Category Archives: Student

Train2Game News Insomnia success in 2014

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Multiplay, organiser of the UK’s biggest gaming festival, celebrated an outstanding year in 2014, recording a 60% increase in footfall at its Insomnia events against the previous year and cementing its place as the number one gaming festival in the UK.

With an ever growing community of all ages and backgrounds, the Insomnia Gaming Festival experienced its highest ever year of growth with significant increases across the board at all three of its 2014 events. Working with more partners than ever before to expose a variety of brands to its diverse audience, Multiplay also saw record footfall figures with that trend set to continue throughout the new year.

Insomnia54 will be Multiplay’s biggest spring event to-date, taking place on the Easter Bank Holiday weekend (April 3rd-6th 2015). With the show increasing not just in attendance but also footprint at an additional 45% floor space across over 2014, there’s even more great gaming festival fun for Insomnia’s dedicated and growing community.

2014 also witnessed a huge year for Insomnia events online, with over 45m consumers engaged through Twitch, YouTube and Flickr whilst over 1.4m consumers logged on to the official Insomnia website making http://insomniagamingfestival.com a top five gaming destination in the UK, a trend that Multiplay has committed to continuing over the next years’ worth of events.

Multiplay MD Craig Fletcher said: “We’re delighted to have had another incredible year, and we continue to see huge opportunities for growth, not just in our amazing community, but in what we can offer to publishers to showcase their products and partners who want to expose their brands to an engaged audience.”

He continued, “We’ve developed and grown organically to become the UK’s number one destination for fans of gaming culture with our partners, driven by our incredible community, and we’re ready to go even further in 2015 starting with Easter’s Insomnia54.”

For more information on Insomnia54, please visit http://insomniagamingfestival.com.

Train2Game News GameBlast15

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The gamers’ charity, SpecialEffect, is aiming to build on the success of its inaugural GameBlast gaming marathon weekend in 2014 by calling on the UK games industry and gaming community to sign up for GameBlast15 as they look to raise over £100k towards the charity’s work.

The event, the UK’s largest game-based fundraiser, takes place 20-22 February and already has some of the UK’s top games industry names behind it including Jagex, the company behind the hugely successful Runescape. Jagex is SpecialEffect’s original GameBlast partner and last year raised almost £50k for the charity’s work in helping people with disabilities to access video games.

Along with a major marathon stream from Jagex from Friday to Saturday, the UK gaming trade body, UKIE, is supporting the SpecialEffect fundraising effort by hosting GameBlast LIVE, a 24-hour gaming broadcast from its headquarters in London. This will run from Saturday to Sunday.

Dr Jo Twist, SpecialEffect Vice President and CEO of UKIE, explained why she is so keen to get behind the SpecialEffect fundraiser, ‘They [SpecialEffect] were one of the first groups I met when I started my Ukie role in 2012 and I was bowled over by their dedication, their passion and their love. The innovative work they do to enable young people enjoy the games they love is incredibly inspiring. Games and the ability to play can enhance and enrich people’s lives in so many ways and everyone should have the right to play.’

The event, hosted by Matt Cuttle, promises 24 hours of unadulterated gaming and madness as BBC Click presenter and SpecialEffect Vice President, Kate Russell, builds on the £7,500 she raised through her Elite:Dangerous livestream at Christmas by flying a 12 hour Elite marathon alongside other enthusiasts of Frontier’s iconic space travel game. But Kate will be taking a break from space travel to battle it out with Jo Twist using SpecialEffect eye-control technology as they compete live on Twitch for the fastest lap in Codemasters’ popular Dirt 3 motor racing game. 

Kate explained why she has done so much to raise money and awareness of the charity’s work, ‘Ever since I found out about Special Effect a couple of years ago – a charity dedicated to helping those with physical limitations through illness or injury have fun playing computer games – it has been my pleasure and honour to be able to help raise funds and awareness about their tireless and dedicated work’.

If you’d like to join industry names like Jagex, Gamer Network and Multiplay and join hundreds of other gamers across the UK in raising money for SpecialEffect through the GameBlast15 gaming marathon go to:

http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/gameblast-about

Train2Game News Syrinscape SoundSet Creator

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Syrinscape, developer of movie-like sounds for the tabletop gaming experience, including the officially licensed Pathfinder Roleplaying Game SoundPacks, announces today the open call for beta-testers for the new Syrinscape SoundSet Creator, a sound design app that gives the user the power to create and customize fantastic sound effects, environments, soundscapes, and music.

The Syrinscape SoundSet Creator is a massively powerful, but easy to use, sound-design tool, available on PC and Mac. With a user-friendly interface, the SoundSet Creator puts all of the sliders, dials, parameters, settings, and other functions that are used in-house by Syrinscape, now in the hands of the public.

Participants in the SoundSet Creator open beta event will have complete access to the SoundSet Creator app, and will be able to import their own sounds and meld them together to make their own unique creations, for the entire month of February. Participants will also receive access within the Creator to the four free pre-made SoundSets – Bugbear Battle, Witchwood, Blaster Battle, and Shipboard – with which they can experiment. The four SoundSets, along with any sounds users create, will be theirs to keep after the beta closes on February 28, 2015.

“The SoundSet Creator is a fantastic sound-design tool, not only for tabletop gamers, but also for teachers, filmmakers, musicians, sound engineers, and so on,” says Benjamin Loomes, creator of Syrinscape. “The possibilities are endless, and we can’t wait to hear about the fun and unique sounds the community comes up with!”

To sign-up for the event, and to receive the four free SoundSets, visit Syrinscape.com.

Train2Game News Design an Adventure Time character

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World-wide video game publisher, Little Orbit, announces a “Design an Adventure Time Character Contest” and challenges fans of the hit Cartoon Network series to create their very own Adventure Time character with the winning design appearing in the next soon-to-be-announced Adventure Time console video game.

Beginning January 27th, fans can submit their artwork and short character description, for a shot at joining Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum, Marceline, Ice King and all their favorite Adventure Time characters on their next epic video game adventure.

WHAT: Design a new Adventure Time character for the next soon-to-be announced Adventure Time video game published by Little Orbit.

WHEN: January 27, 2015 – February 17, 2015

GRAND PRIZE: The winning design will appear in the next Adventure Time video game!

HOW: Email your design in a .jpg file no larger than 5MB to atcontest@littleorbit.com and include name, birth date (must be 13 years or older to win), address, phone number, email address and a two sentence character description. You must be a legal resident of the United States to be eligible. The winning character and artist will be announced on the Little Orbit Facebook page in early March.

For complete details and contest rules, please visit http://www.littleorbit.com/atcontest.html

Train2Game News P4Connect

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Perforce Software today announced the integration of its version management engine, P4D, and leading game development platform, Unity.

P4Connect integrates Perforce’s powerful versioning capabilities into the Unity platform, enabling gaming companies to significantly accelerate development workflows and better protect their digital assets. P4Connect is available for download at no charge from the Unity store or the Perforce website, and the tool’s source code is available from Perforce’s open-source workshop.

Unity is a flexible, high-performance engine and editor used by developers and designers to build games and applications across multiple platforms . P4Connect embeds Perforce’s P4D versioning engine into Unity’s development environment, giving users seamless access to key versioning capabilities and features—such as global code and asset management, tracked change history, and automation—with context menus and the Unity interface. By integrating the games industry’s most popular cross-platform development software and version management solution, P4Connect is enabling thousands of game studios—from indie developers to AAA game companies—to increase productivity and improve team collaboration.

The Perforce 20/20 Program enables indie developers and small studios to use the same versioning engine used by the leading AAA studios, free of charge. It includes telephone access to Perforce’s award winning technical support. Perforce also offers free educational licenses, used by leading academic institutions around the world, such as the Academy of Art University, Academy of Design and Objectif 3D.

Teams can begin using P4Connect immediately and without a Unity Pro or Team Unity license.

“We’re committed to supporting the next generation of game developers by providing the solid foundation they need to manage and protect all of their digital assets right from the start,” said Christopher Seiwald, founder and CEO of Perforce. “Whether they’re indie studios or AAA leaders, our customers will see a vast improvement in their workflows with P4Connect. It will allow them to focus their time on what they do best—game development, not the management of tools or workflows.”

To download P4Connect, please visit:
http://www.perforce.com/downloads/free/p4connect

Train2Game News BAFTA Young Game Designers competition

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BAFTAThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has today announced the call for entries for the 2015 BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) competition in association with Nominet Trust, which aims to inspire the UK’s game-makers of the future by giving young people the chance to design and make their own game. The winners will be named at a special awards ceremony in July. Entries are now open at www.bafta.org/ygd until Monday 1 June.

Originally launched in 2010 for 11-16 year-olds, this year the age range for the competition has been expanded to include 10-18 year-olds, divided into age-specific sub-groups. Entrants – who can be individuals or a team of up to three people – can choose to enter two creative categories: The YGD Game Concept Award, to create a concept for a new game; and the YGD Game Making Award, to make a game using freely available software. The winners will receive a host of prizes, including further development of their game with industry professionals.

Two new categories have also been added this year: The YGD Mentor Award, for an inspirational individual involved in the education of young game designers; and the YGD Hero Award, for a games industry professional who supports young game designers. The public can nominate their YGD Mentor, while the YGD Hero will be selected by BAFTA’s Games Committee.

The BAFTA YGD competition is part of a year-round programme of activity which gives young people and educators unique insights into the games industry and access to the creative minds behind some of their favourite games. Support includes: a website (www.bafta.org/ygd) where BAFTA members, award winners and nominees share their insights and advice through interviews and exclusive video content; a web series, that takes a light-hearted look behind the scenes of the games industry; a range of teaching resources that link the BAFTYA YGD competition to the national curriculum; an online ‘feedback hub’ where young people can submit ideas or questions about their entry, with the chance of gaining a personalised response from a games expert; and live workshops around the country.

Nominet Trust – the UK’s only dedicated tech for good funder – is headline partner of the initiative, working with BAFTA to develop additional schools-focussed activity addressing the under-representation of women in the games workforce. Other supporting partners of BAFTA Young Game Designers include: Bethesda Softworks, Criterion Games (an EA Studio), Google, Jagex, King, Pinewood Studios Group, SEGA, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Unity, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Abertay University supports the development of the games of the winners of the BAFTA YGD competition.

Tim Hunter, Director of Learning and Events at BAFTA, said: “The BAFTA YGD competition is a great opportunity for young people to try their hand at game design and get feedback from the creative people behind their favourite games. The games industry is one of the biggest and most dynamic entertainment industries in the world; we hope this competition inspires entrants to consider a career in games, as well as helping them better appreciate the artistry involved in making games. We can’t wait to share the winners with the industry and public at the YGD Awards ceremony in July.”

Annika Small, CEO of Nominet Trust, said: “If the UK is to retain its world-leading position in the creative industries, we need to develop a highly skilled workforce. The BAFTA Young Game Designers competition equips young people with the creative digital skills, understanding and connections that they need to become the games designers of the future. It’s exciting to see young people move from simply playing games to designing and making their own ones. Nominet Trust is proud to be supporting this vital initiative – I can’t wait to see what ideas and games entrants come up with!”

The winning games from 2014 – Tomatos Role from 16 year-old Rhianna Hawkins, from Taunton, and AlienX from 15 year-old Adam Oliver – will be on show at BAFTA’s Inside Games Arcade in advance of the British Academy Games Awards in March.

For the Terms & Conditions, and to enter the BAFTA YGD competition, go to www.bafta.org/ygd.

Train2Game News Agoraphobic works toward dream with Train2Game

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Bryan CoadyBryan Coady, 31 years old, from Birmingham, suffers from Agoraphobia and General Anxiety Disorder. This has resulted in a fear of leaving his house. Being diagnosed with a condition can often affect someone’s life plans and career prospects. But Bryan Coady hasn’t let his medical condition stand in the way and is studying with Train2Game to get qualifications to enter the Games Industry.

“My illness started just after I left school. I started working and very soon after it started getting harder and harder to leave the house. I then had a panic attack and could no longer leave the house. I was diagnosed by the doctors a while ago now. They found out about my condition after the panic attack and I got restricted to my house. I need my family to go out to the shops for me while I’m restricted to my home.”

“I discovered Train2Game and now I’m on the Game Developer course version 2, I believe that I will pass with a great grade. I have joined ‘Unique Intelligence Games’ at www.uigames.co.uk, we are all Train2Game students. It’s a great group of people. We help each other and have a great time doing it. We haven’t started on a game yet as we are still getting the team together.”

“As I have been restricted to my home traditional learning wasn’t an option for me. I started Train2Game about a year and a half ago now. It’s really good as you can control how long you study and when you study. I can learn it at home at my own pace and meet good people along the way. It has given me the chance to get a job and qualified in game development.

“I think Train2Game has had a very positive affect on my life from finding new friends to training to get a master’s degree. I have found the projects at the end of section 2 tough but I’m slowly getting there. I hope to be finished in a few months from now. I would recommend this course to anyone who has dreams of making games that lack the knowledge but has the drive.”

“My dream is to be a game developer with a big company with a team that are willing to make our dreams of making games come true. I hope for people to feel the rush I do playing our games for the first time. For anyone thinking of taking the course I would say determination is everything and it can overcome anything.”

Train2Game News Devils inc studios releases Snowmageddon

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Train2Game Student Studio, Devils inc studios, released a game just before Christmas that relates to how we all feel from time to time around winter.

Snowmageddon has all the fun of a first person shooter with tower defence features to add to your enjoyment. The game sees you defending the mystical Star of Dreams, a magical star that while in play keeps your dream world alive, if it falls you are returned to the humdrum of reality. With your towers and an  exciting, inventive array of weapons, including snow balls and exploding presents, you must protect your fantasy world.

The story begins when you make a wish one snowy night feeling the pressures of an adult life’s day to day struggles and so you wish for a simpler time like when you were a child, inadvertently your wish is made as a shooting star passes overhead. When you wake you are in a village being attacked by a horde of rampaging snowmen and you must protect your land of dreams. You rally up the other citizens of your dream world and prepare to fight back to save your town!

The game has been created in Unity by the talents of Devils inc Studios which consists of Train2Game students and a few others who have been recruited to the team.

Mark Plant, Co founder and Lead Designer, said “It’s been a huge learning curve for us in terms of what you can or can’t achieve early on, only when we scaled back to a small seven day project did we really find our feet, this was awesome for use as we found traction, and in doing so we turned out a great game.

Train2Game really taught me respect for developers and games all round, you moan and complain about so much in games that when you begin to look beneath and actually create them you release even something that appears to be a simple change truly can be a workload all by itself, one small task can quickly spiral into a dozen more. I’m thankful for that respect it was a good lesson to learn.

Of course without Train2Game, Devils Inc Studios, wouldn’t have been formed” on the development of the game and there studio.

The studio are about to release an update that will improve balancing and gameplay. The 1.2 patch adds the last few things that couldn’t be added in the initial stages. The studio are also hoping to implement a story mode in the near future

If you would like to play this enjoyable game for free, with no pay to win aspects, you can do so at http://www.kongregate.com/games/shaun_Devilsinc/snowmageddon

You can visit the studios website  and learn more of this up and coming Student Studio at http://www.devilsincstudios.com

Train2Game News Brighton Game Collective

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Brighton Game Collective, a non-profit company dedicated to the creation of community space for games industry SMEs and freelancers based in Brighton and Hove, is pleased to announce the opening of new premises at The Dock Hub, Wilbury Villas, Hove, BN3 3EL.

The Collective provides an environment for small companies and freelance developers to work side by side, sharing their resources, experience and talent. Its aims are to build strong ties within the Brighton game development community and foster opportunities for collaboration between local developers and the industry at large.

Brighton Game Collective is offering affordable desk space alongside its founding members at the new premises. At the time of writing three desks are available, with the option to expand to neighbouring office suites, depending on availability and demand.

The building is accessible 24/7 and has a dedicated fibre optic connection. It includes a coffee shop, meeting and conference rooms with catering available, showers, bike racks, kitchen facilities and bookable parking.

Roberta Saliani, founder of Brighton Game Collective said: “I’m excited to bring the games industry a little closer by providing a space where we can prosper and meet similar minded people. I’d love to see our initiative grow to include all major cities.”

The premises are located a quarter of a mile away from Hove Station, with great connections to Gatwick Airport, London, Brighton, Portsmouth, and Ashford International.

Train2Game News Versatile student finds home at T2G

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Student who tried many careers finds Train2Game is the place where he can accomplish his life’s ambition to work in the Games Industry You name it, he’s tried it.

James Hardman has attempted many directions in his life: Seven years in Education, Franchise Manager, The Navy, Tattoo Artist, Events, Bank Employee and many more. But he’s finally found where he belongs, creating creatures and art in the Games Industry.

It has been an interesting journey for the 30 year old who has roots in Prussia and Egypt. James Hardman has tried everything to get a job and a career that he enjoys, but it took him a great deal of time and effort to find his ideal arena of employment.  Working in hotels, events and working in data processing in a bank. He tried work experience with Jenny Clarke Design Ltd as a Flash Tattoo artist and Aphelio Ltd as a Creature Designer (3 month unpaid internship). He tried to join the Navy and also trained as a franchise manager.

Since birth he’s loved gaming but struggled to make it his career. After many attempts in other directions it was when he joined Trai2Game that he rediscovered his love of gaming and found the passion to get into games.

“To enter the game industry is more than a job to me; it’s a sense of identity and my place in life. I noticed through each job role generates a certain type of person. I am specific type of individual needing to be a specific type of environment to really take off. I feel mis-understood in many job roles due to my style of thinking and how I approach subjects to produce solutions.

It is really important to me to around great people who support each other and understand each other without constant questioning of one’s self. I’ve had seven years in education and two at T2G. Proving it’s not just qualifications but you also need experience, that is why I am now looking to work and gain experience in art.”

“My experience with Train2Game has been the best course I’ve entered. The course not also teaches essential techniques but provides many opportunities of job placements. Also get your name out there. The course itself already has done so much for me, I am forever grateful. They have really improved my self-esteem and I can see hope finally. The content is up to date and explains all vital processes very clearly.”

James is now completing his studies with Train2Game and looking for an internship/employment at a games studio. James is a great conversation; ask him about his roots in a country that no longer exists or how he created an energy loop that he was going to build with a team of Belgian Nuclear Physicists.

You can find James on the Train2Game Forum or reach him through the Train2Game blog.