Category Archives: Student

Train2Game News GameBlastLIVE Stream

Posted on by

SpecialEffectGameBlastLIVE, a Children in Need style 24 livestream, will be anchoring SpecialEffect’s GameBlast gaming marathon event this weekend.

Streamed from the London headquarters of industry trade body UKIE, the show will feature interviews with top gaming figures, playthroughs of new game content, gaming merchandise giveaways and regular updates from the hundreds of teams across the world taking part in the charity fundraiser.

The livestream starts at 10am on Saturday and can be seen at http://www.twitch.tv/gameblastlive

Highlights of the stream include:

  • The Oliver brothers from SkySaga, who will be reflecting on 20 years in the industry before a gameplay session.
  • Kate Russell will be battling through hyperspace with some top Elite antics.
  • PocketGamer will be on the sofa talking and showing the best of mobile entertainment.
  • Team17 will be live from their headquarters, scrambling their way out of The Escapists.
  • The team from Bossa will be slicing through I Am Bread, before things get messy with Surgeon Simulator.
  • Go8Bit will be creating mayhem in the studio with gameshow and forfeit challenges.

GameBlast, the UK’s largest charity gaming marathon, swings into action on Friday with the aim of raising over £100,000 for gamer’s charity SpecialEffect.

The challenge event, which will run from 20-22 February, has attracted over 250 individuals and gaming teams from across the world. They’ll be running their own gaming marathons at times over the weekend – some up to 24 hours in length – and asking for online sponsorship to hit their fundraising targets.

Big names in the gaming industry are involved, including retail giant GAME, online games developer Jagex and global video streamers Twitch. In total over 50 companies from the industry are involved in various ways, from hosting their own 24 hour staff marathons to contributing to the prize giveaways.

The aim is to raise money for the work of SpecialEffect, who help people with physical disabilities to benefit from the fun, friendship and inclusion of video games.

For more details about GameBlast, see http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/gameblast

Train2Game News Insight into working at Universally Speaking

Posted on by

image

Insight into working for Universally Speaking for Train2Game students applying for professional QA positions

As a follow up to our post last week calling for Train2Game students to apply to Universally Speaking , we’ve spoken to students currently working at Universally Speaking to gain their insight into working at the company. We’ve also spoken to Vendor Manager Paul Lambert gives some guidance on what the company are looking for from applicants

Train2Game student Kieron Baker, 24, from Cambridge
 
It feels fantastic to be working professionally in games! I love coming to work and no day is even remotely the same. When I look at the industry as a whole and realise how big it is and how much is going on, it makes me feel proud of my profession, my position within it and the work that I do while here at Universally Speaking.
 
The variances in projects and the working environment are what allow me to enjoy working at Universally Speaking so much. The team we have are really close knit and yet so welcoming and open minded, and the clients that we work with are so varied. One day we could be testing functionality and compatibility on a new mobile game, to then moving on to consoles, and even eLearning the day after. That’s the most fulfilling thing about Universally Speaking, the variety of projects and experience gained that comes with working with many different Developers from all over the world.
 
I really enjoy the working environment and being surrounded by like-minded people, also the abundance of experience that can be gained from working in such a diverse company with some amazing people.
 
Long term goals. If you had asked me a year ago I may have given you a different answer, but I have always wanted to move into design with a view to perhaps becoming a Producer. But for now, I am enjoying my time here at Universally Speaking that I can see myself here for quite a while yet.

Train2Game student, Evaldas Oleinikas, 25, from Lithuania. Currently residing in Bedford UK.
  
It is great to be working in an area that you are still studying. Gaining experience before qualification, in my opinion is very vital part of the good career, although not everyone can do so.
 
Universally Speaking is a superb company to work for, there is always plenty of work to do and one of the main positives is the great work experience gained.

It’s an excellent opportunity to test products before they reach the customers. Ensuring it meets the desired design quality. I enjoy working on projects, seeing how the development becomes the final product.
 
My long term goals are to get qualified at testing and become Senior/Lead tester. Also after my testing course I plan to take developer course and eventually get my own apps developed.

Patrick Lambert, Vendor Manager, Universally Speaking

The current Train2Game students at Universally Speaking brought along very good skills and enthusiasm for testing. Although they originally were only in for a single shorter project they have been with us now for half a year and 18 months, respectively.

At Universally Speaking clients and projects vary a lot, schedules have to be juggled, positions filled at short notice … it is not your standard 9-to-5 job and never gets boring or becomes routine. And that is something I enjoy.

Successful applicants can look forward to being in the company of fellow video game nerds (feel free to ask me about strategy games or RPGs) and free doughnuts every now and then. Jokes aside, it is a good start into work life. You will gain valuable skills like time management and communication skills. The work environment is friendly yet professional and we are always open to suggestions on how to improve ourselves.

Long term, we believe in filling positions from within; our QA manager started as a tester, as did one of our Directors. So I’d say the career prospects are very decent indeed. A sense of humour is needed indeed. While we take our jobs seriously, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

To receive more details and apply for a position at Universally Speaking contact: mark@train2game.com

Train2Game News Free Developer Workshops

Posted on by

image

Creative England announces FREE marketing workshops for South West and West Midlands SME games businesses, run in partnership with Ukie.

Creative England has joined forces with Ukie, the trade body that aims to support, grow and promote the UK’s games and interactive entertainment industry, to deliver a series of free marketing training workshops.

The workshops are open to SME games businesses based in the South West and the West Midlands and are fully subsidised by the Creative England GamesLab programme.

The courses, running in Bristol and Leamington Spa, will cover:

·         Marketing for games: What it does and how to use it to improve profits

·         Strategic marketing planning: A decision-making process for generating a strategic change perspective. What it is and how it relates to business planning

·         Marketing auditing: Macro, micro and internal analysis, key issue analysis and market segmentation

·         Marketing Communications: A solid grounding in the tools, techniques and approaches used in professional marcomms

·         Metrics: How to measure marketing and business performance including return on investment measurement.

Jaspal Sohal, Head of Games and Digital at Creative England said: “Creative England’s GamesLab programme seeks to discover and nurture our flourishing regional games industry. Through this partnership with Ukie we are able to provide these innovative developers with the necessary tools they need to get their games noticed in a competitive industry.”

CEO of Ukie, Dr Jo Twist said: “In our sector making a game is only half the battle. The other half is marketing and getting noticed in crowded marketplaces. It’s fantastic that these courses can be offered for free thanks to Creative England’s support. They will help give SMEs a better understanding of the kind of strategies they need. As we know, compared to other creative industries, we have strong clusters of games businesses right across the UK. The more courses and help that the GamesLab programme can offer outside London, the better.”

The courses will run on 24th March in Leamington Spa and 10th April in Bristol. If you are interested in attending, please check qualifying criteria and registration information on our website here:
http://ukie.org.uk/event/2015/03/24/marketing-workshop
http://ukie.org.uk/event/2015/04/10/marketing-workshop
The courses are funded by the European Regional Development Fund, supported by the Regional Growth Fund and led by Creative England.

Train2Game News F2P summit 2015

Posted on by

image

F2P: Summit returns on Thursday 26 March and organiser, Tandem Events, today announced the confirmed speakers.

Barry Meade, co-founder of Fireproof Games, Richard Earl of Bossa Studios and Dan Griffiths, co-founder of Monster & Monster will be among an experienced line-up of free to play experts taking to the podium to share their knowledge and experiences with conference delegates.

The first sessions confirmed are:

How to Build and Maintain Community Engagement
Richard Earl, Bossa Studios

Richard is senior marketing manager at Bossa Studios with over a decade of experience in the industry. Having worked with the likes of TT Games and Capcom, Richard will discuss building and maintaining a community for a company like Bossa Studios.

Data Mining the App Store: Hidden Winners and Whale Spotters
Ric Moore, Secret Police

Ric has built a system which harvests data from Apple and extracts hidden info; business intelligence that is not available elsewhere. He’ll explain why he went looking for this data, how he did it, what trends he discovered and what developers can learn from this.

A Monster’s Tale – Lessons Learned from an Indie Dev
Dan Griffiths, Monster and Monster

Dan from indie developer Monster and Monster will be talking about their experiences self-publishing an indie free-to-play title on mobile. He’ll cover the rationale for choosing F2P as their business model for Deep Loot, share facts, figures and a list of key lessons learned by the team.

The State of Free to Play
Will Freeman; Barry Meade, Fireproof Games; Dave Bishop, Delinquent

Will free to play be a victim of its own success, as developers struggle to get discovered among the rising tide of competition? We’ll debate all this and more with our agenda-setting panel of experts.

“Free to Play has been an established business model in the games industry for some time now,” commented Andy Lane, managing director of Tandem Events. “We’re no longer asking the question whether F2P is sustainable, but instead how can developers maximise its potential and what platforms work best. The F2P: Summit aims to steer the debate on this new vision of F2P development and offers vital networking opportunities with developers and publishers succeeding in the market right now.”

The F2P: Summit takes place on Thursday 26 March 2015 at RichMix in London. As well as the speaker sessions, delegates will also have a number of opportunities to network with speakers and other delegates throughout the day.

Registration is open now at www.f2p-summit.com with early bird rate costing just £145. Post 25 February tickets will cost £195.

Train2Game News WeWanaPlay writing competition

Posted on by

image

If you have ever dreamed of becoming a Games writer then WewanaPlay have a great challenge which could give you the exposure you desire.

The Wewana:Readit challenge will give you the opportunity to writeabout something you love and help you gain recognition for it too.

The challenge aims to bring together gaming’s best new writing talent in a unique competition that encouraged creativity and originality as you can write about anything within the world of video gaming. The challenge was launched on the 10th of February and has already been well received within the industry.

Ghostwriters for many well-known gaming publication already write for and support WewanaPlay as they gain the recognition and exposure that they don’t get anywhere else. As WewanaPlay CEO, Deepak Pathak explained: “It is notoriously difficult to break into Gaming Journalism and it’s perhaps why so many talented writers already support us. We decided it’s time to increase the scale of what we are doing, help new gaming talent to be seen and of course encourage the 48% of our app users who are female to begin being better represented in games writing too.”

Although the competition is mainly aimed at students there is a category for non-students too. The categories include Secondary school pupils, College, University and of course a non-student category.

Each entry must be between 500 and 1500 words long, be related to gaming and be an original piece of work written solely for the competition. Submissions must be submitted by 7th April whereafter screening the shortlisted finalists will be published on the site from the 10th April for the public voting process. From these awesome articles he winners will be announced on the 30th April.

Full details of how to get involved (either as entrants or supporters) can be found on the dedicated event page: http://wewanaplay.com/events

Train2Game News Open Source Virtual Reality gains more support

Posted on by

image

Razer, a world leader in connected devices and software for gamers, and Sensics, a leader in high-performance VR, today announced additional partners for the Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) ecosystem.

Since its award-winning announcement at CES 2015, OSVR has signed 13 new members, including Jaunt, a pioneering company in cinematic VR. Other companies are in talks with Razer and Sensics.

“The reception of OSVR exceeded even our own expectations and we’re working through numerous partner requests since CES,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. “Being able to bring together companies doing amazing work in all areas of virtual reality can accelerate consumer-ready devices and improve overall user experiences.”

OSVR aims to standardize the creation and enjoyment of content for virtual reality devices and software. Razer and Sensics 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.

For the full list of OSVR supporters and more information, go to www.osvr.com.

Train2Game News Interface

Posted on by

The teams behind MCV and Develop are hosting a brand new event in May for developers to showcase their games, find investors and pitch ideas.

Interface takes place on May 14th in central London and will bring together developers, publishers, platform holders, investors and funding experts.

Interface will connect indies, start-ups and creators of new games with investors and backers in private pitch meetings; plus, there will be demo zones and breakout sessions dedicated to seminars on better business practices.

There will also be areas for studios looking to recruit, plus networking and lounge spaces.

Interface will be affordable for businesses large and small, with prices starting at just £49.

Registration for walk-in delegates opens in March.

First partners will be announced next week – sponsorship includes exhibition space, access to the B2B meeting/pitching service and prominent exposure.

Email interface@nbmedia.com to be one of the first to find out more.

Interface will also offer affordable demo areas for indies wanting to showcase games, premium spaces for publishers, content acquisition, technology, recruiters and platform-holders looking to find games and partners; and over 300 delegates, including press, to present your creations to.

Interface takes place at the Candid Arts Trust, a creative arts space in London next door to Angel tube station.

“Indies, investors and creators of interactive content have told us they want a new place to find partners, see games and pitch ideas,” said Michael French, publisher of MCV and Develop.

“Interface focuses on quality meeting time – that’s what matters most if you’re looking to score a deal or a new business.”

Source: Develop

Train2Game News CG Student Awards

Posted on by

image

With less than a month to go before the CG Student Awards launches Autodesk wanted to let Train2Game students know about this year Awards and the fantastic opportunities open to them.

This year they have managed to negotiate with some of the world’s most respected VFX, Animation, and Gaming studios to offer up an insane amount of internships as prizes ($350k) for the 2015 CG Student Awards. Autodesk are proud to announce a total of 25 career launching internships available to win at locations all across the globe. Nowhere else you can win this type of experience, in any industry for that matter, and with the same calibre of studios.

A spokesman from Autodesk said “We are pumped, and honoured to know we will help 25 talented digital artists get to work alongside the best teams in the world, and on some of the biggest projects currently in production.”

The categories for 2015 are:
– Student of the Year (VFX/ANIM)
– Student of the Year (GAMES)
– Film of the Year
– Game of the Year
– People’s Choice
– Bootcamp Internship
– School of the Year.

Who is eligible to enter into the Awards:
Current and past students are eligible to enter into the Awards. Past students are only eligible if they have worked professionally. It’s more for the ones that have recently graduated and are looking to break into the industry.

Ambassador program:
Autodesk are also going to be running an Ambassador program for students to help spread the word about the Awards and get their friends involved, there are a whole bunch of prizes to give away to the winners. More information will be available on the website about the program and what they can do to earn those prizes.

The event runs from 4rd March 2015 until 19th June 2015 with entries closed 13th May 2015. The finalists willl bd announced 27th May 2015 and the winners announced 17th June 2015.

The site is currently unavailable but you can enter your email address to be notified  when the site goes live. You will then be able to apply and find out more.

Train2Game News StoreFrontSDK

Posted on by

image

Apostrophe Apps, LLC, has released StoreFrontSDK (http://www.StoreFrontSDK.com), a free service and plugin that generates shops within mobile apps where developers and publishers can sell their custom-designed goods and apparel.

StoreFrontSDK is currently powering the SnorgTees mobile app (iOS and Android) and multiple mobile game companies have already committed to use StoreFrontSDK including SparkPlug Games (Plight of the Zombie) and Replay Games (Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded).

StoreFrontSDK offers mobile app developers and publishers of any size an easy way to create, control and sell physical products featuring their intellectual property. Unlike most ad systems where mobile app creators earn a meager trickle of pennies for a few hundred ad clicks, the StoreFrontSDk system allows them to determine – and dynamically adjust – the amount earned for each product sold.

StoreFrontSDK is easy to implement, taking only a few minutes to populate with uniquely branded products and incorporate into a mobile app.

Mobile developers can create a free account at http://www.StoreFrontSDK.com, where they upload designs to create custom gear and popular apparel including T-shirts, hoodies, mugs and phone cases. They then use a few lines of code to create their own button to launch their shop within their app.

After the StoreFrontSDK plugin is implemented in an app, products can be managed through the web site, immediately pushing updates to the live app without costly, time-consuming updates. Product details, prices and even entire shops can be managed across multiple apps from one account, allowing for special promotions or quick responses to sales trends.

Apostrophe Apps handles all of the printing, payment processing, fulfillment and customer support, allowing mobile teams to concentrate on making awesome apps instead of worrying about boxes of products to catalog, store, sort, package and ship.

StoreFrontSDK will soon also support user-generated content (e.g. photos and art uploaded from a mobile device), unlockable content and curated partner products to sell within their shops.
StoreFrontSDK is currently available for Unity at http://www.StoreFrontSDK.com.

Train2Game News Student Overcomes Odds

Posted on by

image

Student won’t let Epilepsy stop him from reaching his goal to be a Video Games Artist and create a successful gaming studio

Aspiring games designer studying with Train2Game won’t let his condition and ‘flashing images’ stop him starting a gaming studio and getting a position as an Artist

Scott is originally from Swansea and now living in Woking, Surrey. The 31 year old is currently studying Art and Animation with Train2Game. Scott was diagnosed with intractable Epilepsy caused by band heterotopia when he was eleven.

Scott Evin William’s mother originally assumed it was flashing images from his Sega Master System that caused his epileptic fits. But after taking away the gaming system, Doctors informed the family this wasn’t the case for his specific condition.

In a twist of fate it could now be gaming that really changes Scott’s life for the better. He’s studying with Train2Game to become a Video Games Developer, has started his own studio and is hoping to get employment at a gaming studio in the future.

Living with Epilepsy

“I had a febrile convulsion when I was three.  At nine I was diagnosed with epilepsy mum took away my Master System 2 because she thought it caused the fits. Thinking it was photosensitive epilepsy with the flashing images but this was not correct.”

“Diagnosed with Epilepsy initially I continued with everyday life, pretty good normal childhood. When I reached a working age it really took more of a chunk out of my life than expected; what I could, and couldn’t do for work.”

“My fits can happen at any time. I was out shopping for food, had a fit and collapsed on the shop floor, but a few minutes later got up and continued on shopping, for me it’s just part of my life. I really just accept its part of my life and my family are very supportive about it, but the most important thing is just accept it, move on and forward.”

Studying with Train2Game

“I started Train2Game at the end of 2010. I pay for the course myself and finances are not a problem, its simple monthly payments.  I aim to be done by the end of next year, hopefully with no personal health issues which have caused time delays in the past.”

“Home study is both challenging and rewarding, making sure to keep good time and also make lots of notes. With the support of tutors it really is a place where if you want to make a career out of games, Train2Game can offer many exclusive help and practical events.”

“There are some very challenging parts in the course where I passed exams but you also have to vigorously go over the course material. With progress comes the experience, there is theory that is important to know but a hands on practical approach is what is encouraged from a Train2Game student”

“The tutors, the administration and the Train2Game staff all keep up a great helpful, positive attitude, very good listeners and give help and guidance needed to keep you focused. Forming into teams means you get more from it by networking with those who are at an advanced stage within the course, it’s a great helping hand.”

“Train2Game gives me a relaxing environment of having the tools and books, even extra software to download and learn for a broader skillset, as a result most of the time its very relaxing and as easy-going or intense as I choose it to be, but as long as I get a lesson done I feel nice and relaxed which is great in any case and with my condition.”

“I have the utmost confidence in the course to take me to art director status and there’s no real reason why I will not pass, I grow more confident with every completed lesson so the end goal is only a matter of time.”

Game Studio

“I created a professional studio called ‘Icebox Games Studio’. Our website I created is http://www.uigames.co.uk created for the students who are designers, artists and developers. The layout of my student studio is based on the fact it might be best working freelance from home, so we all work from different locations.”

“Our primary goal is to create levels or playable games to gain experience and knowledge, we also share opinions and support each other with coursework. My role in the team is generally looking after everyone’s interests. I am team leader but treat everyone as equals, so we all share ideas and opinions.”

“We are looking over various ideas for games and are working on some, I personally work with CryENGINE3, but the team has a varied array of skillsets mostly geared toward Unity 4, meaning when we feel we can create a game that looks good in different formats.”

What’s next

“My dream is to be accredited as Lead Artist or Art Director in the opening credits of a game. That  will be when I have a few games under my belt and feel ready to take on such a great role. What I don’t do is put a stop or limit what I can learn. Long after becoming a qualified Artist and Animator, the path into gaming, it will be my choice of where to stop.”

“I know what I simply cannot do, short of that no, I will never stop wanting to learn and helping out other people. Whatever your goal just ask yourself two questions, what is stopping you and who can help you achieve the ultimate your goal. Nobody with a disability should feel any different, if a course that Train2Game provides appeals to you then go for it.”