Tag Archives: Batman

Train2Game news: Behind the scenes of Batman: Arkham City

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Train2Game may be aware that Batman: Arkham City is released later this month. If early reviews are to be believed, the follow up to the highly successful Arkham Asylum from British studio Rocksteady looks to even more impressive that it’s predecessor.

Of course, developing Arkham City was far from a simple process and Game Director Sefton Hill has discussed some of the challenges.

“Creating Arkham City has been a tremendous technical undertaking.” he told Eurogamer.

Hill described down developing the title required an immense effort from everyone at Rocksteady.

“Our engine teams, optimisation teams, art teams and design teams have had to do a phenomenal amount of work to get this game to run and optimise it and run at a solid 30 frames a second throughout, while creating such a richly detailed city. So it’s definitely not easy.” said the Batman: Arkham City Game Director.

He praised the technical team in particular for doing a great job, doing whatever the rest of the team needed.

“Huge credit to the technical team, who said, look, we’ll make it happen. You design the best game you can think of and we will work hard to make that happen.” said Hill.

“Those guys did a phenomenal job with that. All credit to them because there are a lot of technical achievements in there we’d never done before and taken on.” he added.

Train2Game students can get an insight into the game design process behind Batman: Arkham City here on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the work behind Arkham City? Is a game that you’re looking forward to?

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

[Source: Eurogamer]

Train2Game students can quiz Batman Arkham City developers Rocksteady at BAFTA this Friday

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Train2Game students in London have the chance to attend a very special BAFTA Q&A event about Batman: Arkham City this Friday.

As stated on the BAFTA website, London-based Rocksteady Studios will discuss the making of the hotly anticipated follow-up to Batman: Arkham Asylum, winner of two BAFTAs for Gameplay and Best Game of 2009.

Doors open at 19:30 on Friday 30th September, while the Q&A event itself begins at 20:45.

Full event details are available on the official BAFTA website, while Train2Game students who register in advance can go to what will be a very insightful event for free. Full details on that are here.

The Train2Game blog attended a BAFTA Q&A session   about Duke Nukem Forever with Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software earlier this year. You can read all about it here on the Train2Game blog.

Train2Game students can also get a peek behind the scenes at Rocksteady in this previous article about Game Design in Batman: Arkham City.

So Train2Game, will you attend the BAFTA Batman: Arkham City event? What questions would you ask about the game?

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

[Source: BAFTA]

Interesting read for Train2Game students: Rocksteady on the Game Design of Batman: Arkham City

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Here’s one for those of you on the Train2Game Game Design course. In an interview with The Guardian, Rocksteady Studios Game Director Sefton Hill gives a massive insight into the Game Design of the upcoming Batman: Arkham City.

It also reveals what goes behind the scenes at the game developer, useful for anyone on a Train2Game course!

The Train2Game blog reported that Batman: Arkham City was in development in August last year.

“You need an engaging storyline created around compelling characters in a beautifully realised world, all built on the bedrock of original and fun core gameplay mechanics”

“No longer is it sufficient to excel in any one of these areas if you want to stand out.” said Hill when asked what Game Design features are needed for an action adventure title.”

“At Rocksteady, working on Batman: Arkham City, we started with two key driving forces: everything we do is built around creating a fun experience and this experience must be completely authentic to Batman and his universe.”

“In terms of what the content is, it’s simply about what excites us. I believe the only way to make something that people will feel passionate about is if you feel inspired by the ideas yourself. We don’t try and second guess what other people want; we make the game we want to play.”

That could be useful advice to those on a Train2Game course who’re looking at making their own games in the near future, make something that you find fun and it’s likely it will be fun!

The Batman: Arkham City Game Director was asked if Rocksteady subscribed to any particular theories of Game  Design.

“There are many different trends, but personally I believe there is no magic bullet [Game] Design theory that fits all situations,” Hill replied

“At Rocksteady, we believe the solution is to be flexible. Depending on what area of the game we’re designing, different people will be involved and different processes will be used.”

He continued, “We have a totally different approach when we design levels, to story, to bosses and to core gameplay mechanics.”

“Some of these processes involve repeated iterations and reviews by a large group over a number of days and some require monthly reviews by just a couple of people over the entire duration of the project.”

If there’s one thing we always strive to do though, it’s to keep the [Game] Design process as inclusive as possible. We have a team full of incredibly talented staff and great ideas come from everyone.”

Hill concluded by discussing the future of Game Design. Of course, those on the Train2Game Game Design course now would very much like to be a part of that!

“The beauty of video game development is that the potential for new ideas is incredible. The industry is so aggressively creative that the parameters of what is even possible changes every few years. It’s what makes working in this industry so challenging, competitive and rewarding.” he concluded.

Batman: Arkham City is scheduled for release on October 21st, see the trailer here on the Train2Game blog.

What are your thoughts on the Game Design behind Batman: Arkham City? And how about how Rocksteady Studios develop games? Are you looking forward to the title?

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

[Source: The Guardian]

Call of Duty: Black Ops’ Hollywood cast revealed

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Gary OldmanActivision has announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops’ will star award winning actors Gary Oldman and Ed Harris, while screenwriter David S. Goyer will be providing script consultation and story developer support for the much anticipated game.

Gary Oldman will be reprising his role as Russian soldier Victor Reznov who returns in the Cold War era based Black Ops’. Reznov featured in Treyarch’s previous Call of Duty title, World at War. Oldman is best known for his work in The Professional, Dracula and, Batman: The Dark Knight.

Ed Harris will make his Call of Duty debut in Black Ops’ by voicing one of the game’s main characters, CIA operative Jason Hudson. Harris is best known for his roles in films including The Abyss, A History of Violence, Pollock, Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff.

Filmmaker David S. Goyer’s writing credits include the blockbusters Batman: Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Blade and the upcoming Superman: Man of Steel.

Despite two integral members of the Batman: The Dark Knight appearing in Call of Duty: Black Ops’, its unlikely Batman himself will be making and appearance…

Of course, Studio Head of Treyarch Mark Lamia is pleased with the fine cast of Call of Duty: Black Ops’

“Oldman, Harris and Goyer are considered some of Hollywood’s finest talents and they perfectly complement Call of Duty: Black Ops’ ambitious and immersive single player experience”

“Their contributions have helped us to push the boundaries of our story telling and character development far beyond anything we have ever attempted before in the franchise.”

The news comes after Activision recently revealed Call of Duty: Black Ops’ multiplayer features at a high profile event in Los Angeles.

Call of Duty: Black Ops will be released worldwide on 9th November.

So Train2Game, with Call of Duty: Black Ops’ boasting such an impressive cast, how important do you think the quality of voice actors is to games?

Would an impressive cast ever persuade you to buy a game?

And does the fact that games’ like Call of Duty: Black Ops’ can bring on board well known actors show that gaming is becoming a larger entertainment medium?

You can leave your thoughts on the cast of Call of Duty: Black Ops’ here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Batman: Arkham City multiplayer confirmed and new screenshots released

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New look Harley with Batman

Batman: Arkham City will feature multiplayer gameplay, at least that’s according to  appropriately named Batman: Arkham City fan site Arkham City.

The news comes as screenshots  of Batman: Arkham City have appeared online through Flickr.

A news post on Arkham City says that multiplayer is confirmed by Batman: Arkham City developers Rocksteady in a feature from this month PSM3 Magazine. The developers claim “Multiplayer is a certainty, but no details on this yet” with no further details about how this would actually fit into Batman: Arkham City.

Rumours have been circulating ever since Batman: Arkham City was announced, that Catwoman would feature as a temporary ally of The Dark Knight in co-operative gameplay. Or perhaps players will be able to experience Batman: Arkham City as Robin or Nightwing in a co-op mode.

On the other hand, could the multiplayer element of Batman: Arkham City be the competitive player vs player experience that some gamers would rather not see included?

With Batman: Arkham City – the sequel to the highly successful Batman: Arkham Asylum – not scheduled for release until autumn 2011, it’s likely we’ll be waiting for quite some time before solid details appear.

Batman: Arkham City will be available in PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

So Train2Game students, how do you feel about a Batman: Arkham City multiplayer mode? Would you welcome co-operative or competitive online play? Or do you think Batman: Arkham City should stick to the format of Batman: Arkham Asylum and leave multiplayer gameplay alone?

You can leave your thoughts about Batman: Arkham City multiplayer here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum.

Batman: Arkham City coming Autumn 2011

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The much anticipated sequel to critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum will be called Batman: Arkham City. The bad news for excited fans of The Dark Knight is that it won’t be released until autumn 2011.

Players will enter Arkham City, the new maximum security home for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. It’ll introduce new characters from the DC Comics series into the Arkham universe, with Game Informer revealing on its latest cover that Catwoman will be one of these. Will she be an ally or an enemy?

It’s rumoured that Mr Freeze, Talia Al Ghul and Two Face will all feature, with a figure that looks an awful lot like the latter appearing on a poster behind Batman and Catwoman in this image. The previously released teaser trailer shows that The Joker and Harley Quinn will both be making a return.

Batman: Arkham City will be available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, with publishers Warner Brothers promising an array of new and enhanced gameplay features “to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.”

The Batman: Arkham City website is now live.

So Train2Game, how many of you played the original Batman: Arkham Asylum and what did you think? How excited are you about Batman: Arkham City? What heroes and villains would you like to see make an appearance?

And from a Games Designer, Games Developer or Games Artist & Animator perspective, is there any particular franchise, be it comic book or not, that you’d like to work on in future?

As usual, leave your thoughts here or on the Train2Game forum.