Tag Archives: Game Design

Dark Souls contest could see Train2Game students get their names in game credits

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Train2Game Art & Animation students have the chance to see their work appear in the upcoming Dark Souls thanks to a competition from Namco Bandai.

They’re giving fans the opportunity to design a shield that’ll be included in Dark Souls following its release for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in October this year. It’s a great opportunity for Train2Game Art & Animation students to get their names into the credits of a Triple-A title.

To enter, interested Train2Game students need to ‘like’ the Dark Souls Facebook page then create a shield design using one of the three templates provided.

You have until 13th July to submit your designs after which the top ten will be decided by a week of voting from the community.  The top ten designs for each template will then be sent to game developers From Software who will pick the three winners for use in the game.

Of course, there’s nothing stopping any Train2Game student from entering the Dark Souls competition! But it’s probably something that’s more suited to the Train2Game Art & Animation students.

For more information about the Dark Souls design contest, see the the Dark Souls Facebook page. You can also ‘like’ the official Train2Game Facebook page.

Dark Souls is scheduled for release on 7th October for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

So Train2Game, will you enter the contest? Could you see such a competition as a way of trying to get into the game industry?

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

[Source: Dark Souls Facebook Page]

Pac-Man creator in warning against ‘easy games’

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PAC-MAN

The creator of Pac-Man believes Game Design in the industry today is more focused on quick, simple games than more substantial, memorable titles.

“When you look at games coming out today, it’s doubtful that any of us will be talking about them in ten years’ time,” Industry veteran Toru Iwatani said in a recent interview.

“We have to focus on making games that people will remember a decade from now, or else we’ll lose our audience, probably.”

He warned that social media titles in particular are becoming too easy to produce.

“You’ve had this flood of very simple games on the iPhone and social networks. They’re very ‘easy’ games, and by easy I mean easy to design and to pump out by the dozen,” he explained.

“I think more thought needs to go toward how games present themselves to the user, to how they can be made more fun.”

iPhone games are getting easier and easier to make, and as the Train2Game blog reported earlier this month, they can also be developed using an iPad app.

As Train2Game students will know, there’s a huge market for iPhone games, so it’s almost inevitable that some developers want to get simple games out there as quickly as possible.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Iwatani’s comments? Are developers trying to churn out simple games more regularly? Or will there always be room for deep, complex titles?

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

[Source: Game Career Guide via GamesIndustry.biz]

New GameSalad engine means no coding needed

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Train2Game Game Designers and Artist & Animators who want to practice their skills but lack coding knowledge (or access to a friendly Game Developer through the Train2Game forum) will be able to do so thanks to the new HTML 5 game engine.

The GameSalad tool allows games to be built using a drag and drop interface, with the resultant titles being exported in HTML 5 code.  It removes the barrier for developing games for both Ios and Android devices, with the results able to be displayed on most browsers.

GameSalad doesn’t offer support for Flash, despite being one of the most popular ways of playing games online today.

HTML 5 is “the next language of the web” said GameSalad CEO Steve Felter.

“We’re giving people the ability to play and share GameSalad games within a web browser – dramatically expanding both the reach of our developers’ games and their ability to create conversations and community around them,”

In other programming news, last month the Train2Game blog reported on the £15 Raspberry Pi mini computer which looks to revive the era of bedroom coding.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the HTML5 game engine? Is it something you’d use?

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

[Source: Develop]

Microsoft: Kinect becoming ‘super-responsive’

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As reported by the Train2Game blog, Microsoft gave Kinect a huge push during their E3 press conference, with developers getting better at using the technology.

Now  Kinect developers are starting to unlock “a whole bunch of new stuff” with their “super-responsive” titles. At least that’s according to Kinect’s Microsoft creative director, Kudo Tsunoda.

“I think the great thing about Kinect, and you saw so many new types of experience at the E3 keynote, is it’s all being down with the same hardware and development tools that have been available for a while – it’s just us as developers getting better at using the technology,” he said.

“You could see that in Kinect Star Wars: we’ve got the responsiveness down now where you could be blocking laser shots coming in with the lightsaber, which obviously needs to be very responsive to be able to do that.”

“It’s super-responsive, and that’s certainly unlocking a whole bunch of new stuff.” He added.

Microsoft has already stated that all first Xbox 360 titles will come with Kinect support in future, and you can find out more here on the Train2Game blog.

And as also previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Minecraft for the Xbox 360 will also come with Kinect support.

Only yesterday the Train2Game blog reported that while Peter Molyneux is a huge fan of Kinect, he believes the lack of buttons leads to interface control issues.

So Train2Game, how do you see Kinect technology developing? How much will it improve in future? And to what extent could it change Game Design as we know it?

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

[Source: CVG]

Molyneux: lack of buttons for Kinect causes problems

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Peter Molyneux has admitted that there are problems with motion control, in comments that may be well supported by Train2Game students.

“I’ll admit that Kinect has got some problems. As an input device it has some real problems.” He told Gaming Union.

“Without a thumb stick, navigation is a real problem. You haven’t got any buttons, so ordering the player to do something can be somewhat of a problem” he continued. It’s a fair point that Train2Game Game Designers may have thought of too.

“But what Kinect does have is a great sense of freedom and emotion. So that’s what we’ve tried to do with Fable: The Journey.It started about seven months ago when Microsoft came to us and said, ‘Look we want you to do a [Kinect] experience for the core gamers” Molyneux added.

“So we sat down and thought through the problems with that, and the first thing was figuring out how we can make Kinect more engaging, more engrossing, and more emotional than any control-based game or any Fable game has ever been before.”

Microsoft are very keen to push Kinect, and as reported by the Train2Game blog, the motion controller featured heavily in their E3 presentation. Earlier this month, the Train2Game blog also reported that Microsoft say all first party titles will come with Kinect support in future.

Train2Game students may also like to be reminded that earlier this year, Molyneux stated that up and coming game developers – which of course includes those currently on Train2Game courses – should get more support from the industry.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Molyneux’s comments about Kinect? Does it show that the traditional controller still has a lot to offer?

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

[Source: Gaming Union via Develop]

Train2Game Game Designer Justin French from St Albans speaks to Train2Game Radio

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In our latest interview, we speak to Audio Engineer and Train2Game Game Design student Justin French.

Train2Game Radio caught up with Justin to find out why he chose to study with Train2Game, how he’s finding the course and what he wants to achieve in a career in the games industry.

Listen at www.audioboo.fm/train2game. Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Zynga’s new game Empires & Allies gets 33 million players in three weeks

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Empires & Allies

In a big reminder to Train2Game students of how popular social games now are, Zynga’s latest title Empires & Allies has reached over 30 million users in less than 3 weeks.

According to AppData, Strategy game Empires & Allies gained 20 million of those players in the last week.

The game Zygna said has “more social features than any Zynga game” was released on at the beginning of June.

Empires & Allies is free-to-play, but like many other Zynga and social media games, players can spend money to help them progress faster.

For more information on Freemium games, their increasing popularity, and how this could be important for Train2Game students, see the Train2Game blog.

As the Train2Game blog reported earlier this year, a survey suggested that 70% of internet users play casual games. Social games are therefore potentially a lucrative market forTrain2Game students to be involved in.

Indeed, the Train2Game blog also reported that  Game Design  isthe most important aspect of a social game, and that Game Designers behind them much larger roles than those who help produce console titles.

In theory that means creating a social game could allow a Train2Game Game Designer more of an opportunity to flex their creative muscle.

Whatever your opinion of Facebook games, it’s hard to argue with such high user numbers, although there’s some way to go before reaching Cityville’s 100 million players.

As reported by the Train2Game blog in January, it’s previously been suggested that the social media gaming market will reach $1 billion this year.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the success of Empires & Allies? Would you develop Facebook games?

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

[Source: Gamasutra] 

Train2Game Game Developer Andrew Goodchild speaks to Train2Game Radio

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Andrew Goodchild is studying to become a Game Developer with Train2Game.  Train2Game Radio caught up with him to find out why he chose to study with Train2Game, how he’s finding the course and what he wants to achieve in a career in the games industry. Listen to the interview in full at www.audioboo.fm/train2game

Earlier this year, Andrew spoke to BBC Radio Suffolk about the Train2Game Game Jam.

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