Tag Archives: Epic Games

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 news: Unreal Engine 4 to be previewed at GDC

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The Samaritan Train2Game blog imageTrain2Game students are preparing to use Epic’s Unreal Engine for iOS to make games as part of Make Something Unreal Live at The Gadget Show but meanwhile, Epic are getting ready to show off Unreal Engine 4.

They’ll be previewing the next-gen technology behind closed doors to “select licensees, partners and prospective customers.” at GDC in San Francisco. The Game Developers Conference takes place March 5th to 9th.

It was earlier this month that The Train2Game Blog reported that Unreal Engine 4 would be shown off this year.

“People are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have,” said Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein.

It was at last year’s GDC that Epic Games first revealed the highly impressive Samaritan tech demo, which you can watch here on The Train2Game Blog. Earlier this month, it was revealed that the power of ten Xbox 360 consoles would be required to recreate the visuals.

For more about Epic Games, the Unreal Development Kit and that Samaritan tech demo,see The Train2Game Blog interview with Epic European Territory Manager Mike Gamble, who was speaking to us at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam.

What are your hopes for Unreal Engine 4?

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

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 news: Epic’s Samaritan tech demo needs power of ten Xbox 360s

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The Samaritan Train2Game blog imageTrain2Game students might be familiar with Epic Games Samaritan tech demo which showcases what it could be possible for games to look like in future.

If you need reminding about the impressive the Unreal Engine powered demo, watch it here on The Train2Game Blog.

The power needed to run the Samaritan? 2.5 teraFLOPS is what Develop Online reports Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney told a D.I.C.E. Summit audience. That’s ten times the power of the current Xbox 360 console, which operates at a maximum of 0.25 terraFLOPS.

The next generation of consoles is therefore going to have to provide a massive leap forward if they want to be able to run anything like Epic’s Samaritan tech demo in future.

We’ve no idea what specifications would be required for Unreal Engine 4 to run the demo, but at least we’ll get a hint as to what it’s capable of later this year.

“People are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have,” Epic Games Vice President Mark Rein said last week.

It’s reported that Unreal Engine 4 will arrive in 2014.

For more about Epic Games, the Unreal Development Kit and the Samaritan tech demo,see The Train2Game Blog interview with Epic European Territory Manager Mike Gamble, who was speaking to us at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam.

What are your thoughts on the power needed to run the Unreal Engine demo? How long do you think it’ll be before consoles are capable of that amount of power?

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

[Source: Develop]

Train2Game news: There are too many gaming platforms says Epic CEO Tim Sweeney

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Train2Game students may end up developing for only a small handful of gaming platforms if Epic CEO Tim Sweeney’s predictions come true.

Speaking at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, he said that consumers currently have a lot of choice about which platforms to play games on, but only three or four of these will “win” depending on the choices their producers make.

“This is too many platforms. We’re seeing now iPad sales have surpassed the sales of PCs. This is a real revelation, this is a product that wasn’t invented until a few years ago and its basically supplanting personal computers.” said Sweeney, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz.

“Over time these platforms will be whittled down to a competing set of platforms to maybe three winners worldwide across everything – computers, game platforms, smartphones… We should expect a lot of consolidation here and winners and losers according to who picks the right directions and executes successfully,” he said

And the Epic CEO pointed out that systems such as the iPad are only just starting to scrape the surface of their potential as a gaming platform.

“There are a lot of technical challenges. We’ve barely scratched the surface of the consumer implications, what we can do with an iPad or iPhone today is limited by our experience of our computers and history. When a whole new generation of kids is raised with these devices pervasively around us it’s going to lead to entirely new worlds.” said Sweeney, who believes the best days of the games industry are yet to come.

“I see a bright future for technology and its implications on games. The ability of game developers to exploit another thousand-fold increase in computing power on future generations of platforms. Some of it will be consoles, some of it PC and some of it tablets. The form factor we can’t predict, but the opportunity is there. Our industry’s brightest days are yet to come.” he added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the idea that there are too many platforms on the market? What do you think the future holds?

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

[Source: GI.biz]

Train2Game news: Epic Games provide CV writing advice in Develop feature

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Train2Game students who are already attempting to find work in a games industry should definitely check out Develop Online for advice from Epic Games on how to write the perfect CV.

The article sees Epic Games recruiter Tim Johnson give anyone job hunting in the games industry ten tips for an excellent CV. The tips, listed on Develop Online as part of a New Year, New Jobs feature, make excellent reading for Train2Game students who are keen to take that first step into the industry.

Epic’s tips for an excellent CV are as follows:

1. Use spell check.

2. Make sure that your CV is put into a universally accepted format (MS Word, PDF). Please don’t use a text editor to write your CV.

3. Clearly and concisely list your responsibilities; four or five bullet points are a lot easier to read than a paragraph of text.

4. Include links to work you have created or authored.

5. Make sure you include a link to samples or a portfolio on your resume.

6. Include both your phone number and e-mail address. Sometimes, a hiring manager or recruiter will actually want to call you.

7. Leave the fancy fonts and tables for your portfolio. A lot of companies store resumes in an applicant tracking system, so the more straightforward your resume is, the better.  In short, make it easy to read.

8. Include the companies you have worked for along with the title you have held at each company.

9. Make an effort to use industry standard key words to explain your job duties and responsibilities.

10. Use spell check. Yes, I said it twice, but a resume with misspelled words is a really bad way to make a good first impression.

They’re all important things Train2Game students should consider when compiling a CV!  Of course, as reported by the Train2Game blog, there are some Train2Game students who’ve already been fortunate enough to find work in the industry.

If that isn’t enough advice for you, Epic Games Cliff Bleszinski has also given his own unique guidance on how to stand out in the games industry, which you can see here on The Train2Game Blog.

Train2Game the Epic Games worked together to host the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam over the first week of November. The Train2Game Blog interviewed Epic’s European Territory Manager Mike Gamble at the Game Jam. You can also read his take on the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam on the Unreal Insider Blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the advice on writing a CV from Epic?

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

[Source: Develop Online]

Train2Game news: Epic President labels games business as “shockingly immature”

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Train2Game students have a great year for games in 2011, but while the games industry is very successful, the business behind it is still “shockingly immature.” That’s according to Epic Games President Mike Capps in an interview with GI.biz.

In the extensive piece, Capps argues that the games industry needs to share learning and experiences in order to continue to improve.

“Our games industry is shockingly immature from a business perspective, because so few folks have business experience before coming in, or an education for business,” he said.

“It’s awesome because it’s entrepreneurship gone right, that’s what our industry comes from, and that’s really exciting, but there’s not a lot of sharing, there’s not a lot of great game business ‘how to’ books, so we try to share and people listen to us, for some reason, and we try to learn as much as we can from everybody else and their mistakes. It just seemed like the right thing to do.” said Capps.

The Epic President said licensees of their Unreal Engine help each other, rather than only looking out for their own interests.

“There’s no reason, if you find a bug, you don’t go ‘ha ha ha, that’ll give us an edge on Splinter Cell!’” said Capps.

“Because it doesn’t at all and so you share it, because it’s one less thing that Epic has to find and fix and they can focus on something you care more about. And you share with the Mass Effect guys and they share with you.”

Of course, four Train2Game student teams, winners of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam will be attempting to win a UDK licence of their own when they compete at The Gadget Show Live next year.

Lots more about Epic Games and their Unreal Engine can be found in the Train2Game blog interview with Epic’s European Territory Manager Mike Gamble. Get more Epic Games news here on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, what do you make of the Epic President’s comments? Should games business work closer together for the benefit of the industry?

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

[Source: GI.biz]

Train2Game news: Devs need to be ‘surgical’ and ‘creative’ with next gen games – Bleszinski

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Train2Game students will see fewer Triple-A titles when the next generation of consoles arrives, and they’ll need to be developed in a surgical manner.  At least that’s according to Epic Games Cliff Bleszinski, who wants the next gen to have Avatar style visuals.

“The six-to-eight hour triple-A game might be going away, maybe there’s only three or four that come out a year, and those are the established brands.” he told OXM when asked about next gen hardware.

The Gears of War designer argued that the key for game developers to survive is to understand the market, both from a business and development point of view.

“The key is to bet on people who understand technology, but also understand creative and business. Too many games are made just because somebody says ‘A bullfighting game sounds cool!’ And you’re like ‘That would only play in Spain.’ said Bleszinski.

“People just get these random things they want to make, and other people throw money at them without looking at the business. We need not only to be creative but also to be surgical in terms of the games we make.” he added.

It isn’t the first time Bleszinski has commented on what’s needed to get by in the games industry. Indeed, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, he’s given advice on what games industry professionals should do to make a name for themselves.

And while Bleszinski has previously hinted he has knowledge of next-gen consoles, the Train2Game blog has previously reported that he believes there’s much more to come from the current crop. It looks like Triple-A titles still have some time left then!

What are your thoughts on Bleszinski’s comments? Are the days of huge Triple-A titles numbered? Will developers have to think more about the games they produce?

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

[Source: OXM]

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam student interview: Andrew Small

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Train2Game & Epic Games gave Train2Game student teams the opportunity to win one of four places at The Gadget Show Live 2012 and compete for the chance to walk away with a fully licence Unreal Development Kit.  

Train2Game student Andrew Small was one of those Train2Game students taking part. We had a quick chat with him during the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam to see how he was finding it.

Read it here, on Scribd,  or listen via Train2Game radio

Find out more the about Train2Game & Epic Game Jam over at Unreal Insider.

We’re here at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam on the final day, in the final stretch now, hows it all been going for you?

Yeah, pretty good. It’s been a bit of an up and down ride, we’ve hit so many walls and broke our way through, but we’ve not lost the original concept that we’ve got, and it’s great that we’re slowly getting there together and it’s the first time we’ve got to deal with something like this.

The theme of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam is Guy Fawkes, what were your thoughts on that when it was announced? And how did you deal with coming up with the game?

Everyone just went silent. We thought ‘What do we do?’ It does give you a lot of creativity, but you’ve just got to think outside box and I think that was the hardest thing, getting past the explosives and getting something innovative out of there.

What’s been the biggest challenge so far? Has it been the lack of sleep or something else?

Oh it’s definitely not the lack of sleep! The biggest challenge is making sure everything stays on track, because you’ve got so many components, everything is working on something different, everybody keeps going and it’s all got to come together at the end. One little problem stops the whole process so it’s just being organised I think.

The winners of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam get to ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ at The Gadget Show next year, if you won that, what would that mean to you.

It’d just be incredible. In this industry just getting yourself out there and noticed is the biggest bonus you can get, so that would be the dream come true.

Do you think being at the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam has helped you improved your chances of getting into the industry anyway?

Yeah, definitely. For most of us working from home, this is the first chance we’ve got to have a real test of our skills. Getting into that sort of environment, none of us have got any experience of it, so it’s been an amazing thing. You just get the hang of everything, you get used to the flow and you kind of get used to it is just a massive learning curve.

How positive has it been to be part of a team with other Train2Game students?

It’s been the best. We might have been lucky, we’ve got an amazing team, no one is negative about constructive criticism. It’s the biggest bonus, having your own idea and running with it, but you’ve got so many people with ideas, you’ve got to compromise, it brings the whole experience together.

So you’d recommend taking part in a Train2Game game jam to anyone?

Definitely. It was something that I wanted to do but wasn’t sure whether it would be right more me…but yeah, definitely. It’s a perfect example of the stuff you can do. You learn your character flaws, your weaknesses, your strengths, it’s such a development process, it’s brilliant.  

Thanks for your time.

For more information, go to www.train2game.com

Train2Game & Epic Game Jam interview: Train2Game Game Developer James Valaitis

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Train2Game & Epic Games gave Train2Game student teams the opportunity to win one of four places at The Gadget Show Live 2012 and compete for the chance to walk away with a fully licence Unreal Development Kit.  

Train2Game Game Development student James Valaitis (Jams JV on the Train2Game forum)was one of those Train2Game students taking part. We had a quick chat with him during the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam to see what they thought about the event.

Read it here on the Train2Game blog, on the Train2Game Scribd site, or listen via Train2Game radio.

We’re about midway through the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam, how are you finding it?

Well I’m actually really happy, you’ve caught me at my happiest because I’ve just finished the level I was working on, I’ve now scripted the whole level. We’ve basically broken our whole team up into three micro-teams, and ours has now finished our level and we’re polishing it up now. So I’m really happy with it all.

Are things going well for the team then? Has it all ran smoothly so far?

Yeah, the team is actually brilliant this time. This idea to split us up and group us up according to skill level and where we are with the course has worked really well and I’m really happy with my team.

Of course the prize at the end for the teams that win the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam is the chance to ‘Make Something Unreal Live’ at The Gadget Show. If you got to that stage what would to mean to you?  

I’ve always wanted to develop a game and be known as a really good games programmer. All I want to do is be one of the best and to then have a chance to show I am better than someone else, it’d make me feel amazing, it really would. I’d love it.

So have you been using the skills you already know from the Train2Game course, and have you learned anything new during the Game Jam?

UDK is fairly different to the C++ that I’m learning, but the course has actually helped me to learn the fundamentals of almost all programming languages, because now whenever I see a programming language, I’m thinking “Well, this is how this would work in C++” and I can always just relate it to something I do know, and it just gives me that fundamental knowledge that I can probably do it.

When the theme of the Train2Game & Epic Game Jam was announced, the theme is Guy Fawkes, what did you think about that and how did you go about coming up with an idea for a game?

Well it always seems to be the most random of things, but I guess it wasn’t so random considering we’re around the time of 5th November. I tried more outside the box and like everyone I researched Guy Fawkes and reading about this anonymous man who sent a letter to Lord Monteagle, it really appealed to me so we should base around this anonymous guy. Maybe Guy Fawkes found out that he’d betrayed him and had locked him up in a room, that’s basically what our game is about, it’s about challenge rooms and trying to get out. Almost like Portal but medieval I suppose.

Would you recommend it to others to take part in a Train2Game Game Jam?

No doubt, definitely.

Great, thanks for your time.

Thank you very much.

For more information go to www.train2game.com