Category Archives: Games QA Tester

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam on Unreal Insider blog

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Train2Game and Epic’s Game Jam was a huge success last weekend, and now Epic Games European Territory Manager Mike Gamble has posted about it on the Unreal Insider blog

Gamble’s post not only gives some great publicity to Train2Game, especially the winning game jam teams, but also offers some insider information about how difficult it was to judge the games made using UDK.

Read about the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam on the Unreal Insider blog here.

The Unreal Insider blog also promises to post future updates about the winning teams as they work their way towards Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show Live next year.

There’s still plenty of reaction to come from the TrainGame & Epic Game Jam, stay tuned to the Train2Game blog and Train2Game Audioboo for plenty of interviews, including one with Mike Gamble himself.

For more information, see the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam official website.

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

Train2Game at Eurogamer with Neil Parmer CEO of BlueGFX

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Train2Game at EuroGamer with Neil Parmer CEO of BlueGFX

Neil Parmer is currently the CEO of BlueGFX based in Guildford. Blue GFX continues to win awards with Autodesk and remains a Gold Partner for Northern Europe, Media & Entertainment. BlueGFX focused their business in games, design visualisation, film/TV, broadcast and educational industries. Worldwide manufacturers of both software and hardware, constantly evaluating and researching the ideal tools in the market that will give their customers competitive advantage, and future proof all investments made.

For more information: http://www.train2game.com

Train2Game at Eurogamer with Jonathan Neweth, Partner from Tenshi Ventures

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Train2Game at EuroGamer with Jonathan Neweth, Partner from Tenshi Ventures

Jonathan is a founding partner at Tenshi Ventures. He has been growing and leading businesses in the games and technology sectors since 1989. This has included game developer Kuju Entertainment, an IPO on the AIM market, several trade sales of businesses and various fund raising exercises. Operationally, Jonathan drove Kuju’s business development expertise for many years, acquiring in-depth knowledge of marketing and brand development in the creative sector.

For more information: http://www.train2game.com

Train2Game at Eurogamer with Elspeth Lawson GameHorizon Project Manager Codeworks

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Train2Game at EuroGamer with Elspeth Lawson GameHorizon Project Manager Codeworks

Ms Lawson manages the day to day running of a business network for computer games companies, general account/membership management and building strong client relationships. She has also been the Conference producer for the GameHorizon Conference held at the Sage Gateshead for 350 International delegates. And very much involved with Train2Game Work Placements.

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam interview: Train2Game Course Director Tony Bickley

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 Train2Game & Epic Games gave Train2Game student teams the opportunity to win one of four places at The Gadget Show Live 2012 and compete for the chance to walk away with a fully licence Unreal Development Kit.  

Train2Game course leader Tony Bickley organised the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, and we spoke to him just after the event closed. He tells us how he feels it all went, the meaning of the prize for Train2Game students, and what it meant to have Epic on board.

Read the interview here, on the Train2Game Scribd page, or listen on the Train2Game Audioboo site.

We’re here at the end of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, how has it all gone?

Fantastic, a little tiring, but absolutely fantastic. We’ have about 160 people turn up for the Game Jam, the team sizes were 10 teams of 10 and it’s been a pretty good event, I’m very proud of what the students have managed to achieve and even more proud of their dedication and passion driving through.

Tell us what the winners here have won in going onto The Gadget Show Live

We’re putting forward four teams of finalists moving through to The Gadget Show Live. The final prize at The Gadget Show Live is going to be the iOS version of Unreal Engine, as well as personal development plans and tutoring going forward. We believe this’ll put them in very good stead to increase their employability, as well as setting them off to producing their own titles in future.

So it’s a massive opportunity for these Train2Game students?

Absolutely. The most important thing for people trying to get into the industry at the moment is not just proof of understanding but rather proof of ability. With this level of support they’ll be able to work as a solid team on a product, working on one of the best engines in the world. With the tutoring as they go forward, this will really, really enhance their skillsets.

As you say, UDK is one of the best engines in the world, what does it mean for Train2Game to have Epic on board with this?

Fantastic. With the support that Epic have given us in terms of tutorage and support staff, as well as co-sponsoring The Gadget Show with us, it’s absolutely brilliant and has been really, really, appreciated by the students.

How difficult was it to pick out winners from the fantastic games on offer by Train2Game students?

Very tough actually, very, very tough. I’ve been very proud of the students as they’ve come into this, we’re only just moving into using UDK within the teaching materials of Train2Game, so the students, up until a couple of months ago, were not very experienced on it. They’ve had to bring their skill sets up very, very quickly and then on Friday night we assigned the teams for them so there weren’t even pre-formed teams, they’ve had to understand the team dynamics and then work with the UDK engine and they’ve created some fantastic products. The standards were very, very high, we looked for creative input, we looked for graphics, we looked for variations, we looked for innovation, creativity, and it was of a very high standard. 48 hours is not a lot of time and it’s even less time if you want to try and work with an engine of that magnitude. The work that they produced was great.

What next now for the winning teams with the four different genres of games they have to produce?

Apart from going home and sleeping, I will be contacting them with the start of a six month productivity plan for them where they can be milestoned with what they should be looking to learn, and improved the skillsets that they’ve learned here [At the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam] in the last 48 hours, and then starting to prepare them for what they’ll need to do at The Gadget Show Live. It’s going to be 4 days of live development at The Gadget Show, where they finalise a new product using the UDK engine and help present that to the world.

Anything else you’d like to add about this Train2Game & Epic Game Jam?

It’s been a fantastic experience, it’s been very tiring, we’ve all made new friends here, certainly learned a lot and it actually makes me very proud to help train the next generation of computer game developers.

And has it been so successful there will be more Train2Game Game Jams in future?

Absolutely! One of the things one of the students asked me on the way out, even though his eyes were closing, was ‘When is the next game jam?’ Well, give me week to sleep and recover and then we’ll start planning it. We certainly intend to do another one, we certainly intend to make it bigger and better than this one.

Great, thanks for your time

Thanks very much.

For more information go to www.train2game.com

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam Interview: Nick Stones, leader of winning team ‘Nova Eye’

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Train2Game & Epic Games gave Train2Game student teams the opportunity to win one of four places at The Gadget Show Live and compete for the chance to walk away with a fully licence Unreal Development Kit.  

Train2Game Game Designer Nick Stones was part of ‘Nova Eye’ one of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam teams that’ll be heading to ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ at The Gadget Show. Train2Game caught up with him right after the winners were revealed to find out how it felt to win, how the game jam went, and if he’d recommend taking part in one.

Read the interview her, the Train2Game Scribd page, or listen on the Train2Game Audioboo site.

 Nova Eye are one of four winning teams at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam with the opportunity to Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show Live next year, what does that mean to you?

It’s such a fantastic opportunity and we’re definitely going to make every effort to make 100% of that. I’m over the moon at the moment. I came here, this is my first game jam, I didn’t know what to expect and it’s gone all in our favour. I was delivered a great team and I’ve been able to manage that very well and it’s shown and that’s it at the end of the day. I’m really excited to know that we’ve done our job and it’s gone well. I’m very anxious to know what we can do now for the future.

Was it difficult to contain your excitement when the winners were announced?

Since we’ve been doing this for 48 hours I was quite fine, but overall I was still shocked because I’d only just done my presentation to the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam judges. That was a gruelling experience in itself because I was quite nervous so it’s all still going through my head really.

How big an opportunity for you do you think it is for you to go to The Gadget Show Live and potentially walk away with a fully licensed UDK development kit?

We’ve been given this opportunity, we can put this on our CVs, this is a landmark for us. Everyone who has participated in the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, we can always say we have won a game jam and there’s nothing that can change that. Overall, it’s amazing and I’m really happy to know that this is possible.

 Tell us a bit about the game Nova Eye has produced here at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, based on the theme of Guy Fawkes.

Our Guy Fawkes theme was quite wacky. We basically wanted to break the fourth wall. Our game was about Guy Fawkes and his production levels for Bonfire night. Fireworks weren’t selling, they were being outsold by Halloween and Christmas. So basically, Guy Fawkes is attempting to make sure that Christmas is knocked out of the sale so his markets would increase. What he ends up doing is going to the North Pole and using his custom rocket launcher that shoots fireworks to blow up anything that’s in Santa’s workshop.  That idea is completely crazy, I know that but it’s worked and I think it’s very refreshing.

How did you come up with that idea?

It was actually just a spur of the moment thing. We were talking about how Halloween and Bonfire night, and somebody just went ‘It’s crazy to see all this Christmas stuff before Halloween’ and it went from there. What if, thinking of it from a market side, Guy Fawkes is angry about that and he wants to change it. So there it was, it was a catalyst out of nothing really, just a spur of the moment thought that happened through socialising. So, don’t think you have to go out of the way to make these fantastic ideas, they can come from anything.

So you’d recommend taking part in a Train2Game Game Jam to others?

Yes, I would definitely recommend it. The experience that you get is unlike anything else. You get thrown in at the deep end but it’s not as bad as it sounds. You get to work with some fantastic people, don’t feel unconfident in your own skills, believe in yourself, make sure you’re happy with yourself to come down. Everyone didn’t know what they were doing so don’t worry about it, just come down and get in the moment really! That’s all I can say, get in the moment.

And the team will have to go through the process of designing a game with the genre you’ve picked out for The Gadget Show live. Tell us about the genre, and what your initial thoughts on it are.

We were given Action Adventure.  Our game that we won with was an Action Adventure so it’s something we can already work with depending on the construction of the brief. But since we’ve already done Action Adventure I feel that our confidence level is just that little bit higher than anyone elses’ because we’ve already got something that we’ve worked with already and have previous experience with. I’m over the moon with it. It’s got broad environments so I can work with it and I know my team will be able to do just as well.

 

For more information go to www.train2game.com

 

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam interview: The A-Team’s Jonny Robinson on winning

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Train2Game & Epic Games gave Train2Game student teams the opportunity to win one of four places at The Gadget Show Live and compete for the chance to walk away with a fully licence Unreal Development Kit.  

Train2Game Game Designer Jonny Robinson is one of ‘The A-Team’ one of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam teams that’ll be heading to ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ at The Gadget Show. Train2Game caught up with him to find out how it felt to win, how the game jam went, and if he’d recommend taking part in one.

Read the interview here, on the Train2Game Scribd page, or listen on the Train2Game Audioboo site.

Congratulations Jonny, your team, the A-Team are one of the winners of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, how does that make you feel?

I just love it when a plan comes together. [Laughs] As crazy as that seems I’m over the moon. I was saying to the team there’s a good chance we’re not going to win, but I said to every single one that we’re going to have as much fun as possible, we’re going to get along and we’re going to make friends. Don’t aim to win, aim to have as much fun as possible was my advice.

What does it mean to you to go onto The Gadget Show Live, to Make Something Unreal Live, and have the chance of walking away with a UDK development kit?

Nervous, maybe? I remember speaking to you earlier about this, saying I didn’t want to win because I was so petrified that there was a chance that I might win, there’s such pressure on you. Obviously as a team, the team felt the pressure in the 48 hours. But My God, you don’t realise that absolutely everyone who went to the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, the amount of pressure there was. Believe it or not our game actually broke an hour before it was going to be shown to the judges, and the team bundled together and managed to build it again which is amazing.

The pressure of going to The Gadget Show Live is amazing, it’s a real win and I’m glad not for me, but the team, they’ve really earned it. I’ve not really put any visual input into the actual UDK engine but more direction for them and they’ve gone with it and it’s worked so…win! And congratulations to The A-Team, not just me but everyone, they all deserved it.

Tell us a bit about your Guy Fawkes themed game

Believe it or not it took us 4 hours to decide on a theme for the game. The team wasn’t really getting along together because 10 people into one idea isn’t really a good idea in itself. The thing to be a good game designer is to take everybody’s opinion into account to make a game everybody wants to make and not just that one person. I’m not a power hungry person so I don’t really say ‘I want to make a game about me, or what I want’ I say ‘I want to make a game that’ll make you feel happy.’

This is a game we’ve all had input on and I said ‘We’ve got this vision, lets drive it’ And everybody’s been fantastic, the team are dead proud of themselves and I’m happy for them more than me if anything.

And they’ll need to go through the process of thinking of a game again with the genre you’ve picked for The Gadget Show Live. Tell us about the genre and your initial thoughts on it.

I kind of messed up the announcement at the presentation! I said ‘3 R D’ kind of announcing how tired I am. I meant 3rd person and I wish I’d cottoned on sooner! With 3rd Person Action I feel more confident a lot more than any of the others actually. I know FPS is the general given with the UDK engine. UDK I know, I’ve watched tonnes of tutorials. I want to give a shout out to two guys from 3D Buzz and The New Boston. These guys have really helped me, I spent hours learning their tutorials. I’ve learned the UDK engine within the space of 4 months. That’s a lot of hard work, I’ve been doing 3 hours of work a day to learn the engine, so yeah, it showed!

Despite your tiredness, you’ve enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to others?

Oh definitely. We got to this point where we had the pessimistic and the optimistic. I was kind of the optimistic, trying to push people forward. There were a few team members who were negative but that just balanced it out. All together we’ve made a great game development team. I’d recommend anybody going to a Game Jam, especially a Train2Game Game Jam.

Thanks for your time Jonny, and best of luck.

Thanks very much.

 

 

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam winners “Over the moon”

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Train2Game & Epic Game Jam winners will wake up today in the knowledge that they’ve secured a place at ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ at The Gadget Show Live and have the opportunity to walk away with an UDK iOS development kit

The winning teams were announced after a panel of judges including Epic Games Mike Gamble, and industry veteran Jon Hare saw every game developed by Train2Game students in the 48 hour period.

“This is a landmark for us.” said Train2Game student Nick Stones, Team B team leader. “Everyone who has participated in the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, we can always say we have won a game jam and there’s nothing that can change that.”

“It’s such a fantastic opportunity and we’re definitely going to make every effort to make 100% of that. I’m over the moon at the moment. I came here, this is my first game jam, I didn’t know what to expect and it’s gone all in our favour.” he said immediately after winning the 48 hour event.

Train2Game student Craig Moore, team leader of team G also said that winning the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam and going onto The Gadget Show Live is a great reward for his team.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity, we couldn’t have asked for anything better. It’s such a hard thing to get into, but this should really help us get into careers” Moore added that he felt “A bit dumbstruck but absolutely over the moon!”

“Going to The Gadget Show Live is amazing, it’s a real win and I’m glad not for me, but the team, they’ve really earned it.” said Team A’s Jonny Robinson, after staying awake for almost the entire Train2Game & Epic Game Jam.

“I just love it when a plan comes together.” he added. “As crazy as that seems I’m over the moon”

“The Train2Game & Epic Game Jam has been fantastic, a little tiring, but fantastic.” said Train2Game course leader Tony Bickley.

“It’s been a very good event and I’m proud at what the Train2Game students have been able to achieve, and even more proud of their dedication and passion.”

The Train2Game & Epic Game Jam winners will take part in ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ in the Birmingham NEC at The Gadget Show Live in April next year.

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

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam winners announced!

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UDK Train2Game blog imageThe Train2Game & Epic Game Jam is over and the winning teams are:

  • Team A (The A-Team)
  • Team B (Nova Eye)
  • Team G (Team Gandalf)

A fourth team has also been made up from individual students picked from the remaining seven participating in the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam

Each of them produced a game based around the theme of Guy Fawkes using Epic’s Unreal Engine.

These Train2Game student teams will ‘Make something Unreal Live’ at The Gadget Show Live 2012. The development teams will benefit from a six-month incubation period in which a range of senior industry veterans will nurture projects by reviewing key milestones, providing guidance and shaping scope.

During this time, talent will prepare for the final showdown at the Gadget Show Live, where more than 100,000 attendees will watch them bring to life Unreal Engine 3-powered creations in real time.

The winner of that will see their game get a full release.

Well done to the winning Train2Game & Epic Game Jam teams, and good luck preparing for ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ at the Gadget Show next year. Good luck!

And thank you to every one of the ten Train2Game student teams that took part. Stay tuned to the Train2Game blog for more reaction.

Train2Game news: Clue to the future is in Game Dev Story – Brink writer

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Brink Train2Game blog imageTrain2Game students should learn alternative game development disciplines in addition to their chosen field to increase their chances of finding work in the industry.

That’s according to Splash Damage’s Ed Stern, writer of Brink, who likened hiring employees in the industry to mobile title Game Dev Story.

“Learn to code, learn Unity, learn Flash, be able to make a game. Because even if you’re not great a graphics or great at sound you’ll understand what the issues are.” Stern told the Train2Game blog when asked advice he’d give a game designer looking to break into the industry.

“You know that game Game Dev Story? You want to have at least a couple of stats in the other disciplines. Even if you’re never going to be hired to do sound, have some idea what the issues are with sound.”

The Splash Damage Creative Director used an example of a game designer knowing what game artists are capable of as an example.

“If you’re a writer have some idea what the graphic issues are so you don’t inadvertently end up writing a cheque that no one else can cash.”

He also told the Train2Game blog what he looks for when hiring a new employee, and that’s to have completed projects.

“It’s always more important to finish something than to start something, that’s what we look for when we’re hiring,” he said.  What people finish in their portfolio, not what they start then kind of get a bit bored with and give up on”

Of course, Train2Game students have the opportunity to complete projects and the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam this weekend.

Stern’s comments echo those of ID Software’s Tim Willits, who in an interview with the Train2Game blog, said that completing a mod is a great way to get noticed.

“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 said.

Ed Stern was speaking to the Train2Game blog in an interview about Brink, games writing and how to get into the industry. It’ll be published on the Train2Game blog in full on Monday.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the Brink Creative Director’s advice? Have you been looking into learning other disciplines? Do you already have skills in other areas?

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