Tag Archives: App Store

Train2Game News: Make Something Unreal Live winners game comes to app store

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Warlock of Firetop MountainTrain2Game Student studio and Make Something Unreal Live 2012 winners, Commando Kiwi, have released their first game on to the app store.

The game, Warlock of Firetop Mountain: Lost Chapters, was created by the students in their spare time for last years Make Something Unreal Live contest, held by Epic. The game was created using the UDK software and is based on the very first Fighting Fantasy novel, Warlock of Firetop Mountain which was written by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.

The studio, which consists of Cat Forsyth, Martyn Whittel, Tom Chipchase, Jonny Robinson, Ashley Taylor, Adam Sherratt, Aaron Reeve, Andrew Smallwood, Tom Constable and Ezekiel Morris, have been working on the game since the beginning of 2012.

The students won the competition after demonstrating their game to a number of industry professionals, including Peter Molyneux, Cliff Bleszinski and Jon Hare. The final descision was that of Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson who decided Commando Kiwi’s game best captured the essence of Fighting Fantasy.

The game is a third person action game which puts you in the shoes of the adventurer who is travelling through the deadly Firetop Mountain in search of the fabled treasure of the all-powerful Warlock. The game features enemies and locations from the classic book with a battle system based on the system from the book its self. The unique combat system based uses skill and luck combinations made famous by the series of novels in an intuitive Active Time Battle System.

The game is available for free to download now from the app store.

You can re-live the Commando Kiwi story in the video below:

Train2Game News: Chris Ledger talks to T2G Radio

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Chris Ledger spoke to me about the rise of Derp Studios and having their game released on the app store.

You can hear the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1062901-train2game-chris-ledger-talks-to-mark-on-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below

Hey I’m Chris Ledger, I’m on the Train2Game Designer course and I live in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

What’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life to who you are today?

The Train2Game design course even in its early stages did. I managed to do a few Portfolio Pieces, A High Concept Document and other working style documents. I managed to show that to a small iPhone developer and my first project that I worked on was licensed. The second one was the Game Jam in 2011, which was hosted by Train2Game and Epic Games. I was chosen as an individual to make the fourth team to go on to Make Something Unreal Live where we worked on a project which used the Fighting Fantasy license. The company, Derp Studios, which was The Gadget Show Live Team, just released their first title, Dire Consequences on the iOS store.

Tell us a bit about the game

The game, it’s a first person action game. It’s a wave game for iOS and you can buy optional spells, the more enemies you defeat you get souls. You can use the souls to get spells to help you through the waves. That’s the gist of it really. At one point, I nicknamed it horde with swords because it’s a wave mode like Gears so I thought horde with swords was the best way to describe it.

That’s a good way to describe it I think. So is this work for you now? Is this what you do for a job?

I did make Derp Studios a limited company in, I guess around April time, just after Gadget Show Live I think. We are planning to go ahead and make it a business and earn a bit of money from it, which will be nice. Even though it’s still like a hobby it feels but we do want to make money out of it as well.

How did you get that to happen?

There’s websites you can actually go through to register as a company. It doesn’t actually cost a lot. Well it can build up over time because you’ve got to get all the documents. I used a website called TheCompanyWarehouse.co.uk which is quite good. I actually signed the company up for a pound but you’ve got to pay for other things like helping you with documents and things because there is loads to do to set up a company, more than you’d ever imagine.

Do you think Derp Studios will enter the Power Up competition by Microsoft and if you do, do you have any early game ideas yet?

We would like to try that. We have been discussing it I can’t really say for certain if we’ll go ahead and do that. I know we do want to make a second project so that will start quite soon.

One thing that I have always wondered is why did you end up calling the studio Derp Studios?

Oh no, explaining this again! People usually ask that. Well in the early stages we didn’t know what to call ourselves and we were unknown for a while. Because we are all quite new to making games, we kept making mistakes and would say “Oh that’s a Derp mistake”. The most common phrase was “Oh Derp”. So it just kind of went from there.

What is your reason for getting into the gaming industry and how do you think getting into the games industry will change your life?

Well it’s changed my life already but I have always wanted to be in the gaming industry, ever since I was about 8 or something. I just wanted to give something back really to the gaming community and actually live out the dream of becoming a designer that I’ve had since a very early age.

How is Dire Consequences doing on the iOS App Store?

Better than I thought it would to be honest. I forget how big the iOS market is. We shoved it out there and we were over the moon when it was actually on sale. We had some quite good reviews but our average rating is 2 stars but I thought we are quite novice still and it is still quite buggy. People have been pointing it out, issues that they would like to see resolved and how we can improve it, which is absolutely great hearing feedback from a customer audience that have actually played it and experienced it, so that’s proven quite valuable. I think in the first week we have had three thousand downloads.

That’s Excellent. Thank you very much for your time Chris!

No Problem.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up

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Five months since its release, Minecraft on the Xbox 360 is still selling 27,000 units daily. That’s an estimated 4 million copies sold, further solidifying the games legacy.

Valve’s Steam distribution service now sells software as well as games. The software is for games development. The products currently available on the store are ArtRage Studio Pro, CameraBag 2, GameMaker: Studio, 3D-Coat, 3DMark Vantage, 3DMark 11 and of course, Source Film-maker.

Halo 4 won’t be getting Kinect controls, says 343 Industries’ Frank O’Connor. His opinion is that while the motion sensor has its uses when it comes to the UI, controlling a core game is not what it’s for. Kinect will be used for Halo Waypoint however, which can be launched from in the game.

Reportedly, Arkane studios’ Dishonored will take over twenty hours to complete playing stealthily with killing no one. A brutal play through, killing anyone in your path, will take between 12 to 14 hours but that’s without exploring every nook and cranny, and knowing the solution to everything beforehand. It should take more thorough or inexperienced players longer than that.

PlayStation Europe is offering a month long internship to who ever can make the best game on LittleBigPlanet for the PS Vita. The best submission, as voted by a PlayStation judging panel, will be rewarded with a month-long internship at Swedish studio Tarsier. Games will be judged on gameplay, originality, and commercial appeal. The winner will eventually help work on official DLC for the game. To register an interest, go here.

A new mod has been developed for Crysis. The mod, StarCry, sees many different hit sci-fi shows making their way into the new user made campaign for the game. Franchises such as Stargate SG1 and Star Wars are featured in the mod.

Chasing Aurora developer, Martin Pichlmair, says that Nintendo is working hard to make the Wii U eShop friendly and open for independent developers. This opens up a whole new market with a new innovative console to work with.

World of Tanks official site, Wargaming.net, say that registration numbers have passed the 40 million mark. Players have been pouring into servers to check out the big 8.0 update, which overhauled WoT’s visuals and added proper physics. World of Tanks is one of the biggest free to play games in the world.

Cliff Bleszinski has announced he is leaving Epic. After two decades with the company he is moving on to expand his career. Whilst with the company he was responsible for games such as Jazzy Jackrabbit and the highly acclaimed Gears Of War series.

Bad Piggies, the Angry Birds spin-off from Rovio, shot to the top spot on the US iTunes App Store within three hours of launch. The firm said the game was the fastest chart-topper in the company’s history. The game is the third from the Finnish studio this year to hit the top spot within it’s first day of release. The other titles were Amazing Alex and of course, Angry Birds Space.

Train2Game news: Indie devs have “far more opportunities these days” say Team 17

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Train2Game students looking to form their own indie studios will certainly be buoyed by this; there are more opportunities than ever to break into the industry thanks to digital distribution.

That’s according to Yorkshire based Worms developer Team 17, who’ve been in the game development business for over 20 years.

“I actually think there are far more opportunities these days overall. If we were only talking about PSN, XBLA and Steam I’d tend to agree, but with the whole mobile and browser side thrown in, it’s bigger and better than the late ’80s.” Team 17 Managing Director Debbie Bestwick told The Guardian when asked if there are comparisons between today’s digital market and the bedroom coding days of the late 1980’s.

And Bestwick believes the rise of mobile gaming, on the iPhone in particular, means it’s actually easier for prospective game developers – such as Train2Game students – to enter the market.

“Digital distribution has removed manufacturing and physical distribution costs; hence the entry point is so much lower these days than back then” she said.

“If anything, the App Store reminds me more of the whole shareware scene in the ’80s, just shaken up and organised, and it is a great place to be.”

And in more good news for Train2Game students, the Team 17 Managing Director is optimistic about the future of the British game industry, “because right now we’ve got more platforms, bigger audiences, more direct to consumer sales channels and lower entry costs than ever before for all indie developers.”

“Our traditional market has changed forever with the introduction of smartphones, social gaming and digital store fronts” added Bestwick.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Bestwick’s comments? Do you believe it’s the best time there’s been to be an indie developer? Is self-publishing a model you can see yourself following?

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

[Source: The Guardian]

Train2Game news: Android downloads top 6 billion

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Train2Game students will be highly aware of the massive impact the iPhone and its app store has had on the games industry, with some claiming that the success makes Apple a threat to consoles.

However, apple isn’t the only player in mobile gaming with Android operated smartphones growing in popularity. And these Android users are also downloading apps with over 6 billion apps and games installed according to market research firm Research2Guidence.

Interesting its weather based apps that generate the most income from paid downloads in the Android marketplace, with games ranking at No.7 but the fastest growing type of download.

Developers have struggled to make profit from Android apps, the Rsearch2Guidence studies suggest that this is starting to improve.

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, one third of UK population uses smartphones and it’s a number that continues to grow. And while the iPhone continues to dominate the smartphone market, increasing numbers of people are using Android devices.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Android? Is it an operating system you’d consider developing for?

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

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game interview with Hogrocket co-founder Ben Ward

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Hogrocket is a micro-studio founded by three former employees of Bizarre Creations and they’ve just released their first game for iPhone, Tiny Invaders.

 Train2Game recently caught up with Hogrocket co-founder Ben Ward to discuss switching from Triple-A to indie, indie development, and releasing games for the iPhone.

Ben also revealed how he got into the games industry and gave advice on how Train2Game students can attempt to follow in his footsteps. Read the interview below, or listen to it via Train2Game Radio. 

 

Train2Game news: Free-to-play games generate 65% of App store revenue

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Train2Game students with plans to develop mobile games may be interested in the following statistic; free-to-play games now bring in 65% of the revenue in the iTunes App store.

That’s according to a report by Flurry Games GM Jeferson Valadares that tracked over 90,000 apps and showed that at the start of the year free-to-play games brought in just 39% of revenue.

It could encourage Train2Game students to develop free-to-play titles of their own.

“When you make your game free and add in-app purchases, two powerful things can happen: first, more people will likely try your game since you’ve made the ante zero,” writes Valadares.

“And second, you will likely take more total money, since different players can now spend different amounts depending on their engagement and preferences. It’s not unheard of for individual players to spend into the tens of thousands in a game they like,” he continues

“Although this means that more than 90% of players will not spend a single penny, it also means that players who love your game spend much more than the $0.99 you were considering charging for the app.”

Valadares adds that free-to-play is “here to stay” This evidence for this is significant, with the Train2Game blog even reporting that EA believe it can be as profitable as triple-a

In an interview with the Train2Game blog last year, games industry consultant and Gamesbrief founder, told us that free-to-play generates more revenue.

“The guys who are making more money are allowing people – if they like the game – to keep upgrading. And instead of the maximum amount of that money you can make from customer being 99c you can make $5, in some cases $30.” Lovell told the Train2Game blog.

“There’s a game called Pocket Frogs which has in app purchases of values of 99 cent, $4.99 & £29.99. Only 8% of people by the $29.99, but in revenue terms, more than half their revenue comes from those bigger packs.  And most businesses stop at the 99c level, they would make a tenth of the revenue of Pocket Frogs.”

Last week, the Train2Game blog reported that Smurfs’ Village is ‘changing the market’ for mobile games.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the growth of free-to-play? Is it here to stay?

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

[Source: Industry Gamers via GI.biz]

Train2Game student developed game Postal Panic released via iTunes app store

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Train2Game student developed game Postal Panic is now available to download for free from the iTunes App store!

Postal Panic was produced by Train2Game student team Horizon Studios  in just 11 days as part of the Train2Game Christmas competition 2010. 

The game is free to download for its first three weeks of release, and then the price will rise to 59p. Half of the revenue from Postal Panic will be going to the Prince’s Trust charity.

Postal Panic is the fun postcode delivering game developed by Train2Game students. Your job is simple; deliver the parcels to the postcodes as quickly as you can.

As the Parcels come down the conveyor belt, you need to deliver them to the postcode displayed on the Postal Scanner 7000; you need to do this before they hit the bottom, as this will damage the parcels and Postal Paul will get fined. Too many fines and you’re in for the sack!

Features

• Accurate map of the UK postal code system

• Simple, intuitive touch &swipe game controls

• Single or Multiplayer with up to 4 players

• Addictively fun puzzle game play and scoring

• Learn the Post Code areas of the UK and impress your friends & family

For updates on Postal Panic head to the official website at http://postalpanic.horizonstudios.co.uk/ 

Postal Panic can be downloaded now from the iTunes app store. The Postal Panic trailer can be seen on the Train2game Youtube channel.

To play more games developed by Train2Game students, visit the official Train2Game Game Jam website, where all the games developed during the 48 hour event are available for free.

So Train2Game, will you be downloading Postal Panic?

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

Nintendo boss labels ‘cheap mobile games’ biggest risk to games industry

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Reggie Fils Aime Train2Game blog image

The Nintendo of America boss has labelled low price mobile phone games are one of the biggest risks for the games industry. Reggie Fils-Aime made the comments in an interview with GameTrailers TV.

“I actually think that one of the biggest risks today in our industry are these inexpensive games that are candidly disposable from a consumer standpoint,” said the Nintendo Executive.

“Angry Birds is a great piece of experience but that is one compared to thousands of other pieces of content that for one or two dollars I think actually create a mentality for the consumer that a piece of gaming content should only be two dollars.

“I actually think some of those games are overpriced at one or two dollars but that’s a whole different story.”

The comments could be seen as a direct attack on the Apple App store, which sells many games for less than £1…with each iOS owner downloading an average of 60 apps. The remarks come just weeks after Capcom suggested that mobile gaming is drawing people away from traditional handheld consoles. It’s an opinion that Train2Game forum users agreed with.

Nintendo themselves are preparing for the global launch of the 3DS, and you can find out about the device on the Thoughts of Train2Game blog. The price of Nintendo 3DS games is expected to be as much as £39.99, but the company still believe the device will have a ‘rocket start’

Meanwhile, it’s been predicted that the revenues of social media gaming will surpass $1 billion this year.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Reggie Fils-Aime’s comments? Does he have a legitmate concern or is he just ‘trash talking’ one of Nintendo’s biggest rivals? Are the games too cheap? Or do you think the Nintendo 3DS titles are too expensive?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively, you can let us know what you think via Twitter.

Train2Game, in association with DR Studios and the University of Bedfordshire, will be holding a Game Jam at the end of March. For more information, see this Train2Game blog post or the Train2Game Game Jam Facebook page. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Train2Game Game Jam Twitter account.