Category Archives: education

Train2Game News: Craig Moore student diary: Week 44

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Its story time kids!

This week has been a bit of a mammoth task for me, it has been a case of completely planning and attempting to organise the full storyline for the game. It’s a bit of a new beast for me, taking to creating a narrative is something I have only really ever lightly touched on.

Being an arcade gamer at heart my story lines tend to start and end at ‘Save the Princess’ so embellishing on that and pushing my narrative skills has been a good exercise. Especially when considering the fact that I am working with quite a strict set of predetermined story lines it certainly stretches the old grey matter.

That has literally been my week, when I look at the work I have done it doesn’t sound like much, but making it all intertwine and essentially work takes up a great deal of time and trying to ensure it’s going to work best for the player is another world entirely!

Apart from that I have been knee deep in my Train2Game work, I’ve moved on to my final few assignments while I am waiting for my first submission to be marked, hopefully I will get the course finished before the end of the year, at least that is my target.

Ciao!

Craig

Train2Game News: Amanda Blatch student diary: Week 1

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So.. first diary, first week. What is there to say? First day at DR Studio I met a lot of people, t’was pretty cool. Also did my first concept sheet for an in-game character and vectorized it and made her look so sickingly adorable it was fun.

Wasn’t the last character piece this week though as I went on to do the same to an additional two characters, before then getting my hand held through the entire cutting and rigging process in Maya and 3Ds Max as they were things I hadn’t done before.

That night I learnt to rig for this game I’m sure my housemates were going to forcefully drag me away from the computer had it not been so late and I was so very, very tired. Luckily after a good night’s sleep I was able to pick it up again in next to no time and storm my way through the remaining two vector characters so they were ready to go in the game.

Annnnd I think that is about it!

Not really much to say as my week was mostly about learning the style, processes, where to store files correctly and how to use programs that I hadn’t used before. Wait, actually there was that car accident after my first day of work at the beginning of the week where Matty and Craig did NOT nearly die despite what their diaries this week might say. Mostly based on the fact that when travelling at about 15-20mph, the vehicle will not scream into a blazing inferno.. so there.

Boom. Week 1 diary complete! See you all next week.

Train2Game News: Ezekiel Morris student diary: Week 14

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I have been sketching up eight characters this week for the new project, sorting out colour palettes so that everyone knows which colours will suit the characters. In the back of my mind when I was first asked to draw eight characters in a week I didn’t think it wouldn’t be possible considering the time it can take creating the colour palettes, I thought it would take longer.

Sketching was quick and there have been times when I have to get the character just right before continuing, making sure that when I draw over the mannequin layout the character looks right with the mannequin. Once the project manager is happy with the sketches I continue on to the next character, the last couple of weeks have been very busy. I have been working late with the guys to get some work done but luckily enough I’ve done five concepts in the week with three more left to go. I’ve almost finished my sprints and now I’m just working on my last concept and I’m done.

I think my next sprint is animation, I feel confident using Maya but I’m not so sure when it comes to the technical side, if there’s a problem that I can’t solve I will let someone know, I think its best that I work on my strengths and improve what I know, I have said this before I won’t say no to a challenge and I’ll give it my best.

Train2Game News: Matty Wyett-Simmonds Student diary: Week 41

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Sorry for the lack of diaries lately! I’ve been so busy with the current project that I just didn’t have time to write them.

Everything is going swimmingly well now and we are in a position where we just have to keep churning assets out to make the game. I’m working mostly on the tech side of art rather than creation. This is how I like it though as I enjoy doing it, but I’m not the most creative person. The others are working on concepts for characters and buildings and everything is starting to look awesome.

We also now have a new student starting next week who some people may know, Amanda Blatch!

I know her from the gadget show as she was on my team for a good 6 months. She is again another artist and specializes in character art mainly. She’s also moving in with me Craig and Ezekiel so should be good to see another face around. Also my tortoise is now living with us (was with my girlfriend before but she’s going to Leeds to start her new PhD! Congratulations to her!) At the same time though Amanda is also bringing her pet snake so now we have a house with two reptiles in, which is awesome!

The tidal wave that was Sea Park is slowly calming now and there are regular users, so the game must not suck which is always good. We may go back to it to make updates and such for the people that are completing the game but for now we are concentrating completely on the new project which we are hoping will take half the time to make and release.

Game Jam starts tomorrow! I hope everyone else is excited, will hopefully meet a few people from Microsoft, last year it was Epic Games, two very big names indeed!

I have a new portfolio site now using HTML5 only, which is working very nicely; check it out if you can http://mattyws.wix.com/portfolio#!home/mainPage

Hope everyone enjoys their weekends; I certainly will at the game jam!

Best

Matty

Train2Game News: Another student in his local paper

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Train2Game Student, Joao Soares, has been featured in his local paper following the World record Game Jam.

The article can be read in the link below:

Games_Wickford_Today__Walthamstow_September_2012

Train2Game News: Students featured in local papers

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Train2Game Students Dan Hawkins, Richard Scott-Jones and Jason Teefey have been featured in their local papers. The students talk about their time at the World record breaking Game Jam.

You can read the articles in the links below:

Games Sudbury Mercury September 2012

Redhill games industry student

The Surrey Comet September 2012

Train2Game News: Train2Game talk to Pocket Gamer

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Choosing Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 8 wasn’t the only notable aspect of Train2Game’s recent game jam at the University of Bedfordshire.
The event was also a world record breaker.
The 48 hour hack saw a total of 299 students come together to create a series of games fit for the platform’s Metro UI, with an adjudicator from Guinness giving the event his seal of approval when the coding was over.
But, according to Train2Game course director Myra Smallman, Train2Game’s hacks aren’t all about setting records – they’re also about helping newcomers gain exposure, and uniting them with the platform most suited to the kind of games jams deliver: mobile.
We caught up with Smallman for her take on Train2Game’s record breaking bash in Bedford.


Pocket Gamer: What makes Windows 8 a good platform for today’s students to familiarise themselves with?
Myra Smallman: On our courses we aim to give students training with a wide range of different development tools.
We see Windows 8 as a vital development tool for them to be able to use as we think it will be one of the main platforms for games design in the future. It also supports the native languages they are familiar and comfortable with.
The students have the chance to choose what is right for them – C++/DX, HTML5/JS, XAML, C#

Can you tell us some more about the event’s ‘best in show’ winner, Royal Rush? Will it be released on Windows Store?
Royal Rush was chosen as the winner because the judges could see so many positives about the game.
The team jelled well together, the game used an innovative gaming mechanic and was perfect as a mobile title, with drop in game play and it’s instantly addictive.
We hope to see it in the Windows Store for Windows 8 on 26 October.

The game jam produced some 20 games, which have apparently been submitted for review to the Windows Store. How many of these will make it to market, and what slice of the profits would students see if so?
The plan is for all the games to be free to download, so there’s no revenue to share, but this is a great promotional opportunity for the students and their games.
Some would say there’s more value in them showcasing their work at this point in their careers, rather than making a quick buck.

Microsoft’s Andrew Webber, Guinness World Records’ Gaz Deaves and Myra Smallman


One thing we try to communicate to the students is the that gaming is a business, publishing and marketing are going to be vital to their future in the games industry. This experience is part of our whole ethos of getting students ready for work.
We hope to see the vast majority of the games in the Windows Store as long as they meet the required quality measures for successful submission.

Is a 48 hour game jam actually a good way of developing games intended for release??
Primarily, game jams are fun, but we also like to think that they teach our students how to work as a team and how to work under pressure.
We are very proud that our students have a level of dedication and talent that has allowed them to produce playable games within 48 hours.
In terms of quality of a release, it’s unlikely that all the titles completed in this way will be up to the standard of a game built over months or even years, but what it can produce is innovation.
Many mobile titles are based around a simple and addictive gaming mechanic, and the game jam environment is ideal to produce this simplistic game play that demonstrates a clever idea. Should one of the games prove particularly popular it could be further developed in the future by the students that created it.

Do you imagine you will work together with Microsoft on a similar sort of event in the future?
Hopefully. At the moment we are all exhausted, but we very much enjoyed working with Microsoft.
Those at Microsoft involved provided tremendous support to our students and given the opportunity we would very much like to work with them again.
Thanks to Myra for her time.

Train2Game News: Ezekiel Morris Student diaries: Week 13

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Ezekiel Morris week 13

First of all I had a weeks holiday to catch up with stuff but in my spare time while I was away for the week and over the weekend I have been sculpting using Zbrush and Mudbox.

I was experimenting with both sculpting programs, I do like both programs but the ZBrush I find more useful. When I’m sculpting in Zbrush I sometimes don’t think what I’m creating, I just go with the flow. It’s the same with Mud box but I do prefer the ZBrush tools. You start off sculpting some random model then, in a couple hours it starts to morph into something else.

I always start off with a concept before creating something but I was in the flow. I didn’t know the short-cut keys in Zbrush or the sculpting tools but you can tell by looking at the small picture icons on the sculpt tools column, for example move, sculpt, smooth, flatten etc.

I’ve been watching some ZBrush tutorial videos and it has helped me a lot. I’ve been diligently working through my T2G course work, creating a concept sea creature, quick thumb nails sketches with silhouette pose and then filling the detail later.

OK back at Dr Studios, finishing off robot animation in flash, creating tick boxes using vectors and placing text in speech bubbles.

Train2Game News: Craig Moore Student diaries: week 43

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Craig Moore

Student Diary

Week 43

So, I must apologise for the radio silence as of late. With the combination of the upcoming Game Jam, my heavy concentration on Train2Game coursework and a consistently frantic day at work, occasionally things will slip my mind.

I blame my age, since I am now the oh-so lofty age of 30! I collect my pension soon …

So last time I left you I was heavy in to UI work and really learning Unity and getting to grips with the tech. Not much has changed to be honest; there is simply so much UI work that needs to go into games of this type that it’s a lofty job for anyone. That being said it is coming along very well, elements of the game are fully implemented with just some polish required and it’s actually becoming a product!

I was able to get a build on my phone, which is one of my favourite moments, to see it actually on device and I was very pleased. Taking all I had learnt from my work on Sea Park and how I feel I have naturally grown; really shows. It has made a much cleaner UI and it just generally feels much more accomplished. Each little icon I have been doing has become a little art piece in its self, it makes me incredibly proud whenever I can see these little things and how they look in the game. It’s those moments that remind you why you are doing this in the first place and why you have made the decision to follow this path!

As the first submission draws ever closer there is no let down on the work that needs doing, as each task generally leads to more tasks it often balloons before it gets completed. I foresee a few late nights as we go forward but it should make for a much better game and something I am genuinely excited to play myself!.

Hopefully I should be back rolling with proper updates after this weekend’s Game Jam, without that on my plate and my recent submission of coursework for Train2Game I have a little extra free time so things won’t slip.

Until next time!

Craig

Train2Game News: Against all the odds brave Oliver soldiers on to bridge the age gap

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Oliver Smith only has one lung, half a heart and is 7 foot 3 but like Master Chief from Halo, against all odds he is out to help the world.

Oliver, 19, has a plan to get young people interacting with the elderly through the medium of video games.

His idea is to get the older generation playing games and using instant messaging services like Skype. This way they can stay in contact and have common interests with their young relatives.

Oliver said “I wanted to do something to help elderly people communicate with young members of their families

“It just seemed a good idea, youngsters spend a lot of time gaming and their grandparents can become isolated because of health reasons and end up in homes. If they know how to use computers and things like Skype it can bring families together.”

He has always found video games have helped him through life. They were always there to cheer him up in some of his darker moments. He is now a student of Train2Game on the QA course and most recently took part in the world record winning Game Jam. He joined the course so he has a chance to be a part of the industry that has helped him.

Unconventional Oliver is not what you would think of when you imagine someone who helps the elderly however. He is what is known as, a Goth.

Talking about his lifestyle he said “I love the statement being a Goth makes and I’m what you’d call ‘steam punk’ – but a lot of people, particularly older folk, are a bit prejudice when they see the way I dress in leather and eyeliner, with my coat held together with safety pins.

“I’ve always been a bit of a rebel and I know my parents were afraid I might go that far off the rails with drink, loud music and late nights that I might never come back.

“I was born with heart and respiratory problems which nearly killed me me when I was younger… I think that made me feel a bit alienated and after all I’m seven feet three inches tall and look different.

“I guess I fitted into the Goth world pretty easily after all that.”

He contacted Exeter council with his idea and they happily helped Oliver by putting his business on there website.

Good luck with everything you do Oliver!