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Train2Game News: The Creative Assembly to make Total War announcement at Rezzed developer session

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Shogun 2 Total War

Total War studio The Creative Assembly will be hosting a developer session at PC and indie games show Rezzed, which is sure to be of interest to anyone on a Train2Game course.

The presentation will celebrate the studio’s 25 year history and will feature an exclusive first look at the future of Total War.

“This year, The Creative Assembly is celebrating a quarter of a century making games,” said Total War lead designer James Russell.

“I’ll be at Rezzed giving a talk on the making of the Total War series, and showing a sneak peek of what we’re doing next. Exciting times – see you there!”

The Creative Assembly recently released a free map editor for Shogun 2: Total War.

Rezzed takes place in Brighton on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th July with day the price of day tickets £12, or £20 for both days. There’s more information here.

Other games available to see at Rezzed include Aliens: Colonial Marines, Borderlands 2, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and more, in addition to a number of developer sessions.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest updates about Rezzed, while there’s more from The Creative Assembly here.

Will you be attending Rezzed? If so, what are you most looking forward to?

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

Train2Game News: “We’re in gaming in a fairly big way” and will only get bigger say Apple

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Apple is a big player in the games industry and will only get bigger, but isn’t interested in producing a console. That’s according to Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“I view that we are in gaming now in a fairly big way.” Steve Jobs successor told AllThingsD.

“One of the reasons people buy an iPod touch is gaming. Some buy it for music. I realize that is not the big screen you are talking about. Gaming has kind of evolved a bit. More people play on portable devices. Where we might go in the future, we’ll see. Customers love games.” Cook continued.

“I’m not interested in being in the console business in what is thought of as traditional gaming, but Apple is a big player today, and things in the future will only make that bigger.” he added.

Mobile gaming has provided a huge platform for game developers to work on, with many independent studios focusing on iPhone or Android games.  Indeed, four Train2Game student teams will soon see their own games based on the Fighting Fantasy series published on the iTunes App Store.

Valve CEO Gabe Newell has previously stated that he believes Apple will launch a living room product that’ll make consoles “disappear”

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest iPhone and Apple gaming news.

What are your thoughts on Apple’s position in gaming? Do you believe they’ll stick to mobile? Or will they make move for consoles after all?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: THQ appoint Naughty Dog founder Jason Rubin as president, Danny Bilson leaves

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Publisher THQ has appointed Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin as new president of the company, with EVP of Core Games Danny Bilson leaving his position in the company.

“Jason’s proven track record in the industry speaks for itself, and he is one of the brightest minds in the business,” said THQ Chairman and CEO Brian Farrell.

“We believe he can be a game changer and can contribute immensely to executing on our strategy of delivering quality connected core game experiences.”

“THQ has incredible internal and external game development teams, and an exciting slate of games in its development pipeline.” added new President Jason Rubin, who has developed games including Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Dexter.

“The recent transformation of THQ into a creator of wholly-owned IP has placed it in a perfect position to leverage future trends in the game business. I look forward to working with the management team and board to realize the company’s goals.” he said.

Along with Danny Bilson, SVP of Core Games Dave Davis is also leaving THQ who has been replaced by former Activision man Jason Kay.

“Danny has made significant contributions to THQ, and we thank him for his efforts,” said Farrell. “Along with Danny, Dave has been instrumental in getting our strong pipeline into production.”

Games currently in development to be published by THQ include Darksiders II, Metro: Last Light, Company of Heroes 2, and WWE ’13.

There’s more news from THQ right here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the restructuring at THQ?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: CryEngine 3 demo shows off impressive soft body physics

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CryEngine 3‘s soft body physics have been impressively demonstrated by Rig of Rods in a new version of Crytek’s engine.

A video shows an early work in progress of the “more realistic damage model ever” as a vehicle gets crunched, battered and rolled in a variety of ways. The beam physics system being shown uses no pre-defined rigging or animations.

Watch the physics demonstration in the video below, here on The Train2Game Blog.

CryEngine 3 is being used to make Crysis 3. Train2Game students may be interested to know that a free version of the engine is available for non-commercial use.

There’s plenty of news about Crytek, Crysis and more, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the physics of display using CryEngine 3? How do you think it could be used?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: RPS]

Train2Game News: MMOs represent “toughest part of the game industry” says SWTOR lead designer

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MMOs are the most difficult genre for game developers to be successful in. That’s the view of Star Wars: The Old Republic associate lead designer Emmanuel Lusinchi.

“The MMO is the toughest part of the game industry without a doubt and we live in tough economic times in general,” he told PC Gamer.

“We have a very large development team still, definitely one of the biggest in the industry, and we have a very complete and detailed plan for the rest of the year.” the BioWare man continued.

“The players don’t really care about all that, behind closed curtains, but they want what they’re paying for which is a service with new content, new systems, that’s what they’re asking for and we listen to them. That’s what we mean to deliver.” he added.

Train2Game spoke to Emmanuel Lusinchi last year, in an in-depth discussion which covered development of Star Wars: The Old Republic, what his role as associate lead designer involves, and advice on getting into the games industry. Read it here on The Train2Game Blog.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest Star Wars: The Old Republic news.

Do you agree with Lusinchi about MMOs being the hardest games to develop? That said, would you like to work on one in future?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: “A tonne of research” going into Company of Heroes 2 to produce authentic experience

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Relic Entertainment game designers have visited eastern Europe in an effort to make Company of Heroes 2, their upcoming RTS title, as authentic as possible.

“We do a tonne of research at Relic. We had a core group of guys go to actual Eastern Europe, to Leningrad, to some of the battlefields like Sinyavino Heights, and Germany to Berlin so it’s incredibly important.” Company of Heroes 2 lead campaign designer Jacen Torres told Shadowlocked.

He added that the trips to Russia and Germany were key to make the player get a feel of what it was like fighting on the Eastern Front during World War 2.

“Now, there’s always a difference between authenticity and realism, and we try to get realistic where we can, especially in things like visuals.” said Torres.

“But obviously gameplay is not going to completely mirror the realism or war, necessarily, but in that particular case we tried to make it authentic and we try and get the tone and a feel and the look or what is the Eastern Front, how does it feel to be fighting in these small Russian villages, and that’s a big part of it.” the Relic lead campaign designer added.

Company of Heroes 2 is scheduled for release in the early part of 2013. Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest Company of Heroes 2 news it developers.

What are your thoughts on the effort Relic are going to research Company of Heroes 2? How important do you believe good research to be for game development?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or here on The Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Creative Assembly dev diary on making Total War Battles: Shogun for mobile

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Get behind the scenes of Total War Battles: Shogun, the mobile adaptation of the PC strategy series in a developer diary from The Creative Assembly and SEGA.

Total War Battles: Shogun- Dev Diary #1 sees senior designers Renauld Charpentier and Xu Xiaojun, lead artist Nick Farley and lead programmer Mattijs van Delden discuss the challenges of adapting Total War to mobile, while still ensuring it’s still a “real strategy game.”

For example, the UI needs to be adjusted for a touchscreen, while the art needs to be bright and easily recognisable to distinguish between different types of unit.

Watch the Total War Battles: Shogun developer diary below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

Total War Battles: Shogun is available now for iOS and is coming soon for Android.

There’s more on Creative Assembly and their Total War titles here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on bringing Total War to mobile? Can it capture the tactical gameplay of the PC titles?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Guild Wars 2 beta tests taken “very seriously in terms of development strategy”

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Beta tests are very important when it comes to deciding development strategy for Guild Wars 2. So says ArenaNet lead producer Chris Whiteside on the announcement of a second beta test weekend for the upcoming MMO.

Guild Wars 2 beta weekend 2 takes place from Friday 8th June to Sunday 10th June for those who’ve pre-ordered the game.

“Your participation is even more important when you consider that we take our beta events very seriously in terms of our development strategy.” wrote Whiteside on the ArenaNet blog announcement, detailing the ways it helps game development.

“At ArenaNet, “beta event” means exactly that—it’s a development-centric event in which we test our systems, discover new and exciting bugs, and get pivotal feedback from our testers about what is going in the right direction and what isn’t.” he continued.

“We have listened intently to all of your feedback from our first Beta Weekend Event, and we’ve made great strides toward resolving many of the issues you’ve helped us identify. These include party movement into overflow servers, chat functionality, key bindings, server stability, performance, and many more that we will detail in the near future.” added the Guild Wars 2 lead producer.

There’s more about the next Guild Wars 2 beta event over on the ArenaNet blog.

There’s more beta testing news, and information on how it’s useful to developers and Train2Game students, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on ArenaNet’s view on beta testing? Will you be taking part in the Guild Wars 2 beta weekend?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: BioWare programmer offers advice on getting into the industry

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Those looking to get into the games industry need to be aware that you need more than just a love video games. That’s according BioWare programmer Fernando Secco who argues you need to be aware of a wide variety of different areas.

“I think a good advice is always to say that playing games is very different than working with games. One can love and know a lot about games. But video games are not only about making games, it’s about working in team, building a vision, dealing with customer, studying, learning and finding out that your ideas may be not as good as you thought.” he told the BioWare Blog.

Secco added that whatever area of the games industry you’re aiming for, you need to practice your skills.

“I think the most important thing is make sure that is what you want. Not many people want to mix their hobby with their work. If you are sure what you want then pick an area you like, try to understand what a professional on that area does, which are his responsibilities, what he has to deliver, which tools he needs to know and start practicing.” he said.

Train2Game students can find out more about what it’s like to be a programmer at BioWare in the full interview with Fernando Secco.

There’s much more advice from games professionals on getting into the industry here on The Train2Game Blog.

As usual, leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Ian Livingstone, David Perry, Philip Oliver and David Braben to speak at Develop Conference

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Train2Game students who are able to attend Develop Conference will be able to see games industry veterans David Perry, Ian Livingstone, Philip Oliver and David Braben speak as part of the conference’s Visionaries track.

The Visionaries Track is being introduced to give Develop in Brighton delegates a unique opportunity to hear and learn from some of the industry’s most influential, inventive and inspirational entrepreneurs, who’ll no doubt be able provide some excellent insights into the industry.

“The games industry has come a long way in a short time. Its social, cultural and economic impact on society is finally being recognised in government and mainstream media.” Said Eidos life President and Fighting Fantasy co-author Ian Livingstone, who hopes to help future developers.

“But celebration of the art form is not enough. The new digital landscape requires new skills and access to finance for the next generation of creative talent to succeed, building on the great legacy of the UK’s trailblazing developers.

“From my experiences with Games Workshop, Fighting Fantasy, Eidos, working with government and investing in Indies, I hope to help point the way.” he added.

Some Train2Game students received advice from Ian Livingstone as they produced Fighting Fantasy games at Make Something Unreal Live last month. Livingstone said he was “delighted” to be a part of the initiative, and you can watch an interview with him here on The Train2Game Blog.

Train2Game News will be at Develop Conference, so even if you can’t make it, we’ll be bringing you news straight from Brighton. There’s more on Develop Conference here.

What are your thoughts on the Visionaries track at Develop Conference?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.