Category Archives: employment

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio talks to Lee Pearson

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Lee PearsonI got the pleasure of speaking to a very ambitious guy who has been working incredibly hard to get noticed. Train2Game student, Lee Pearson, has worked through many obstacles to get his character designs noticed.

You can listen to part one of the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1471396-train2game-student-radio-speaks-to-lee-pearson-part-1

Part two is here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1471393-train2game-student-radio-speaks-to-lee-pearson-part-2

Or you can read the transcript below:

Hello my names Lee Pearson, I’m on the Train2Game Radio forum, talking about my work I’m doing for the indie game scene, in the USA.

Alright Lee, how you doing mate?

Yeah not too bad mate

Excellent. So, tell me a bit about you then buddy?

My name’s Lee Pearson, I come from Ashford originally, I was born and raised in Ashford, Kent. I spent the last thirty years in education full time and all that. I’ve been drawing since I was born. My obsession with monsters began when I was watching Ray Harryhausen films and I started drawing loads and loads of monsters, loads of gory stuff. My Father used to bring home loads of the old VHS Videos and I got inspired by drawing that and that’s how it all started.

Yeah, the good old video nasties?

Yeah the good old eighties, I was probably only about five but that’s what inspired me to draw really and I just used to do it for my own enjoyment and just kept doing it and doing it. It was extremely violent, it worried my dad a little bit, and I just kept drawing and drawing them because I loved doing it. It’s what I have gone back to doing today now.

I’ve always had an interest in working on Movies and Video Games but I haven’t found the exact thing to get there at the moment. I’m still needing a little bit more experience yet. I did courses after I left school. I spent from 1994 to 2008 doing all these art courses and all that but I just felt this isn’t exactly what I want to do. I want to do something in Video Games and Movies because I’ve got such an imagination designing creatures.

I’ve had it hard with my courses because I’ve had special needs, I had to deal with a lot of family problems helping friends out, mental health problems and a lot of other things I’ve had to cope with.

I finally graduated in 2008, with an HND in fine arts with nine distinctions, including photoshop, and I was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome in 2008.

I left college from 1998 to 2008 just doing stuff for DJ scenes, just to calm myself down a bit. I always wanted to do Video Games though and my mate called James Sacker had this little card for Train2Game calling out all the Games Designers, I thought this looks interesting. I looked into it and my Dad said, “don’t do the course Son because it’s going to cost you a lot of money”. So I had some guys come around to my new flat that I am living at at the moment and we spoke about it and watched the Video and I thought to myself, it’s something I really want to do because I love Monsters and I love Gore and I love all that stuff. Without telling my Mum and Dad, I signed on to Train2Game.

I assume they now though, do they, you parents?

Not yet at the moment, just keeping it a secret

OK Lee, that’s all good that you did all that before so it’s 2013 now. What are you up to now?

At the moment I’m just working in some indie game companies in America, just doing it online. I decided to grab a copy of Photoshop CS 5, I’ve spent an awful lot of my money on computer equipment out of my benefit money, I had to sacrifice food for it. I bought Graphics Tablets, Scanners, Printers and all sorts of stuff. I’ve been practising and practising with the Graphics Tablet and over time I’ve mastered it in about ten months really, my graphics tablet.

I’m doing mostly Horror games. I did one last year before I started learning the Graphics Tablet. I went on the concept art OEG and I was flicking through all the games adverts and there was one that caught my eye, called Richard Lee, he was a guy looking for a guy to do his art work for a cult Horror game in America based before Jesus Christ. I applied for it and he liked my work so much that he said, yeah I’ll give you the shot.

It wasn’t done by a graphics tablet, it was done with A4 paper and pens and I started drawing all these really gory demonic characters. We worked on it together for a couple of months and then sadly he gave me an email saying he had to stop to go back to Trucking because of money. It’s a shame because I thought it would be a fantastic project to work on.

You’re getting some good work experience out of this projects now then?

It’s mostly just one on one really. It’s mostly just Indie stuff really and I just got my work out there by Facebook. I was just getting all my art work and spamming it and spamming it. I was then talking to someone on the Train2Game course and they said, why don’t you try deviant art?, so I got all the recent work I’ve done and spammed it and got it out there and it caught the eye of another guy in America called Mark Wemm, which I am working on at the moment. He told me to create my own character, so I created a Teddy Bear that got possessed by an Alien, Demonic Spirit that turns it into a hideous monster and it’s really really gory. I’m working on that at the moment and I don’t know how long it will take but I’ve been asked to do all of it by Photoshop and I’ve been doing all the landscapes and all the concept art and all the weaponry, it’s just great fun, it really is.

Yeah. It sounds like your enjoying yourself.

Oh I love it! Loving it to bits, it’s really, really good fun

Excellent, so you mentioned before that you had Aspergers so how is it studying and working with that, do you find you get prejudice against it or what?

No, I’ve got to the stage now where I don’t really care about my disability. I just have a laugh like my dad does, just enjoy it. I don’t really care about money I just love and enjoy doing it, it’s great fun.

So what are you wanting to do in the future then Lee?

Well before I go to America, I’m going to America just to have a holiday with my Step Mum, Dad and my family. I want to come back home, get a bundle of computers and PC’s, get a load of Photoshop, all the packages, Zbrush, 3D Max and I just want to go completely character mad. Create characters in Photoshop, to 3D Max and draw them, hand paint them, everything. Bring it all together and that’s the sort of thing I want to do with the rest of my life really. I can’t think of anything else.

I’m going to have obstacles that I am going to have to over come, like the Train2Game course, I realised because I was pushed behind a year, I am going to have to do this course. I am going to have no choice but I definitely want to do more, more, more character designs. I really enjoy doing it, that’s the future for me. I want to try and expand all over the globe. Doing the stuff in America and I sent some stuff off to Japan. I did a picture of Cammie on wall paper and sent it off to Japan, but I definitely want to start doing lots of characters, monsters, vehicles just for games really.

That’s beautiful. You sound like you are incredibly ambitious and just want your art work to be seen absolutely everywhere.

Yeah, definitely. It’s just good fun, just enjoy the ride! I just love doing characters, back in the day it was all done by hand and I was just fascinated by characters. I had them in my head everyday, sometimes even talk to them! I think the future for me now is definitely the Video Game industry.

Well, I think that is all we’ve got time for today Lee, it’s been a pleasure talking to you!

Yeah, it’s great, it’s fantastic!

And I will talk to you soon mate, alright?

Yeah will do mate

Cheers mate, Bye!

Thank you, bye

Train2Game News: OpenWheel Kickstarter

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OpenWheelA Train2Game Student; Laurence Gee, has begun working full time with games developer Brain in a Jar who have started an initiative to receive funding through Kickstarter for their latest game; OpenWheel.

Laurence joins the company as a full time employee to help develop OpenWheel and the company are requesting further support from the Train2Game community to make the game a reality. Laurence joined Brain in a Jar in February of 2011 on a Train2Game work placement scheme and he is now happily in full time employment as a 3D artist in the studio.

Brain in a Jar, has been developing racing games since 1998 and are based right next to Oulton Park race track in Cheshire. Racing is built in to the very foundation of the company. The company has worked on big games like Indycar and NASCAR, independent games of its own and has worked with some great developers on AAA games like: Driver: San Francisco and Need For Speed.

OpenWheel is an online multiplayer racing game which is fully customisable. There are no static 2D lobby screens to sit in waiting for a race to start. Once you have chosen your chassis and the track you want to race on you are taken straight into the action, you can even join mid-race. You can define, create and run your own global championships, or join existing ones. Become your own FIA and create a world championship for your friends and the best racers to come and compete in.

This is truly an immersive, passion filled racing game created by fans of high speed racing. The game is a fantastic concept with hours of playability and Brain in a Jar deserve all the pledges they can get on Kickstarter.

If you would like to pledge and view there great video, you can do so by going to www.kickstarter.com/projects/braininajar/openwheel

If you want to found out more about the studio go to www.braininajar.co.uk

Train2Game News: Something Money Can’t Buy

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NicolaHi guys, I’m Nicola, the winner of the Rapid2D competition that you can see on the front page of the Train2game site.

Nicolas chequeThis article is partially to share a world of thanks to the people at Train2game that helped me and continue to support me to reach my dream, partially for all the people that write on the forum asking questions like “is this real or is it a scam?” , “should I start this course?” and “will I gain success?”…

Nicola Modern JagoBut, above all, this article is for you, students that, like me, are inside Train2Game to follow your dreams.

On June 18, thanks to Eric Wiltsher and Harry Cole, I spent a wonderful, amazing, unforgettable day meeting famous people inside the game industry.

Andrew Webber (Microsoft), Nicola, Andy Payne

Andrew Webber (Microsoft), Nicola, Andy Payne

I had a tour in the Microsoft Lift London Studios (Soho, London) and I saw a real team working on a game. I shook the hands of people like Andrew Webber, Ian Livingstone, Andy Payne, Lee Schuneman, and I received more than 6 hours of mentoring about how to become someone inside the games industry. Precious information that certainly will help me.

Nicola and Philip Oliver

Nicola and Philip Oliver

When, 8 months ago, I started the course never, if someone said “Nicola, prepare yourself because the next year you will meet the life president of Eidos” I wouldn’t have believed it and never would have I felt so close to changing my life for the better.

Ian Livingstone

Ian Livingstone

So, for all of you that sometimes feel bad and think that nothing will change, keep focused on your dreams, take ALL the opportunities that Train2Game gives you and you’ll find that surely you’ll be rewarded.

Great Future, my friends.

Nicola Valcasara

Train2Game News: Paid C++ Job Opportunity

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Top job opportunity for Train2Game students with raw talent who want to join a London based indie that is going places.

A friend of Train2Game is looking for a C++ coder to work in Soho for a contract which runs until January that could then become permanent.

The details of the job can be found below, if you are interested contact harry@swanpr.co.uk and he will put you in contact with the studio.

Role Purpose
Looking for a skilled and experienced Server Developer to join a small, creative, indie team working in Soho London.

Team/Department Mission
This role is part of a larger team creating games and entertainment services influenced by changing consumer consumption and emerging business models. Part of its purpose will be to showcase functionality of specific platforms but the primary goal is to establish new entertainment franchises. The ethos of this team is to be distinctive, deliberate and disruptive. It has large ambitions.

Key Accountabilities

  • Develop and maintain software services to support gameplay, data sharing, and title instrumentation.
  • Develop and maintain client (game) side library’s to interface with server/cloud hosted services.
  • Work with IT infrastructure engineers to onboard and maintain services.
  • Affect gameplay engineers to ensure game supports synchronous, remote multiplayer modes.
  • Implement game state synchronization.
  • Understand and refine game & customer behaviour requirements by working with non-engineering disciplines.
  • Implement in-game telemetry and reporting mechanism.
  • Understand and create data storage and reporting system to deliver relevant game & customer behaviour reports to non-engineering disciplines.
  • Affect IT infrastructure decisions to support the above.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Requirements

  • Have shipped something really cool that is networked/online/connected to a cloud or datacentre

– could be a AAA game or an indie game or both,

– could be a streaming service, peer-to-peer BitTorrent-like system, anything web-service on the backend. It just needs to demonstrate that you can design and implement web services in a game-like environment

  • Have good understanding of caching, queuing, naming, and data structures, especially how they’re key to making backend systems work
  • Have designed and implemented working modules (ie cache server, proxy server, leaderboards, authentication, chat systems)
  • Experienced, willing and eager to work with cloud platforms and services. You’ve got to have a bit of sys-admin in you!
  • Proficient in Java, C++, C#, Node.js or whatever language you need to get the job done well
  • Very strong problem-solving skills.

Personal Attributes/Interpersonal Skills

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills.
  • Outgoing and pro-active personality who thrives on working within a team.
  • Self-motivated with a drive for excellence.

If you are interested in applying for the position then email Harry at Harry@Swanpr.co.uk

Train2Game News: Writer opportunity at Ready Up

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Ready UpReady Up, the UK’s biggest community games media website, is recruiting to fill two News Team positions and one staff writing position. For any Train2Game student who enjoys writing about games, this is an incredibly valuable experience and a great way to get recognition in the games industry and make some good contacts.

Ready Up is staffed by industry professionals and passionate amateurs, each bringing different skills: writing, photography, web design and professional gaming, to the site. With daily updates to the website’s blog and review pages, Ready Up’s staff work closely together to produce fresh, topical content, with a personal slant and with passionate style.

Applicants looking to join the three-time GMA-nominated team must have solid spelling and grammar, be well informed, dedicated and have strong knowledge of both video games and the industry.

Requirements

News Team
Successful applicants will be responsible for researching, writing and editing your own topical stories, one day a week. Previous experience in news writing would be an advantage but is not essential. News writers will work within a small team and be expected to contribute to conference calls and regular online meetings.

Staff Writers
Successful applicants will regularly blog, pitch feature ideas and write reviews, producing lively, clever copy, that’s current, accurate and informative.

What they can offer you

If you’re looking to make your break into journalism, Ready Up offers you the chance to build up a body of work, benefit from the coaching and support of established journalists. You will have the opportunity to attend industry events where you’ll have the chance to spend time with game developers and other industry insiders.

How to apply

If you’d like to apply for a position, email Ready Up at recruitment@ready-up.net with the following information.

  • Tell them about yourself and your background.
  • A brief statement on why you think you will make a good addition to the team.
  • A link to your online profile(s) – Blog/Tumblr/Youtube/Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook.
  • News applicants should include an example news story in Ready Up’s house style. It should be no longer than 200 words and include a headline and strapline (one sentence summing up the article).

All applicants should include examples of relevant work, either attached or linked.

You have to be 18 years old or over to apply. Ready Up is a non-profit organisation and as such there is no payment for work. For updates on the recruitment process follow the company on Twitter and Facebook.

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 21.05.13

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Train2Game wants you to work in the industry we all love and with that in mind it is time for another job posting!

DEVELOPER

Job Title Gameplay Programmer
Job Category Programming
Skills Required Programming
Location North West, North West
Job Description My client is a successful studio based in the North West, together with their partner studio they have been responsible for creating some of the most fun and original titles of the last few years.

They are seeking a gameplay programmer to work on a major next-gen project. It will involve a bit of everything on the gameplay front – game mechanics, AI, scripting, UI, effects etc. All based on a long established game engine. The role could possibly include working on the handheld version of the title at a later date.

For this role, the ideal candidate will need:
At least one product’s industry experience, or a stunning demo to show their ability/potential.
Solid knowledge of C/C++ with a strong maths background.
Good all round programming techniques.
It goes without saying that experience in any of the aforementioned gameplay tasks would be a major bonus.

In return the company offer an excellent Salary and Benefits.

More details are available by contacting Lisa Corbett via email: lisa@aswift.com

 

ARTIST

Job Title Artists
Job Category Art / Animation
Skills Required Art / Animation
Location UK & Europe
Job Description Videogame 3D Artists

We’re looking to recruit a number of experienced artists with a wide range of skills at our studio on the South Coast of England to work on high-profile projects.

We offer excellent conditions and a competitive package in a fun working environment.

As an artist at Stainless you will be working with a creative agile team to deliver high quality art assets in collaboration with designers and programmers.

Successful candidates will be passionate about making the best games and making them look damn fine at the same time!

Essential Requirements:
Passion for creating art for games.
Good sense of scale, composition and staging.
Professional attitude and work ethic.
Good written and verbal communication skills.
A desire to learn.
Self-motivated and organised.

We require artists with any or all of the following skills:
3D Environment creation
3D Vehicle creation

The following are desirable but not essential:
Experience working on games as an artist at any level.
Keen eye for detail and art style.
Skills in Adobe Flash / UI Design
Strong traditional art skills.
Understanding of open world/driving games.
Formal qualifications in related fields.
Knowledge of additional software and plugins

You can apply here, http://www.stainlessgames.com/careers/go/

QA

Area: South East
City: Horsham
Company: Creative Assembly

Position Overview
– The Games Tester position is a responsible job; reporting bugs and providing quality feedback for our titles in development.
– These fixed term contracts are for our new Alien IP title currently in development. Several additional positions are also needed for our established Total War team during the same period.
– Test games in development for software bugs
– Enter bugs clearly and accurately into our bug database
– Verify and recreate bugs as required
– Report additional balancing, design and accessibility problems
– Specific support and general roles available

Essential
– A clear understanding of QA process
– A keen enthusiasm for gaming
– Good communication and reporting skills
– Driven and flexible approach

Desirable
– A clear understanding of QA process
– A keen enthusiasm for gaming
– Good communication and reporting skills
– Driven and flexible approach
– Experience of testing one full shipped title
– A good understanding of Strategy games (Total War)
– A good knowledge of current generation consoles (Alien IP)
– Games industry related degree (e.g. audio, art, design, etc.) or expertise in a specific game area is an asset (e.g. audio, technical, PC hardware, design or scripting etc.)
– Fluent in one or more of the following languages: French, German, Italian or Spanish
– Strong technical knowledge/skills (e.g. programming, scripting)

You will need to be available to start between June and October 2012

You can apply here, http://www.creative-assembly.com/jobs/

Train2Game News: Icey Monty require staff

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Icey MontyTrain2Game Student studio, Icey Monty have been so successful over the past few months that they need a new member of staff!

If you are unaware of who they are, Icey Monty Ltd. is an app and games development start-up targeting PC and Mobile markets, headed-up by Train2Game students John Esslemont and Nick Walker. The young developers didn’t anticipate the acceleration of business and in the next few months are looking to hire an additional developer on a full time basis.

Due to the nature of freelance work, the length of the employment cannot be guaranteed. Similarly, Icey Monty cannot give any exact figures about wages, work hours or job demand. Given the studios current rate of work, you can expect a junior designer’s salary, this is likely to fluctuate however.

The chosen candidate will likely be hired on a per job basis, as this is how the team currently pay themselves, with a schedule based work flow on a semi-consistent hourly rate. Icey Monty is looking exclusively for a Unity3D developer, who is able to work from home.

The ideal candidate would have the following:

  • Ability to code to a moderate standard in any object-orientated language, although proficiency in C# is preferable.
  • A good understanding of Unity’s IDE, including its non-scripting features.
  • Coding skills in the context of Unity’s engine; Abstraction, Inheritance, Serialization, 3D math, generics, reflection, modularity, logic, events & delegates, procedural, state machines, commenting. Most importantly, the desire to be consistently improving and the ability to teach oneself.
  • General skills, including; time management, mathematics, cooperation, commercial business software, communication, composure, literacy, dedication, stress management, commitment, confidence, respect, ambition and drive.
  • Skype and mobile availability.
  • A passion for games development, design, and quality.

The Icey Monty team are hoping that you can expect an average of forty hours per week. Usually 9-5 Monday to Friday, although there will be fluctuations and quiet days on almost every project. Bonuses may be available for these periods, depending on the client.

Those forty hours will be used doing the following:

  • Creating entire games and apps to client’s specifications in a given time frame.
  • Working with SVN software on team based projects.
  • Scripting key components on top of existing frameworks.
  • Suggesting and incorporating new game and level design to clients in parallel with their ideas and direction.
  • Working with the Icey Monty team; handling clients, organising prices, features and meetings.

The team will ease you into all of the above, especially regarding finances and client interaction. Icey Monty is relatively new to operating as a studio and learning through experiences what works best.

If you think you would like to work with Icey Monty, you can send your CV and application to them at nick@iceymonty.com. Icey Monty also require you to CC them to nickwalker12@googlemail.com

Train2Game News: The future’s a game as Nicola’s incredible journey across Europe pays off

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Nicola When Nicola Valcasara faced nothing but dead-end jobs in his home-town of Verona, he went on an incredible journey which ended on the doorstep of one of the world’s biggest companies.

The ambitious Italian rode almost 2000 miles through Italy, France and the UK on his Honda motorbike to seek his fortune.

Nicola, aged 26, of Lowerstoft Close, south east London, said: “I was delivering pizzas in Italy and working in an amusement park, anything to get by really, but then I found myself out of work for a year…

“I’d always had the ambition to work in the games industry but there are no real opportunities anywhere in Italy. I’d spent months applying to companies but got no response.

“I couldn’t see any future at home and one day I just jumped on my motorbike and rode off into the night with my heart set on finding work.”

After five days of travelling across Europe Nicola finally arrived in London. “It wasn’t that I believed the streets were paved with gold but I knew it was a major centre for the games industry and that’s all I wanted to get in to.”

David Cameron has made the video games and apps industry one of his main focuses of the UK’s economic recovery offering major tax breaks to companies offering new jobs and opportunities to talented people and financial support to major organisations. But Nicola’s arrival in the capital was a nightmare – within 24 hours a gang tried to steal his motorbike and a few days later he was conned out of £300 by a company which promised to get him into the games industry.

“It was terrible, I’d parked my bike in the street and five men tried to steal it – the police woke me up at 3am. The next blow was meeting up with a man who convinced me that his firm could teach me what I needed to know to realise my techy ambitions. They ripped me off. I was pretty despondent.”

Nicola and chefs

“I didn’t know he was in the competition. When he told us he had won we were in shock. He’s a very quiet guy, then out of nowhere he told us he had won £10,000”, head chef Sandro Jaupi

But within ten days Nicola had found himself a job as a chef in one of London’s top restaurants.

“Things were looking up and I have always enjoyed cooking – but it still wasn’t what I was looking for. I knew Microsoft’s London offices weren’t far from where I was working and I’d always wanted the chance to prove my abilities to them in particular. It was like I was standing on the doorstep of a dream.”

Nicola started burning the midnight oil in a bid to break in to the games industry. “I used my wages to pay for aTrain2Game course, one of the biggest training colleges in the UK, and right away I began making games and apps.”

It was then he entered the national Rapid2D development competition to find the best apps created for Microsoft’s Windows 8. Nicola was amazed to hear he’d won the top prize of £10,000. Part of the prize was to see his work go up on line, a visit to Microsoft’s new centre in London and to receive mentoring from Gurus.

Myra and Andrew presenting the cheque

“I can’t believe it – it was worth that incredible journey through the nights on a motorbike from Italy. Now I have money in the bank, I’m learning to build games which is my real ambition and I’ve got an introduction to Microsoft. I feel like I’m really on top of life.”

Dr. Jan Telensky senior JV of Train2Game where Nicola is learning said: “We think Nicola has done really well and what a journey he went on to get here. We wish him all the best. This really is an exciting time to get into the industry, particularly with the Government tax breaks and the support of major organisations. Our students are becoming main players in games design.”

Nicola coaching Andrew

Nicola coaching Andrew Weber, Microsoft at Le Mercury {deuxiéme}

Nicola chefs and cheque

Sandro Jaupi, head chef (Nicola’s boss)

How do you feel about Nicola winning?

Absolutely amazing,

He has worked for us for around 5 months.

He really likes gaming; all he talks about is gaming in the kitchen.

He works in the kitchen for a job but his heart is set on making games, this is like a dream come true for him.

Nicolas cheque

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 07.05.13

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It is Wednesday so it is time for a job blog in the hopes we can help you get in to the industry we all love!

DEVELOPER

Job Title Gameplay Programmer
Job Category Programming
Skills Required Gameplay, Mobile / iOS / Android, Core Technology, UI / Front End, Flash / Actionscript / HTML5, Mac / OSX
Location warwick, Midlands
Job Description Founded in 1996, Full Fat is an independent company that is proud, passionate and tirelessly dedicated in making innovative, world-class games that surprise, entertain and delight players.

Over the past 15 years, we’ve helped create and build some of the biggest game franchises in games; Harry Potter, The Sims, Spore, Sid Meier’s Pirates, Littlest Pet Shop, Dave Mirra and Sim City.
We’ve developed over 75 games (more than 100 across all formats), and we continue to be an accomplished partner to publishers wishing to build new IP for handheld, mobile and emerging digital markets.

In the last 3 years, we’ve developed and self-published 11 games on the App Store, all brand-new intellectual properties, achieving worldwide Apple features and fantastic chart successes, Metacritic and player ratings. To date, our games have been downloaded by over 25 million people, with repeated success in reaching #1 ‘All Apps’ in multiple territories.

Full Fat is looking for an iphone programmer. Joining the programming team, the candidate must be a team player, with awareness of all aspects of Game related Programming. The candidate will get the opportunity to work in all code disciplines within the Game development environment. The Candidate will be joining our experienced teams and will have the chance to progress and learn within FullFat.

-Objective-C, XCode
-MAC-OS
-C++
-C#

Experience with any of the following iPhone technologies is beneficial:

+Maps and GPS integration
+Push notifications
+Calendar and Contacts integration
+Data Visualisation

If you’re interested in the above position, then please forward your CV’s to Job Enquiries

 

ART

Job Title Game Marketing Artist
Job Category Art / Animation
Skills Required Environment Artist, 2D / Concept / Texture Artist
Location Oxford
Job Description Rebellion Oxford is currently seeking a Marketing Artist who is passionate about creating world-class promotional graphic artwork. The successful applicant will be talented, highly motivated and enthusiastic with a genuine interest in playing games and being part of the games industry.

The marketing artist will work with both the game art team and our marketing team to create stunning artwork for press releases, print & web articles, box art, logos, icons and other supporting artwork. The role will require the creation of both original materials and an ability to work within the existing art style defined by the game. The successful candidate will have a strong creative vision, realized through their outstanding 2d and 3d skills.  This role is full-time based in-house at our Oxford headquarters. We can consider permanent or contract employment but not freelance or agencies. You must be able to legally work in the UK.

*Important* In order to be considered for this role, we require:
– A completed Rebellion application form
– A portfolio or samples of your work – please provide the address of your website/portfolio if applicable

Qualifications & Experience:
A degree-level education would be preferred. Video games industry experience is not essential but you must have experience in producing promotional 2D and 3D artwork in various styles suitable for games.

Responsibilities:
– Working with the Art Director and Marketing team to produce promotional artwork to support our games marketing strategies
– Working closely with the development team in the production of screenshots and promotional video work
– Creating logos and key art for Rebellions forthcoming game titles
– Creating printed materials including final box art

Skills:
– Excellent artistic ability, with an excellent eye for colour and composition
– Ability to take the initiative, be highly disciplined to produce impeccable artwork
– Highly experienced and knowledgeable in Photoshop
– Experience of using other 2d packages such as Illustrator and InDesign
– Experience creating a large variety of online media, including flash banners, HTML email templates and website assets
– Highly experienced in using and rendering from 3d software such as 3dMax/Maya
– A familiarity with animation either independently or working alongside an animation team
– A knowledge of graphic/visual/stylistic trends through art, film, games…
– Additional knowledge of other software – Zbrush, After Effects, video editing, etc – may further support your application, as would any additional knowledge of photography, traditional arts, sculpting, etc.

To Apply:
Our application form is available at our jobs pages www.rebellion.co.uk/jobs/ along with details of other opportunities at our UK offices.

Please apply to vacancies@rebellion.co.uk quoting “Games Marketing Artist GI214CP” – remember to include your CV, completed application form and a link to your portfolio.

Rebellion can only consider applicants who can legally work in the UK. This is a permanent full-time role based in-house at our Oxford headquarters, not open to freelance or agencies.

Join the Rebellion… find out more about us at www.rebellion.co.uk

 

QA

Job Title QA Engineer
Job Category QA / Localisation
Skills Required QA Tester, Lead QA Tester
Location London
Job Description Hello, we’re Mindshapes.

Mindshapes is an award-winning creator of fun mobile learning applications for kids aged 2 to 8, used by more than 400,000 families every month!

Mindshapes creates enhanced storybook experiences for kids, which feature educational learn and play activities, and a reward system.

Mindshapes apps aim to delight, engage and educate kids, while allowing them to engage with their favorite characters from the worlds of illustrated books, TV and film.

The company was founded by veterans of the gaming, entertainment, publishing and mobile industries, and has offices in London, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Description

Mindshapes is a interactive education company, which means we make educational apps that kids actually want to play with. We’re putting the fun into learning, and we like to put the fun into working too! Our passionate, friendly team works out of an open-plan studio in Chelsea with state-of-the-art equipment and software, a well-stocked fridge and snack cupboards, and a delicious team lunch every Friday.We have the opportunity to make a real mark on educational technology – are you in?

Main responsibilities

  • Creation of functionality test plan and test cases.
  • Coordination and execution of thorough functionality testing.
  • Coordination with external test teams when required.
  • Evaluate test coverage with a view to assisting QA Manager in determining and updating test strategy and approach.
  • Clear, concise bug reporting and verification of bug fixes.
  • Validation of bugs entered.
  • Compiling database reports when required.
  • Ability to provide qualitative feedback regarding game content and features.

Skills and experience

  • Experience testing mobile applications on iOS and Android
  • A clear and confident communicator with the ability to perform under own initiative.
  • High IT proficiency with strong knowledge of PC and Mac hardware.
  • Previous experience in a Games QA role.
  • Experience using bug reporting databases (e.g. JIRA, TTP, Devtrack, etc).
  • Experience testing Flash applications and websites an advantage though not essential.
  • Ability to perform to a high standard, especially when under pressure.
  • Ability to adapt to a fast moving development environment.
  • A passion for games and games development.
  • Flexibility to work additional hours when required.

If you’d like to make exceptional kids’ apps, and work with a committed team in a fun, fast-paced environment, send your CV and a covering letter to careers@mindshapes.com

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio interview with Icey Monty

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Icey MontyI got the pleasure of interviewing the Train2Game Student Studio Icey Monty earlier this week. They are really going from strength to strength in this industry and you can read about or listen to their company adventures below.

You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1350533-train2game-student-studio-icey-monty-talks-to-t2g-radio

Or read the following transcript:

John: Hi, my name’s John, I’m on the Developer course and I’m from Scotland but now live in Newcastle.

Nick: Hi I’m Nick, I’m also on the Train2Game course and I’m from Newmarket, Suffolk.

Hi guys, how you doing?

John: I’m good, how about you?

Nick: I’m good, really good.

I’m good cheers guys, so tell me who you guys are and what you have been up to?

John: We’re Icey Monty, we started our own company two weeks ago and we are now officially working on a couple of clients games.

Very nice. So what clients, what games? If you can say of course

John: Nick is working for a professor in California at the minute, he specialises in eye to brain coordination. He’s asked for a thing to be created that will measure reflexes, how quick the eye can send a message to the brain. So Nick’s been working on that for the past two or three weeks now and I’m working on a racing game for a client in the Ukraine. He’s got a website that currently gets about three hundred thousand hits a day so that’s pretty cool!

You seem to get a lot of international work. Where do you source your work from?

John: I’ll let you answer that one Nick.

Nick: Sure. Well we started off by just posting in the Unity commercial forums just saying we are a small start up and we are available for work. After that, we had about two or three jobs leading from that and from there we had the funds to start a website and since then we haven’t had to contact anyone really. We’ve had people contact us for the last few weeks.

So, is it just the two of you working then?

Nick: It is, yeah.

Are you happy working in a small team?

Nick: Oh absolutely yeah!

John: Most Definitely.

Nick: So much better than with the pressure you get with a large team.

John: Especially from a management side of things.

Nick: Oh definitely yeah. Things are a lot more flexible for us now. Things are a lot more laid back. Some days it doesn’t even feel like working really. A bit of a cliché but we really enjoy it so it’s nice.

Excellent. So you’ve had quite a lot of success so what advice would you give to students who are looking to start making games professionally?

John: Oh, be prepared to work, a lot. That’s how we done ours. When we got a clients job we literally wouldn’t rest because the way we thought about it was, this is our dream and they’ve given us the opportunity to where we want to be with our careers and our lives, so really we are indebted to these people.

Nick: You give them everything you can offer them. Don’t think of it as a job, you’re giving them your expertise. You’re showing them that you can do these kind of things, your proving yourself in the market, in the work you do.

So work hard and you will be noticed, kind of thing?

John: Yeah. The other thing we do is, if we know we are ahead of our schedule, we will actually contact the client because we’ve had an idea, literally me and Nick will talk all day – obviously we still get our work done, we don’t sit down and have a nanny chat, but if we come up with a cool idea we will contact the client and say “Look, we are a bit ahead of schedule, would you like this added to your game?” at no extra cost, it won’t cost you anything, we are just really enjoying what we are working on at the minute.

Perfect, so always go that extra mile for them?

Nick: Yeah, it pays back ten-fold.

John: It does, insanely.

So finally then lads, where can people find out more about Icey Monty?

John: If you just go to www.iceymonty.com which is our professional website or you can go to www.iceymontyblog.com and there are things we are working on personally for our clients projects, obviously with permission, some of the systems we create or just some general ideas and some doodles we do through the day.

Perfect well thank you very much guys!

John: No problem, thanks very much!

Nick: Cheers!