Category Archives: Student

Train2Game News: Students sleepless thoughts so far

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This is a round up of some of the thoughts, messages and quotes from the students at Train2Game Game Jam. As sleep deprivation sets in, anything could be said.

For example as I started writing this I heard an interesting conversation from Team 14 questioning “how a dinosaur can scratch himself if he has an itch.”

Neil Gorman of Team 33 said “The team is really jelling well for only meeting yesterday and they haven’t stopped laughing yet”

Chris Ledger of Team 3 said “The theme was a bit of a shocker. Its been a good laugh to work with though. I haven’t had much sleep but I am proud of myself as I did some good work in Blend and Visual Studios, being a designer that’s not my speciality. Getting texts from my friends, family and girlfriend is a massive support and keeps me going through the sleepless nights.”

Dan Rutter also of Team 3 said “We had a lot of ideas using the Pride Of London theme. Ideas such as Boris Johnson being a secret agent protecting the crown jewels were thrown around early on. Compared to last years Game Jam using UDK it is a bit of a challenge. This is the first 2D game I have ever worked on.”

Matty Wyett-Simmonds of Team 1 said in a very sleep deprived fashion “It’s been a good weekend. It’s been fun meeting new people to work with. The Microsoft lecture was interesting as we got to ask plenty of questions I am pretty sure my future assassin is here somewhere” It seems lack of sleep is definitely setting.

Dimitri Michael also of Team 1 said “Our game kicks ass!” He went on to solidify the point repeating how kick ass it was. It is probably worth mentioning he has only had a few hours sleep.

Craig Moore of Team 32 said “I have had a really good team. There have been a few stumbling blocks along the way. We are banking on some little bugs being fixed and we should have a really good game. There was a massive learning curve, but thanks to the help Train2Game have given us we were able to hit the floor running! Thanks Train2Game!”

Train2Game News: Windows 8 sees the light and goes to the Cloud

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Microsoft has joined forces with, Any Games Any Where Instantly (Agawi) to bring Cloud gaming to Windows 8.

The company Agawi, formerly known as iSwifter, has just released version 2.0 which allows streaming of everything from social games to triple A titles on to current supported devices is now bringing its services to Windows 8.

Some big name titles will be available for instant play on Windows 8 devices with no additional work from developers and Agawi encourages more companies to contact them about having their game ported to the cloud.

Microsoft VP Walid Abu-Hadba said “Game developers want to focus on building great games, not worrying about back-end issues like scalability and platform management

“With Windows Azure, Agawi 2.0 enables developers to make high-performance games easily accessible across devices with the high-quality graphics and virtually instant game downloads. For gamers, Windows 8 delivers a fast, fluid and no-compromise experience that opens the door to exciting new form factors.”

Agawi demoed their Windows 8 service at Cloud Gaming USA in San Francisco on Tuesday and Wednesday.

With the Games Jam tomorrow, knowing that Windows 8 is using the Cloud, the games that are released could have a wider audience.

Train2Game News: Mid-week Round up of game news

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This will be a mid-week round up of all the biggest news in the gaming industry. Depending on the reaction it gets this may become a weekly post.

Gearbox’s Borderlands 2 comes out next week and in the lead up to that they have released the skill trees for the different classes available in the game. This is a good chance to see how the characters are going to play out through the game.

Valve has released a list of the first ten games being released through Steams Greenlight initiative. Some of the games on the list are Black Mesa the Half-Life mod and Project Zomboid. A full list of the Greenlight approved games can be found here.

The Wii U is having its release date and recommended retail price announced tomorrow. At 8am Nintendo will announce in a special webcast on the official Nintendo Direct Page. The release date is rumoured for UK release date early December with a possible price of £190.

Double Fine studios have accidentally released there first mobile title ahead of schedule. Thanks to some quick thinking from lead designer Kee Chi and the team behind the studios first mobile exclusive, the release turned into an unplanned beta.

Sony is ready to display a new virtual reality headset at the Tokyo Game Show. This follows the news of the Occulus Rift kickstarter and Valves augmented reality headset plans being released. The Sony headset will have a full 360 degree experience with head tracking and a live camera.

The last and possibly biggest bit of news is that this Friday the Train2Game world record attempt sponsored by Microsoft begins. The 48 hour event will see students creating games in the time they have using Windows 8. It is always fun and is always a great learning experience.

Train2Game News: New online indie game market opening soon

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A new online store is going live on 26 September selling indie games. It will utilise a pay-what-you-want scheme.

The new store, IndieGameStand, is run by the same people behind Indie Game Magazine. Its goal is to promote indie games and give indie developers a chance to show their talents.

The pay-what-you-want scheme is a good way for customers to show their support for indie titles. The majority of the games have extra bonuses that come with them if you choose to spend enough. 10% of all sales will go towards the developer of the games chosen charity. Humble Bundle has had good success with a similar scheme.

Every game you purchase from the site can be downloaded and installed as many times as you like, regardless of what you paid.

IndieGameStand states on its website “The purpose of IndieGameStand is to put a spotlight on those indie titles which provide fantastic experiences, but may have been passed over by the mainstream gaming public, portals, websites, or whatever. This site is about supporting all of the fantastic and worthwhile indie developers out there. Every developer out there deserves a moment to shine.”

This is good news for students as it opens up a new market to sell your games on. You can get good exposure, have a game released and help a good cause.

You can learn more at IndieGameStand.com

Train2Game Student featured in Redhill and Reigate Life

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Train2Game Student Richard Scott-Jones has been featured in the Redhill and Reigate Life. Richard talks to the paper about attending the Game Jam world record attempt this weekend.

You can read the article here:
 http://www.redhillandreigatelife.co.uk/news/localnews/9920979.Redhill_games_industry_student_s_world_record_attempt/ 

I am looking forward to seeing you all there.

Train2Game News: Raspberry Pi comes home

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The UK designed bare bones mini computer, Raspberry Pi, is now being manufactured in a Sony factory in South Wales.

The Raspberry Pi was created to get young people and potential games developers interested in programming and computing. Its affordable price and versatility make it an excellent teaching tool.

The device was previously made in China to keep costs down. As of mid August it is now put together in the United Kingdom. The credit card sized computers now come with a “Made in the UK” stamp, located next to the power supply.

Since its launch in April the device has been highly popular and is estimated to sell over a million products by the end of this year.

Eben Upton, a co-founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, said “When Pete Lomas and I built the first Raspberry Pi’s for testing last year, we never dreamed it would become so popular so quickly,”

“The Raspberry Pi was built to develop young people’s skills in computer programming and electronic engineering; we had always intended and hoped that the Raspberry Pi would also be manufactured within the UK.”

“By bringing the production of a UK product back into the country alongside its development and distribution, we can help support our economy and demonstrate the capabilities the UK has in terms of technological innovation, invention, and manufacturing.”

Mike Buffham, global head of EDE at Premier Farnell, who distribute Raspberry Pi, added: “Since the Raspberry Pi was launched globally in February 2012 it has been a tremendous success story.”
“As such we have had huge interest from educational institutions in purchasing the product, innovative design engineers who are using the computer for exciting new applications and also the general public.”

Train2Game News: Robert Boyd wants more opportunities for Xbox indie games

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Robert Boyd believes Xbox should help their indie market by allowing high rated games to break through to Xbox Live Arcade.

It can be difficult to become a developer for XBLA. Taking inspiration from Steams Greenlight, Robert Boyd of Zeboyd believes Microsoft could do more for indie developers.

In his opinion the Xbox Live Indie Games could be a proving ground for new titles, with the best among them being sent forward to be released on XBLA. Similar to Steams Greenlight community rating system.

Boyd said “I’d like to see XBLIG kind of merge into XBLA”

“Keep Indie Games free to everyone but if you have a really good game, you could submit it to Microsoft for it to be upgraded to an XBLA title. Right now, becoming an XBLA developer is fairly difficult for a small team, so reducing the barrier of entry to XBLA could only help Microsoft, I think.”

If Microsoft take this on board any student who decides to create their own game can be spurred on by the thought that if their game is successful it will reach an even bigger audience. That can only be good for everyone involved.

It can be very hard to stand out in the Indie market. Any developer who makes a good game that is enjoyed by players should be rewarded for it.

Train2Game News: Mojang’s building blocks of hope for UN

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Mojang is working with the UN to develop software that will involve young people in making changes in their home town

The new software, named Block By Block, uses the same principles as Mojangs Minecraft, giving young people a simple way to visualize the changes they want to make in the area where they live.

Minecraft building community Fyre UK has been enlisted to render the areas the project is interested in helping. Fyre UK is an English based community in Minecraft who make spectacular creations.

The three year partnership between the UN and Mojang starts with the renovation of Kibera in Nairobi. In those three years the hope is that they will improve hundreds of public spaces around the UN with the help of the young residents. It is not known which places will be using Block By Block as of yet. At this time we can only hope that the UK gets to benefit.

Mojang said “Block By Block aims to involve youth in the planning process in urban areas by giving them the opportunity to show planners and decision makers how they would like to see their cities in the future.”

“Minecraft has turned out to be the perfect tool to facilitate this process.”

“It has proven to be a great way to visualize urban planning ideas without necessarily having architectural training. The ideas presented by the citizens lay as a ground for political decisions.”

Mojang has already had some success with a similar programme called My Block in there native Sweden, allowing citizens to suggest changes for the towns they inhabit.

This is another example of how the software and hardware created in the games industry can do more than just entertain players, it can help around the world with ideas like this one.

Train2Game News: Games distributor Steam blows away Greenlight clutter

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Valve is introducing a cost to post games on to its new Greenlight initiative. Valve will donate all money made this way to the charity Child’s Play.

Greenlight is a service for indie developers to upload there games and the Steam community chooses which game they want to see released on the digital distribution service. Child’s Play is a children’s charity created to help young people in hospital, by providing them with games and toys.

Valve has had to implement this fee to dissuade pranksters uploading fake and unapproved games. There have been phoney write ups uploaded to Greenlight and there was controversy yesterday when Steam had to take down a sex game submitted by an amateur developer.

Greenlight went live a few days ago and already 700 titles have been uploaded, making it very difficult to find any hidden gems amongst the fake titles.

Valve said “There is unfortunately a significant amount of noise and clutter being submitted, either as a joke or by fans not fully understanding the purpose of Greenlight,”

“The proceeds will be donated to Child’s Play. We have no interest in making money from this, but we do need to cut down the noise in the system.”

There are mixed feelings to charging for this service. Some believe it defeats the idea of Greenlight but others believe it’s a necessary charge to clean up the service making it easier to find games submitted by serious developers and students.

With the implementation of the fee, which is under £65, it has deterred many of the pranksters.

Train2game News: Valve opens up to hardware in boost for games industry

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Valve LogoVALVE is looking for more staff to work on something which could confirm rumours about them moving into computer hardware.

It emerged today that speculation about Valve starting to create hardware appears to be true following adverts for staff on there site. Valve, which makes games such as Half-Life, certainly are no strangers to experimenting with new ventures.

This attitude has led to them creating highly inventive games such as Portal, the versatile Source Engine and the online game platform Steam.

Valve has always been about making things better in the gaming world, whether it’s for gamers or games developers, veteran and student alike. They have always encouraged modding for budding games developers and often employ talented, promising students. Now it seems they want to take it further with creating new hardware for PC, opening up more ideas for games developers.

Valve said: “Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers.

“We’re frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though”

“Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There’s a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked.”

What is being created still remains to be seen but there are rumours of a “Steam Box” which could be some sort of console. However, from what Valve says about input methods it sounds like they are looking in to peripherals for PCs.

This is one to watch to see how it develops.