The biggest hurdle now is really improving the players experience within the game.

As it currently stands things are a little choppy, there are some key elements missing that enable the player to know what they are doing, where to go, what to do etc.. And these all need going in and making clear and incredibly approachable. The biggest hurdle is making sure everything is represented, and with mobile devices it all needs to be done with little real estate.

Getting this done is a major hurdle for me, I’m really pushing myself to do everything that’s being asked of me and it is incredibly stressful, I don’t want to let anyone down and failing is my worst fear. I just have to try my best not to let it get the best of me and fight through the pressure.

Never Give up

Craig

Ezekiel Morris – Developers Diary

Well this week I’ve been animating again, all of my character animations are complete so

at this point I wasn’t sure if there was any work for me. I have finished my tasks for the week and I thought there was no more animation left to do but that’s a lie because there is more animation and animation always takes time, you can’t rush it.

When you start to see what’s needed it looks simple at first but it’s not, I find it annoying when I’m working on these animations for hours and hours and it looks the perfect in your eyes but you get told that the animation is good but it’s too short so add a bit more or it’s getting there keep working on it, so I pause and do this in my mind Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Rage quit.com. I can’t wait to finish the game particularly can’t wait to relax and chill but hold on I can’t chill I’m working late again yayyy!!!

Finally I found something that will make my life easier and that’s iclone5, it’s a real-time animation program. I want my workflow to be efficient and simple no worries, no stress and doing it in iclone5 is the real deal I don’t use iclone5 at D R Studios and it wouldn’t work for this project, animating it manually is a skill to learn.

Matty WS week 47

Week47 went by very fast, got a lot of work in, and stayed late a few times again. The weeks are merging together now and time flies by, its winter time now essentially! That would make it my second winter here, so I’ve been here a long time now. I think I’ve been exposed to a lot of hard work and late nights and I’ve so far gained a massive insight in to what it’s like to work in the games industry. Even now every single thing I’ve done has been a learning curve, I’ve used many programs that I’ve not used before and I’ve done a lot more 2D work here than I have done in my entire life, albeit that isn’t much. 😛 Either way though I’ve also learned that it’s not an easy job. I also haven’t only worked on games since I’ve been here, there has been a few other projects that weren’t to do with games at all!

Since I started in September last year it’s been a great experience that I hope will continue for a lot longer. I could never go back to working in retail or any other boring/manual labour job after working here, I can only see myself going forward and getting better with every game asset or document I produce, slowly but surely working my way up the ladder of what seems to be my choice of career, chosen when I was still in school. I’d like to think I’ve done rather well considering I haven’t gone to uni and even dropped out of college, and it’s just proof that you can do what you want regardless of official education, it’ll just be harder to get there.

Anyways, I’m gunna go home and play some games. Till next week!

Matty WS

Train2Game News: Adorable TED talk

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This is an incredibly cute talk taken from TED. The video was brought to my attention by a member of the Train2Game forum.

It is a talk by a Dad and his young daughter about the game they made together at a weekend game jam.

They make some very excellent points together in a heart melting way.

You can enjoy the video below:

Train2Game News: Teenager gets massive funding

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A teenager from London has recieved incredible funding for the app he has developed.
This is a nice reminder that unique ideas still make good money and there is unlimited potential in making apps.

You can read the story in the link below:

17-year-old Londoner receives more than $1m in funding from investors.

Train2Game News: Dire Consequences for App Store

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After eleven months in development, Derp Studios game has hit the App Store. The game was made for the Make Something Unreal Live contest in April this year.

Following on from the 2011 Game Jam four teams went on to compete in the Make Something Unreal live which took place at The Gadget show in April. The four teams were the winners of the contest, Commando Kiwi, A team I was a part of, Digital Mage, Indigo Jam and Derp Studios.

From January to April the teams worked relentlessly on their games which were based on the Fighting Fantasy IP of Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. The books from the series in particular that were chosen was: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, Armies Of Death, Deathtrap Dungeon and Citadel of Chaos. The last of these is the book Derp Studios worked on.

The game, Dire Consequences, is a first-person action game by Derp Studios, and sees players take on waves of enemies to collect souls and progress their character for new spells. The game is currently only available for iOS devices.

The Gadget Show Live was a life defining moment for many of the Train2Game students involved, including myself and having to do some research in to the whole event to fill in some gaps in my memory was a lovely journey. I am so pleased one of the teams got their game uploaded as they were all amazing games and the whole event really kick-started our careers.

A massive congratulations to Derp Studios and I urge all those with access to an iOS device to go and download the free game immediately!

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio talks to Chloe Martin

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You can hear the interview here:

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1037414-train2game-students-chloe-talks-to-mark-on-t2g-radio

or read the transcript below:

Hello, could you tell me your name please?

Hi my names Chloe Martin

 

What course are you taking?

I’m currently studying Game Art & Animation

 

How did you find the experience of the world record winning game jam and how did it feel to win?

I found the experience unforgettable and it has really made an impact on me, rubbing shoulders with a wealth of knowledge. Being thrown into the deep end with people I had never met before and creating a team and a playable game was just overwhelming let alone winning the competition.

 

After finding out the theme, how did you get the idea for your game, Royal Rush?

We chucked around lots of ideas, mainly focusing on the theme but kept it as simple as possible, taking into account what the platform was and how to make it easy as possible to make within the time we got. We chose the final idea from working out which mechanics would be easy to develop, considering we only had one programmer, and making it as fun as possible. The idea came from an old-school game called Frogger. Trying to avoid traffic with a sense of urgency which gets players really excited.

 

Some people may know we worked together at The Gadget Show Live after winning the 2011 Game Jam. What do you think makes a winning game?

I think the limited time the Game Jam has, it needs to be as simple as possible but flexible enough to expand if you have time. Make sure the game is easy as possible to understand. However I think the enjoyment is a major factor, you need to grab the players attention, make them excited when playing so they want to come back to it again and again. Let’s not forget having a great time behind the scenes!

 

Who inspires your art work?

I love fantasy and technical design work. I don’t have a favourite at any one time. I get a lot of my inspiration from fellow students on the Train2Game course.

 

What is the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done in your life?

I would say probably the Game Jams run by Train2Game. Everyone of these events I have been to has been a great experience and I have learnt so much and met some great people.

 

What is your reason for getting into the gaming industry and how will the gaming industry change your life?

I just love games, being part of making ideas come to life for people to get enjoyment from the experience in games just gives me such a buzz. It has already changed my life being part of this course, it has opened up so many experiences; meeting people who inspire me, creating games from scratch and seeing people play your game and enjoying it is a great satisfaction that I want to take to the top.

 

What is your greatest ambition?

My greatest ambition is to inspire people with my work and to be part of the future of gaming.

 

What’s next for you and your career?

Well I am determined to find a job in the gaming industry in 2013.Successfully finish my course and work on improving the game Royal Rush ready for Windows 8 Marketplace.

 

What’s your story, what are the past experiences that have shaped your life?

I think the main reason is being brought up with the games consoles and the satisfaction of learning how to play a game and how the game makes you feel when you’re consumed in it. To this day I still think back on the games that made my childhood amazing. Before this I never thought games was a career I guess. I studied and enjoyed art through most of my education and one day just put my love of games and my talent together. It has opened up this path for me. My passion for games has driven me to what I want to become in the future.

 

Thank you very much Chloe. Good luck with everything you do in the future.

Thank you for having me.

The game Royal Rush will be available on all Windows 8 devices.

Train2Game News: Eurogamer reports on Game Jam

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With the release of Windows 8 and the student games being published on the Store, Eurogamer has done a story on the World Record Game Jam.
You can read the article below

The Microsoft-sponsored game jam

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio talks to Jonny Robinson

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You can listen to the interview at

http://audioboo.fm/boos/1030916-train2game-student-talks-to-mark-kingdon-on-t2g-student-radio

or read the transcript below:

 

Hello, I am here with Jonny Robinson from Milton Keynes, how you doing Jonny?

I’m doing very well thanks how is yourself?

I’m very good thank you, Could you tell me what course you’re on?

I’m on the Games designer course.

What is the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done in your life?

Winning the Gadget Show, that was quite cool, the Make Something Unreal Live 2012. Pretty exciting times with Epic!

What is your reason for getting in to the gaming industry and how will the gaming industry, change your life?

I wanted to get in the gaming industry when I was very young, it’s one of those things that I explain a lot to my friends that when I was young I used to put the gaming industry on a pedestal. You know you kind of worship it, you want it so bad but then you realise, I don’t know if I can do that so you kind of dismiss it for years. I then saw this course advertised in the news paper and I thought, you know what – I’ll give it a shot, it’s an online course I can do it in my own spare time and when I actually did the course I felt a lot more confident in myself. I felt I should share my experience with people so I did a lot of Train2Game promoting for the design course because it helped me a lot with my confidence and so really I would say it is one of the best decisions I have ever made so far.

After you earn your Train2Game diploma, what would be your greatest ambition in the industry?

Obviously get a full time job. I am also working with my team, the Commando Kiwi team, on a new project. I’ll chuck that out there as well, it’s the first time I’ve mentioned it. We are going to put something up on our Facebook very soon. We made a game for the Gadget Show which was “The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain” on the iOS and now we are taking a further step into the industry with the Unreal Engine, as that’s what we won at the Gadget Show. I can’t really say to much but we are on the fronts of making this new game.

What platform is the game going to be on?

At the moment we are going to stick to our current market and go with iOS but there has been hints with the team for Steam as well.

What genre is it going to be?

That’s stuff I am keeping reserved, I will let you know the scoop when I am ready to release the information.

What is your story, what are the past experiences that have shaped your life to who you are today?

Being where I am at the right time I suppose and just keep on striving for success, keep your head up and just keep going. I wouldn’t say anything has altered me, I would just say it’s the path I have been led on, you know, by destiny or whatever you want to call it but so far, if it is so called destiny, it has led me down a fine route, I have met some really interesting people.

I also know you have a blog to help fledgling designers get in to the industry, what inspired you to start that?

I have been doing video diaries for a long time and I know there are a lot of blogs out there like Gamasutra, they make some really incredible articles. I realised that there are not many from a student point of view that’s actually been in the industry and tasted that addiction as I like to call it. You know once your in the industry you kind of feel like an over whelming sense of adrenaline and I just feel like if I need to keep blurting my mind out there to people saying you need to get in this industry, it’s amazing! I’m doing whatever I can as it’s not programming or art its more design and it is a very niche market. I can guarantee you, you ask any designer and you say, what does it mean to be a game designer? What skill sets do you have? Every designer will tell you something completely different and that’s what I am trying to get across in my blogs. You have to be really open minded to be a designer and really blend your key skills to the actual studio themselves.

That leads me quite nicely on to my last point, what advice would you give to someone looking to get in to the games industry?

First of all, attend Game Jams, that’s the first one. I know Train2Game just did one with Microsoft and I attended one last year that was with Epic. The second I would recommend is trying to talk to people in the community, go on the Train2Game Forums and just generally create games. No one ever says in the industry who have you worked for, they say what experience have you got?

If people want to read more about it, where can people find your blog?

My website is www.ironcore1.wordpress,com

Thank you very much Jonny and keep us updated on all things Commando Kiwi

No problem, thank you very much for your time Mark, Ta-ra!

Train2Game News: DR Student Diaries – 22.10.12

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The latest student diaries from Craig Moore, Matty Wyett-Simmonds, Ezekiel Morris and Amanda Blatch can be found in the link below.There has been more hard work and the return of an old friend.

Train2Game Student Diaries Dateline 22 October 2012

Train2Game News: Dan Gent on BBC Radio

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A teenager from Alferton who is paralysed from the shoulders down after a car accident is now fulfilling his dream to be a games designer. 17 year old Daniel Gent has been Tetraplegic for nearly 3 years but with a lot of determination and the help of voice recognition technology he is following a distance learning programme through Train2Game and is already making his own games.

BBC Radio Derby’s Emma Wotts went to meet Daniel and he told her how difficult life was after the accident.

Daniel: My thoughts in my head for the first 6 months weren’t that great. I wasn’t myself, I didn’t know what my future was. It was hard to decide after my accident. I could feel more now than I could before but at the time I didn’t really see a future. Breaking my neck in three places made me think it would be impossible. Meeting people with similar injuries and how they carried on and how they were getting on with their life made me want to push towards something and carry on with my family. Not living off the Government but supply, supporting and giving my family what they need.

 

Emma: What do you think that turning point was? What was that moment when you thought, I need to do something?

Daniel: It was more when I was first introduced to my daughter at the time when my partner was pregnant I didn’t really see a future, I couldn’t see myself as being a father. I didn’t really want her to have a Dad that was, as I am paralysed from the neck down. When I first met her it kinda changed everything, I wanted to be the dad that every dad wants to be.

 

Emma: And hopefully now you will be able to earn money or be able to provide for your family. How important is this to you?

Daniel: It’s going to change a lot of things, I get quite a lot of depression and feeling down but when these things happen such as the game jam when I went to that it changes a lot of your perspectives on life and it just made me want to carry on doing what I am doing. I just see it as a dream working with certain people such as Microsoft and meeting the people I did. It never would of happened without Train2Game.

 

Emma: How do you feel now about the future?

Daniel: Now I see it being a lot brighter and a lot more doors are opening from all wider areas, it’s going to change a lot of things. I can see my future well worth staying around for. I can just say it has given me a reason to carry on.

 

Emma: What would you say to anyone else who has been through what you have who thought they wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything in the future. Someone who’s really down about their life as you did just 3 years ago. What would you say to them?

Daniel: Whether you are disabled or if you suffer from depression you are going to go through a lot of doors and sometimes it isn’t going to be what you want but you will find that right door and everything is going to open up and you’ll see the future is a lot different. It’s not going to come to you naturally. You aren’t going to wake up in the morning and it’s going to be there. You’ve got to go out there and grab it as you can. I would say volunteering for anything you can just to get yourself motivated and take your mind off things. I found that a lot more useful, being active and going out more. If you are inside then that is where it is mostly going to depress you. Life is not going to be easy but you can make it easy.

Broadcast on BBC Radio Derby 18 October 2012 – audio available via http://audioboo.fm/train2game

www.train2game.com

 

Train2Game News: Games industry jobs – 17.10.12

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Developer

SEGA are looking for a mobile games engineer for their studio in the Midlands.

Studio Overview:
Hardlight is SEGA’s third UK based studio and is focused exclusively on creating high quality, innovative game experiences for mobile and handheld platforms.

The Studio comprises small, agile teams working on new IP & well-known SEGA IP. Project durations are 5-10 months, with their first projects due for late 2012.

The team follows an ethos of staying compact, agile and focused – combining talent from a variety of game genres and backgrounds, and welcomes applications from candidates of all levels of experience.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Work with other members of the team on creating high quality mobile titles
  • Implement game features in partnership with artists and designers
  • Learn and help develop various areas of features going into mobile handheld titles
  • Constantly develop your skillset and experience in the mobile space

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

  • Development experience in C/C++
  • Experience developing titles for mobile devices (either independently or as part of a larger studio)
  • Comfortable with game design and implementation
  • Examples of own demos, with source code, very beneficial dependent on past professional experience

Pluses:

  • Passion for computer games highly advantageous
  • Development experience with C# or HTML5
  • Knowledge of OpenGL ES and other graphical development libraries

You can find out more HERE.

Art

Fullfat Games are looking for a UI Artist for their studio in Coventry.

Position Overview:
• This position involves designing and creating 2D Artwork and Graphics for the UI Interface as well as other 2D items on various mobile and console platforms, which include Wii, DS and iphone.

Key Responsibilities:
• Working with the entire Development team to design and implement focussed, practical solutions within a realistic time frame.
• Design Icons and logos within the style constraints of the product.
• Work efficiently and at a speed representative of the platform.
• To be responsible for all 2D art aspects of any given project
• Be able to create all levels of Art from palette controlled pixel sprites up to hi Res Marketing Assets.

Skills and Experience:
• Excellent 2D background, including ideally pixel work.
• Use of Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Willing to work with Engineers to work within the technical limitations of the platform.
• Self Organised and willing to participate in team meetings.
• The ability to draught out a variety of concepts styles at speed to fit within the design constraints before game assets are created.

You can find out more HERE.

 

QA

Fullfat games are looking for a Mobile Test Engineer for their studio in Coventry. They unfortunately had no information on the position on the website but you can email them and find out more from HERE.