Category Archives: games

Train2Game News Sounds of Peasants Revolt

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SyrinscapeSyrinscape, developer of the app that creates custom, movie-like soundscapes, effects, and music for the tabletop gaming experience, today opens the worldwide call for game fans to contribute their own sounds to be included in the forthcoming Peasants Revolt SoundSet.

Syrinscape developer and Dicestormers co-host Benjamin Loomes asks fans to submit their own self-recorded sounds, including wooden crashes, shattering glass, screams, yells, group chanting, and other sounds players associate with the “peasants revolt” theme. Everyone who contributes a sound will receive the final Peasants Revolt SoundSet for free, as well as a name credit on the product page.

The sounds can be recorded via smart phone, a handheld recorder, or professional studio, and submitted directly to Loomes via email, via Facebook, or a file sharing service, such as Dropbox. Additional details on how and what to submit can be found on Syrinscape.com.

In celebration of the launch of Syrinscape’s SoundSet Creator later this month, Loomes will use the revolutionary new app to build a community-sourced Peasants Revolt SoundSet from the fan-submitted sounds. The process of turning the random sounds into a rich and engaging SoundSet will be documented via a series of YouTube videos, to serve as tutorials for players wanting to create their own environments.

The SoundSet Creator is an easy to use sound toolset, which gives the user the power to create and customize fantastic sound environments to be used in their tabletop games, and is slated for a January 28, 2015 release.

Syrinscape SoundPacks and SoundSets add a new dimension to the gaming table. In addition to creating the officially licensed SoundPacks for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Syrinscape creates general-purpose fantasy and sci-fi themed sounds that bring the soundtrack of gameplay to life.

The Syrinscape Fantasy and Sci-Fi Players are free to download, including two free SoundSets, and are compatible with a wide range of devices, including PC, Mac, Android Tablets, and iPads. For more information, the free download, or to subscribe, visit syrinscape.com.

Train2Game News Open Platform VR Gaming

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osvr-logoA group of industry leaders, alongside with Razer, a leader in connected devices and software for gamers, and Sensics, a leader in high-performance VR, today announced the Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) ecosystem, a new standard in VR gaming to push the VR gaming experience forward.

Razer will support the venture with the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit, a virtual reality device and open-source software that enables programming for any variety of VR technology.

OSVR provides both hardware and software support at every level of virtual reality gaming. Starting with some of the most popular game engines, including Unity and Unreal Engine 4, OSVR also works with device plugins from hardware market leaders like Bosch and Razer and the latest from Sixense and LeapMotion. Moreover, OSVR is designed to support all VR devices, including the Oculus DK 2 and Vrvana’s Totem headset.

Engineering teams from all over the world developed a standardized interface for virtual reality gaming. The open platform will allow third parties to design and build their own apps and hardware across any operating systems, including Windows, Android and Linux.

“Gaming is moving towards the virtual reality platform and this poses huge benefits and challenges to gamers at every level,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. “OSVR brings game developers, gamers and hardware manufacturers together to solve those challenges and make virtual reality gaming a reality for the masses.”

Says Sensics CEO Yuval Boger: “OSVR’s open-platform approach accelerates innovation and provides consumers the freedom of choosing the best combination of hardware and software components. We are excited to partner with Razer and other industry leaders to build OSVR together.”

In line with the OSVR vision, the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit hardware design is both affordable and open source to encourage developers to take advantage of the program. To make software development even easier, the OSVR HDK includes high-quality, low-distortion optics that practically eliminate the need for color and distortion correction, thus minimizing the amount of additional development work required for OSVR compared to other VR devices. Anyone can download 3D files and create their own set of VR-Glasses. For more information on how that works, visit www.osvr.com.

“The OGA is committed to an open ecosystem for the gaming industry, and is pleased to support the efforts of the OSVR,” said Drew Johnston, president of the Open Gaming Alliance. “A free, open source VR development solution supporting multiple headset manufacturers, diverse game engines, and multiple platforms is exactly what game developers and publishers need to accelerate VR gaming adoption.”

Train2Game News Xbox One CPU Increase

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Xbox OneAs I am sure you are all well aware some irritating people hacked Xbox Live and PSN however some good has come from it.

Whilst the Xbox One was being hacked a number of development tools to be used by game studios were revealed, including Microsoft’s generous gift to developers – the use of an extra CPU core.

There are eight in total within the Xbox One’s case, two of which have so far been reserved for running the background operating system. Now Microsoft has opened up the use of 50 to 80% of the seventh CPU, meaning that games will run faster and smoother.

The use of this seventh CPU will necessitate the ditching of Kinect – custom, game-specific voice commands, the infrared and depth sensors won’t work. Even worse, basic console commands – “Xbox Go Home”, “Xbox Go To…” will snatch back 50% of the CPU usage.

Microsoft have recognised the flaws and limitations of their seventh CPU in the documentation that goes alongside the development tools, and they are aiming to fix it at some point in the future.

Train2Game News UK Top 20 Games – 05.01.15

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Call of Duty Advanced WarfighterA brand new and the first charts to get us going! Unsurprisingly it is the usual suspects at the top awaiting the next big game to knock them down. The only new game in this weeks charts is Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker from Nintendo at number sixteen.

All formats

Week ending 3 January 2015

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 – CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE ACTIVISION 1
2 – GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 2
3 – FIFA 15 EA SPORTS 3
4 FAR CRY 4 UBISOFT 5
5 ASSASSIN’S CREED: UNITY UBISOFT 4
6 – THE CREW UBISOFT 6
7 DESTINY ACTIVISION 11
8 WWE 2K15 2K SPORTS 12
9 DRIVECLUB SONY COMPUTER ENT. 7
10 MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION MICROSOFT 8
11 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 9
12 LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 10
13 MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 16
14 FORZA HORIZON 2 MICROSOFT 18
15 THE EVIL WITHIN BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 14
16 CAPTAIN TOAD: TREASURE TRACKER NINTENDO –
17 LITTLEBIGPLANET 3 SONY COMPUTER ENT. 13
18 HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION MICROSOFT 19
19 ASSASSIN’S CREED: ROGUE UBISOFT 17
20 – SUPER SMASH BROS. NINTENDO 20
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2015 UKIE Ltd

These charts cannot be reproduced either in print or online without obtaining permission from Ukie. If you wish to reproduce the charts in print or online, please contact david.smith@ukie.org.uk for the appropriate license.

Train2Game News Far Cry 4 Review

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Far Cry 4The lovely people at Ubisoft sent me over Far Cry 4 to review and it has taken me this long to get round to writing the review!

This game is huge! I ended up with a 74.9% completion and it took me about 34 hours to get there. I did the very minimum to get the achievements and it still took me a long time to get through it. However this being said it doesn’t feel repetitive.

I didn’t get the pleasure of playing through Far Cry 3 my self but I did see my flatmate play through it. From what I could gather the story is more in depth and interesting in the third game but the antagonist Pagan Min is an excellent character and amused me throughout the game.

The game is breath taking to look at and just travelling around the land of Kyrat is a pleasure in its self. The scenery is stunning and the map has many ways to get around which brings me on to my next point.

There are many additional features in this game compared to Far Cry 3. The addition of the Buzzers are helpful, they are one man flying vehicles and one of the most helpful things I found was being able to throw bait in to a base and watch as a wild animal tears across leaving you with one maybe two to take out.

Over all I would say this is just a larger feature filled version of Far Cry 3 with less of a story to go with it.

Train2Game News Hardest Games of 2014

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The people at Console Deals have sent me this infographic which gives a look back at some of the most frustratingly challenging games of 2014. With the year coming to a close it’s good to look back. Do you agree with these games or was there any more difficult that was released this year?

Enjoy the infographic below:

Hardest Games of 2014 - Infographic

Train2Game News Derp Studios update by Chris Ledger

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This year’s been really busy, but we have achieved many things! 

We’ve managed to sign a contract to create a licensed app for a well known company.  We are delighted to be given this opportunity!

We’ve also got another contract going in creating a social game with for a local business.

Unfortunately we cannot disclose any information at this time about either of those projects but you can stay up to date with us at www.derpstudios.com or www.facebook.com/derpstudios, where we will announce it sooner or later (those blasted non disclosures eh!?).

As some of you may be aware, a few months ago we announced that we were rebooting and re-branding Dire Consequences!

We do have a tech demo, which we scraped together in a month long game jam using Unreal Engine 4. The tech demo itself is only a taster of what’s in store for you guys, it can be located at our website http://derpstudios.com/games/dire_consequences/.  We do like to show as much of our developments as possible without spoiling the game and I can certainly say we have a lot of confidence in the title!

So why did we choose to reboot Dire Consequences?

Good question.  It was one of the first, first person, magic and melee action games of its kind on mobile and was quite well received.  We also had some previous marketing done with it for Make Something Unreal Live 2012.

Since MSUL 2012 we’ve had a good number of projects on our plate, but none of them has compared to the sheer awesomeness of Dire Consequences. 

Unfortunately due to licensing issues, the original MSUL 2012 Dire Consequences candidate was taken off the iOS market after a month or so, which left all of us at Derp Studios feeling very emotional.

A lot of hours, or should I say months were put into the game and the fact we couldn’t release our hard work and for a lot of us, our first game onto the mobile marketplaces…well it was heartbreaking to say the least.  Especially since we were the only teams in the competition at the time to successfully ship their game.

To show you can’t keep a good man/woman down, we are re-branding Dire Consequences and making it bigger and better than ever before.  We are currently targeting the PC market, however there will be a time in the future where we will look into getting some “Classic Consequences” (our nickname for the original Make Something Unreal Live 2012 candidate) on to mobile, however the PC version comes first.

Also I’d like to take the chance to say a massive thank you to all of those who have contributed to making Derp Studios the way it is today.  I would list you all in here but I think it would be best to throw a link in so I don’t take up too much precious screen revenue! http://derpstudios.com/about/derp-team-members/

So without further ado, here is some of the artwork (some of which is work in progress) that has been produced by our amazing artists Nicole Nixon and Gabi Schultz, who have helped shape the games design tremendously!

Train2Game News Motivation by Muir Halleron

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Muir HalleronIt is, once again, that wonderful time of the year.
A time of peace, giving, and holiday cheer
when you hang up the stockings, put on your cap,
then eat loads of food ’til you take a long nap.

The children are happy, with all of their toys
whilst the adults wear earplugs because of the noise.
Your schedule is hectic, your waistline is tragic
with all the food arriving as if by magic.

Some alone time is highly improbable,
As for your coursework, well, it’s impossible
to get anything done this time of year.
Put it aside and be of good cheer.

After the hustle and bustle is done
you can sit yourself down and continue the fun
of modules and TMAs,
and lessons plans on dreary days.

Getting back into things may seem a chore,
but plough on through despite the bore
of sitting and reading, not getting much done.
Try to remember the past battles you’ve won.

The challenges you’ve faced, the pits you’ve hurdled,
while staring at the screen until your sight curdled.
Remember the feeling when completing a task
that you had thought was too much to ask?

Hold on to that hope, that joyful soul stirring,
the feeling of pride and know that you’re winning.
You’re one step closer than you’ve ever been,
So open that book and let the games begin!

Train2Game News UK Top 20 – 22.12.14

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Call of Duty Advanced WarfighterIt is the final chart of the year and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare has retaken the number one spot before Christmas. It has been a quiet year this year as it was the first year of the next generation consoles but with many new exciting games scheduled in 2015 I am sure things will get shaken up a bit!

All formats

Week ending 20 December 2014

POS.  TITLE  PUBLISHER  LAST
WEEK 
1 CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE ACTIVISION 2
2 FIFA 15 EA SPORTS 1
3 – GRAND THEFT AUTO V ROCKSTAR 3
4 – FAR CRY 4 UBISOFT 4
5 ASSASSIN’S CREED: UNITY UBISOFT 10
6 THE CREW UBISOFT 11
7 DESTINY ACTIVISION 9
8 MINECRAFT: XBOX EDITION MICROSOFT 7
9 MINECRAFT: PLAYSTATION EDITION SONY COMPUTER ENT. 8
10 LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 5
11 JUST DANCE 2015 UBISOFT 6
12 DRIVECLUB SONY COMPUTER ENT. 13
13 WWE 2K15 2K SPORTS 12
14 THE EVIL WITHIN BETHESDA SOFTWORKS 16
15 ASSASSIN’S CREED: ROGUE UBISOFT –
16 SUPER SMASH BROS. NINTENDO 15
17 MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE 20
18 DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION EA GAMES 17
19 ASSASSIN’S CREED IV: BLACK FLAG UBISOFT 20
20 LITTLEBIGPLANET 3 SONY COMPUTER ENT. 18
< previous week
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2014 UKIE Ltd

These charts cannot be reproduced either in print or online without obtaining permission from Ukie. If you wish to reproduce the charts in print or online, please contact david.smith@ukie.org.uk for the appropriate license.

Train2Game News WeWanaPlay Game Jam

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Gaming industry professionals and students from across the West Midlands will be heading to Birmingham City University on 23 January to make new computer games – in just one weekend.

Hosted by the University’s Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment and co-organised with Birmingham gaming app-makers WewanaPlay, the event forms part of the Global Game Jam (GGJ) – the world’s largest game jam event which last year saw almost 3000 games created.

Taking place at Birmingham City University’s City Centre Campus, participants from the West Midlands will join more than 7,000 people worldwide as they compete to make the best computer games in 48 hours.

“Computer games are of growing importance to our regional economy and we are very fortunate to have so many great innovative indie game studios so close to our City Centre Campus. Our highly respected computer games technology course is leading the way in providing exceptional young talent to these companies”, said Andrew Wilson, Programme Leader for Computer Games Technology at Birmingham City University.

“This event will emphasize both the regional and global importance that computer games play and it’s an amazing opportunity to network with industry professionals, learn new skills and share best practice.”

On arrival at the event, a secret theme will be announced which must form part of all of the games created. Attendees will be invited to explore new technology tools, take on new roles in games development and test their skills as they design, develop, create and test new games over two days.

To find out more visit http://www.blog.wewanaplay.com/