Civilization II designer talks social media gaming

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Train2Game students are aware of the growing popularity, but that doesn’t mean hardcore games are going to go away.

That’s according to former Civilization II Lead Designer and Frontierville creator Brian Reynolds.

He doesn’t buy the idea that some gamers’ have that social media games are a bad thing, but rather he sees another change in the forever evolving games industry.

“I don’t think that traditional hardcore games are going to go away. I think they are going to keep making those. But it’s a consolidated industry and now there are only these several gigantic franchises,” he told Kotaku.

“I wouldn’t start a triple-A studio these days. Ten years ago, it almost felt like when we started Big Huge, ‘Wow, good thing we did it then because we never could have done it after that because the door was closing.’”

He also argues that he’s still using the same skills he used to produce other games, are being used to create the likes of Frontierville, and that he finds it to be fun.

“But it turns out that the skills we have are really valuable in social games and it’s actually really fun to design those games. First of all, I’m working on the forefront of a new thing. Second of all, I’m reaching (millions), tens of (millions) of players I could never have reached before.

And third, I really need my skills. It’s harder to design these games. We do the same things we did with strategy games: Design simple systems that interact in complex ways, but they have to be so much more accessible then they used to.”

It also seems that game developers have noticed the change and are looking to join in the production of social media games.

“I saw a big change in their attitude this year when FrontierVille came out, when CityVille came out,” he said. “I suddenly started getting letters from folks that said they wanted to work at Zynga.” He added.

BAFTA has seen the growing significance of social media gaming, with the games now getting their own category at the GAME Awards next month. Meanwhile, it’s been predicted that revenue from casual games will reach over $1 billion this year.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Reynolds comments? Do you agree that he’s obviously right when it comes to hardcore games? Are you surprised to see the developer of a classic game now working on a casual one?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum. You can also Tweet us on the Train2Game Twitter account.

[Source: Kotaku via VG247]

Train2Game, in association with DR Studios and the University of Bedfordshire, will be holding a Game Jam at the end of March. For more information, see the official Train2Game Game Jam website or the Train2Game Game Jam Facebook page. Alternatively, keep an eye on the Train2Game Game Jam Twitter account.

UPDATE: Portal 2 NOT PlayStation Move compatible.

Posted on February 17, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

UPDATE: Valve has told Eurogamer that Portal 2 won’t support PlayStation Move, giving a statement to Eurogamer which read: this quote was ‘lost in translation’ – Portal 2 does not include support for Sony’s motion controller.”

PlayStation 3 owning Train2Game students may be pleased to hear that their version of Portal 2 – with the game being one of the most anticipated of the year – will be PlayStation Move compatible.

The report comes from the German PlayStation Blog (and translated by Eurogamer) and it’s an excellent example of the innovative Game Design that Train2Game students may wish to implement in future.

Valve writer Chet Faliszek said it could be considered ‘compensation’ for PlayStation 3 owners not getting Left 4 Dead. He also hints at Valve’s strive for perfection when it comes to Game Design.

“We made a mistake back then and gave the Orange Box console versions to an external team. They did a good job, but didn’t quite achieve the same quality level that we have at Valve. Now everything happens in-house, we created a special console department just for that.”

“So the move to the PlayStation 3 comes late – we’re sorry for that. As a small compensation we have PS3-exclusive cloud saving, a free code for PC and complete PlayStation Move support.

“Look at it as a compensation for Left 4 Dead.”

The Valve Game Designer added: “Move is also a completely new experience for us, thus the system isn’t fully integrated yet.”

The news comes after Killzone 3 developers Guerrilla Games suggested most First Person Shooters will be played with motion control in a few years time. (Even if Train2Game forum users suggested they’d like to still be able to use control pads) The Killzone 3 Game Developer has also revealed that Valve’s Half-Life is one their biggest influences.

Portal 2 is set for release in April and comes with new features along with a robot companion voiced by Stephen Merchant. The PlayStation 3 edition of the game also comes with the PC version for free.

So Train2Game, do you think being PlayStation Move compatible is good for Portal? Will this innovation encourage you to buy the PlayStation 3 version? What other games would you like to see Move innovations in? And do you want to develop for motion controls in future?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively, tell us what you think via the Train2Game Twitter and Facebook pages.

[Source: CVG]

EA: Battlefield 3 will be game of the year. Do Train2Game students agree?

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 proved to be popular on the Train2Game forum, but EA believe Battlefield 3 could be even more popular. The publisher believes Battlefield 3 will be the best game released this year, but also admits it isn’t the current market leader.

“I’ve made no excuse for the reality that I want market leadership in the first-person shooter business.” EA CEO John Riccitiello said while speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference

“In many ways I feel that we created the first mass market first-person shooter with Medal of Honor and unfortunately with the transition to the PS3 era we lost that. We’re after it now.”

“There’s a great thing about an annual franchise, whether it’s us or our competition; when you’ve got that annual franchise it’s a meal ticket, it can generate a great deal of income.

“One of the problems with an annual franchise is you don’t take the time to reengineer the underlying codebase so that it’s as ‘next-generation’ as it can be,” he added.

“We think there’s a window of opportunity here. We’ve been investing for three years to build Battlefield 3. I think it will stand up as the best product in the industry this year… and we’re going dead at ’em.”

Of course, Battlefield’s biggest rival in the in the FPS Genre is a certain Call of Duty series. Black Ops was the UK’sbest selling game in 2010, compared to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 which was No. 10. Both of the franchises are nominated for Multiplayer and Use of Audio awards at the GAME British Academy Video Game Awards

Battlefield 3 is scheduled for release towards the end of the year and will feature a new engine and 64 person multiplayer on PC while consoles will support up to 24 players.

So Train2Game, do you think EA can make Battlefield 3 the best game of 2011? Will it be better than the next Call of Duty? Or do you believe that the best game of the year won’t be a first person shooter?

As usual, you can leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively you can let us know your thoughts via the Train2Game Facebook page, or the Train2Game Twitter account.

[Source: CVG]

Total War: Shogun 2 demo incoming

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Sega has announced that Total War: Shogun 2 – or Shogun 2: Total War as Train2Game blog readers may remember it was originally called – will get a demo and it’ll be available next week.

Train2Game students who are eager to try out the latest from The Creative Assembly can download it via Steam from Tuesday 22^nd February. The Total War: Shogun 2 will allow “all armchair samurai” to try out land battles on the new Campaign Map. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the new sea battles.

Train2Game blog readers can gain an excellent incite into the Development , Design and Art behind Total War: Shogun 2 in this write up of a preview session at last years’ Eurogamer Expo. Mike Simpson of The Creative Assembly offered an excellent insight to what went on in the development of the game so it really is worth reading.

You can also see the Total War: Shogun 2 story trailer here on the Train2Game blog. It just goes to show that no matter what the genre of a game is, there needs to be a Game Designer working on its background.

Total War: Shogun 2 is set for release on 15^th March, exclusively on the PC.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Total War: Shogun 2? Are you looking forward to the game? Do you think it’ll be the next step in the development of the strategy genre? And will you be downloading the demo?

Dragon Age gets live action web series

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

The narrative of video games is getting increasingly sophisticated – as Train2Game blog readers will have seen earlier this month – but intelligent Game Design rarely seems to transfer into films and television.

Train2Game students may therefore be hoping the latest game to cross the divide will do a much better job!

The USA Today reports that a Dragon Age mini-series, titled Dragon Age: Redemption, is in the works and is being written by actress and creator of popular web comedy series The Guild Felicia Day. She’ll also star as the main character of Tallis, an elven assassin who “fights dirty.”

The six episode series is set in Dragon Age: Origins’ Fereldon and will air later this year.

Long time Train2Game blog readers will know that we’ve been very appreciative of the narrative on Dragon Age: Origins before.

“Tallis is headstrong, she fights dirty, and she has a really sarcastic sense of humor,” said Day. “I wanted to bring a modern sensibility to a fantasy character in a fantasy world.”

The actress is also aware that game adaptations have a poor history, but as a fan of the Dragon Age series, Day remarked she didn’t want this to be repeated with Redemption.

“I am an organic gamer and I love games, and I particularly love this franchise. I put every single effort into making this something that gamers will be proud of. Even though we were constrained a lot as a Web series, none of the people who were involved took that as a constraint. They took that as a challenge.”

“They are going to take this a step above what we have seen on the Web before” She added.

Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuk praised the project: “We are really, really excited to work with people like her who have a passion and appreciation for the content and a really good history of quality. That’s who we want to work with.”

Dragon Age: Redemption was filmed over 12 days with Independence Day associate producer Peter Winther as director and Lost’s John Bartley as cinematographer.

Dragon Age 2 itself is set for release next month, but Train2Game students can not only get their hands on the game this weekend at Guardian Gamesblog Live, but also meet Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw. If you’re unable to attend, you can see Mike Laidlaw talk about Dragon Age 2 in this very interesting developer diary, as featured on the Train2Game blog last month.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Dragon Age: Redemption? Do you think the game will transfer well to a web TV series? Do you think Day has enough passion for the Dragon Age? Or are you already convinced that the show will let the game down?

[Source: USA Today]

Game Design student Robin Channon speaks to the Train2Game blog

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

The Train2Game blog recently spoke to Game Design student Robin Channon, and you can listen to the interview here on the Thoughts of Train2Game blog. If you don’t have access to audio, you can now read the interview instead. Just select the Scribd document below.

View this document on Scribd

Remember, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog or on the Train2Game forum. You can also let us know what you think through the Train2Game Twitter and Facebook pages.

Bioware: World of Warcaft is the “touchstone” of MMO design – Do you agree Train2Game?

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

World of Warcraft – which has many fans on the Train2Game forum – is the “touchstone” of Game Design for all MMOs. That’s the opinion of Bioware who are developing their own MMO in the form of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Bioware’s Greg Zeschuk hade the comments while speaking on a panel at the DICE summit in Las Vegas.

“It is a touchstone. It has established standards, it’s established how you play an MMO. Every MMO that comes out, I play and look at it. And if they break any of the WoW rules, in my book that’s pretty dumb,” said Zeschuk.

“If you have established standards, WoW established them.”

World of Warcraft certainly does have an established audience of over 12 million subscribers, many of whom rushed out to buy the Cataclysm expansion within its first month on sale.

The Bioware developer also told the audience that despite the rise of casual gaming, triple A titles were still viable and he pointed to World of Warcraft being the best example of this.

“Bigger does work. Big has worked and frankly, WoW is the biggest. On a pure revenue basis it’s probably the biggest game ever by a country mile. It generates so much revenue it’s an incredible international business unto itself. How do we compete with that? It’s an interesting challenge.

He continued. “In some ways they [Blizzard] cracked this market wide open. Obviously Star Wars is a very big licence and it’s something that when done right – and it’s something we did right with KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) years ago – it’s an incredible force multiplier on your efforts. We’ve added things so that anyone that plays it knows it’s a BioWare game.

“It’s not like we’re actually going out there to beat anyone, we’re going out to place. The audience will tell us if we have a place,”

Blizzard’s Mike Morhaim was also on the DICE summit panel and suggested that other good MMOs would be good for the genre as a whole.

“BioWare is a great developer and obviously Star Wars is a very strong licence. We think it’s good for the MMO genre for additional MMOs to come out that are actually fun and good to play,” he said.

“I don’t know that it serves the genre very well when MMOs come out and have all sorts of problems and players leave in frustration.

“Hopefully, new players will come in, experience it for the first time and find out that maybe they’re fans of the genre. If they get frustrated and leave maybe they won’t give the genre a try at all.

“So, do a good job” he told Bioware.

The Bioware Game Designers will be hoping they are doing a good job, with publisher EA recently stating Star Wars: The Old Republic will need 500,000 subscribers to be profitable.

So Train2Game, do you believe that World of Warcraft is the touchstone for MMOs? Can Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic come close to its standards? And do you agree that if one game is particularly good, it can encourage you to play others of the same genre?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum. You can also let us know what you think via Train2Game on Twitter.

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

Dragon Age II story developer diary

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Bioware has released another Dragon Age 2 Developer Diary which will be of particular interest to Train2Game Games Design Students.

This latest Dragon Age 2 Developer Diary mainly examines the character of Hawke, his (or her!) back story and how decisions made by the player will have consequences for the characters development.

The story of Hawke spans across many years and sees them escape The Blight of Dragon Age: Origins to eventually become the Champion of Kirkwall. But how does this work in just a single game? The Dragon Age 2 developers explain that the story is set within a story, with the tale being told by a character called Varric who knew Hawke. They also discuss how because it’s being told as the story of a legend, exaggerations will often occur!

The Dragon Age 2 writers also discuss romance in the game.

The Developer Diary is very interesting and it’s amazing to think that there are so many different dialogue options and outcomes depending on the choices the player makes.

Train2Game students can watch the Dragon Age 2 developer diary below.

If that isn’t enough information from Bioware about Dragon Age 2, Train2Game students can also check out this almost must watch developer diary from last month. There’s also an extended trailer available in this Train2Game blog post.

The information that’s been revealed about Dragon Age 2 so far seems to suggest that it’ll match or even beat the expert character development and story telling of the original game.

Train2Game students can pick up Dragon Age 2 when it’s released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on March 11^th.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the developer diary? Do you think the concept of telling a story over many years will work? Do you think focusing on a specific character – as opposed to creating your own in Dragon Age: Origins – is the way forward?

As usual, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

This Dragon Age 2 developer diary is a must watch for Train2Game students!

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Bioware has released a developer diary for Dragon Age 2 which should prove of interest to Train2Game students be they a games developer, games designer or games artist and animator, because it almost contains everything!

The developer diary not only features Executive Producer Mark Darrah, Art Director Matthew Goldman and Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw talking about the concepts and ideas behind Dragon Age 2, but it also features gameplay, concept models and even some nice looking animated videos. Train2Game artists will be especially interested in the latter!

The Dragon Age 2 developer diary begins with Executive Producer Mike Darrah stating that meetings about the game had begun in 2009 before Dragon Age: Origins had even been released. This cumulated in an impressive looking animated first build which the team say contains many of the elements that feature in the opening of Dragon Age 2.

The developers also say that there were ideas they had in these opening stages that in the end didn’t make the cut. For example, Art Director Matthew Goldman says he wanted protagonist Hawke to be a he lycanthrope that tasted his own blood and howled like a werewolf. Obviously, this idea hasn’t made it into Dragon Age 2!

The idea of cutting out more outlandish concepts from a game is something that games industry consultant Nicholas Lovell discussed during an interview with Train2Game.

Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw also talks us through one of the main changes for Dragon Age 2, where choices the player makes will have affects right away, rather than at the end of the game:

“Where Origins really shone by having this huge epilogue with thousands of variations based on the choices you made, we’ve instead moved that into the gameplay.”

“People you have interacted with at the beginning of the game are going to have their situations profoundly affected by their interactions with Hawke – your character. You re-interact with them. You see how that worked out. So we believe [this] be our most interactive game to date.”

The team also discuss how they’re aware that some of the changes they’ve made are big, but they believe that it will change Dragon Age 2 for the better.

Interested Train2Game students can watch the Dragon Age 2 developer diary below, courtesy of GameSpot UK.

If that isn’t enough Dragon Age 2 action for you Train2Game, you can check out the extended trailer in this Train2Game blog post from August.

Long time Train2Game blog readers will know that we’ve previously been massive advocates of Dragon Age: Origins, even going so far as to say that it’s a game that all Train2Game students should appreciate. The sheer open nature of the game means that the game designers needed to put a lot of effort into writing the different outcomes, while game developers and game artist and animators would have worked on parts of the game that the majority of players may not have even seen!

Dragon Age: Origins also ended up with a lot of game mods, and as Train2Game students will know modding can provide great practice when it comes to using your skills. Perhaps Dragon Age 2 will come with the same opportunities.

Dragon Age 2 is scheduled for release for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on March 11^th 2011.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the Dragon Age 2 developer diary? Does it provide you with a good insight into how producing a game as massive as Dragon Age 2 works? And what do you think about the changes that have been made to the game since Origins? Has the game perhaps been tailored to a console audience?

You can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

New creation tools revealed in the LittleBigPlanet 2 story trailer

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Train2Game Blogger Team

Sony revealed plenty during their GamesCom 2010 press conference, but the new LittleBigPlanet 2 trailer is something many Train2Game students will no doubt be interested in.

We’ve previously discussed how LittleBigPlanet 2 could be the Train2Game students dream, and the latest trailer only confirms this! The LittleBigPlanet 2 trailer, revealed to the world at GamesCom, shows just how many tools will be at LittleBigPlanet 2 players’ disposal when creating new levels and games.

The trailer starts with a peak at new story mode in LittleBigPlanet 2 which sees Sackboy playing the hero as “a negative force of evil stirs on the horizon” The LittleBigPlanet 2 trailer also revels some new creation tools including being able to ‘record’ your Sackboy’s movements for ‘actors’ to use in your own cut-scenes. You’ll also be able to set up your own cameras for use in your LittleBigPlanet 2 levels and cut-scenes.

In addition to this, the new LittleBigPlanet 2 trailer also reveals a music creation tool which will allow you to add your own compositions to your custom levels and games. LittleBigPlanet 2 looks like it’ll give Train2Game students the ultimate opportunity to be creative. You can watch the LittleBigPlanet 2 trailers from GamesCom below.

So Train2Game, what do you think about these new features in LittleBigPlanet 2? Are you even more tempted to invest time into the game when it arrives? Or would you rather spend time making your own games?

You can leave your thoughts about LittleBigPlanet 2 here or on the Train2Game forum.

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