Category Archives: Games Artist and Animator

Train2Game news – Valve: modding ‘a really good way’ to get noticed in the games industry

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Train2Game students should take up modding in order to help demonstrate that they’re ready to work in the games industry. That’s according to Valve Software’s Chet Faliszek who spoke to the Train2Game blog at The Eurogamer Expo.

“It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able” he responded when asked about modding.

“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.”

Valve have a reputation of hiring modders, and as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Team Fortress 2 regularly sees community created items added to the game.

As part of an interview that’ll shortly be published  on the Train2Game blog in full, the Valve writer added  that it’s important to just “make sure you’re doing something.”

“Do whatever you’re doing,” he said.  “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”

Faliszek’s comments echo those of id Software’s Tim Willits, who last month also told the Train2Game blog that modding is a great way to get into the industry. Willits himself started his career as a modder.

“Modding is a great way to get into the industry. Most of the key guys at ID come from the mod community – myself, Matt Hooper, Robert Duffy, Jan Paul Van Waveren – and we have numbers of other guys” said the RAGE Creative Director.

“What I suggest to people who want to get in the industry is find their favourite engine – Unreal, Source, it doesn’t matter, id tech – find whatever engine they like, what games they like to play, get the mod tools and make a mod. And make sure they complete it!

“Lots of times we have people who send resumes’ in with 20 half completed mods; we don’t want that, we want a handful of one’s that are actually done, and that’s really important” he added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Faliszek’s advice? Do you mod? Would you like to take it up?

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

Train2Game students can quiz Batman Arkham City developers Rocksteady at BAFTA this Friday

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Train2Game students in London have the chance to attend a very special BAFTA Q&A event about Batman: Arkham City this Friday.

As stated on the BAFTA website, London-based Rocksteady Studios will discuss the making of the hotly anticipated follow-up to Batman: Arkham Asylum, winner of two BAFTAs for Gameplay and Best Game of 2009.

Doors open at 19:30 on Friday 30th September, while the Q&A event itself begins at 20:45.

Full event details are available on the official BAFTA website, while Train2Game students who register in advance can go to what will be a very insightful event for free. Full details on that are here.

The Train2Game blog attended a BAFTA Q&A session   about Duke Nukem Forever with Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software earlier this year. You can read all about it here on the Train2Game blog.

Train2Game students can also get a peek behind the scenes at Rocksteady in this previous article about Game Design in Batman: Arkham City.

So Train2Game, will you attend the BAFTA Batman: Arkham City event? What questions would you ask about the game?

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

[Source: BAFTA]

Train2Game news: Bioware on the importance of playtesting during game development

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Train2Game students will be aware testing a game is an extremely important part of game development. But according to Bioware, it isn’t something that should be left to the QA Testers or Beta testers alone, rather the game developers should be constantly involved in the process too.

That’s according to Star Wars: The Old Republic project lead James Ohlen who was speaking to Gamasutra.

“The thing about it is, it’s important to get people to test your game, but the beta tests are more for finding out if your technology’s going to stand up, and finding some small tweaks and changes.” he said when asked about playtesting.

“But all the big changes that we’ve been making were planned from way before, because we’ve been playing the game ourselves. If we didn’t figure this stuff out, we’d be terrible game designers. So, internally we figured out a lot of the problems early on.

However, Ohlen pointed out that Beta testers still have a role to play in game development.

“But at the same time, it’s good for fans to feel like they’re having an impact, and sometimes they do”

“Sometimes they do point out information that is a little bit surprising, but nothing hugely surprising. There’s been surprises on the project, but mostly they’ve come from us playtesting this stuff.” the Star Wars: The Old Republic project lead concluded.

For a more in depth look behind the scenes of Star Wars: The Old Republic, check out the Train2Game interview with Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi.

Star Wars: The Old Republic will be released in Europe on 22nd December 2011.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on testing games? Do you agree that it’s an important part of a game developers job, no matter what role they have in the industry?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Gears of War 3 is No.1

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Train2Game forum users, at least a significant proportion of them, were very excited about the release of Gears of War 3 and it seems that excitement was replicated throughout the country.

Gears of War 3 is the new UK No.1, becoming the fastest selling new game of the year in the process and Britain’s 12th biggest game launch of all time.

F1 2011 from Codemasters is another new entry at No.2, and Train2Game students can get an insight behind the scenes of its development in our in depth interview with Chief Game Designer Steve Hood.

The new entries push previous chart topper Dead Island down to No.3, while Zumba Fitness jumps up two places to No.4. Deus Ex: Human Revolution remains at No.5 for the third consecutive week.

Driver: San Francisco slips to No.6, with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Resistence 3 dropping five spots each to No.7 and No.8 respectively.  LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean and Rugby World Cup 2011 complete the top ten.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 24th September 2011 is therefore as follows:

1. Gears of War 3 (Microsoft)
2. F1 2011 (Codemasters)
3. Dead Island (Deep Silver)
4. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
5. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Square Enix)
6. Driver: San Francisco (Ubisoft)
7. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine (THQ)
8. Resistance 3 (Sony)
9. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney)
10. Rugby World Cup 2011 (505 Games)

New titles for release this week include FIFA 12.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Gears of War 3 topping the charts? Will it be the same again next week, or will FIFA 12 take the top of the table?

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

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

Train2Game news: Battlefield 3 open beta begins this month

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Train2Game students will no doubt find Beta testing certain games fun, but they’ll also be aware that it’s an important stage of game development.

It’s therefore possible that many Train2Game students are excited that the Battlefield 3 beta will be available later this month on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Those in the PC beta will need to use EA’s Origin digital distribution system.

Those who’ve pre-ordered Battlefield 3 on Origin or bought the Medal of Honor limited edition will gain access to the beta from September 27th. The Battlefield 3 beta will open up to everyone else from 29th September  through to 10th October

The official Battlefield 3 website prominently states that the beta is “Your chance to give feedback.” Train2Game students, especially those on the Games QA Tester course, will know that feedback is an integral part of game development.

Train2Game students who get involved in the Battlefield 3 beta will be set on the Parised ‘Operation Metro’ map while the game mode available is rush.

EA believe that Battlefield is ‘superior’ to Call of Duty, as reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this year.

So Train2Game, will you get involved with the Battlefield 3 Beta? Do you believe it could even help your ability to be an eagle eyed game developer?

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

Train2Game news: Homefront sequel in development at Crytek UK

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Train2Game students may be surprised to hear this, but not only is Homefront getting a sequel, it’s being developed by Crytek.

As reported by ther Train2Game blog, the THQ published Homefront topped the charts back in March despite lucklustre reviews from critics. It stayed there for a week before being dislodged by Crysis 2…from Crytek.

The yet to be named sequel will be produced using Crytek’s impressive CryEngine 3, and according to Develop, it’ll be developed by the studios UK based arm in Nottingham.

“Selecting Crytek to take Homefront forward underscores our strategy of working with the industry’s best talent,” said THQ EVP Danny Bilson

“Homefront’s unique setting and storyline captivated gamers the world over. With Crytek’s industry leading technology and legendary experience in the FPS genre, we’re supremely confident that the next Homefront will deliver that AAA-quality experience that players demand.” he concluded.

“We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created and marketed by THQ,” added CEO and President of Crytek Cevat Yerli

“We believe that bringing our level of quality, creativity and production values to the next Homefront title, creates an opportunity for both THQ and Crytek to deliver a truly blockbuster game”

“It’s really important to us that THQ has the faith in giving us a lot of creative freedom over one of its most important properties to allow us to bring the Homefront world to life in a new and innovative way.” he said

The newly announced Homefront title is scheduled for release in 2014 on ‘console and PC platforms’ The non-specific naming of any particular consoles could raise eyebrows amongst Train2Game students, could we be looking at a next-gen title already?

Are you excited by the announcment? Can Crytek make Homefront into an outstanding game? And what are your thoughts on the 2014 release schedule?

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

Train2Game student insight behind the scenes of Borderland 2’s art direction

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Train2Game forum users, at least a significant number of them loved Borderlands. Train2Game Art & Animation students enjoyed its cell shaded art style in particular.

Now, with sequel confirmed last month, Borderlands 2 Art Director Jeramy Cooke has been discussing… art direction with Gamasutra. In particular, he’s keen to point out that Borderlands 2 will not only be a lot more colourful, but how the art style will be an integral part of the game.

“I wanted it to have a richer, larger world” said Cooke. “I felt like we were stuck in the desert a lot, and it got monotonous. It felt like you were seeing the same enemies too often. I mean, that’s my personal experience. And we really wanted to just widen that and give you this sense of a huge space, which is why you can see the other maps from the maps you’re in.

The Borderlands 2 Art Director then described how if the player could see something in the distance, they should be able to travel across the map and see it up close.

“You look over there, and you see this dam off in the distance, and you know “Oh, that’s where I was,” and vice-versa when you’re on top of the dam and you look down into zone 1 and see all of the ice spread out. It’s about that sort of large-scale, large-scope experience” Cooke said.

It’s a view echoed by Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Jason Vandenberghe in last month’s interview with the Train2Game blog.

“Borderlands is not a rail shooter, it’s not a corridor shooter” the Borderlands 2 Art Director continued.

“We want you to explore and have fun and go where you want and do what you want. The world’s job is to be enticing, to convince you to go out there and find cool stuff, to dig around in the corner and find cool loot or a miniboss you didn’t know who was there or whatever.”

So Train2Game, how important do you believe art style can be in making a game fun to play? What are your thoughts on Borderlands 2? Can it improve on the original?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Sims Social has ‘redefined’ social games say EA

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Train2Game students will be aware that social gaming has changed the industry and indeed, potentially allows them new ways to get into the business of building games.

Indeed, as the Train2Game blog reported last week, social developer Playfish believe that there hasn’t been a better time for smaller developers to be successful.

Social gaming is still growing and Playfish believe that the fact EA have brought big names like The Sims to Facebook has already fundamentally changed the sector after becoming the No.2 game on the social media platform.

“In bringing one of EA’s most popular game franchises to Facebook, Playfish and The Sims team have redefined the meaning of social in video games,” Playfish founder Kristian Segerstrale told MCV. Playfish are owned by EA.

“By combining Playfish’s expertise and passion for social play with the deep creative heritage of The Sims franchise and the insights of its creators, we feel we’ve brought something very special to life – and tens of millions of players around the world have responded with extraordinary enthusiasm over the last few weeks. “

“We’re looking forward to working with players to evolve the game and its features in new and exciting ways in the coming months and beyond.” Segerstrale added.

EA has previously brought a number of high profile names to the social media scene, including the likes of FIFA and Dragon Age.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on bringing established franchises to Facebook? Has it already fundamentally changed social media gaming? Could it encourage casual gamers to pick up more ‘hardcore’ titles?

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

[Source: MCV]

Train2Game course update from QA Tester student Daniel Parkes

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Train2Game student Daniel Parkes recently began a blog called How Train2Game changed my life. Now Daniel has posted a new blog updating us on his Train2Game QA Tester course progress in achieved 80% in his latest TMA.

Daniel also writes about his visit to GAMEfest in Birmingham at the weekend and some of the discussions he had with game developers. A SEGA game developer told Daniel that many of his colleagues started their careers at video game QA Testers, and it’s certainly a common way into the games industry.

Indeed, during Train2Game‘s time at Gamescom many games industry personnel including UFC Undisputed 3 Producer Neven Dravinski, and WWE’12 Lead Gameplay Designer Brian Williams told us that QA is an excellent way to get into the games industry.

You can see the full update from Train2Game student Daniel Parkes on his blog.

Train2Game game designers could write for the ‘dominant story telling medium’

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Train2Game students could see their future work become part of the chief method of portraying stories. At least that’s the case according to the writer of Gears of War 3.

Video games are going to be the “dominant story telling medium” Karen Traviss told CVG.

And she believes that even if the game doesn’t have the greatest narrative in the world, it’s still the most compelling way of telling the story due to the players’ involvement.

“You get something out of it because you are acting on the story,” said Traviss.

“Even with games that don’t require you to make story choices you still engage with it in a different way so it’s a great stimulus to your mental processes as well. These are not brainless things,” she added.

It isn’t the first time Traviss has spoken about game design, with the Train2Game blog reporting last month that she believed ‘iconic’ games needed good writers. Her words split opinion of Train2Game students on the Train2Game forum.

And the Gears of War 3 writer isn’t the only one who believes storytelling in video games is going to become even more significant in future.

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Darkness II Game Director Sheldon Carter believes that game design and narrative are only going to become stronger as video games try to break their “final frontier”

Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Jason Vandenberghe previously told the Train2Game blog that the use of actor and motion capture is also playing an increasingly significant part in video game story telling.

So Train2Game, do you think video games can become the most dominant story telling medium? What is going to help them achieve it?

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

[Source: CVG]