Category Archives: Games Designer

Train2Game News: Legend of Grimrock level editor tools demonstrated in developer video

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Indie RPG Legend of Grimrock will soon introduce a level editor as part of a free update, allowing you to create your own dungeons.

Developers Almost Human have released a video, showing how the Grimrock level editor will work, with the good news being that it looks quite simple to use! Watch the Legend of Grimrock level editor preview below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

Modding and using level creation kits are great ways for Train2Game students to both practice and showcase their abilities. Find out more here on The Train2Game Blog.

Are you a Legend of Grimrock player? Will you be using the level editor?

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

Train2Game News: Worms Revolution developer diary discusses 17 years of Worms

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Get behind the scenes of Worms Revolution in the first of five developer diaries from Team 17.

Worms Revolution developer diary one sees lead game designer Kevin Carthew discussing the 17 year history of the series.

Subjects he covers include how creator Andy Davidson produced the first Worms game while doing his A-Levels, moving from 2D to 3D then back to 3D and developing Worms Revolution as a “next-gen” version of Worms with a brand new engine.

Carthew also discusses his role as game designer on the Worms series. Watch Worms Revolution Developer Diary 1: The History of Worms below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There are more developer diaries, giving an insight into development of a wide variety of games, here on The Train2Game Blog. Also, be sure to keep reading for the latest from Team 17 and Worms Revolution.

What are your thoughts on Worms Revolution? Are you a long-term fan of the series?

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

Train2Game News: Watch two Dishonored gameplay videos with developer commentary

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Get an insight into development of Dishonored in not one, but two gameplay demos with commentary from Arkane Studios Co-Creative Directors Raphael Colantonio and Harvey Smith.

Colantonia spoke to The Train2Game Blog about Dishonored at Gamescom last year.

The two videos show Colantonio and Smith discussing two different playthroughs of ‘The Golden Cat,’ a mission that tasks you with assassinating The Pendleton Brothers, two corrupt aristocrats. The first Dishonored video shows a stealthy approach to the mission, while the second sees the Arkane Studios Co-Creative Directors, commentating on a more action-based style.

Watch both videos, and listen to the commentary on two very different styles of play, below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

Dishonored Golden Cat E3 Gameplay Walkthrough — Part 1

Dishonored Golden Cat E3 Walkthrough — Part 2

Dishonored from Arkane Studios and Bethesda is scheduled for release on 12th October 2012.

There are more developer diaries, giving an insight into development of a wide variety of games, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the two different styles shown in the videos? Are you looking forward to Dishonored?

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

Train2Game News: MechWarrior Online developer diary talks four pillars of game design

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Learn about development of MechWarrior Online, the first title in the series for over a decade, in a brand new developer diary from Piranha Games.

The video sees Piranha Games President Russ Bullock discussing the four key game design pillars of the upcoming free-to-play mech combat MMO. They are mech warfare, information warfare, role warfare and community warfare.

Bullock also talks about Bringing MechWarrior up to date and introducing an online element to a series which originally appeared in 1989. MechWarrior Online is scheduled for release on PC later this year.

Watch the developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

There are more developer diaries, giving an insight into development of a wide variety of games, here on The Train2Game Blog.

Were you a fan of the original MechWarrior series? What are your thoughts on MechWarrior Online?

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

Train2Game News: Ron Gilbert on game design “For me, it almost always starts with the world”

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Game design begins with building a world before adding characters and then a story. At least that’s the case for Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island co-creator Ron Gilbert.

“For me, it almost always starts with the world.” he told The Guardian in an interview about The Cave, the adventure game he’s developing with Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions.

“Maniac Mansion is really all about that mansion, that was the genesis of it. The Secret of Monkey Island all started for me because I loved the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney – I wanted to live in that world.”

“It’s the same thing with The Cave; it started with the setting and the characters kind of get built up from that – I think, okay, now I have the world, who would live there? Who would want to adventure in that place?” Gilbert continued, before going into a little bit about game design in adventure games.

“So the characters come about, then the story starts to form, and very quickly after that I start to figure out the major puzzle beats – because in an adventure game it’s the puzzles that drive the narrative forward.”

“ I start with that over-arching narrative then, I go, ‘okay, I need a big puzzle here, another one here, and one there’, and I start building backwards from all those big puzzles to all the little ones that lead up to them.” he added.

Ron Gilbert’s The Cave involves taking three of seven adventures into a cave, battling monsters, solving puzzles and stealing loot. It’s scheduled for release by SEGA on PC, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network early next year.

There’s more from Ron Gilbert here on The Train2Game Blog in this video where he discusses game design with Tim Schafer

What are your thoughts on game design? Does the world form the base of the games you’re building?

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

Train2Game News: World of Warplanes developer diary discusses game design

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Get behind the scenes of World of Warplanes in a brand new developer diary from Wargaming.net.

The video features producers Tatiana Zelenkevich and Anton Sitnikau, along with creative manager Eugene Smozhevsky discussing development of the upcoming free-to-play aerial combat MMO.

Subjects they talk about include changes to game design during development, brainstorming ideas how the main game type ‘superiority’ works and the importance of including a good training mode. The game is currently in closed beta.

Watch the World of Warplanes developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

World of Warplanes is set to be released later this year.

There are more developer diaries, giving an insight into development of a wide variety of games, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on World of Warplanes? Are you taking part in the closed beta?

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

Train2Game News: Metro: Last Light will cure “shooter fatigue” with a “story driven single player experience”

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Metro: Last Light aims to stand-out from other shooters by its campaign not being a training mode for multiplayer, but a story driven experience, which can stand alongside the likes of BioShock. That’s according to the games’ global brand manager Mark Madsen in a recent interview.

“We see shooter fatigue as a multifaceted phenomenon right now, and I think what we’re speaking of is the dilution of the single player campaign.” he told Shadowlocked when asked to explain what publisher THQ referred to as shooter fatigue.

“The single player campaign in the FPS genre is being relegated to more of a shooting gallery – or even a training mode – for multi-player. We’re definitely not that; we’re intently focused on delivering a vividly memorable, story driven single player experience”

Madsen added that its game design means Metro: Last Light can stand alongside BioShock and Dead Space.

“If you’re tired of the same old post-apocalyptic, run and gun type of shooter; if you’re tired of looking for something completely different, Metro is an atmospheric breath of fresh air.”

“It will stand proudly alongside the likes of BioShock, Borderlands, and Dead Space, and it’s going to be something we’ll be talking about for years to come…” he said.

The Metro Last Light brand manager recently offered Train2Game students advice on getting into the industry, which you can see here on The Train2Game Blog.

For more on Metro: Last Light, read our interview with Metro: Last Light producer John Block at Gamescom.  The game is scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2013.

What are your thoughts on Metro: Last Light and its focus on single player?

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

Train2Game News: Deadlight team talk game design in developer diary

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Get behind the scenes of Deadlight, the upcoming zombie survival puzzler for XBLA in a new developer diary from Spanish studio Tequila Works.

Creative Director Raul Rubio, Narritive Director Antonio Rojano and others discuss creating a story and the game design process for Deadlight while ensuring it wouldn’t be hindered by it as the main character goes through an emotional and physical journey.

Watch ‘The Deadlight Diaries: Creating A Story’ video below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

Deadlight will be released via XBLA during August as part of Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade at a cost of 1200 Microsoft Points.

There are more developer diaries, giving an insight into the work going into development of a variety of games, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the storytelling and game design of Deadlight?

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

Train2Game News: Games have become easier says Cliff Bleszinski

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Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski believes current generation games have become too easy, with developers more focused on appealing to as many people as possible over a challenge.

“It feels like in this current console generation that we’ve taken a lot of steps to grow the audience and what I think’s happened is that the games have become more linear and easier, so it feels like a lot of quick-time-events,” Bleszinski told X360A.

The Epic Games design director – who helped mentor Train2Game student teams during Train2Game and Epic Games’ Make Something Unreal Live contest at The Gadget Show – pointed to Demon Souls and Dark Souls being what he wants.

“The more I play games like that the more I turned off to them and just want to get back to systems interacting with systems, and get back to a game that, you know, when was the last time a game really challenged you and asked something of you, right? There’s a reason why Demon Souls and Dark Souls have taken off lately. It’s because they really require you actually try.” he said.

Bleszinski says the upcoming Gears of War: Judgement will be challenging and allow freedom.

“Casual mode will still be casual, whatever, if you just want to see graphics and you don’t want to die, but every other mode will be hard in this game and you will die,” he said.

“When I played this in 4-player co-op… I mean, I’ve been playing Gears since the beginning of the course and I really have to hunker down and focus, and if my buddies aren’t reviving me, and we aren’t working as a team, you’re going to die, and it’s okay to die a few times in a game to try some different strategies, the S3 respawn system provides unique challenges.” the Epic Games designer added.

There’s more from Cliff Bleszinski here on The Train2Game Blog, while you can get the latest news from Epic Games here.

What are your thoughts on Bleszinski’s comments? Do you believe game developers have made games easier in order to reach a bigger audience?

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

Train2Game News: ArenaNet on the importance of testing in making Guild Wars 2 fun

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QA testing and beta tests are hugely important when it comes to designing Guild Wars 2 to be as fun as possible.  That’s according to a huge blog post by ArenaNet, which discusses how they’re determining what will make their upcoming MMO – which isn’t based on a subscription model – successful and fun.

“When looking at content design for Guild Wars 2, we’ve tried to ask the question: What if the development of the game was based on…wait for it…fun?” writes Guild Wars 2 lead content designer Colin Johanson, in a highly informative piece.

He says QA Testers play a large role in development at ArenaNet.

“We ask our QA team to ask this question when they test everything that goes into the game. When they play an event, they don’t just file bugs, they write suggestions and ideas for how to make it better.

“I’ve never heard of a game company where the QA team is so integrated into the development process, where they can enact and impact change on a daily basis in the game. They aren’t just testers, they are developers who help make every part of the game better” said Johanson, adding that many Guild Wars 2 designers started in QA.

“As a result of allowing our QA team to be so involved in the development process, it helps us find people with amazing minds for design based on their feedback and suggestions. Many of our current content designers on GW2 originally started their careers in our QA department” he said.

The Guild Wars 2 lead content designer also discusses how important beta tests and player feedback are to development.

“We added surveys to the game that occur after you finish story steps, renown regions, events, and dungeons. Each of these asks players a few simple questions, but the most important question we always ask? “On a scale of 1 to 5, how much fun was what you just did?”

“From this, we print out giant reports of survey information, then meet as subteams and target the content that isn’t scoring well on “the fun factor” before brainstorming, together, on how to make that content more fun and exciting.”

There’s much, much more on how ArenaNet judge fun when designing Guild Wars 2 in the blog post, which should make interesting reading for anyone on a Train2Game course.

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

What are your thoughts on how ArenaNet determine what’s fun? Is the fact that a number of their QA Testers have moved into design roles encouraging for you?

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