Train2Game was at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany from 17th August to 21st August. In this interview, we caught up with WWE 12 Lead Gameplay Designer Brian Williams to talk about new features in the upcoming game. Williams also revealed how he started in the games industry and gave Train2Game students advice on how to get in. Read the full interview below, or listen to it on Train2Game Radio.
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
Train2Game at gamescom 3 of the team from Ghost Recon Future Solider talk to Danny Palmer, plus games advise and how to start in the industry
Train2Game at gamescom Marek Ziemak Environment Artist Witcher 2 talks to Danny Palmer and explains how he started as a QA tester
Crytek has announced that they will release their latest all-in-one game development solution CryENGINE 3 free of charge for non-commercial use. The award winning SDK provides the complete game engine to create AAA quality next generation games for PC, and includes the CryENGINE®3 Sandbox™ level editor, a production-proven, 3rd generation “What you see is what you play” (WYSIWYP) – tool designed by and for professional developers. The free toolset is available for download at crydev.net, the former crymod.com community portal that offers documentation written by the developers of the engine, a thriving community and a supplementary knowledge base for CryENGINE 3.
The free CryENGINE SDK will be updated regularly, to make sure our community has access to all the advances we make to CryENGINE 3.
“With the release of our SDK we encourage creators to try out CryENGINE 3 and hope it will lead to new companies being formed and using our engine. More importantly we expect to increase the talent pool for CryENGINE developers, as well as boosting our online community of users. This SDK contains more toys than we’ve ever released before – it empowers people to create whole new games from scratch, not just mod Crytek’s own games, so we encourage all aspiring and indie developers to try it out.” said Carl Jones, Director of Global Business Development CryENGINE.
“For those who want to make the step into commercial gaming, we’ll offer a royalty-only license model for games made with this SDK, where Crytek require only 20% of the developer’s revenues from the commercial launch of their game.”
For more information visit http://www.mycryengine.com
And find out how Raphel Colantonio got into the games industry
Robert Ramsay is studying to become a Game Artist & Animator with Train2Game. Train2Game Radio caught up with him to find out why he chose to study with Train2Game, and how he’s finding the course.
In part 3 of a 3 part interview, Robert tells fitting Train2Game around the rest of his life, and his plans for the future. Listen to the interview at http://audioboo.fm/train2game
Read parts 1 and 2 here on the Train2Game blog, and leave your comments on the Train2Game forum.
Train2Game students will know that reflecting on your work is an important part of game development, even for the biggest studios.
As a result, Brink developers Splash Damage have discussed their game at the Game Developers Conference in Germany, pointing out what they could have done better. This is despite, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Brink reaching No.1 in the charts.
Lead Game Designer Neil Alphonso analysed Brink’s four key design concepts: blended game modes, objective and team based gameplay, the SMART system, and player customisation and persistent levelling.
As reported by the Train2Game blog last year, Splash Damage claimed Brink would ‘end the genre as we know it.’
Looking back however, Alphonso acknowledged that they may have been too ambitious with certain Game Design ideas
“Brink tried to be something new and different in several areas, In hindsight we perhaps strayed away from convention a bit too much in some areas.” he said.
“But several of Brink’s key features resonated really well with our audience, along with continuing to work on tweaking and refining the gameplay now the game is out in the wild. We’re taking a lot of these lessons on board for our future projects.”
Alphonso also said the story, the Game Design of Brink, “had to take a back seat”.
“People reacted pretty differently to the way we approached our narrative,” Alphonso said. “Some would say there’s no story to speak of, which I would beg to differ with. But some loved the setting and the context we’d given the action.”
“There’s a lot there for people to read into it. But we don’t spoon feed it to people, which is maybe what some people were looking for.” He continued.
“So in the end, essentially when the game is viewed as a highly contextualised multiplayer experience, it does really well. But if you view it as a cinematic single-player cinematic experience, it doesn’t really hold up.” Alphonso concluded.
For more information on how Brink was developed, see the Train2Game blog. There’s also an in-depth look at the Art & Animation of the game.
So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Splash Damages anaylsis of Brink? How do you think the game could be have been improved? And how important is reflecting on a game post development?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: Eurogamer]
The official Train2Game Facebook page now has over 4000 fans, with this impressive milestone achieved over the weekend of 14 August.
The Train2Game Facebook page offers the 4000 fans regular updates about Train2Game, features interviews with students, work placements and offers a place for Train2Game students to see and discuss games industry news.
It features content from the Train2Game blog, the official Train2Game website and respected games industry websites around the web.
The 4000 Fan of the Train2Game Facebook fan page also offers a great hub of information for those wishing to enter the games industry.
In addition to the Train2Game forum, the Train2Game blog and the Train2Game Twitter, the Train2Game Facebook page will continue to offer the best content to Train2Game students, as it grows ever more popular.
Train2Game would like to thank every single FAN for their support.
Following another quiet week for new releases, it probably won’t surprise Train2Game students to see Zumba Fitness top of the UK charts once again.
It’s the dance games’ ninth consecutive week at No.1 and 12th overall in the top spot. The 505 Game is now the7th biggest selling third-party Wii title ever in the UK
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean is the biggest mover, up three to No.2 while another game from Disney, Cars 2, is a non-mover at No.3. Dirt 3 drops to No.4, with FIFA 11 moving up one place to No.5.
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 rises two places to No.6, moving ahead of Just Dance 2 extra songs which drops to No.7. Call of Juarez: The Cartel moves up two places to No.8 while The Sims 3 re-enters the top ten at No.9.
Former No.1 – as reported by the Train2Game blog – L.A. Noire just about remains in the top ten after dropping one place to No.10.
The biggest mover outside the top ten is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D for the Nintendo 3DS which jumps from No.39 to No.13.
The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 13th August 2011 is therefore as follows:
1. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
2. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney)
3. Cars 2 (Disney)
4. Dirt 3 (Codemasters)
6. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Warner)
7. Just Dance 2: Extra Songs (Ubisoft)
8. Call of Juarez: The Cartel (Ubisoft)
9. The Sims 3 (EA)
10. LA Noire (Rockstar)
The week ahead is set to be another quiet one for new releases, but big titles including Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Rugby World Cup 2011 arrive in time for the end of the month.
So Train2Game, what are thoughts on the continued success of Zumba Fitness? Or indeed the top ten as a whole?
Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.
[Source: UKIE Games Charts©, compiled by GfK Chart-Track]
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