Category Archives: Games Artist and Animator

Train2Game news: Telltale Games – iPad ‘obvious place to focus’

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Train2Game students will be aware of the significance of the iPad and how Apple has changed the games industry.

Not only has it provided indie developers with the opportunity to release games, but bigger, more established studios are also seeing its benefits.

Telltale games are one such studio,  last month seeing 30% of their revenue come from the sale of iOS titles, and now CEO Dan Connors says they’re planning to focus more resources on iPad game development.

“The tablet is super interesting to us because we believe the style of content we build is perfect for the form factor,” he told Gamasutra.

“The fact that Apple has been able to get such a powerful tablet out there with a big install base makes it the obvious place to focus.”

Telltale games available in Apple’s app store include episodic titles Back to the Future, Sam & Max, Monkey Island and Hector: Badge of Carnagae.

And the studio CEO praised Apple’s global appeal and commented that the App store is an excellent way of getting games in front of a wide audience.

“What we’re seeing is you have access to a worldwide audience. There seems to be a real proliferation of these devices across the world,” he said.

“And the app store is so easy for people to purchase from. You can get your products to market really quickly and get them in front of people really quickly. There’s a good diverse audience – which is really good for the content that we do.”

Train2Game student Georgij Cernysiov has already seen his own iPad title released through the app store, while Train2Game student team Horizon Studios released Postal Panic for iPad earlier this year.

Train2Game students have also contributed to the development of DR Studios’ Bug Wings for iPhone and iPad. All of these show that producing iPad games could potentially be a great way for Train2Game students to get their games on the market.

And as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Apple could potentially continue to revolutionise the games industry.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Telltale’s move towards more focus on iPad development? Is it something more developers will do? Would you focus on developing games for Apple devices?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Uncharted 3 – ‘we do make up a lot of it as we go along’ reveals lead designer

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Train2Game students will no doubt be familiar with the highly successful Uncharted series for PlayStation 3.

Now, with game number three on the horizon, Naughty Dog look to be pushing towards the release of yet another technically impressive and critically acclaimed game.

And while Train2Game students may expect the Uncharted 3 to have been meticulously planned before development starts, it appears it isn’t the case.

“We start with a short description, but then we do make up a lot of it as we go along. I think that’s very important.” Uncharted 3 Lead Game Designer Richard Lemarchand told GamesIndustry.biz during an in-depth interview.

He revealed that Uncharted 3 uses a storyboarding technique similar to Toy Story and Cars creators Pixar, which doesn’t begin with a script, but animation.

“I attended a story seminar by one of the story artists at Pixar last year, and he told us that Pixar make their films in the same way: they don’t have a script when they start; they do lots of brainstorming, and they work up ideas, and they do lots of drawing, and they start to make animatics, which are like little rough-cut movies.” said Lemarchand.

The Naughty Dog game designer explained that the story evolves from this system, which is flexible enough for things to change if needed.

“So they discover the key moments of their movies that way, and over time the detailed structure of what they’re making emerges.”

“It kind of appears by them working at it and working at it. That’s good, because it means you don’t over commit to something that might be wrong, or not entertaining or interesting enough.” he said.

Train2Game students interested in how Uncharted 3’s script is written  and performed should check out this behind the scenes look on the Train2Game blog.

Uncharted 3 for PlayStation 3 is set for release on 2nd November, with the Train2Game blog previously reporting that Sony believe it’ll ‘show a new level in 3D gaming’

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the production behind Uncharted 3? Are you surprised it isn’t precisely planned? And how do you go about planning to build games?

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

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

Train2Game news: Battlefield 3 beta aiding game development

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Train2Game students will be aware of the importance of testing games during development, and the significance of this is already being displayed in the Battlefield 3 Open Beta.

According to the Battlefield blog, the feedback from players is providing useful information to developers DICE when it comes to improving the game.

“The amounts of people flocking to our Open Beta is fantastic! We are happy to see so many players enjoy this Open Beta, and giving us their valuable feedback on the experience on the Battlelog forums,” the blog post says.

Train2Game students can see the Battlefield 3 blog for a full rundown of the changes that have been made as a result of testing during the Open Beta, and DICE say they’ll be updating the blog with further tweaks they make as more people provide them with feedback about Battlefield 3.

The Battlefield 3 beta for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC runs through to October 10th, and Train2Game students who wish to get involved can find out how to do so here on the Train2Game blog.

It could provide Train2Game students, especially those on the QA Tester course, with experience of properly testing a game in development.

Last week, the Train2Game blog reported that Bioware also feel that playtesting is an essential part of game development.

So Train2Game, are you involved with the Battlefield 3 beta? Have you spotted any bugs? How important do you think this Open Beta is to the development of the game?

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

[Source: Battlefield blog]

Train2Game news: UK charts – FIFA 12 is third biggest ever launch

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Train2Game blog readers probably won’t be too surprised, but FIFA 12 has shot to No.1 in its debut week on sale, becoming the third biggest ever UK game launch ever.

It overtakes the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV and only the previous two Call of Duty titles have enjoyed bigger first week sales. FIFA 12 takes top spot from last weeks’ chart topper Gears of War 3.

Regular Train2Game blog readers will be used to seeing the FIFA name in the charts, with the previous title in the series, FIFA 11, still in the UK charts top ten as recently as last month.

The success of FIFA 12 sees F1 2011 from Codemasters slip one spot to No.3, ahead of non-mover and previous long time chart topper Zumba Fitness at No.4. Meanwhile, another former No.1 in the form of Dead Island drops to No.5 in its fourth week on sale.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution slides one to No.6, sitting one spot ahead of the PlayStation 3 exclusive new entry Ico & Shadow of the Colossus HD remake bundle.

UK developed Driver: San Francisco slips to No.8, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean remains at No.9, while Call of Duty: Black Ops once again re-enters the top ten.

X-Men: Destiny from Activision enters the charts at No.18 in its first week on sale.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 1st October 2011 is therefore as follows:

  1. FIFA 12 (EA)
  2. Gears of War 3 (Microsoft)
  3. F1 2011 (Codemasters)
  4. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
  5. Dead Island (Deep Silver)
  6. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix)
  7. Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection (Sony)
  8. Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft)
  9. LEGO Pirates of the Carribean (Disney)
  10. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)

Releases this week include Dark Souls and RAGE. Train2Game students can find out more about RAGE from id Software in the Train2Game interview with Creative Director Tim Willits.

What are your thoughts on the success of FIFA 12? Will it remain a big seller for almost a year, like its predecessor?  Can Dark Souls or RAGE knock it from No.1?

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

[Source: UKIE Games Charts©, compiled by GfK Chart-Track]

Train2Game news: Game developers need to make new IP a franchise from the start say id Software

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Train2Game students who go onto work on Triple-A titles will need to be ready to develop whole game franchises. At least that’s the case if id Software Creative Director Tim Willits.

“You need to make a franchise, especially for us. We’re doing everything we can to turn it into a franchise, “please let it sell so we can make another one!” he told GamesIndustry.biz.

And Willits said they needed to make sure the story was deep enough to do this from the start.

“Even from the beginning when we talked about the story and the setting, we said we need to make it rich, we need to have deep environment,”

“We have the comic books that we’ve used to support the game, we have the book we use to support the game, the iPhone – heck, the whole iPhone game was about Bash TV, which is only a ten minute experience in the overall game.” said id Software Creative Director.

He suggests that the RAGE franchise could even expand to include mobile and social games.

“So we definitely, from the get go, planned to make this a much bigger franchise, a much richer world, that allows us to have different games, and we can make more mobile games, heck, we could make a social game with Rage if we wanted to. And hopefully we can make a Rage 2. Hopefully.”

In an his in-depth interview with GI.biz, Willits handed out advice to those looking to get into the games industry: make sure you create things and finish them.

“If you want to make levels, make levels in you spare time, all the time. If you want to be an artist you always have to be drawing. If you want to be a programmer you need to make small apps. You have to have a passion to do it for free if you ever want to really get paid for it.” he said.

It’s very similar to the advice Willits gave Train2Game students about how to get into the games industry in an interview with the Train2Game blog last month.

Interested Train2Game students will be able to use RAGE’s mod tools following its release next month.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Willits comments? Does new IP need to be considered a franchise from its inception? Or can games still be one offs?

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

[Source: GI.biz]

Train2Game news: Playtesting ‘necessary’ part of game design process say Thatgamecompany

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Train2Game blog readers may have read our post earlier this week in which Star Wars: The Old Republic project lead James Ohlen said playtesting is a very important part of game development.

Well it seems that he isn’t the only one. Thatgamecompany, the indie studio behind Flower and the upcoming Journey, recently spoke to Gamasutra, with founder Kellee Santiago revealing playtesting is an integral part of their game development

“We are exploring different emotions in game design. If you were to have this emotion of, “I want it to feel joyous but slightly sad,” and you go to an artist, the artist can probably bang out some art in a couple days, some concept art that has those feelings.”

“You go to a composer and you say that, and they can probably do it in half a day, write out a tune that has joyous but slightly sad.” said Santiago.

And while sound and art & animation style can be tested relatively quickly, the Thatgamecompany founder believes that playtesting is the only way to get a good feel of game design concepts.

“You go to a game designer and say, “I want to feel game mechanics that are joyous and slightly sad,” there’s no real defined process for it, other than making something and having other people play it, and finding out if that’s right or not” she said.

“And it’s just a longer process, and it is because it is still so new, I think. Prototyping and playtesting is just so necessary to the craft right now.” Santiago concluded.

Of course, it isn’t only game developers and QA Testers who playtest games, with open beta becoming increasingly popular. As reported by the Train2Game blog, the Battlefield 3 beta begins today, while Valve’s Chet Faliszek also told us that testing is a hugely important part of game development.

So Train2Game, how important do you believe playtesting is to game design?  Will there every be a defined process of testing game design concepts?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: There will always be subscription based MMOs say Star Wars: The Old Republic devs Bioware

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Train2Game students may be aware that many MMO titles are switching to a free-to-play model, one wherein revenue is made by microtransactions rather than monthly subscription fees.

However, while many games in the genre are going free-to-play, the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic – scheduled for release in December – is going to stick to the traditional pay monthly model.

And while many developers are switching to free-to-play, SWTOR developers Bioware believe that gamers will always be willing to pay a subscription fee for a quality product.

“I think there will always be a place for premium content at a premium price and that’s one of the differences,” Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuk told Industry Gamers.

“Free to play is very much about trial, about ‘Hey, I don’t know what this is, I don’t have confidence that it’s any good, but I’m willing to take a look at it,’ versus ‘I know this is good, from a trusted source, and it’s the biggest license in the world.’ So it’s a different value proposition,” he said.

Fellow Bioware co-founder Ray Muzyka believes that increased competition from free-to-play titles is good for the games industry.

“There’s more competition for entertainment dollars now than ever before from social and play for free, and all sorts of entertainment, which I think is actually really healthy from an entertainment industry perspective”

However, he agrees with Zeschuk in that the subscription model will remain popular, but the games have to be worth it.

“But I agree with Greg that there’s a space for a certain number of premium products that are subscription based or whatever the premium pricing model is. But they have to merit it, they have to earn that from a consumer trust perspective and delivering and exceeding expectations.” said Muzyka.

Of course, he believes that Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of these games.

“I think The Old Republic is definitely in that triple-A premium category. That’s the feedback reading from the players and data testing.”

Earlier this week, the Train2Game blog reported on the importance of playtesting in the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

For an in-depth look at the development of SWTOR, read the Train2Game interview with Associate Lead Game Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi

So Train2Game, do you believe the subscription model for MMO still has a future ahead of it? Or will free-to-play titles become the dominant force?

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

[Source: Industry Gamers]

Train2Game news: Consoles will continue to be the ‘gold standard’

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Train2Game students will be aware about the huge increase in digital gaming over the last few years, with smartphones, Steam and as seen at the Eurogamer Expo, OnLive, all giving consumers ways of downloading or streaming games.

And as reported by the Train2Game blog, some have even speculated that there will eventually be no place for traditional consoles.

However, retailer GameStop believes that consoles are very much here to stay and for a long while yet.

“We continue to believe that the console is a strong platform and will continue to be the gold standard” GameStop President Tony Bartel told Industry Gamers

And he believes that digital content will become an increasingly important area for consoles.

“People will begin to digitally download first a lot more downloadable content. Eventually, full games will become more relevant to some consumers who want to do that”

“Then we think that streaming will continue to grow. As you get additional bandwidth, we think that it’s going to become more prevalent over time, which is why we’ve invested in it.” Bartel concluded.

The increasing importance of digital to consoles echoes comments made by THQ CEO Brian Farrell. As reported by the Train2Game blog, he believes future consoles won’t use discs and this will only be a good thing for game developers.

Meanwhile, Crytek believe that the games industry isn’t quite ready for an all digital cloud gaming way of working.

So Train2Game, do you believe consoles will always be a part of gaming? Or does the rise of digital mean that they have limited time left in the spotlight?

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

[Source: Industry Gamers]

Train2Game news: Games will match film visuals within a decade say Epic

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Train2Game students could end up working on games with Hollywood quality graphics in the next ten years. That’s at least if predictions made by Epic Games founder Tim Sweeny come true.

Epic Games are of course on board for the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam in November.

I really see two major milestones coming up for games in the very long-term future.” Sweeny told IGN UK.

“Number one is achieving movie quality graphics and movie quality pixels on the screen, which mean no flicker in the visuals, no popping artefacts, no bulky character outlines on the screen at all.”

“I see that actually occurring over the next ten years” he said.

And the Epic Games founder believes that computers just need the extra power that will come over the next few years in order to achieve this.

“We just haven’t been able to do it because we don’t have enough terra flops or petta flops of computer power to make it so.”

“I expect over the next ten years we’ll a real revolution in that area as we make up this missing gap between where we are today and everything movies are doing” said Sweeny.

“I expect I’ll be actively programming at the time we’ve achieved full movie-quality graphics because that’s really just a matter of brute force computing power and clever algorithm. We know exactly how to do that” he added.

Train2Game students can get a taste of what games could look like in Epic’s impressive Samaritan tech demo produced using Unreal Engine 3, as seen here on the Train2Game blog.

The Epic games founder suggested that Unreal Engine 4 for next-gen consoles will “probably launch around 2014”

The other major milestone according to Sweeny is creating proper human characters with emotions in games, and this could be improved over the next ten years, although not to the same extent as graphics.

“Simulation of gameplay characters, artificial intelligence, character dialogue and all of these other things aren’t really problems of brute force computing,” said the Epic co-founder.

“They require increasingly sophisticated algorithms and simulation of human intelligence. I have no idea when those problems will be solved. I’m quite sure they won’t be solved in the next ten years.

“They may not even be solved in my lifetime, but those are all problems that require understanding how the human brain works and trying to simulate that with varying degrees of accuracy”

“We’ve seen very, very little progress in these areas over the past few decades so it leaves me very sceptical about our prospects for breakthroughs in the immediate future.” Sweeny concluded.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Sweeny’s comments? Will we see film quality visuals in the next ten years? And do you think games will ever properly crack artificial intelligence?

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

[Source: IGN UK via Develop]

Train2Game interview: Valve’s Chet Faliszek on CS:GO

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Train2Game attended the Eurogamer Expo, and during our time there we had a chat with Valve Software writer Chet Faliszek about Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. In an in depth interview, Faliszek discusses the reasons for making CS: GO, bringing the PC title to consoles,  the importance of beta testing and much more.

The Valve Software writer also tells the Train2Game blog how important modding can be as part of finding work in the games industry.

Read the interview below, on Train2Game’s Scribd page, or listen to it via Train2Game Radio.

We’re over ten years on from the original Counter-Strike, why is the time right for CS: GO now?

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive started because we were actually originally just going to do a port of Counter-Strike: Source for XBLA. Internally we started playing it a lot and released that ‘Oh, this is a lot of fun’ We forgot how much fun this translates over to the 360 now we’ve got really good at this, so we should make a bigger investment, a full game and expand out what it is.

What are the main Game Design changes that have been made to CS: GO?

One of the cool things with Counter-Strike is it’s been around for so long, that there’s a lot of feedback we can get about what works and what doesn’t work. So we’ve taken a look at 1.6, we’ve taken a look at Counter-Strike: Source, we’ve kind of taken the best of both worlds and we think we’ve created the best version of Counter-Strike.

Which modes will be available in the upcoming game?

We’re going to have the classic bomb planting and hostage and rescue, and were also going to have – again looking back to the community, they had worked on gun game – and so we’re incorporating gun game directly into what we call ‘Arsenal modes.’  We have two of those modes; one is Demolition and that’s about bomb planting and team based Gun Game. And then we also have Arms Race which is the classic Gun Game where every kill you get, you get a new gun and then eventually you get to the knife round.

How difficult has  it been to bring what’s fundamentally a PC game onto consoles?

We don’t really ever look at games that way. As a company, as gamers ourselves, we play on too many different platforms just to think of a game being that anymore. I mean, I play Left4Dead on console as much as I play it on PC, so you know, I think we’ve become accustomed to that.

It’s been fun watching people jump down here and say ‘Oh man, I can’t believe you don’t have keyboard and mouse here,’ and then they play on the PS3 and go ‘Oh yeah, that works pretty well.’

It’s had a good reaction from the hardcore Counter-Strike fans then?

Yeah, actually what’s really funny is at PAX back in Seattle, we were showing it on the 360 and we had a pro-gaming website come in really dissing that we had it on the 360. And they sat down and ran over everybody and they loved it.

Is there a mode for players who might be new to Counter-Strike, but don’t want to get run over by veteran players?

Well actually in all of our modes we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen, but we have the Social Mode which you’re seeing here. You get all the weapons, there’s no friendly fire, all talk is on and it’s a place to have fun with your friends and you’re talking about your girlfriend’s or what you’re talking about on TV while you’re playing the game.

But also there’s also a skill based mode which is all about the skill based matchmaking, so that’ll always make sure you’re having a competitive game without getting owned by someone who’s been playing for  ten years and is tonnes better than you – they’re going to be playing against different people than you will.

You’re giving out beta keys here, how important is that phase in the development of a game?

It’s really important to us because we’re going to let that drive the release date, because we’re really looking to get the feedback from the community over the changes we’ve made. We’ve brought over some stuff that was good from Counter-Strike: Source and we’ve brought over some stuff that was good from 1.6, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the communities react.

Already we’ve got some positive feedback from some of the pros, but we’re telling the communities it’s not going to be either, it’s going to be something new so let’s play it, let’s give feedback and let’s go from there.

Valve Software has a reputation for hiring modders, is modding therefore a good way for a budding game developer to get noticed?

It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able. Normally modders have to work as a team and that’s important, and they also have to be able to finish something and that’s really important. So those two things together are a really good way to demonstrate that you’re ready to work in the industry.

What other advice would you give to someone looking to work in the games industry?

Make sure you’re doing something.  Do whatever you’re doing, like we (at Valve) weren’t necessarily writing for games when Gabe (Newell) tapped us, but do whatever you do as well as you can and with a view as to what your eventual goal will be.

Anything else you’d like to add about CS: GO?

We’re going to have the beta starting in October, check it out. We think it’s the best version of Counter-Strike there is, and you can help us make it the best version.

Thanks for your time.

The CS:GO beta begins in October, with a Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC released scheduled for early 2012.

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

For more information about Train2Game, go to www.train2game.com