Tag Archives: Derp Studios

Train2Game News: Derp Studios release Spectrum style game

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DerpmanTrain2Game Student Studio, Derp Studios, has released a game on Windows 8! Derpman and the Code Monkey conundrum.

The game is an endless runner, similar to Temple Run and Subway Surfers, where you must run, jump, slide and attack the Code Monkeys that are attacking you to get as much score as you can get. It has a good nostalgia trip for those slightly older gamers among us who remember playing the ZX Spectrum as the graphics and soundtrack are made in that style.

The game was created in a single week for an online event known as a Speccy Jam. The rules of the jam were simple, create a game in the style of a ZX spectrum, simple yet different!

The studio has recently been creating a series of comics, in what little spare time they have, known as Derpman which is a parody series of your favourite superheroes. Following on from the comic series it seemed a logical step to create a game on the bumbling green clad hero.

Chris Ledger, CEO of Derp Studios said “The team really enjoyed Speccy Jam, one of the most fun jams we’ve participated in so we’ll definitely be up for the next one!  The time limit was a week and we worked virtually.  Everyone performed really well!  We’re hoping to get our candidate on all the major mobile stores as soon as possible for all to play!”

The game is out now on the Windows 8 mobile store and downloadable for your PC. If you wish to find out more about the studio or read the comics that lead to this game you can visit www.derpstudios.com

Congratulations on the games release guys.

Train2Game News: Games Industry Lessons – Guest Blog by Chris Ledger

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Chris LedgerWow, I must say its been a busy year! A lot of events both good and bad have gone down.

However many lessons have been learned and you know what? I’m going to list off a few of these lessons, as I’ve had to find out the hard way!

1: Don’t aim too high

It may sound simple but it really isn’t. Even the most simplest of ideas can spiral into something a lot bigger.

As a start-up you want to aim small, create some stepping stones that can lead you onto bigger things. Even create some tech demo’s!!

If you create massive projects, you risk never finishing or having to cut them short (depending on your team structure, finances and time in general).

Whilst big projects are achievable, it usually means you’re developing one big title instead of several small ones. This isn’t to say that you should reskin everything, it’s being creative inside boundaries and restrictions. I swear it’s companies that reskin everything which crash the video games industry!!

I find that doing game jams are a great way to make a quick qwerky title that you can blast out in no time. Slap on some ad support and post it on any store you can!

2: Log your finances!

Always keep track of what goes in and out of your company financially. Know your profit, know your overheads because you can make a decent amount by selling a game and because you haven’t been logging your companies income and expenditure properly, you realise you’ve made a loss.

So my advice is that you log everything when it happens and don’t rely on bank statements and PayPal to record everything!

Always work out a cash flow forecast as well. It’s very important to show publishers, the government and other important people who could help you out.

3: Dont work for free!!!

Okay if it’s a self funded project then there are exceptions, however if a company wants to utilise your skill sets, make sure you whack a price tag on them.

When doing this, make sure you aren’t pricing yourself out of the market. You want to be affordable and reliable. Always draw up contracts of terms and conditions and ALWAYS GET A BRIEF.

Always stick to the brief and deliver, if clients want anything else they will have to draw up a new brief and pay extra. Don’t let people push you around.

If you work for free, people will take advantage of you and make you work to ridiculous extremes.

Not everyone is like that though, there are some genuinely fair people out there but they are far and few between when it comes to working for free.

So put a price tag on those skills and make sure you have a decent portfolio to back up your price tag!

4: You’re already in the games industry.

That’s right, as soon as you start making a game, you’re pretty much in the industry. So man people work on their own projects and say they want to be in the games industry, however what they don’t realise is that they already are.

Just because you’re not in a AAA studio and are coding in your bedroom does not make you any less professional and legitimate than someone with a £30,000+ a year salary at Square-Enix.

5: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING

This should of been number one as its my pet hate in this line of work.

No matter what role you have in a team DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. That’s right, I can’t stress that enough.

If you’re ill and can’t work and someone has to pick up the slack, they will need guidance. They will need to look at what you’ve done and what needs to be done.

As your projects grow you will need to log everything because your idea may not be communicated properly and your Elephant Gun weapon, for example, may end up being an Elephant with a gun as the player character.

Designers, make sure you have concepts, high concepts, pitches, game design docs, story bibles and level design docs as your raw minimum.

Coders, make sure you comment your code appropriately and professionally, comments really help others out especially if a designer needs to adjust a variable or two for some balancing.

Get a Technical design document sorted out so you have a clear blueprint of how your code works so that whoever picks up the slack during illness or your departure to can carry on. It also means that people with the clearance to alter bits of code can do so with ease.

Artists, remember that your first attempt probably won’t be your best and don’t expect to get it right first time. Always iterate and try different things. Create a concept diary and aid the designers and coders the best you can. Create character sheets, bestiary’s and make sure you log down the poly and vert count of a model and document what maps and textures models require in their own specific documents.

It sounds like a lot of work and it is. Not everything in the games industry is fun and glamorous. You’ll have your good and bad days like any other job. Trust me, I love my job, but there are some days I would rather just stay in bed instead of modifying the game design doc or using UDK.

6: Prepare to be let down

People will let you down no matter what, it’s in our nature. Staff will come and go so always be prepared to call in a replacement.

It’s not the end of the world, even though it is fairly gutting and stressful. I had 3 staff leave in the space of a week but in the end I found some replacements. As harsh as it sounds, everyone can be replaced.

People will also tear apart your ideas, especially clients. You will also find yourself tearing other people’s ideas apart in order to get something working and to make the project feasible, even as the boss my ideas are torn to shreds as well!

It’s tough out there but don’t give in. No one is doing it to personally spite you and if they are then they aren’t worth working for.

So keep it pro and be a bro about it. As a team you’re there to support each other and make great titles with whatever resources you have!

I hope this helps you guys and girls out. Obviously these aren’t set in stone rules, just my experiences that I thought I’d share with everyone and I hope they are of benefit to people.

Season Greetings,
Chris Ledger
 CEO/Lead Designer
Derp Studios

Train2Game News: Derp Studios in The Radio Magazine

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RadMag MS AdvertTrain2Game Student Studio, Derp Studios, has been featured in The Radio Magazine. The Radio Magazine is the only Radio magazine left in print.

Derp Studios is a studio primarily based in Cheltenham Gloucestershire, and they have been working on a project recently to bring small radio stations on to Windows 8 devices. The first radio app that was developed was for RTI which is Eric Wiltshers very own station.

Eric used his own connections in the radio world and mentioned it to The Radio Magazine who loved the idea so much that they have done a two page spread on the story. The Radio Magazine is then shipped out to every major and minor radio station around the country.

Derp Studios has also been heavily supported by Microsoft themselves as they saw this as an incredible opportunity for their Windows 8 platform and have given the team an incredible amount of help.

You can read the magazine at the following link from page 18: www.theradiomagazine.co.uk

Train2Game would like to wish Derp Studios a massive congratulations and good luck for the future.

You can find out more about Derp at their website: www.derpstudios.com

Train2Game News: Train2Game radio talks to Neil Gorman

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Neil GormanLast week I got to talk to Train2Game student, Neil Gorman. Neil is a full time plumber who has had an incredibly busy games industry career so far and his hard work has paid off! Neil is now on his way to Birmingham University to do a Masters degree in Games Development.

You can listen to part 1 of the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1249949-train2game-student-neil-gorman-talks-to-t2g-radio-part-1

and part 2 here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1249947-train2game-student-neil-gorman-talks-to-t2g-radio-part-2

Or you can read the transcript below:

Hi, I’m Neil Gorman, I’m from Worcester and I am on the Art & Animation course.

Hi Neil, how you doing mate?

Not so bad Mark, how are you?

I’m very well ta buddy! So we’ve got quite a bit to cover with you haven’t we?

Oh right! I do try to keep me hand in!

So tell me about all the stuff you’ve been up to lately.

Lately? Uh, well. Over Christmas I did a couple of weeks for Lightwood Studios and Microsoft, doing a little bit of illustration but it was for fifty apps, so I got a bit of a sweat on with that! I had a word with Myra Smallman and she got Cat Forsyth and a lad called Malik involved as well. We managed to plough through them, it went really well, it was a good experience. Before that we did a Game Jam which was a World Record which was really good. I’m doing a little bit for Team Dart, done a little bit of work for Derp, as you know and I’ve just been accepted to Birmingham University on a Masters Games Development course as well.

And I also do life drawing on a Tuesday!

Just to add that little bit extra because you weren’t busy enough!

Yeah that’s right, yeah! Oh I also work full time!

That it now, you sure?

Yeah!

What do you do full time?

I’m a plumber.

How long you been doing that for?

I’ve been doing it for… Well a bit too long really! I’ve been doing it for twenty years.

What made you go from Plumbing to Game Design and Art instead?

Well I’ve always been in to games, since I was about 4 years old when my Uncle got an Intellivision with Pong and all that on it. I always used to go down the arcades and play 1942. I’ve basically seen the games change through to all the console like the Commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum and all that. Then a few years ago I got a card through the door for Train2Game, it was just a post card saying what Train2Game did and I think it was just a time in my life where I thought, “yeah I’m going to do this! I’m going to try this course out and see how I do.” Before that I never even dreamed about trying to design assets or anything like that, when I first fired up 3DS Max I couldn’t even model a box! So it’s how it came about really and it’s the best thing I ever did.

Excellent! So the Train2Game course has certainly helped you a lot if you are now going for a Masters degree?

It’s been absolutely unbelievable really. The people I met along the way, including yourself and all the lads at Derp, everyone I’ve met along the way. I’ve made so many friends it’s great, it’s been fantastic!

How did the Masters Degree come about, how did you end up going for that?

Well it was just a punt really! When I finish work, I do my coursework and subsidise with digital tutors and other game stuff and I just love it! It’s my hobby as well as my love. So I saw this advertised on the internet and I also saw at Eurogamer for Gamer Camp. I filled it all in, put my details in for what I’ve done in the past, I’ve done BTEC in Engineering and NVQ’s and what not, told them I was with Train2Game, I sent them an email as well and they got back in touch with me and gave me an art test.

Very nice and I assume you passed that with flying colours?

Yeah, it was a bit of a stretch but it was over 2 weeks and you had so many Polygons you had to adhere too and do textures and what not. So I sent it in and then I had an interview, so I had an interview at Birmingham University. So I went and the lecturer got snowed in so I had to do It over Skype. It went really well and a few days later he sent me an email saying I was accepted, unconditionally!

Excellent! So when do you start doing the course or have you started already?

No I start in September for a year, it’s full time.

For a year full time is it? So I imagine you’ll have to give the plumbing up a bit then will you?

A little bit yeah! I’ll still do a little bit, I’ve still got to pay the bills at the end of the day.

So what other things are you doing, you said you were also working with Derp Studios as well at the minute?

Yeah, ever since the Make Something Unreal and the first Game Jam we did I’ve always loved the lads from Derp as they’re a really good laugh and they really get their heads down and work. I went to Nigel’s 30th birthday and I got talking to Chris and he said “Do I fancy doing some Animation and Modelling for him” and I said “Yeah, no problem!”. I’d give up any time for the Derp lads.

So you really just don’t like sleep any more, you just have to do everything don’t you?

I’m just trying to learn as much as I can really!

Yeah, you also said you are doing a life drawing course, is that helping you a lot?

Oh it is! It really is. It’s all naked models, one week it’s a woman and one week it’s a fella and for anatomy and getting the light and the forms and everything it’s just really good. I suggest any artist to go on a life drawing course, it really helps.

What would be your biggest ambition for your career?

For my career? I would love to work for a big AAA company, possibly as a Technical Artist or Rigger or along those lines and just being involved in the games industry as a whole. Early last week I went to the Animex Festival in Middlesbrough and you just get an energy off of people in the games industry, they’re so enthusiastic, it’s addictive!

Yeah I definitely know what you mean there! It does the same for me. What about your own studio, would you ever be interested in making up your own one?

I think when I’ve got more experience, I know there are lads who have started their own studio but I want to get to a point where I am happy with what I am doing with my art and be at a certain level. At the moment I’m still just learning and that’s why I do so much, just trying to learn as much as I can. When I get to a certain level, I might contemplate it but if someone came alone and said “Hey Neil, how would you fancy starting out our own studio” yeah, I would always give it a go because I just love it!

So if a new student came up to you and asked you what your best bit of advice would be, what would you say?

If you’re going to go in to Games Development or Art or Design or anything like that, don’t go in to it half cocked. If you’re going to do it you have got to be 100% focused because there is so many people out there, if you look on the forums or on polycount, there are so many people out there who are good competition, if you really want to do this you have to get your head down and work! But enjoy it! It is great, there is nothing better than getting home from work, getting on the PC and doing any Art & Animation but to do it as a career, that’s what I am really aiming for!

That’s perfect! I think that’s all we’ve got time for today Neil, thank you very much buddy!

No problem Mark, I’ll talk to you soon!

Talk to you soon mate, bye!

Ok, bye!

Train2Game News: Train2Game in 2012 – April to June

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Train2Game at Gadget Show Live gets a surprise visit from a Dr Who Dalek

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live gets a surprise visit from a Dr Who Dalek

The second quarter of 2012 was especially good for me as it was in April that The Gadget Show live was held.

The Make Something Unreal Live was possibly the biggest thing Train2Game had done up to that point. It brought much media coverage and gave the students involved a highly valuable experience.

The 4 teams at the event got to meet such industry professionals as CliffyB, then from Epic Studios, Peter Molyneux who had just launched 22Cans and Jon Hare the man behind Sensible Software,

The event started in November of 2011 following a Train2Game Game Jam which was sponsored by Epic. The top 4 teams from there then had 6 months to create a game which was to be released on the iOS store.

The games that were created were based on the Fighting Fantasy books. This gave the teams more time as it took story creation out of the equation and it already had an existing fan base to work from.

You can check out the video from the 2012 Make Something Unreal Live contest below:

Train2Game News: Train2Game in 2012 – January to March

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Train2Game2012 has been a good year for Train2Game and the students and I am going to take you through some of the best bits.

At the end of January some Train2Game students entered a game jam in Scotland.

The Scottish Game Jam is part of Global Game Jam 2012 and at the event Train2Game Art & Animation students Fiona Stewart and Corinna Bruce were winners of the Best Art Award at the Scottish Game Jam.

It was at this jam where the game Shplem was created and nominated for a BAFTA award.

The first quarter of the year was also the run up to the Make Something Unreal Live competition.

Four student studios: Commando Kiwi, Derp Studios, Digital Mage and Indigo Jam were working hard trying to get together their games which were based on the Fighting Fantasy books which would be displayed at The Gadget Show live in April.

It is a time I remember well as I was a proud member of Digital Mage and it was one of the greatest times of my life.

Possibly the most important part of early 2012 was the government announcing that they would implement the Games Tax Relief. Just the mere announcement of this has seen the games industry grow to new heights.

Train2Game News: Sam Hawkins talks to Train2Game Radio

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Sam Hawkins, level designer for Derp Studios spoke to me about his life and where he wants to go with his career.

You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1073130-train2game-student-sam-hawkins-talks-to-mark-on-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below:

Hi, I’m Sam Hawkins. I’m from Chelmsford, Essex and I am on the Designer Course.

What’s your story Sam, what are the past experiences that have shaped your life?
Well starting from the beginning, I used to do a lot of Bmxing back in my original home town of Dagenham. It was a big group of us that used to do it, we used to go around streets of Dagenham and Romford, originally just around Essex at first, just doing street Bmxing.  Eventually we just started getting around the UK, it was really good fun. After that, I moved to Chelmsford, where I am now where I did a bit of college for a year, doing Engineering. After that I took a real passion for music, it was relit from school. Music has always been a passion of mine and I played drums for a rock band for about 2 or 3 years. Then I found this course and I’ve been doing this ever since.

You’re also the main level designer for Derp Studios, had you done much level design before that?
Prior to the Game Jam that we had last year, no. None at all I have kind of just taken to it really well, it’s like finding my calling.

Do you think that’s what you are going to go on to in the industry its self. You want to aim for more level design stuff?
Yeah 100%.

Do you think that stems from your Engineering in college?
Possibly, yeah.  When I was doing Engineering at college it was drummed into me that everything I made was 100% perfect. I loved the feeling of actually building something and getting my hands in to it. I’ve always admired the way levels have been played out in front of me, how they’ve been designed or engineered. I think it’s fascinating.

So out of all the things you’ve done with the Bmxing and everything like that, what do you thinks the most dramatic or exciting thing you have done through your life?
Being in the band, prior to The Gadget Show that was in the beginning of this year that was the pinnacle of what I have been doing so far. Before that it was being in the band. At one point we actually got signed for a little bit.

How’s Dire Consequences doing on the iOS store now?
I think it’s doing OK, It’s been received quite well. We actually do have a patch coming out for it very soon, to add new levels. There’s also been a lot of people giving us some really good feedback, some really good creative criticism, that we can take from and build on it.

Yeah, so are you happy with the game then and how it’s all turned out?
Yeah I am. It’s been really good fun working for it, also stressful at the same time, as most projects probably will be.

So how does it feel to be published?
It’s fantastic, it’s absolutely fantastic! I couldn’t believe it when I heard it

Do you think it will open up your gaming prospects and your prospects for your career and everything?
Oh definitely.  When you look at applying for a job in the industry, a lot of people want Designers or Programmers or whatever to have experience. With this behind my belt it is going to be a lot easier if I do venture out to look at other studios.

What’s your big game plan for the future Sam?
For the time being I am just concentrating on getting the course done and a lot of portfolio work that needs doing. Other than that I am going to be working for Derp Studios for a lot longer, get as many games under my belt as I can and really try and establish ourselves as a company as well. If we can do that and be really successful then I’ll just take it from there really! I may venture off into a much bigger studio but at the moment I’ll stay with Derp.

Well I think that’s all we’ve got time for today Sam, so thank you very much!
Thank you very much for your time Mark. Thank you

Cheers Buddy
Bye

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: Dire Consequences for App Store

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After eleven months in development, Derp Studios game has hit the App Store. The game was made for the Make Something Unreal Live contest in April this year.

Following on from the 2011 Game Jam four teams went on to compete in the Make Something Unreal live which took place at The Gadget show in April. The four teams were the winners of the contest, Commando Kiwi, A team I was a part of, Digital Mage, Indigo Jam and Derp Studios.

From January to April the teams worked relentlessly on their games which were based on the Fighting Fantasy IP of Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. The books from the series in particular that were chosen was: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, Armies Of Death, Deathtrap Dungeon and Citadel of Chaos. The last of these is the book Derp Studios worked on.

The game, Dire Consequences, is a first-person action game by Derp Studios, and sees players take on waves of enemies to collect souls and progress their character for new spells. The game is currently only available for iOS devices.

The Gadget Show Live was a life defining moment for many of the Train2Game students involved, including myself and having to do some research in to the whole event to fill in some gaps in my memory was a lovely journey. I am so pleased one of the teams got their game uploaded as they were all amazing games and the whole event really kick-started our careers.

A massive congratulations to Derp Studios and I urge all those with access to an iOS device to go and download the free game immediately!

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – All 4 documentary films (Updated)

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Train2Game student teams took last month’s Make Something Unreal Contest at Gadget Show Live, with the task of building an iOS game based on the prestigious Fighting Fantasy series.

Now, you can see the progress each of the four made through Make Something Unreal Live in a new video from Train2Game! It features industry figures including Cliff Bleszinski, Jon Hare, Peter Molyneux and Ian Livingstone providing advice to Train2Game students as they developed their game.

We have upgraded all the team videos on YouTube, so if you are linking to them you will need the new URLs which you can find below. 

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Commando Kiwi Story 

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Derp Studios Story

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The IndigoJam Story 

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Digital Mage Story

They’re also all available, with much more, on the Train2Game YouTube channel.

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