Category Archives: Games Designer

Train2Game student Diaries of Jonny Robinson with some advice

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Jonny Robinson

After many hours of game development and laughter making My Sea Park, it’s now live on the app store. I’m just blown away with how fast it has shot up the UK app charts and it is getting nothing but praise on the reviews section.

It really has opened my eyes to a monetisation model as a whole, which is vital for me to know as a designer since as the gaming economy is changing exponentially.

Clive Robert (CEO of DR Studios) very kindly took out all the member of staff for a meal which was a great laugh. We were like kids at Christmas, just wondering how many downloads we would get and continuously hoping it will make it to the top. Well it’s in the top 25 downloads at the moment and it is still climbing just like the smile on my face.

I need to take my hat off to development DR team and Fuse for doing such a great job!

As a little bonus, this will look great on my portfolio! 😉

Until next time peace!

www.train2game.com

 Jonny Robinson 48

Another week another gigantic lesson learned. Doing what I do, I have to keep a lot of things close to my chest as I don’t want to be legally done by NDA or anything else of that matter. All I can say is that I went for a job interview for a position in the game industry. The person who interviewed me passed on some fantastic advice that I want to share with you as he is very experienced in what he does.

Anonymous game industry advice:

1) When you first walk into an interview; make sure you always introduce yourself, pass your CV to the interviewer (just in case) and tell them what position you are applying for.

2) Make sure before the interview you email the interviewer a link to your portfolio and CV; so they can do a little homework on you before the interview. This is so the interviewers are not focusing on the portfolio so much and instead are paying more attention to you, the interviewee.

3) Show passion if you are new to the industry, this will go a long way if you are less experienced as this will state that you are willing to go the whole nine yards and back to get the job done.

4) This last one is my own advice, if this is your first interview for a game industry position, say so. This may make you look less professional but it will give you some leeway as the interviewer knows you new to this whole experience.

This is just a snippet of information I’m willing to share with you, as we Train2Game members need to stick together and plus, I’m nice like that.

So how did my interview go? It went as well as it could have done, to be honest, but I have been asked to come back for another interview which is fantastic news.

So I hope this information helps you as much as it helped me.

There is so much more that I could talk about, but I will leave that one for my next diary, so stay tuned.

Until then… peace!

www.train2game.com

Train2Game student Diaries James Bouckley week 15 and 16

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Week 15

This week we discussed targets for the game.  When should it be finished by and when would we have a demo ready.  We tried to have a demo ready by Friday but unfortunately we failed.  Despite the game being interesting and very fun to develop, the support cases have to come first and a surprising abundance of them this week and Rob still being on holiday meant we just didn’t have enough time to work on it.  It came as a bit of surprise to me this week when I discovered we needed desktop controls because the game was going to be multi-platform and the dual-joystick imitation controls for keyboard I had made (purely for testing purposes), weren’t going to cut it.  After a bit of stressful week, I have to admit that being told this didn’t find me well.  Ben spent some time going around the office with the iOS version of the game, which was finished, getting as many opinions as possible so we could polish the demo.  Meanwhile I struggled to finish the PC controls and failed.  Not a great week in all, but still a fair margin better than any week I’ve ever had in any other job… ever.

Week 16

Unity 4.0 has been announced!  It was announced this Monday and boy does that make for a lot of support cases!  Rob is now back with us and good job too because I think without him Ben and I would have struggled.  This again meant another week with not as much work done on the game as I would have liked.  The desktop controls are finished now, but buggy and I’m not happy with them.  Also, one of the major things that people noted about the game when Ben showed them last Friday was that they didn’t like the linear mapping between finger-joystick position and player speed.  What that means is that there is linear dependence between the distance of your finger and the centre of the joystick and the speed the player moves at.  People would have preferred a relationship that meant when you’re near the centre you move slower but then you accelerate faster as you move further away.  When I heard this my reaction was “Okay, that’s doable but it’s going to be expensive.  We’ll have to do a square-root operation every frame.”  God bless Unity though because they have already thought about it.  Mark showed me how to sample a curve and apply it to a script and the iOS controls are now far more user-friendly.  Another thing that came up is what happens when the player moves behind something.  Currently we have a shader that highlights the player so you can still see him.  This however sometimes makes it look like the player is on top of the object instead of behind it.  So instead I have started to implement a script that will make the objects see-through instead of the player being highlighted.  I was having some difficulty with this and with some help from Cat, we nearly got their.  I’m confident I can finish this myself early next week.

www.train2game.com

Train2Game Student Diary Ezekiel Morris Weeks 6 and 7

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Week 6

Well this week has been awesome so far facial expression are working in unity now so I’m glad about that , three weeks  struggling to get this face expression working but as a student I haven’t had experience on flat facial animation before so  it was Difficult  to solve this  issue.  I needed some guidance so Ben, a student at train2game took a look at this flat facial animation problem and got it working in unity 3d.

Next stage working on another character, creating textures but keeping the same model but still I’m not satisfied how my first character textures are looking, when I’m doing concept art I make sure you have a good understanding of the concept, for example how big it is, what is it wearing a reference image of my character once I’m clear on the design of the character I can prepare texturing the character.

I feel that this is just a work in progress on development but still we got a working function game it just needs some cleaning up so things are pitting up and also  I like the workflow I’m doing now,  you just feel that you know what you doing without thinking about it.

Oh yes we have a new environment artist joining the DR studios.

Ezekiel Morris week 7

This week DR studios had a launch party to celebrate their new release – my sea park, I’m happy to say my sea park is doing well  and  I’m happy to say I did collaborate on the project as well .

On my sea park I did the penguin and the seal sketch and then Matty helped clean up  the sketches. When I started at DR Studios I was working on another project and I was told  to help on my sea park  for  bit. After finishing  the sketches for my sea park  I when back to my original project .It was a nice day and a nice lunch out with my associates, the place we went was called red hot world buffet the food was excellent but I couldn’t eat anymore I was full.

We all went back to DR studios, I was food drunk, now I’m on another project and my task  is to model this character in three days but it’s going to be a  video render with a pink or white  background, then I’m gonna put a camera in the scene so that it  goes around the character when it’s  being rendered.

So I started off doing a model sheet of the character head but I wasn’t sure if I should sculpt the character or model it in 3d max but gonna model it straight in 3d max.

 www.train2game.com

Train2game Student Diary Craig Moore – What an incredibly exciting week it has been!

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Craig Moore – What an incredibly exciting week it has been!

Student Diary , Week 30

Unleashed on to the world like a penguin in a paddling pool! My Sea Park hit the unsuspecting world head on yesterday and it’s been an incredible experience, and this was only day one!

We had already seen the beginnings of the social media pushes, by our publishers, earlier in the day but it wasn’t until we got word of My Sea Park creeping in to the charts that things really got exciting. There was the hope it was doing well but the visibility wasn’t really available.

That was until around 5pm, while we were in the meeting with the publisher we heard word it had crept in to the top 50! Of course everyone became very excited, but by the end of the meeting it had already, again, crept in to around 37!

Of course this continued throughout the day, admittedly it wasn’t the most productive of days but it was a really lovely reward for all the hard work.  Of course, being a free title, there is now the hope it will actually monetise well.

That was pretty much the key moment of the week, the rest of my week has been spent illustrating and working on the concept document for the next title, which is going incredibly well. I am waiting on feedback from a few of the other guys here, but fingers crossed it will get some approval; It’s a really exciting project!

-Craig

www.train2game.com

Craig Moore

Student Diary – Week 31

What an incredibly exciting week it has been!

Suffice to say, with My Sea Park being released, the entire office were glued to iTunes watching our brand new game slowly work its way around the charts.

It was great watching it go up and down, and really muscling with the big boys, I got in to the habit of checking it with a stupid regularity, but seeing it in the same space as games like Angry Birds, Infinity Blade and Temple Run was such an amazing feat I can’t help but feel proud.

I think everyone in the office is pleased with how it has done, but the fun isn’t even over yet! With version 1.2 of My Sea Park put into submission last week we are hoping for the first update to drop either today or Monday. With that we should hopefully see a load more faces in the door, as well as hopefully some of the older ones who perhaps didn’t get chance to play as much as they would like or simply didn’t give it a good enough try.

I think it does highlight how competitive the market is at the moment, particularly for My Sea Park’s genre. We have to simply keep working on it, while also working on the next project, to ensure it stays fresh for customers both new and old.

This week I have been getting deep with Unity, finding my way around it and putting time into learning the way the UI systems work, it’s been a great learning experience and so far and I’m finding Unity incredibly pleasing to work with.

-Craig

www.train2game.com

Train2Game News: “The most important thing, even more than raw skills, is social skills” – Day Z creator

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Good social skills are a real bonus for those aspiring to work in the games industry and are perhaps more important than being good at a particular discipline.  That’s according to creator of incredibly popular Arma II mod Day Z, Dean “Rocket” Hall

“I think the most important thing, even more than raw skills is social skills, you need to have social skills, you can’t just be good. If you’re very good it probably doesn’t matter, but if you’ve got social skills than you can be a real asset to the team.” Hall told The Train2Game Blog at PC and indie gaming show Rezzed.

The full interview, exploring the unconventional way the Day Z creator broke into the industry and his other pieces of advice for aspiring game developers will be published soon.  During the interview, Hall reassert’s his view that modding is a great way to explore new ideas and gain experience.

There’s more advice from games industry professionals on getting your foot in the door here on The Train2Game Blog. Meanwhile, be sure to keep reading for further interviews and updates from our time at Rezzed.

What are your thoughts on Hall’s advice?

Leave your comments on The Train2Game Blog, or here on The Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: “This is the most exciting time in this industry” says Peter Molyneux

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Peter Molyneux believes we’re currently going through the most exciting time there’s been in the games industry. The veteran game designer made the comments during his hugely popular developer session at PC and indie gaming show Rezzed.

Molyneux told the packed room at The Brighton Centre, suggesting that while AAA titles like Call of Duty provide a feature film experience, the most exciting, innovative games are released for PC or mobile phones.

Indeed, Molyneux is extremely enthusiastic about the rise of mobile apps allowing almost anyone to produce a hit, multimillion selling game.

“You could go home and work on a game that could reach one hundred million people. How f**king cool is that?” he said.

Molyneux also spoke about how his enthusiasm for developing video games as he did when he started making them almost 30 years ago.

“I truly love what I do as much as I do when I wrote my first game.” he said.

Peter Molyneux is currently working on Curiosity, the first game from his new 22 Cans Studio. It’ll be released for free on iPhone and Androud on 22nd August, with the option to buy items including a $50,000 diamond chisel, which Molyneux says he’ll be shocked if anyone actually buys.

There’s more Peter Molyneux news here on The Train2Game Blog.

Do you agree that this is the most exciting time for the games industry? And what are your thoughts on Molyneux’s continued enthusiasm for development?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Diablo III doesn’t have enough end-game content say developers Blizzard

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Diablo III developer Blizzard admits there isn’t enough end-game content to keep players continuously coming back for more.

The surprise announcement comes from community manager Bashiok on the Diablo III official forum, and represents a rare case of a developer admitting something can be improved a short time after the release of a game.

“We recognize that the item hunt is just not enough for a long-term sustainable end-game. There are still tons of people playing every day and week, and playing a lot, but eventually they’re going to run out of stuff to do (if they haven’t already).” read the Blizzard forum post, which adds there needs to be more than looting to keep Diablo III players returning, but can’t be compared to World of Warcraft when it comes to end-game.

“Killing enemies and finding items is a lot of fun, and we think we have a lot of the systems surrounding that right, or at least on the right path with a few corrections and tweaks. But honestly Diablo III is not World of Warcraft”

“We aren’t going to be able to pump out tons of new systems and content every couple months. There needs to be something else that keeps people engaged, and we know it’s not there right now.” said Bashiok.

“Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose, but we believed pre-release that the item hunt would be far more sustainable, and would work to be a proper end-game for quite a while. That didn’t turn out to be true, and we recognize that.” he added in a later post.

There’s more Diablo III news here on The Train2Game Blog, while be sure to keep reading for the latest from Blizzard.

What are your thoughts on Diablo III’s end-game content? How do you feel about Blizzard admitting it could be improved so soon after release?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Guild Wars 2 designer on the importance of taking risks in development

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ArenaNet have posted a huge blog exploring the game design of their upcoming MMO, which they call the golden rules of Guild Wars 2. The game is set for release on Tuesday 28th August.

Among the six golden rules, is an interesting piece about taking risks in game design which Train2Game students may find particularly fascinating.

“Let’s try it.” You hope to hear that phrase at the end of a meeting, especially if that meeting was contentious, or if the idea discussed is new and radical.” writes Guild Wars 2 game designer Ben Miller.

“Imagine a playground full of kids playing. At its best, playing is making mistakes in a safe environment and learning from those mistakes in a way that encourages growth. Trying out new ideas or making drastic changes is the way we as designers get to play with the game.”

Miller says it’s a collective experience that tells them which risks work and which don’t

“It’s where we slip and fall, scrape our knees, and otherwise monkey around on the jungle gym. While we don’t try out every idea, we use our collective experience to get a sense for what has promise—what we should follow down the rabbit hole.” he continues, adding that Guild Wars 2 changed through development as a result.

“We look at where our ideas break, how they break, and why they break. You can see this in how we redesigned the sylvari, or in how we have developed the professions. They’ve all undergone quite a bit of transformation over the last few years as we have tried out different approaches and learned from those very playful experiences.” said the Guild Wars 2 designer.

The full post is available to see over on the ArenaNet blog, and is great reading for Train2Game game designers. They recently posted a similar blog on the importance of making Guild Wars 2 fun.

There’s more on Guild Wars 2 here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the golden rules set out by ArenaNet?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Good game design focuses on the player, not the designer’s mind says Warren Spector

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Good game design focuses on the player, rather than the ideas of the game designer. That’s according to Deus Ex creator and Epic Mickey 2 creative lead Warren Spector.

“A lot of games are all about trying to read the designer’s mind. A designer creates an incredible puzzle and you have to try and solve that puzzle in the one way that the designer lets you,” he told OPM UK.

“I don’t make games like that. The games that I make are about offering problems to players. In Epic Mickey you’re constantly making choices. It’s all about you deciding what’s important.

“It’s not about how clever and creative I am – it’s about how clever and creative you are.” Spector added.

There’s more from Epic Mickey 2 and Warren Spector here on The Train2Game Blog. Meanwhile, keep reading for more behind-the-scenes news on game design.

Do you agree with Spector’s views on game design? Is choice essential for good game design?

Leave your comments on The Train2Game Blog, or here on The Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: End of Nations closed beta details and developer diary released

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Trion Worlds and Petrogylph have released details about the upcoming closed beta for their MMORTS End of Nations, along with a developer diary discussing the key ideas behind the game.

The first End of Nations closed beta event will run from Friday 20th July through to Sunday 22nd July and will feature a variety of large and small maps across several different terrain types.

Those interested in taking part in the End of Nations closed beta can apply to be a part of it here.

Meanwhile, the End of Nations ‘When Titans Join Forces’ developer diary sees staff from both studios involved in producing the game, including Trion Worlds CEO Lars Buttler and Petrogyph president and co-founder Mike Legg, discussing their project.

Subjects covered include include the two studios working together as a team, bringing innovations to real time strategy and online gaming, and how they believe End of Nations is the world’s first AAA quality free-to-play game. Watch the developer diary below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

There’s much more about End of Nations, the importance of a beta to game development and QA Testing in our huge interview with Trion Worlds Senior QA Tester Karl Tars.

And be sure to keep reading The Train2Game Blog for more developer diaries and opportunities to take part in beta tests.

What are your thoughts on End of Nations? Will you be applying to take part in the closed beta?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.