Tag Archives: Game Design

Train2Game News: Craig Moore Student diaries: week 43

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Craig Moore

Student Diary

Week 43

So, I must apologise for the radio silence as of late. With the combination of the upcoming Game Jam, my heavy concentration on Train2Game coursework and a consistently frantic day at work, occasionally things will slip my mind.

I blame my age, since I am now the oh-so lofty age of 30! I collect my pension soon …

So last time I left you I was heavy in to UI work and really learning Unity and getting to grips with the tech. Not much has changed to be honest; there is simply so much UI work that needs to go into games of this type that it’s a lofty job for anyone. That being said it is coming along very well, elements of the game are fully implemented with just some polish required and it’s actually becoming a product!

I was able to get a build on my phone, which is one of my favourite moments, to see it actually on device and I was very pleased. Taking all I had learnt from my work on Sea Park and how I feel I have naturally grown; really shows. It has made a much cleaner UI and it just generally feels much more accomplished. Each little icon I have been doing has become a little art piece in its self, it makes me incredibly proud whenever I can see these little things and how they look in the game. It’s those moments that remind you why you are doing this in the first place and why you have made the decision to follow this path!

As the first submission draws ever closer there is no let down on the work that needs doing, as each task generally leads to more tasks it often balloons before it gets completed. I foresee a few late nights as we go forward but it should make for a much better game and something I am genuinely excited to play myself!.

Hopefully I should be back rolling with proper updates after this weekend’s Game Jam, without that on my plate and my recent submission of coursework for Train2Game I have a little extra free time so things won’t slip.

Until next time!

Craig

Train2Game News: Students talking about the Game Jam

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This is a video of students talking about Train2Game and the Game Jam from the weekend!

 

Train2Game News: Mid-week Round up

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Train2Game student Fiona Stewart has been featured in The Sun. She talks about how she moved from traditional art to digital art and how it has affected her life. The Sun also featured an article about Daniel Gent, a disabled student of Train2Game who uses a voice activated computer.

Microsoft are bringing Atari’s extensive back catalogue to tablets and browsers. The new portal is called Atari Arcade and it’s opening with eight titles: Asteroids, Combat, Centipede, Lunar Lander, Missile Command, Pong, Super Breakout and Yar’s Revenge. The rest of the games are set to be released over the next few months.

343 Industries and Microsoft are releasing eight different pre-order incentives for Halo 4. Depending on where you order the game from you get a different in game item. The in game items include: Different Armour sets, Avatar Items and multi-player Emblems.

Humble Bundle Six has been released. The Humble Bundles are great for picking up some of the top indie games whilst helping charity at the same time. You pay what you want for the bundle but need to pay a minimum amount to get the game Dustforce. Other games included are: Rochard, Shatter, S.P.A.Z, Torchlight and Vessel.

Sony are releasing two new thinner PlayStation 3s. These new consoles are 25% slimmer than the current models and one boasts a 500GB hard drive the other is a 12GB flash memory model but a 250GB hard drive will be available.

Sony are also launching PlayStation Mobile in October. It is a new store for games to be released for mobile devices. An SDK for the store will be released in November opening up a new market for games developers.

Nintendo has come to an agreement with Unity. Developers can use the engine to create games for the Wii U. Unity users will have to pay for a license to develop for the Wii U, just like with the other platforms.

EA will support the very first GaymerCon. The convention is for the LGBT community to come together through their love of gaming. Their website says its purpose is to educate and inform “the gaming community of the presence of sexuality in our digital lives and promoting acceptance and social change through gaming.”

Finally a big congratulations to the winning team at the weekends world record winning Game Jam. RetroMetro won with their game, Royal Rush. I hope you enjoy your prizes and I hope everyone who attended the Game Jam had an excellent time!

Train2Game students on top of the world

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THEY trained, they gamed and they conquered the world!

More than 295 students stayed awake for 48 hours over the weekend in a bid to create video games from scratch with a pledge from one of the world’s biggest software company, Microsoft, to publish them.

Microsoft has teamed up with the UK’s leading distance-learning college in an attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records with the biggest Games Jam held at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton.

Dr Jan Telensky, majority owner of Train2Game, said: “It’s a gruelling 48 hours for the students, most of them stay awake but if they need to sleep they catch a nap at their desks or even under them.

“But the dedication and determination they show at creating brand new and exciting games from nothing is impressive – they work as teams under tremendous pressure often with team-mates they’ve never met before. For a student it is an incredible experience they have and it stands them in good stead for getting jobs in the industry in the future.”

Microsoft came up with the theme for the Games – Pride of London after the success of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics in the UK.

The teams had a field-day creating games using cartoons of Boris Johnson, London buses and all sorts of iconic images from the capital.

As the gamers worked through the night local MPs Gavin Shuker and Kelvin Hopkins paid a visit.

Mr Hopkins said: “Going for a world record attempt in Luton, particularly when it is to do with the burgeoning games industry, it will really help to put the area on the map.”

Mr Shuker agreed with him saying that “Train2Game was making a major contribution in the battle to get Britain back to work.”

And work was the name of the game as the students huddled in classrooms and labs at the university to create their games which ultimately could be released as apps world-wide by Microsoft.

Craig Moore, aged 30, from Milton Keynes, a member of team 32, said: “This was a massive learning curve but we hit the floor running. It’s been a fantastic experience.”

Chris Ledger, in his mid-twenties, from Cheltenham, said: “I was getting texts from my family and girlfriend – and my mates – in the middle of the night, it was great to have their support. I’m a wreck now but it was all worth it.”

Microsoft representatives at the ‘jam’ were impressed by the dedication shown by the gamers. Scott Henson, Senior director of Microsoft studios said “These students are going to be the heart beat of the industry in a few years. Events like this are incredibly helpful for young developers to flex their creative muscles.”

Train2Game News: Students sleepless thoughts so far

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This is a round up of some of the thoughts, messages and quotes from the students at Train2Game Game Jam. As sleep deprivation sets in, anything could be said.

For example as I started writing this I heard an interesting conversation from Team 14 questioning “how a dinosaur can scratch himself if he has an itch.”

Neil Gorman of Team 33 said “The team is really jelling well for only meeting yesterday and they haven’t stopped laughing yet”

Chris Ledger of Team 3 said “The theme was a bit of a shocker. Its been a good laugh to work with though. I haven’t had much sleep but I am proud of myself as I did some good work in Blend and Visual Studios, being a designer that’s not my speciality. Getting texts from my friends, family and girlfriend is a massive support and keeps me going through the sleepless nights.”

Dan Rutter also of Team 3 said “We had a lot of ideas using the Pride Of London theme. Ideas such as Boris Johnson being a secret agent protecting the crown jewels were thrown around early on. Compared to last years Game Jam using UDK it is a bit of a challenge. This is the first 2D game I have ever worked on.”

Matty Wyett-Simmonds of Team 1 said in a very sleep deprived fashion “It’s been a good weekend. It’s been fun meeting new people to work with. The Microsoft lecture was interesting as we got to ask plenty of questions I am pretty sure my future assassin is here somewhere” It seems lack of sleep is definitely setting.

Dimitri Michael also of Team 1 said “Our game kicks ass!” He went on to solidify the point repeating how kick ass it was. It is probably worth mentioning he has only had a few hours sleep.

Craig Moore of Team 32 said “I have had a really good team. There have been a few stumbling blocks along the way. We are banking on some little bugs being fixed and we should have a really good game. There was a massive learning curve, but thanks to the help Train2Game have given us we were able to hit the floor running! Thanks Train2Game!”

Train2Game News: Mid-week Round up of game news

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This will be a mid-week round up of all the biggest news in the gaming industry. Depending on the reaction it gets this may become a weekly post.

Gearbox’s Borderlands 2 comes out next week and in the lead up to that they have released the skill trees for the different classes available in the game. This is a good chance to see how the characters are going to play out through the game.

Valve has released a list of the first ten games being released through Steams Greenlight initiative. Some of the games on the list are Black Mesa the Half-Life mod and Project Zomboid. A full list of the Greenlight approved games can be found here.

The Wii U is having its release date and recommended retail price announced tomorrow. At 8am Nintendo will announce in a special webcast on the official Nintendo Direct Page. The release date is rumoured for UK release date early December with a possible price of £190.

Double Fine studios have accidentally released there first mobile title ahead of schedule. Thanks to some quick thinking from lead designer Kee Chi and the team behind the studios first mobile exclusive, the release turned into an unplanned beta.

Sony is ready to display a new virtual reality headset at the Tokyo Game Show. This follows the news of the Occulus Rift kickstarter and Valves augmented reality headset plans being released. The Sony headset will have a full 360 degree experience with head tracking and a live camera.

The last and possibly biggest bit of news is that this Friday the Train2Game world record attempt sponsored by Microsoft begins. The 48 hour event will see students creating games in the time they have using Windows 8. It is always fun and is always a great learning experience.

Train2Game Student featured in Redhill and Reigate Life

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Train2Game Student Richard Scott-Jones has been featured in the Redhill and Reigate Life. Richard talks to the paper about attending the Game Jam world record attempt this weekend.

You can read the article here:
 http://www.redhillandreigatelife.co.uk/news/localnews/9920979.Redhill_games_industry_student_s_world_record_attempt/ 

I am looking forward to seeing you all there.

Train2Game News: Robert Boyd wants more opportunities for Xbox indie games

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Robert Boyd believes Xbox should help their indie market by allowing high rated games to break through to Xbox Live Arcade.

It can be difficult to become a developer for XBLA. Taking inspiration from Steams Greenlight, Robert Boyd of Zeboyd believes Microsoft could do more for indie developers.

In his opinion the Xbox Live Indie Games could be a proving ground for new titles, with the best among them being sent forward to be released on XBLA. Similar to Steams Greenlight community rating system.

Boyd said “I’d like to see XBLIG kind of merge into XBLA”

“Keep Indie Games free to everyone but if you have a really good game, you could submit it to Microsoft for it to be upgraded to an XBLA title. Right now, becoming an XBLA developer is fairly difficult for a small team, so reducing the barrier of entry to XBLA could only help Microsoft, I think.”

If Microsoft take this on board any student who decides to create their own game can be spurred on by the thought that if their game is successful it will reach an even bigger audience. That can only be good for everyone involved.

It can be very hard to stand out in the Indie market. Any developer who makes a good game that is enjoyed by players should be rewarded for it.

Train2Game News: Mojang’s building blocks of hope for UN

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Mojang is working with the UN to develop software that will involve young people in making changes in their home town

The new software, named Block By Block, uses the same principles as Mojangs Minecraft, giving young people a simple way to visualize the changes they want to make in the area where they live.

Minecraft building community Fyre UK has been enlisted to render the areas the project is interested in helping. Fyre UK is an English based community in Minecraft who make spectacular creations.

The three year partnership between the UN and Mojang starts with the renovation of Kibera in Nairobi. In those three years the hope is that they will improve hundreds of public spaces around the UN with the help of the young residents. It is not known which places will be using Block By Block as of yet. At this time we can only hope that the UK gets to benefit.

Mojang said “Block By Block aims to involve youth in the planning process in urban areas by giving them the opportunity to show planners and decision makers how they would like to see their cities in the future.”

“Minecraft has turned out to be the perfect tool to facilitate this process.”

“It has proven to be a great way to visualize urban planning ideas without necessarily having architectural training. The ideas presented by the citizens lay as a ground for political decisions.”

Mojang has already had some success with a similar programme called My Block in there native Sweden, allowing citizens to suggest changes for the towns they inhabit.

This is another example of how the software and hardware created in the games industry can do more than just entertain players, it can help around the world with ideas like this one.

Train2Game News: Games distributor Steam blows away Greenlight clutter

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Valve is introducing a cost to post games on to its new Greenlight initiative. Valve will donate all money made this way to the charity Child’s Play.

Greenlight is a service for indie developers to upload there games and the Steam community chooses which game they want to see released on the digital distribution service. Child’s Play is a children’s charity created to help young people in hospital, by providing them with games and toys.

Valve has had to implement this fee to dissuade pranksters uploading fake and unapproved games. There have been phoney write ups uploaded to Greenlight and there was controversy yesterday when Steam had to take down a sex game submitted by an amateur developer.

Greenlight went live a few days ago and already 700 titles have been uploaded, making it very difficult to find any hidden gems amongst the fake titles.

Valve said “There is unfortunately a significant amount of noise and clutter being submitted, either as a joke or by fans not fully understanding the purpose of Greenlight,”

“The proceeds will be donated to Child’s Play. We have no interest in making money from this, but we do need to cut down the noise in the system.”

There are mixed feelings to charging for this service. Some believe it defeats the idea of Greenlight but others believe it’s a necessary charge to clean up the service making it easier to find games submitted by serious developers and students.

With the implementation of the fee, which is under £65, it has deterred many of the pranksters.