Category Archives: game

Train2Game good news for modders! Source SDK will soon be free

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Exciting news for Train2Game modding enthusiasts! Valve has revealed that their Source Software Development Kit will be available to anyone for free.

The announcement comes following Valve stating that they were working on making the Source SDK ‘less painful to use, as reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this year.

Currently, you need to buy a Source based game such as Half-Life 2 in order to gain access to the mod tools, but it appears Team Fortress 2 going free-to-play last week has fundamentally changed this.

The news of the Source SDK becoming free first appeared on Reddit, after a mod tester known as Riley contacted Team Fortress 2 developer Robin Walker to ask if buying an in-game item would allow access to the tools. Walker replied with:

“Yep. That said, your email has triggered a process here that made us re-examine that, and we’re going to just go ahead and make the Source SDK freely available. Thanks for making us better!”

PC Gaming blog Rock, Paper Shotgun also contacted Walker to confirm the news, to which he replied:

“We are in the process of getting it all done. It’s a bit messy because we have multiple versions of the SDK, and there’s some dependencies we need to shake out. But yes, the gist of it is that we’re just going to go ahead and make the Source SDK freely available.”

So there’s good news for budding Train2Game game developers, you’ll now be able to access the Source modding tools for free!

Valve have a long history of supporting modders, and as many Train2Game students will know, the popular shooter Counter-Strike begun as a mod for the original Half-Life.

More recently, Valve have allowed Team Fortress 2 community developers a cut of the revenue made from the in-game items sold through digital transactions.

In an interview published on the Train2Game blog last month, Red Faction: Armageddon Lead Level Designer Jameson Durall said that modding is an excellent way for those with desires to get into the games industry to practice their skills.

So Train2Game, will you be using the Source SDK? Have you used it before? And does the  support Valve give mods inspire you?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Rock, Paper Shotgun]

Train2Game students have the opportunity to join Hellgate Open Beta

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Here’s something that may especially be of interest to Train2Game students on the Games QA Tester course, the Open Beta period for T3 Entertainment’s MMO Hellgate has begun.

As Train2Game students will know, a Beta period not only acts as a good source of promotion for a game, it also allows users to essentially become QA Testers and report any bugs or problems they encounter.

The Hellgate Open Beta could therefore provide a Train2Game QA Tester with an opportunity to test their bug testing skills, while having some fun with a new game at the same time.

Hellgate is described as “an online, action RPG that allows you to play in a first-person or third-person perspective.”

Set in a near future where the gates of Hell have opened and Demons roam the earth, the game is based in London! Perhaps some Train2Game students would be interested in testing Hellgate purely for that reason.

To sign up for the Hellgate Open Beta, visit the official website and follow the Hellgate logo.

Hellgate is a free-to-play MMO, and as reported by the Train2Game blog just yesterday, freemium games can become very profitable for developers and publishers.

Train2Game students who want an in-depth look at how developing a free-to-play title can bring success should see this previous post on the Train2Game blog

So Train2Game, will you be joining the open beta? Do you see it as a good opportunity to test your abilities as a QA Tester?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game News, Nintendo on why core gamers will love the Wii U. Will YOU love it Train2Game?

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As reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this month, perhaps the biggest news from E3 was the reveal of Nintendo’s Wii U.

And in a Q&A session with shareholders, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explained why he believed core gamers – a group many Train2Game students fall into – didn’t take to the Nintendo Wii.

“Wii was not accepted by core gamers because they did not want to abandon their preferred control approach” he said.

“Additionally, Wii did not use HD because HD cost performance at the time was low. Wii U makes it easier to use conventional controls. Also, the Wii U controller is not as big or heavy as it looks,” Iwata added.

Nintendo say that initial impressions from the video game press, themselves core gamers, have been very positive.

“Reactions directly from L.A. were extremely good. The reaction differed greatly between those who covered the product at the show and those who just covered it online. In other words, the point is how Nintendo can convey the value of the product,” Iwata explained.

And as reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this month, EA boss John Riccitiello believes the future of the games industry is here. Indeed, he made a personal appearance during the Nintendo E3 Wii Upresentation.

So Train2Game, do you believe the Wii U can bring core gamers back to Nintendo? Will you buy one? And would you like to develop for the console in future?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Andriasang via Industry Gamers]