Category Archives: game

Train2Game News: Students sleepless thoughts so far

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This is a round up of some of the thoughts, messages and quotes from the students at Train2Game Game Jam. As sleep deprivation sets in, anything could be said.

For example as I started writing this I heard an interesting conversation from Team 14 questioning “how a dinosaur can scratch himself if he has an itch.”

Neil Gorman of Team 33 said “The team is really jelling well for only meeting yesterday and they haven’t stopped laughing yet”

Chris Ledger of Team 3 said “The theme was a bit of a shocker. Its been a good laugh to work with though. I haven’t had much sleep but I am proud of myself as I did some good work in Blend and Visual Studios, being a designer that’s not my speciality. Getting texts from my friends, family and girlfriend is a massive support and keeps me going through the sleepless nights.”

Dan Rutter also of Team 3 said “We had a lot of ideas using the Pride Of London theme. Ideas such as Boris Johnson being a secret agent protecting the crown jewels were thrown around early on. Compared to last years Game Jam using UDK it is a bit of a challenge. This is the first 2D game I have ever worked on.”

Matty Wyett-Simmonds of Team 1 said in a very sleep deprived fashion “It’s been a good weekend. It’s been fun meeting new people to work with. The Microsoft lecture was interesting as we got to ask plenty of questions I am pretty sure my future assassin is here somewhere” It seems lack of sleep is definitely setting.

Dimitri Michael also of Team 1 said “Our game kicks ass!” He went on to solidify the point repeating how kick ass it was. It is probably worth mentioning he has only had a few hours sleep.

Craig Moore of Team 32 said “I have had a really good team. There have been a few stumbling blocks along the way. We are banking on some little bugs being fixed and we should have a really good game. There was a massive learning curve, but thanks to the help Train2Game have given us we were able to hit the floor running! Thanks Train2Game!”

Train2Game News: Mid-week Round up of game news

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This will be a mid-week round up of all the biggest news in the gaming industry. Depending on the reaction it gets this may become a weekly post.

Gearbox’s Borderlands 2 comes out next week and in the lead up to that they have released the skill trees for the different classes available in the game. This is a good chance to see how the characters are going to play out through the game.

Valve has released a list of the first ten games being released through Steams Greenlight initiative. Some of the games on the list are Black Mesa the Half-Life mod and Project Zomboid. A full list of the Greenlight approved games can be found here.

The Wii U is having its release date and recommended retail price announced tomorrow. At 8am Nintendo will announce in a special webcast on the official Nintendo Direct Page. The release date is rumoured for UK release date early December with a possible price of £190.

Double Fine studios have accidentally released there first mobile title ahead of schedule. Thanks to some quick thinking from lead designer Kee Chi and the team behind the studios first mobile exclusive, the release turned into an unplanned beta.

Sony is ready to display a new virtual reality headset at the Tokyo Game Show. This follows the news of the Occulus Rift kickstarter and Valves augmented reality headset plans being released. The Sony headset will have a full 360 degree experience with head tracking and a live camera.

The last and possibly biggest bit of news is that this Friday the Train2Game world record attempt sponsored by Microsoft begins. The 48 hour event will see students creating games in the time they have using Windows 8. It is always fun and is always a great learning experience.

Train2Game News: 22Cans wants you for curious beta

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Peter Molyneux, CEO of 22Cans sent out a post on the company’s Facebook asking for beta testers for its mysterious new game.

This is the first game to be released by 22Cans and Mr Molyneux since he left Lionhead to create the company. Mr Molyneux attended this year’s Gadget Show Live and gave very valuable advice to those participating in the Make Something Unreal Live contest.

The game is on iOS devices and is called Curiosity – What’s inside the cube. It was previously known as just Curiosity until NASA had them change it for having the same name as the Mars Rover.

The social experiment game gets you to tap on a cube with other players causing it to fracture until it breaks open revealing, to the last person who tapped it, the unknown wonders inside.

The post asks for people to have an hour free between 4 and 5pm any day this week. You’re asked to give your name, email, location and device type, as well as your reason for participating when you sign up to the beta.

The site states “As we get nearer to releasing our first app “Curiosity – What’s inside the Cube”, we are looking for some feedback.

“We are asking for a few kind people to participate in trying out our first experiment. Hopefully these people will give honest feedback on what Curiosity is like, and spot some of the flaws in this totally unique experience.”

The game was scheduled for release in August but has been rescheduled to later this month.

You can register for the beta via the 22Cans Facebook page.

Train2Game News: Mojang’s building blocks of hope for UN

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Mojang is working with the UN to develop software that will involve young people in making changes in their home town

The new software, named Block By Block, uses the same principles as Mojangs Minecraft, giving young people a simple way to visualize the changes they want to make in the area where they live.

Minecraft building community Fyre UK has been enlisted to render the areas the project is interested in helping. Fyre UK is an English based community in Minecraft who make spectacular creations.

The three year partnership between the UN and Mojang starts with the renovation of Kibera in Nairobi. In those three years the hope is that they will improve hundreds of public spaces around the UN with the help of the young residents. It is not known which places will be using Block By Block as of yet. At this time we can only hope that the UK gets to benefit.

Mojang said “Block By Block aims to involve youth in the planning process in urban areas by giving them the opportunity to show planners and decision makers how they would like to see their cities in the future.”

“Minecraft has turned out to be the perfect tool to facilitate this process.”

“It has proven to be a great way to visualize urban planning ideas without necessarily having architectural training. The ideas presented by the citizens lay as a ground for political decisions.”

Mojang has already had some success with a similar programme called My Block in there native Sweden, allowing citizens to suggest changes for the towns they inhabit.

This is another example of how the software and hardware created in the games industry can do more than just entertain players, it can help around the world with ideas like this one.

Train2Game News: Games distributor Steam blows away Greenlight clutter

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Valve is introducing a cost to post games on to its new Greenlight initiative. Valve will donate all money made this way to the charity Child’s Play.

Greenlight is a service for indie developers to upload there games and the Steam community chooses which game they want to see released on the digital distribution service. Child’s Play is a children’s charity created to help young people in hospital, by providing them with games and toys.

Valve has had to implement this fee to dissuade pranksters uploading fake and unapproved games. There have been phoney write ups uploaded to Greenlight and there was controversy yesterday when Steam had to take down a sex game submitted by an amateur developer.

Greenlight went live a few days ago and already 700 titles have been uploaded, making it very difficult to find any hidden gems amongst the fake titles.

Valve said “There is unfortunately a significant amount of noise and clutter being submitted, either as a joke or by fans not fully understanding the purpose of Greenlight,”

“The proceeds will be donated to Child’s Play. We have no interest in making money from this, but we do need to cut down the noise in the system.”

There are mixed feelings to charging for this service. Some believe it defeats the idea of Greenlight but others believe it’s a necessary charge to clean up the service making it easier to find games submitted by serious developers and students.

With the implementation of the fee, which is under £65, it has deterred many of the pranksters.

Train2Game News: Gaming potential. Apple iPhone 5 almost here

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The Apple iPhone 5 is expected to be released next wednesday.

For gaming and games development this means a more powerful platform to work with.

The invitation to the launch event in San Francisco was a bit special – it had a twelve casting the shadow of a five and the words “its almost here”.

The new iPhone release is the first big advance by Apple since the death of Steve Jobs and it seems to be a big step forward from the 4S.

Leaked photos from some of Apples Chinese manufacturers show the device to have a bigger 4.2 inch screen and a slimmer body. It is expected to support the awaited 4G high speed wireless broadband. The mobile network Orange hopes to set up 4G for the UK the day before the launch of the iPhone 5, according to Ofcom.

4G gives the added bonus of downloading the games you want faster.

Phil Schiller, head of marketing for Apple, testified in court during the legal battle with Samsung, said: “Each new generation of iPhone sold approximately equal to all previous generations combined.”

If this keeps up it means that the market for games on iOS will rise to even greater heights.

Of course the most exciting thing coming next week is the Train2Game Game Jam which starts on the 14th. If you do get an iPhone 5 on release day there is just enough time to get it charged and ready before the weekends fun begins.

Train2Game News: Games industry speculation about ‘spectacular’ new consoles

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GAMESTOP CEO Paul Raines expects a next-gen console next year with another to follow in 2014.

On top of that EA – one of the largest games companies in the World says we should look forward to the gaming future.

Paul Raines speculates that Microsoft’s Xbox 720 and Sony’s Playstation 4 will not both be coming out in 2013 like previously thought. One will be released in 2013 with the other following in 2014.

Which comes first remains to be seen.

Mr Raines said “This week, I’m getting a lot of rumours that are very interesting about 2013 but we have not been expecting two more consoles in 2013.

“We’re expecting Wii U this Christmas, another console next year, and another one in ’14. These rumours change every week, but we’re hearing more about next year.”

EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has said the number of gamers has raised exponentially. 10 years ago there was an estimated 200 million worldwide. Now the number is estimated at almost 2 billion.

He added that EA has several new IPS in the works ready for launch with the next-gen consoles.

Mr Gibeau said “The time to launch an IP is at the front-end of the hardware cycle, and if you look historically the majority of new IPS are introduced within the first 24 months of each cycle of hardware platforms. Right now, we’re working on three to five new IPs for the next gen.

“When you launch a new IP it needs to do something really, really remarkable, and that’s easier to do when you have a new set of technology that gives you novel capabilities.

“I’ve seen the machines that we’re building games for, and they’re spectacular.”

Train2game News: Valve opens up to hardware in boost for games industry

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Valve LogoVALVE is looking for more staff to work on something which could confirm rumours about them moving into computer hardware.

It emerged today that speculation about Valve starting to create hardware appears to be true following adverts for staff on there site. Valve, which makes games such as Half-Life, certainly are no strangers to experimenting with new ventures.

This attitude has led to them creating highly inventive games such as Portal, the versatile Source Engine and the online game platform Steam.

Valve has always been about making things better in the gaming world, whether it’s for gamers or games developers, veteran and student alike. They have always encouraged modding for budding games developers and often employ talented, promising students. Now it seems they want to take it further with creating new hardware for PC, opening up more ideas for games developers.

Valve said: “Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers.

“We’re frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though”

“Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There’s a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked.”

What is being created still remains to be seen but there are rumours of a “Steam Box” which could be some sort of console. However, from what Valve says about input methods it sounds like they are looking in to peripherals for PCs.

This is one to watch to see how it develops.

Train2Game News for students

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There are many notes on the forum with a number of views as to how to apply for a work placement. The reality is THIS is how the placement scheme is operated.

First you should visit student world and look at the openings available. The information within Student World explains you should apply in writing saying why you think you should be considered for the opening. Your application should include a CV.

More here on the Forum

GOOD LUCK

Train2Game Do you have what it takes to be a T2G Forum Moderator

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Here’s the message just posted on the Train2Game Forum by EricW

GOOD LUCK

Dear All,
Tony and I are keen to have the Forum, on a daily basis, run by T2G Students. Currently, we only have a couple of students within the Mod Team and we’d like to encourage YOU to apply for a moderator position. This is a volunteer position and the only thanks you’ll get, LOL, is probably from Tony and I.

The roll of moderator can be difficult, just to warn you, as we all read things differently what could be seen as something bad to one person could be seen as a simple joke by another – something to consider when applying.

Moderators also have the difficult task of making the Forum a very warm and conducive place for all users, whilst ensuring topics don’t go so far off topic as to be ridiculous. Also keeping an eye out for spammers!!!!!!

So if you would like to be considered, share with TonyB and I why you think YOU should become a Forum moderator. As a moderator, you’ll also need to read thread messages carefully. Therefore, you will fail if you don’t read this – there should be no comments under this open thread and as such all applications should be sent jointly to TonyB and I via a PM.

Thanks in advance
Best
Eric

Do you have what it takes to be a T2G Forum Moderator