Tag Archives: Derp Studios

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – All 4 documentary films

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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. Links to each of the 15 minute documentaries are 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.

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

Train2Game at Gadget Show Live 2012 – The Derp Studios Story (Video)

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Train2Game student team Derp Studios were one of four to take part in last month’sMake 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 they 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 Derp Studios as they developed their game.

Watch it on the Train2Game YouTube channel, or here on The Train2Game Blog.

Leave your comments here, or on the Train2Game forum. 

Train2Game interview: Stuart Moore of Make Something Unreal Live team Derp Studios

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Train2Game students are launching four new development studios in 2012 as part of ‘Make Something Unreal Live,’ a competitive process designed to accelerate their careers by giving them the tools and resources needed to release games for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this spring.

The studios are Commando Kiwi, Derp Studios, Digital Mage and Indigo Jam.

The first titles released by the studios will be based on the Fighting Fantasy series of books created by Ian Livingston and Steve Jackson.

We caught up with Stuart Moore of Derp Studios to find out how the road to Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show has gone so far. Listen via Train2Game Radio or read it here on The Train2Game Blog.

Hi Stuart, how have you found being part of Derp Studios on the road to Make Something Unreal Live?

Very chaotic, but also very enjoyable. I’ve got a great team working with me, there’s a whole range of personalities and they’re really lovely people, I’ve made some good friends and I’m really enjoying working with the Unreal Engine and making massive progress, some great leaps recently in installing the software onto the device and just seeing it in action blows your mind.

So, you’re enjoying using UDK?

Yeah, the software is really good, really intuitive. As a developer, using the tool that they’ve called Kismet, it really lets you visualise all the development that you’re doing.  Instead of seeing lines and lines of code, you get to actually see images on the screen of the actions you want the engine to take.

You’re working with the Fighting Fantasy IP, which book is your game going to be based on?

We’re making a sequel to the book The Citadel of Chaos. That’s basically a story which revolves around a mage who was sent to assassinate the evil Balthus Dire, who is attempting to get another Army of Chaos from another realm.

So there’s a lot of Might & Magic style things in the game.

Yeah, there will be a lot of spells and we want the player to rely more on the spells and strategy and only use their melee as a last resort.

How are you finding developing a first person game for IOS?

As far as I’m aware, there aren’t many first person games for IOS, so I think we’re really hoping to revolutionise the platform and get more hardcore gamers on iPad and on iPhone. But also we want to incorporate a mini-game so you can play on a casual commute if you’ve just got half an hour on the train so you will be able to hack and slash. But if you want to sit at home for a few hours you can play through the story and that mode will be quite immersive, we hope.

So, you’re essentially doing two games in one.

Yeah, we’re hoping to have two completely separate modes, one rough and ready that gets you into the game to kill as many enemies as possible to get the highest score that you can. And also, we’re hoping to have an engaging, in-depth story mode to keeping the player interested, wanting to know what happens next, where is the next twist coming from.

The team formed at the Train2Game and Epic Games Game Jam, how have you found the transition from that to working as a fully operating game development studio.

I’d say one of the major difficulties that we have is the distance between some of our team members. We have to rely mostly on communicating over the internet using Skype and Facebook, and we’ve got a pretty good program called SVN which we can use to share files. But apart from that, you wouldn’t really be able to tell that we’re not having that many face-to-face meetings. We’re gelling really well and the progress is coming along leaps and bounds.

And there’s still plenty of time to go before you take part in Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show, how do you think you’re going to find building the final stages at the big event where potentially thousands of people could be watching?

The pressure is going to be on, to have five days to build the game. Hopefully we’ll know exactly what we’re doing, the whole process has been a massive learning curve.

And finally, tell us the contact details for Derp Studios,  of your Facebook page and Twitter page.

We’re available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/derpstudios and on Twitter it’s www.twitter.com/derpstudios

Great Stuart, thanks for your time.

Thank you.

Keep up to date with the latest news from Make Something Unreal Live here on The Train2Game Blog.

Train2Game interview: Chris Ledger of Train2Game & Epic Games Make Something Unreal Live team Derp Studios

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Train2Game students are launching four new development studios in 2012 as part of ‘Make Something Unreal Live,’ a competitive process designed to accelerate their careers by giving them the tools and resources needed to release games for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this spring.

The studios are Commando Kiwi, Derp Studios, Digital Mage and Indigo Jam.

The first titles released by the studios will be based on the Fighting Fantasy series of books created by Ian Livingston and Steve Jackson.

We caught up with Derp Studios’ Chris Ledger to find out how the road to Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show has gone so far. Listen via Train2Game Radio or read it here on The Train2Game Blog.

Hi Chris, how did you come up with the name of your studio?

Well, we unnamed for our first few weeks, debating what to be called, and it turned out the most common phrase we were using was ‘Derp’ because we were making stupid mistakes and saying ‘Ah derp’ we ended up as Derp Studios from that.

How have you found working with the Fighting Fantasy IP, which particular book is your game going to be based on?

It’s based on The Citadel of Chaos, which is the second book in the Fighting Fantasy franchise. It’s been great fun to work with, we’ve had numerous playthroughs of it and we’ve bought some additional books to expand our knowledge about the lore of the franchise as well.

And how are you finding getting to grips with the Unreal Engine using UDK?

I really like UDK, it’s brilliant, absolutely fantastic. We had a few teething problems at the start with the mobile functions as it’s completely different to the PC version, almost. But we were gutted about the terrain, but we’ve worked our way around it by exporting an object and re-importing it, so we’ve overcome the teething problems and it’s going quite well at the moment.

How are you finding the work compared to pressured environment at the Train2Game and Epic Game Jam?

It’s probably equally as stressful sometimes, especially because of deadlines…and even though we’ve got more time to do things, our scope is a bit bigger than what we were doing at the game jam. I suppose it’s equally as stressful, but just as enjoyable.

What deadlines have you met recently, and what progress have you made with your game?

We’ve done our pre-Alpha, so we’ve compiled a small build with most of our mechanics in, just fine-tuning that. What we’ve been doing lately is mostly getting the character models out the way. We’ve done the majority of the levels that we’re planning to have in the game, and now it’s just the character models and adding the code to them.

Tell us about the genre of game you’re working on for Make Something Unreal Live.

It’s a first person RPG. I haven’t seen anything like it on IOS devices at all, I’ve seen first person shooters, but nothing that’s first person melee and magic based, so it should be quite eye opening and interesting to see when it’s fully done.

Does the game have a bit of a Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vibe to it then?

Yeah, we’ve obviously, often referenced Skyrim, Elder Scrolls and other famous first person melee games. We got a bit nervous at first as people might think it’s just a watered down version of Skyrim, but…they’ll love it!

And it fits in nicely with the Fighting Fantasy IP as well.

Yeah, we’ve taken extra care to fit it perfectly with the IP. Our game is in fact a sequel to The Citadel of Chaos game book.

Why is it a sequel rather than being based on the book itself?

Well, it’s based on the exact same settings, it’s just happening a week afterwards. In the game book, at the end, you kill the main bad guy, and we thought we could have a bit of a twist on it where events happen after his death, but it’s all related to him. So, it’s got a lot of twists that relate to the book.

How are you looking forward to going to The Gadget Show and making a game in that public setting?

I’m nervous and excited at the same time. Well, more excited. It’ll be great just to show off what our studio is doing. It’s eye opening for the public as well.

How can people who want to find out more about Derp Studios on Facebook and Twitter?

We’ve got a Facebook and a Twitter page. Facebook is www.facebook.com/derpstudios and Twitter is www.twitter.com/derpstudios

Great Chris, thanks for your time and good luck.

Thank you.

Keep up to date with the latest news from Make Something Unreal Live here on The Train2Game Blog.

Train2Game student industry experience diary: Matty Wyett-Simmonds weeks 14-19

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Train2Game student Matty Wyett-Simmonds is on a Train2Game work placement at DR Studios. In his latest industry experience diaries, he details what he’s been up at the Milton Keynes based game developer and talks a bit about being part of Make Something Unreal Live team Derp Studios.

Read what Matty has to say about his Train2Game work placement  here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game Scribd page.

Read previous updates from Matty here on The Train2Game Blog.

Train2Game news: Interviews with participants of the upcoming Make Somethingg Unreal Live contest at The Gadget Show Live

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Train2Game Radio recently interviewed a number of Train2Game students who are set to take part in Train2Game and Epic Games Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show Live between 11th-15th April.

Links to all of the interviews are below, and are divided into the different studios.

Digital Mage (Facebook/Twitter)

Craig Moore of Digital Mage speaking to Train2Game Radio

Laurence Kinane of Digital Mage speaking to Train2Game Radio.

Commando Kiwi (Facebook/Twitter)

Jonny Robinson of Commando Kiwi speaking to Train2Game Radio

Adam Sherratt of Commando Kiwi speaking to Train2Game Radio.

Derp Studios (Facebook/Twitter)

Chris Ledger of Derp Studios speaking to Train2Game Radio.

Stuart Moore of Derp Studios speaking to Train2Game Radio

IndigoJam (Facebook/Twitter)

Ben Stoneman of IndigoJam speaking to Train2Game Radio.

Daniel Rutter of IndigoJam speaking to Train2Game Radio.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news in the run up to Make Something Unreal Live.

Train2Game Students given access to Fighting Fantasy IP to create games for Make Something Unreal Live

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The Train2Game blog chats to the teams about working with the Fighting Fantasy IP for Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show Live, as the teams become studios in their own right.

The hottest new Indies in town: Commando Kiwi, Derp Studios, Digital Mage and Indigo Jam

With student teams beginning to perform as independent studios and working on a world-renowned IP, we caught up with the development teams to get a few choice words on the latest news and to get some more details on the games they are working on.

First on our list was Commando Kiwi.

Jonny Robinson, Commando Kiwi, said: “When we found out we’d be working on a game inspired by The Warlock of Firetop Mountain; we were all in shock, a few of us have read the book before so our minds were blown away with pure awesomeness! We’re working on a classic IP from legends in the game industry; Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.”

Next we caught up with Derp Studios to hear their thoughts on working on a Fighting Fantasy title and the genre of game they’re designing.  We also got the lowdown on what it’s like to work remotely when designing games.

Nigel Clark, Derp Studios, said: “Our game is a gripping first-person RPG, a sequel to the second Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Citadel of Chaos.  Strategically combined combat with both melee and magic will only get you so far.  The player must decide the best course of action.  A true test of “fight or flight” awaits our players.”

“To combat the distance factor, we’ve utilised tools within Facebook, Subversion (SVN) and contact points within Train2Game and Epic Games, along with Skype conferences to maintain good team communication. Working as a team is challenging in the first place.  However with your team spread throughout the country it’s even more of a challenge.”

Our next destination was Casa del Digital Mage, where we asked: What do you want to achieve with your game?

Craig Moore, Digital Mage, said: “Digital Mage hopes to help the player truly become engrossed within the battlefields of Allansia by providing ease of use and an intuitive control system enabling quick decisions to control an army as a general should!”

..and what do players have in store should they buy it?

“An exciting, diverse, and adventurous team is sculpting a mobile experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you coming back for more, with lush graphics and a sweeping soundtrack, Digital Mage is using every last trick in the book to make this the best mobile strategy game available on any platform.”

Lastly we caught up with Indigo Jam, where we asked: What have you been designing and can you get us excited about it?

Indigo Jam, Deathtrap Dungeon, Action Adventure

Ben Stoneman, Indigo Jam, said: “Indigo Jam studios brings the Deathtrap Dungeon title to life with gameplay featuring a dark tale set in Allansia that leads you to a Trail of Champions in the dark dungeon labyrinth of Fang, riddled with monsters and deadly traps and other unknown horrors. Countless adventurers have accepted the challenge but have never been seen again.”

Train2Game then went on to ask: How has the course helped you develop the skills to deliver what is such an imaginative game design?

“Indigo Jam is very lucky to have a good range of skills and abilities gained from the Train2Game courses complemented by the extra training for the UDK Game Jam in November. The team is getting along really well. They are confident in their own abilities, and have delivered at every stage of development.”

 With the energy and hype that the teams are creating, Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show Live can’t come soon enough.

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

Train2Game student studios Commando Kiwi, Derp Studios, Digital Mage and Indigo Jam launching 2012.

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Train2Game  students are launching four new development studios in 2012 as part of ‘Make Something Unreal Live,’ a competitive process designed to accelerate their careers by giving them the tools and resources needed to release games for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this spring.

The studios are Commando Kiwi, Derp Studios, Digital Mage and Indigo Jam.

The first titles released by the studios will be based on the Fighting Fantasy series of books created by Ian Livingston and Steve Jackson.

Train2Game and Epic Games have created the ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ competition where students are challenged to create their own studios and develop games for the iOS platform using Epic Games’ Unreal Development Kit. The winning studio will receive a full source, commercial Unreal Engine 3 licence for iOS as well as gain invaluable professional experience in the games industry.

As part of the competition process, students competed in the Train2Game and Epic Game Jam last November. The Game Jam had teams facing off against each other to create full games to a set deadline and to a professional brief. Continuing this process, students have created four new studios from their original teams to launch games at this year’s The Gadget Show Live.

At this huge event, they will reveal their new projects to the world, each finalising a full game for distribution. Key industry icons will be on hand to aid and advise with game designs as the studios compete to win a full Unreal Engine licence and a holiday to Aquacity in Slovakia, www.aquacity.sk.

“Train2Game courses aim to teach students how to work professionally in the games industry. Helping them launch their first studio gives them invaluable, hands on, in the field experience of what it’s like to create and distribute their own games.” said Train2Game Course Director Tony Bickley.

The games are being developed using Epic Games’ UDK, the free edition of the award-winning Unreal Engine 3, helping students gain experience with tools used by leading studios around the world. During the process, students have their work reviewed, critiqued and mentored by a series of Train2Game tutors, current industry leaders and game specialists.

The final games will be distributed globally on the App Store and launched at this year’s The Gadget Show Live, the premier consumer show taking place from April 10-15, 2012 in Birmingham.