Category Archives: Games Designer

Train2Game news: How to create a “charismatic and interesting” spider

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Train2Game students can get a good look at the tricky process of designing a video game character in an interesting blog update from Alien Spidy developer Kalypso

Alien Spidy is an upcoming 2D and 3D platformer that’ll be released through on PSN, XBLA, PC and Mac.  Quick reflexes and fast paced platform action are apparently required for the game that’ll be released in June.

The PlayStation Blog post details how Kalypso designed their main character, a spider, and made him “charismatic and interesting”

“After a lot of brainstorming, coffee, comic reading, watching cartoons and lots of other inspirational tools, we thought that it would be interesting to play around with a small spider with big eyes that would be able to bring some “human” emotional connection to the game.” said Product Manager Andrew McKerrow.

“ We also decided to stick six legs on instead of the standard eight legs to make the character a little more friendly looking and little less creepy, as there are a lot of people with arachnophobia! See, we do care!” he added.

That however, was just the beginning, and the blog details how Alien Spidy went through different stages of concept art and designing a story for the game. It’s a very interesting read, which will surely be of interest to Train2Game students. It’s here on the PlayStation Blog.

What are your thoughts on the blog post from Kalypso? Does it give you a good insight into the game development process?

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

Train2Game news: Mass Effect 3 Development Director’s advice on getting into the industry

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Mass Effect 3 will have Kinect support

Train2Game students looking for an extra advantage in getting that first job in the games industry should get involved with modding. That’s according to Mass Effect 3 Development Director Robin Mayne in an interview with the BioWare Blog.

“There are three avenues I can think of that are worth looking into: get involved with a modding community.” he said when asked how aspiring developers can get a foot in the door.

Modding is something that developers often emphasise as a great way to practice your skills, with Ubisoft’s Adrian Lacey last week telling The Train2Game Blog that the Ghost Recon team features a number of former modders.

Valve’s Chet Faliszek and id Software Creative Director Tim Willits are among those that have also spoke highly of modding when talking to The Train2Game Blog.

Mass Effect 3 Development Director Robin Mayne also told the BioWare Blog, that those aspiring to get in should make themselves familiar with the industry by reading specific websites and attending show.

“Check out the job listings at as many companies as you can and look for patterns in what skills are sought after. Find creative ways to obtain those skills.” he added.

There’s more advice from professional game developers on how to get into the industry, right here on the Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the advice?

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

Train2Game news: Mass Effect writers on creating Mordin Solus

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Train2Game students can get a behind the scenes look at the game design of Mass Effect 3 thanks to a video posted on the BioWare Blog over the weekend.

Titled ‘The Probletunity of Mordin Solus,’ the short video sees Patrick Weekes and senior writer John Dombrow at the BioWare and Mass Effect panel during PAX East, discussing the origins of the Salarian scientist.

They also discuss what makes Mordin Solus a memorable character, how he evolved through the series, and how he gets sent off in Mass Effect 3. Train2Game students who haven’t played Mass Effect 3 should be aware that this video contains spoilers. Watch it below.

There’s more BioWare news here on The Train2Game Blog, including advice from John Dombrow on how to get into the industry.

What are your thoughts on the video? What do you think makes a good character?

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

Train2Game news: Bioshock Infinite director Ken Levine talks game design with Uncharted writer Amy Hennig

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Bioshock Infinite

Tran2Game students can get an excellent insight into game design, thanks to a podcast featuring Irrational Games’ Ken Levine in conversation with Naughty Dog’s Amy Hennig.

Ken Levine is the Creative Director of the upcoming Bioshock Infinite, while Amy Hennig has the same role on the Uncharted series. The Irrational Interviews podcast is therefore almost a must listen for anyone interested in video game story telling.

The two Creative Directors discuss creating complex narrative in a video game, how a large creative team works, and the challenges of their roles and how different it is to writing for film.

“It’s not the way films are made,” said Hennig.  “I’ve described this to friends of mine who are screenwriters, and they just think we’re insane.”

Download Ken Levine’s Irrational Interview with Amy Hennig here.

A previous podcast saw Levine discussing narrative with film director Guillermo del Toro, which you can find out more about here.

Will you be downloading this podcast? If so, let us know what you learned from the two Creative Directors.

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

Train2Game news: Portal 2 Perpetual Testing Initiative update to add level creation tools

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Train2Game students will soon be able to create and share their own Portal 2 level designs when Valve releases the free Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC next month.

The Perpetual Testing Initiative puzzle maker allows Portal 2 players to publish and download levels directly through Steam Workshop, where players can also rate the designs of others.

The free update comes to PC and Mac on Tuesday 8th May.

In an interview with The Train2Game Blog, Valve’s Chet Faliszek says modding or using community creation tools is a great way for aspiring game developers to show off their skills.

There’s more Portal 2 news right here on The Train2Game Blog.

So, will you be designing Portal 2 puzzles? And what are your thoughts on Valve releasing free content over a year after the game was released?

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

Train2Game news: Dungeonland developer diary discusses ‘designing for cooperation’

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Train2Game students can get a look behind the scenes of Paradox Interactive’s upcoming co-op dungeon crawler Dungeonland, thanks to developer diary number one from Critical Studio.

Posted on the Paradox Interactive forum, the Dungeonland developer diary entitled ‘designing for cooperation’ explains what the team want from the game they’re making.

“When we design at Critical we start by answering the question: “what experience do we want our players to have?”With Dungeonland, we wanted to create a hack and slash game where players would play together. And we really meant “together”: we wanted players to collaborate in a meaningful way, to constantly talk, shout, laugh and curse at each other as they play.”

The post also details building the prototype for Dungeonland, and how that went onto influence the game as it currently is. There’s also a rundown of what Critical Studio label as their pillars of game design. 

The Dungeonland developer diary should make fascinating reading for Train2Game students, and you can read it in full here on Paradox Interactive’s forum.

There’s more Paradox Interactive news here on The Train2Game Blog, including our in-depth interview on the development of King Arthur II: The Role-playing Wargame.

What are your thoughts on the Critical Studio’s developer diary? How about Dungeonland itself?

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

Train2Game news: Animation can be better than dialogue in games writing says Chris Avellone

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Game designers often make the mistake of using dialogue to in games writing, when animation can be better than words. That’s according to Obsidian Entertainment Creative Director Chris Avellone, whose credits include Fallout 2, Neverwinter Nights and Fallout: New Vegas.

Speaking to TheCriticalBit, Avellone said a common problem for game designers is “Lack of scriptwriting experience and brevity when doing a voiced game,” before adding  something a simple animation such as a shrug can have a better impact than dialogue.

“Not being aware that “tone” and emphasis on a word can help you edit out 2-3 extra sentences of foreshadowing – or not realizing that being able to call an “eye roll” or “shrug” animation is often better than any spoken response” he said, citing Uncharted writer Amy Hennig as a master of it.

Avellone is currently helping with InXile’s Kickstarter funded Wasteland 2. ‘The Godfather of post-apocalyptic RPGs’ raised almost $3 million in backing for the project.

You can get advice on getting into the games industry from the Obsidian Entertainment Creative Director here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are views on Avellone’s comments on the use of animation in games writing? Is it something that’s overlooked? What games do you think best use animation in story telling?

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

[Source: Beefjack] 

Train2Game news: Impossible for devs “to not get attached” to work even if it’s “not good” say Darksiders II team

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Train2Game students will get attached to the work they produce during game development, and might find it difficult to let something go if it needs to be significantly changed or dropped all together.

That’s according to Darksiders II creative director Joe Madureira and Vigil studio general manager David Adams who were speaking in an extensive interview with Gamasutra.

“You totally get attached to stuff… It usually comes to a series of painful realizations, where you try to fix it, and it’s still not good, and you try to fix it, and it’s still not good.” said Adams on getting “precious” with assets produced during game development.”

“And on your third or fourth time trying to fix it, you’re like, “It’s just something we can’t do”. For whatever reason, we don’t have the time to commit to it, or we don’t have the right people… But yeah, I don’t think it’s possible to not get attached to stuff; we’re human beings.” he said.

Darksiders II Creative Director Joe Madureira agreed, adding that developers need to compare what they’re doing by playing other games, even if it means you drop the idea afterwards.

“You just have to be honest about it, too, and play other games, and see how you measure up. And if something’s not good, we all know it; you can see it. Even if you worked on it for two months, it doesn’t really change the fact that it’s just not very good.” he said.

Madureira argues that learning to let go of your work is something you need to do when working in the games industry.

“Sometimes you do get really attached to something, and you’re sad to see it change, but… And there’s morale hits — there’s all that stuff that you mentioned — but it’s just part of working in games. I think the longer you work in games, the more you’re just cool with it.”

“I think people that just are fresh out of school, and super excited, sometimes get crushed by how hard it actually is. And once you’ve been doing it for a while, you just expect that stuff’s going to change at any given moment, even after we’ve worked on it for a long, long time.” the Darksiders II creative director concluded.

The full, four page interview exploring development of Darksiders II is on Gamasutra.

The comments from the Darksiders II team are similar to some made by Bioshock Infinite boss Ken Levine, who as previously reported by The Train2Game Blog, said “Everybody has to get comfortable with throwing their stuff away”

What are your thoughts on the comments from the Darksiders II team? Is it possible to not get attached to your work? Have you struggled to throw a concept away?

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

Look Who doctored a visit from a Dalek at the Train2Game stand at GSL?

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Train2Game at Gadget Show Live gets a surprise visit from a Dr Who Dalek

Train2Game news: BioWare writer to give master class in games writing

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Train2Game students have the opportunity to hear Star Wars: The Old Republic writer Jo Berry speak about game design, when she gives a public master class at Sheffield Hallam University later this month.

The BioWare writer is a graduate of the university’s Master’s degree in Creative Writing, who moved to the United States in 2008. The master class will see her pass on advice about creating dialogue and characters, building scenes that work both for the narrative and as exciting set pieces, and writing for voice actors.

“Attention to the quality of video game writing is increasing – gamers are demanding better storytelling and the industry is responding.” said Berry.

“Writing for video games is perhaps not something that creative writers would consider but it is an exciting career where your writing might find a home. I’m looking forward to coming back to the University and sharing my experiences with potential games writers of the future.” she added.

The public masterclass takes place in the University’s Norfolk Building, room 210 on Wednesday 25 April from 6:10 until 7.30pm. For more information, see the Sheffield Hallam website.

As previously reported by The Train2Game Blog, Star Wars: The Old Republic gained almost 2 million subscribers in its first month on sale.  Train2Game students can get an insight behind the scenes of the game, and advice on getting into the industry,  in our interview with BioWare Associate Lead Game Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi

There’s more Star Wars: The Old Republic news right here on The Train2Game Blog.

Will you attend the public master class with Jo Berry? What would you ask here?

As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.