Category Archives: train 2 game

Train2Game news: Games will match film visuals within a decade say Epic

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Train2Game students could end up working on games with Hollywood quality graphics in the next ten years. That’s at least if predictions made by Epic Games founder Tim Sweeny come true.

Epic Games are of course on board for the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam in November.

I really see two major milestones coming up for games in the very long-term future.” Sweeny told IGN UK.

“Number one is achieving movie quality graphics and movie quality pixels on the screen, which mean no flicker in the visuals, no popping artefacts, no bulky character outlines on the screen at all.”

“I see that actually occurring over the next ten years” he said.

And the Epic Games founder believes that computers just need the extra power that will come over the next few years in order to achieve this.

“We just haven’t been able to do it because we don’t have enough terra flops or petta flops of computer power to make it so.”

“I expect over the next ten years we’ll a real revolution in that area as we make up this missing gap between where we are today and everything movies are doing” said Sweeny.

“I expect I’ll be actively programming at the time we’ve achieved full movie-quality graphics because that’s really just a matter of brute force computing power and clever algorithm. We know exactly how to do that” he added.

Train2Game students can get a taste of what games could look like in Epic’s impressive Samaritan tech demo produced using Unreal Engine 3, as seen here on the Train2Game blog.

The Epic games founder suggested that Unreal Engine 4 for next-gen consoles will “probably launch around 2014”

The other major milestone according to Sweeny is creating proper human characters with emotions in games, and this could be improved over the next ten years, although not to the same extent as graphics.

“Simulation of gameplay characters, artificial intelligence, character dialogue and all of these other things aren’t really problems of brute force computing,” said the Epic co-founder.

“They require increasingly sophisticated algorithms and simulation of human intelligence. I have no idea when those problems will be solved. I’m quite sure they won’t be solved in the next ten years.

“They may not even be solved in my lifetime, but those are all problems that require understanding how the human brain works and trying to simulate that with varying degrees of accuracy”

“We’ve seen very, very little progress in these areas over the past few decades so it leaves me very sceptical about our prospects for breakthroughs in the immediate future.” Sweeny concluded.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Sweeny’s comments? Will we see film quality visuals in the next ten years? And do you think games will ever properly crack artificial intelligence?

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

[Source: IGN UK via Develop]

Train2Game interview: Valve’s Chet Faliszek on CS:GO

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Train2Game attended the Eurogamer Expo, and during our time there we had a chat with Valve Software writer Chet Faliszek about Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. In an in depth interview, Faliszek discusses the reasons for making CS: GO, bringing the PC title to consoles,  the importance of beta testing and much more.

The Valve Software writer also tells the Train2Game blog how important modding can be as part of finding work in the games industry.

Read the interview below, on Train2Game’s Scribd page, or listen to it via Train2Game Radio.

We’re over ten years on from the original Counter-Strike, why is the time right for CS: GO now?

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive started because we were actually originally just going to do a port of Counter-Strike: Source for XBLA. Internally we started playing it a lot and released that ‘Oh, this is a lot of fun’ We forgot how much fun this translates over to the 360 now we’ve got really good at this, so we should make a bigger investment, a full game and expand out what it is.

What are the main Game Design changes that have been made to CS: GO?

One of the cool things with Counter-Strike is it’s been around for so long, that there’s a lot of feedback we can get about what works and what doesn’t work. So we’ve taken a look at 1.6, we’ve taken a look at Counter-Strike: Source, we’ve kind of taken the best of both worlds and we think we’ve created the best version of Counter-Strike.

Which modes will be available in the upcoming game?

We’re going to have the classic bomb planting and hostage and rescue, and were also going to have – again looking back to the community, they had worked on gun game – and so we’re incorporating gun game directly into what we call ‘Arsenal modes.’  We have two of those modes; one is Demolition and that’s about bomb planting and team based Gun Game. And then we also have Arms Race which is the classic Gun Game where every kill you get, you get a new gun and then eventually you get to the knife round.

How difficult has  it been to bring what’s fundamentally a PC game onto consoles?

We don’t really ever look at games that way. As a company, as gamers ourselves, we play on too many different platforms just to think of a game being that anymore. I mean, I play Left4Dead on console as much as I play it on PC, so you know, I think we’ve become accustomed to that.

It’s been fun watching people jump down here and say ‘Oh man, I can’t believe you don’t have keyboard and mouse here,’ and then they play on the PS3 and go ‘Oh yeah, that works pretty well.’

It’s had a good reaction from the hardcore Counter-Strike fans then?

Yeah, actually what’s really funny is at PAX back in Seattle, we were showing it on the 360 and we had a pro-gaming website come in really dissing that we had it on the 360. And they sat down and ran over everybody and they loved it.

Is there a mode for players who might be new to Counter-Strike, but don’t want to get run over by veteran players?

Well actually in all of our modes we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen, but we have the Social Mode which you’re seeing here. You get all the weapons, there’s no friendly fire, all talk is on and it’s a place to have fun with your friends and you’re talking about your girlfriend’s or what you’re talking about on TV while you’re playing the game.

But also there’s also a skill based mode which is all about the skill based matchmaking, so that’ll always make sure you’re having a competitive game without getting owned by someone who’s been playing for  ten years and is tonnes better than you – they’re going to be playing against different people than you will.

You’re giving out beta keys here, how important is that phase in the development of a game?

It’s really important to us because we’re going to let that drive the release date, because we’re really looking to get the feedback from the community over the changes we’ve made. We’ve brought over some stuff that was good from Counter-Strike: Source and we’ve brought over some stuff that was good from 1.6, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the communities react.

Already we’ve got some positive feedback from some of the pros, but we’re telling the communities it’s not going to be either, it’s going to be something new so let’s play it, let’s give feedback and let’s go from there.

Valve Software has a reputation for hiring modders, is modding therefore a good way for a budding game developer to get noticed?

It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able. Normally modders have to work as a team and that’s important, and they also have to be able to finish something and that’s really important. So those two things together are a really good way to demonstrate that you’re ready to work in the industry.

What other advice would you give to someone looking to work in the games industry?

Make sure you’re doing something.  Do whatever you’re doing, like we (at Valve) weren’t necessarily writing for games when Gabe (Newell) tapped us, but do whatever you do as well as you can and with a view as to what your eventual goal will be.

Anything else you’d like to add about CS: GO?

We’re going to have the beta starting in October, check it out. We think it’s the best version of Counter-Strike there is, and you can help us make it the best version.

Thanks for your time.

The CS:GO beta begins in October, with a Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC released scheduled for early 2012.

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

For more information about Train2Game, go to www.train2game.com

Train2Game news – Valve: modding ‘a really good way’ to get noticed in the games industry

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Train2Game students should take up modding in order to help demonstrate that they’re ready to work in the games industry. That’s according to Valve Software’s Chet Faliszek who spoke to the Train2Game blog at The Eurogamer Expo.

“It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able” he responded when asked about modding.

“Normally modders have to work as a team and that’s important, and they also have to be able to finish something and that’s really important. So those two things together are a really good way to demonstrate that you’re ready to work in the industry.”

Valve have a reputation of hiring modders, and as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Team Fortress 2 regularly sees community created items added to the game.

As part of an interview that’ll shortly be published  on the Train2Game blog in full, the Valve writer added  that it’s important to just “make sure you’re doing something.”

“Do whatever you’re doing,” he said.  “Like we (at Valve) weren’t necessarily writing for games when Gabe (Newell) tapped us, but do whatever you do as well as you can and with a view as to what your eventual goal will be”

Faliszek’s comments echo those of id Software’s Tim Willits, who last month also told the Train2Game blog that modding is a great way to get into the industry. Willits himself started his career as a modder.

“Modding is a great way to get into the industry. Most of the key guys at ID come from the mod community – myself, Matt Hooper, Robert Duffy, Jan Paul Van Waveren – and we have numbers of other guys” said the RAGE Creative Director.

“What I suggest to people who want to get in the industry is find their favourite engine – Unreal, Source, it doesn’t matter, id tech – find whatever engine they like, what games they like to play, get the mod tools and make a mod. And make sure they complete it!

“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 added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Faliszek’s advice? Do you mod? Would you like to take it up?

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

Train2Game news: Bioware on the importance of playtesting during game development

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Train2Game students will be aware testing a game is an extremely important part of game development. But according to Bioware, it isn’t something that should be left to the QA Testers or Beta testers alone, rather the game developers should be constantly involved in the process too.

That’s according to Star Wars: The Old Republic project lead James Ohlen who was speaking to Gamasutra.

“The thing about it is, it’s important to get people to test your game, but the beta tests are more for finding out if your technology’s going to stand up, and finding some small tweaks and changes.” he said when asked about playtesting.

“But all the big changes that we’ve been making were planned from way before, because we’ve been playing the game ourselves. If we didn’t figure this stuff out, we’d be terrible game designers. So, internally we figured out a lot of the problems early on.

However, Ohlen pointed out that Beta testers still have a role to play in game development.

“But at the same time, it’s good for fans to feel like they’re having an impact, and sometimes they do”

“Sometimes they do point out information that is a little bit surprising, but nothing hugely surprising. There’s been surprises on the project, but mostly they’ve come from us playtesting this stuff.” the Star Wars: The Old Republic project lead concluded.

For a more in depth look behind the scenes of Star Wars: The Old Republic, check out the Train2Game interview with Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi.

Star Wars: The Old Republic will be released in Europe on 22nd December 2011.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on testing games? Do you agree that it’s an important part of a game developers job, no matter what role they have in the industry?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game student thoughts on Homefront 2 being developed by Crytek

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Train2Game students have reacted to the news that Crytek are working on a Homefront sequel scheduled for release in 2014, and there are some interesting comments among them.

“Not bad, I liked the story of Homefront and to be honest I never played the multiplayer” said Alex Norton on the Train2Game Facebook page “But it was enjoyable, plus it’s always a good thing to hear that games are being delayed generally they get better (e.g. Mass Effect 3)”

Train2Game student Shaun also believes the lengthy development time will ultimately be a positive thing for Homefront 2.

“GOOD! I think games are rushed to much to cope with demand! 3 to 4 years, I reckon.”

However, Train2Game student Michael Caine thinks a 2014 release could be risky, given that the next generation of consoles is predicted to hit the market around then.

“Isn’t 2014 pushing it for the new instalment if predictions are right for a 2014 next gen?” he said on the Train2Game Facebook page “Kinect should be used along with control if the predictions fail but last gen can still survive years through a new gen so it could be a 50/50 gamble. I guess we’ll have to see.”

There are also those who are less enthusiastic about the news that Crytek will be taking control of the Homefront brand.

“I’d stay away if I were Crytek…..Homefront isnt worth the effort as it hardly set the world on fire. Make a new IP.” said Train2Game student Kev Curtis.

Meanwhile, on the Train2Game forum, Train2Game student Craig Moore doesn’t sound keen on more Homefront.

“I thought Homefront was a gigantic flop ?! Why the hell are they keeping this IP alive?” he asked.

These are just a few of Train2Game students thoughts on the prospect of a new Homefront title by Crytek, but what is your opinion?

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

Train2Game news: More to come from current gen consoles says Gears of War 3 designer

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Train2Game students may be eagerly any announcements on the next generation of consoles, but there’s plenty of life in what we already have yet.

That’s according to Epic Games Design Director and the man behind Gears of War 3, Cliff Bleszinski.

“I think if we bring out any more products on the 360 depending on life cycle, we’ll be able to squeeze more water from that stone,” he told The Telegraph.

“That said, I still think there is a huge amount of room for improvement in graphics. We want to get to Avatar-quality and real time and beyond. I think we can absolutely get there, hopefully in the next generation if everybody ponies up and does good hardware.”

And Bleszinski hinted that there are already new consoles in the works, but refused to be drawn on anything. “I could tell you, but I’d violate an NDA.” he said.

Nothing is official, but as the Train2Game blog reported earlier this year, Microsoft were looking for designers to work on the next Xbox console.  Meanwhile, Sony claim they’re in no rush to develop the successor to the PlayStation 3.

There’s no indication of any release dates for the next generation of consoles, but some Train2Game students have speculated that the 2014 release scheduled of the newly announced Homefront 2 sequel could point to it being one of the first next-gen titles.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Cliff Blesinski’s remarks?  How much room for improvement do you think the current generation of consoles has? And when do you think we’ll see new systems released?

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

[Source: The Telegraph]

Train2Game student insight behind the scenes of Borderland 2’s art direction

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Train2Game forum users, at least a significant number of them loved Borderlands. Train2Game Art & Animation students enjoyed its cell shaded art style in particular.

Now, with sequel confirmed last month, Borderlands 2 Art Director Jeramy Cooke has been discussing… art direction with Gamasutra. In particular, he’s keen to point out that Borderlands 2 will not only be a lot more colourful, but how the art style will be an integral part of the game.

“I wanted it to have a richer, larger world” said Cooke. “I felt like we were stuck in the desert a lot, and it got monotonous. It felt like you were seeing the same enemies too often. I mean, that’s my personal experience. And we really wanted to just widen that and give you this sense of a huge space, which is why you can see the other maps from the maps you’re in.

The Borderlands 2 Art Director then described how if the player could see something in the distance, they should be able to travel across the map and see it up close.

“You look over there, and you see this dam off in the distance, and you know “Oh, that’s where I was,” and vice-versa when you’re on top of the dam and you look down into zone 1 and see all of the ice spread out. It’s about that sort of large-scale, large-scope experience” Cooke said.

It’s a view echoed by Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Jason Vandenberghe in last month’s interview with the Train2Game blog.

“Borderlands is not a rail shooter, it’s not a corridor shooter” the Borderlands 2 Art Director continued.

“We want you to explore and have fun and go where you want and do what you want. The world’s job is to be enticing, to convince you to go out there and find cool stuff, to dig around in the corner and find cool loot or a miniboss you didn’t know who was there or whatever.”

So Train2Game, how important do you believe art style can be in making a game fun to play? What are your thoughts on Borderlands 2? Can it improve on the original?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Single player and MMO game design will converge says id Software Creative Director Tim Willits

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Train2Game Game Designers will build games in which MMO elements form part of the single player narrative.

At least that’ll be the case if the predictions of id Software’s Creative Director Tim Willits come true. In an interview with MCV, he discussed the future of narrative in games and believes social aspects will become an integral part.

“Storytelling is key in open world games, and then just the sheer variety of things you can do.” He told the industry publication.

“We have games like Skyrim, where there’s just SO much you can do: you can develop your character the way you want, you can develop the game the way you want and play it the way you want, and that’s a great trend I hope will continue to grow”

“But it’s the social aspect of games which is hugely important” Willits stated.

“In the future, I believe we will have many more games where the choices that you make in your single player game will affect games that other people play. Yes, we have massively multiplayer games now, but they’re so connected and tied-in and you’ll have a much more social component to many bigger games.”

And when asked if single player and multiplayer MMOs could converge over time, the RAGE Creative Director said he believed they would.”

“Yes. Just think of Fallout” he said. “If you went off to do something and you’re playing through and you made one faction more powerful.”

“Maybe, when your buddy gets there that faction still is. That’d just be cool! If things that you did in your game affected the universe, where you’re not necessarily directly competing, but different people’s outcomes are affected by what you do.”

The Train2Game blog was fortunate enough to speak to Tim Willits at Gamescom last month, and in an in-depth interview he discussed how id Software developed the different aspects of RAGE.

Willits also revealed that he believes modding is an excellent way for Train2Game students to get into the games industry. Train2Game students would therefore be wise to get their hands on the RAGE SDK which as reported by the Train2Game blog will be available following the games release!

Do you agree with Willits? Will single player games include MMO elements? Is it something that you’d like to see? And how will it impact on game design?

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

[Source: MCV]

Train2Game course update from QA Tester student Daniel Parkes

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Train2Game student Daniel Parkes recently began a blog called How Train2Game changed my life. Now Daniel has posted a new blog updating us on his Train2Game QA Tester course progress in achieved 80% in his latest TMA.

Daniel also writes about his visit to GAMEfest in Birmingham at the weekend and some of the discussions he had with game developers. A SEGA game developer told Daniel that many of his colleagues started their careers at video game QA Testers, and it’s certainly a common way into the games industry.

Indeed, during Train2Game‘s time at Gamescom many games industry personnel including UFC Undisputed 3 Producer Neven Dravinski, and WWE’12 Lead Gameplay Designer Brian Williams told us that QA is an excellent way to get into the games industry.

You can see the full update from Train2Game student Daniel Parkes on his blog.

Train2Game game designers could write for the ‘dominant story telling medium’

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Train2Game students could see their future work become part of the chief method of portraying stories. At least that’s the case according to the writer of Gears of War 3.

Video games are going to be the “dominant story telling medium” Karen Traviss told CVG.

And she believes that even if the game doesn’t have the greatest narrative in the world, it’s still the most compelling way of telling the story due to the players’ involvement.

“You get something out of it because you are acting on the story,” said Traviss.

“Even with games that don’t require you to make story choices you still engage with it in a different way so it’s a great stimulus to your mental processes as well. These are not brainless things,” she added.

It isn’t the first time Traviss has spoken about game design, with the Train2Game blog reporting last month that she believed ‘iconic’ games needed good writers. Her words split opinion of Train2Game students on the Train2Game forum.

And the Gears of War 3 writer isn’t the only one who believes storytelling in video games is going to become even more significant in future.

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Darkness II Game Director Sheldon Carter believes that game design and narrative are only going to become stronger as video games try to break their “final frontier”

Far Cry 3 Narrative Director Jason Vandenberghe previously told the Train2Game blog that the use of actor and motion capture is also playing an increasingly significant part in video game story telling.

So Train2Game, do you think video games can become the most dominant story telling medium? What is going to help them achieve it?

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

[Source: CVG]