Earlier this month ,Phil Cross, audience marketing manager of Microsoft, held the first of a series of mentoring sessions with Train2Game student studios.
The session was recorded by Train2Game radio and you can listen to the podcast here: http://www.spreaker.com/user/train2game/train2game_radio_phil_cross_of_microsoft
You can read the transcript for the mentoring session below:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/130135616/Phil-Cross-Mentors-Train2Game-Students
Train2Game brings you more jobs this week from around the games industry. Good luck with any you apply for!
ART
| Job Title | Artist |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Art / Animation |
| Skills Required | Art / Animation |
| Location | Midlands |
| Job Description | Studio Overview
Hardlight is SEGA’s third UK based studio and is focused exclusively on creating high quality, innovative game experiences for mobile and handheld platforms. The Studio comprises small, agile teams working on new IP & well-known SEGA IP. Project durations are 5-10 months, building on the success of their first projects on iOS – Sonic Jump. The team follows an ethos of staying compact, agile and focused – combining talent from a variety of game genres and backgrounds, and welcomes applications from candidates of all levels of experience. Key Responsibilities
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Pluses
|
You can apply by going HERE.
DEVELOPER
| Job Title | Mobile Game Engineer |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Programming |
| Skills Required | Mobile / iOS / Android |
| Location | Midlands |
| Job Description | Studio Overview
Hardlight is SEGA’s third UK based studio and is focused exclusively on creating high quality, innovative game experiences for mobile handheld platforms. With their first project ‘Sonic Jump’ released on iOS in late October, their next projects are due through 2013. The team was founded with the ethos of staying compact, agile and focused – combining talent from a variety of game genres and backgrounds and working closely with SEGA R&D Studio to stay at the cutting edge of developments in technology, middleware and game experiences. Key Responsibilities
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Pluses
|
You can apply for the position HERE.
DESIGN
| Job Title | Level Designer |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Game Design |
| Skills Required | Game Design |
| Location | Midlands, UK, Midlands |
| Job Description | Level Designer
My client is looking for a talented Level Designer to join their team. Working as part of the design team the successful candidate will become a key member of a creative group looking to shape the next wave of exciting triple-A action titles. Requirements • Understanding of game design theory such as accessibility, pacing and balancing For more information please contact Simon Hope via email at: simon@aswift.com |
QA
Jagex Ltd, the UK’s leading independent Online Games Studio, is looking for a passionate Junior Software QA Tester to join our Web Systems team and assure the quality of company websites.
Working within our growing Software Testing Department, you will be responsible assisting our internal web developers with the creation of applications used by staff and our players. The focus of the testing team is to ensure the highest quality and timely delivery of projects. You will also be expected to provide constructive feedback throughout the development lifecycle.
We are looking for highly motivated team players with strong communication and high attention to detail, who have a professional and methodical approach to work.
Key Duties Include:
Essential Requirements:
Desirable Requirements:
You can apply HERE.
Train2Game student radio has gone LIVE! This service will play all the best Train2Game interviews around on a loop so you never miss anything good.
The schedule for the interviews the service plays is as follows:
Phil Cross Audience Marketing Manager at Microsoft UK Mentors Train2Game Students: Phil answers questions from students and explains how Train2Game students can gain many areas of on-going support free from Microsoft.
On BBC Oxford Mike Gamble from Epic advises Parents: Mike shares how parents can help youngsters wanting a career in the gaming industry.
BBC Radio Derby talks to Train2Game Student Daniel Gent: An inspirational interview with Daniel who following a car accident is now Quadriplegic, Daniel says if he can do a Train2Game course anyone can.
On Juice FM Mike Gamble from Epic advises Parents: Mike gives further advice to parents and would be students.
Steve Lindsay from the Princes’ Trust: shares how Train2Game often mirrors the aims of the Princes’ Trust with young people.
Train2Game Student Amy Methven from Scotland: explains how she has already started working with a student studio group.
Train2Game Student Dan Rutter explains: how Train2Game has given him the skills to become a published games studio and start his own games company with his wife.
Train2game student Gareth Brook shares: how an ex-Army communication technician has now joined a games studio.
Train2Game Student Neil Gorman details:how he has already gained work from Microsoft and further his Train2Game course has inspired him to now take a Masters Degree in games. Neil said of the course and the Train2game academic team “it’s been great, it’s been fantastic”.
Ken Gains from City and Guilds shares: how Train2Game works with City and Guilds.
Tune in via Train2Game Student Radio or more information via www.train2game.com
It’s the time of the week again for Train2Game to post some entry level jobs in the hope that it will help get you in to the games industry!
Art
| Job Title | 2D Flash Artist |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Art / Animation |
| Skills Required | Art / Animation |
| Location | South |
| Job Description | 2D Flash Artist
Stainless Games requires a 2D Flash artist with a wide range of skills at our studio on the South Coast of England to work on high-profile projects. We offer excellent conditions and a competitive package in a fun working environment. Role and responsibilities:
Skills Required:
Desirable:
|
You can apply by emailing : jobs@stainlessgames.com
Developer
| Job Title | Tools Programmer – Runescape MMO |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Programming |
| Skills Required | Tools |
| Location | Cambridge, UK & Europe |
| Job Description | Jagex Ltd, the UK’s leading independent online games studio, is looking for bright and passionate programmers who want to work with cutting edge technology to join our Tools Department. Joining the Jagex Technologies team, you would be developing new in-house tools to support our content development and graphics teams while also working with our code libraries, scripting language and game engine.
Key Duties Include:
Essential Requirements:
Desirable Requirements:
|
You can apply here.
Design
| Job Title | MMO Game Designer – Celtic Heroes – Groundbreaking MMORPG ! |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Game Design |
| Skills Required | Games Designer, Level Designer, Graduate Game Designer |
| Location | Glasgow |
| Job Description | The team behind ‘Celtic Heroes’ are looking for a creative MMO Game Designer to join their team.
As MMO Game Designer you will have the responsibility of designing and evolving the very experiences our players engage in. You must have massive passion in the MMORPG genre and fully understand the successful game mechanics and quest design that equally challenges and rewards the player. You must be a creative thinker with the ability to rationalise your ideas into practical game play experiences. You must be a strong communicator at ease working within a development team. A strong portfolio of game design examples in the same genre of ‘Celtic Heroes’ is a MUST! If you have the skills, qualifications, experience and a passion for playing our kind of games, we would love to hear from you. To APPLY direct online simply follow this link http://bit.ly/joinourclan Set in an exciting medieval Celtic world of combat, magic and mythology, ‘Celtic Heroes’ is a fully 3D MMORPG available for iPhone, iPod and iPad. Play as a customisable warrior, mage, rogue, ranger or druid. Gain powerful new weapons, armour and items as you explore the vast world of castles, dungeons and outdoor environments. Battle fearsome enemies and complete heroic quests! NOTE: Must be able to demonstrate eligibility and VALID WORKING VISA to work in the United Kingdom and be willing to relocate / commute to the Glasgow area |
QA
Role Summary:
NaturalMotion is looking for a tester to work on its upcoming mobile platform titles. This is a full time, contract position with an expected minimum duration of 3 months.
Daily duties will include testing and reporting issues discovered, working to use and improve test cases and working with small, project-based teams to ensure efficient testing throughout a project’s life.
While extensive testing experience is ideal, it is not strictly necessary and a little testing experience combined with enthusiasm and additional transferable skills is welcome and there will be a chance to learn and train with the testing team.
Testing will cover such areas as the user interface, menu items, inspecting the 3D assets for errors, gameplay, progression, and all other non-gameplay areas in addition to the game itself. Diligence and the ability to commit to repetitive tasks will be required in these roles.
Requirements:
– Excellent verbal and written English skills as you will be required to communicate with staff from all disciplines (both technical and non-technical) and to write clear bug reports.
– Self-motivation and enthusiasm.
– Diligence in conducting sometimes-repetitive tests and bug isolation.
– Ability to quickly learn new software tools.
– Knowledge of current generation games and hardware.
– Knowledge and use of mobile platforms (such as iOS and Android)
– Previous experience of software testing (including mobile and/or social games)
Desirable additional Skills/Experience:
– Experience of software testing on several different titles.
– Familiarity with testing on the iOS and Android platforms.
– Experience in using bug-tracking and test management tools.
– Experience testing in an Agile environment.
– Understanding of and design of Test Cases.
-Working knowledge of a programming or scripting language.
You can apply here.
NEW MOVIE TELLING THE STORY OF THE UK VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY LOOKING FOR SUPPORT ON KICKSTARTER!
A scientific curiosity that sparked a revolution
Filmmakers Anthony Caulfield & Nicola Caulfield have announced they have launched a new Kickstarter campaign to assist with the funding of a new two hour documentary movie that tells the story of the UK Video Games Industry, called ‘From Bedrooms to Billions’.
Last year they launched a highly successful campaign on crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise funds to start the filming, with their movie even being placed in the top 12 movie projects of the year by the US site, the only non-US film to do so out of thousands of entries.
‘From Bedrooms to Billions’ is a two hour feature length documentary film telling the remarkable, true story of the British Video Games Industry from 1979 to the present day and how the creativity and vision of a relatively small number of individuals allowed the UK to play a key, pioneering role in the shaping of the billion dollar video games industry, which today dominates the modern world’s entertainment landscape.
Featuring interviews with key contributors to the UK story in video game development, publishing and journalism from over the last 40 years, combined with compelling archive footage, ‘From Bedrooms to Billions’ is the first to attempt to bring this fascinating story together, starting in the late 70’s, spanning ‘Thatcher’s Britain’ of the 80’s and culminating in the dramatic shift of fortunes for the UK Video Games Industry by the late 90’s and beyond. The film celebrates the importance of this era and why it has become such a landmark period in the history of British invention, creativity and industry.
Producer, Anthony Caulfield said “From Bedrooms to Billions has been a very personal project for us since June 2008. Having completed many documentaries we have always wanted to document the rise of the British video games industry and the incredible story that went with it. What’s so fascinating is how the UK computer scene was originally nothing more than a scientific curiosity which snowballed into something so vast. As we started putting this film together we uncovered so many incredible personal stories, these people had to literally make up an industry as they went, some were very successful, but others were not so, however collectively we felt it a strong story that’s long overdue and should make a wonderful movie”.
Fellow Producer Nicola Caulfield said “This film will be a great piece of nostalgic entertainment that documents an important part of UK history. This era is so often overlooked and not known by young British talent looking to enter the games industry, as the vast majority of UK children, school leavers and even students believe that gaming originated mainly from the US and Japan and have little to no knowledge that a British games industry even once existed. It meant a great deal to us that last year enough people out there wanted to see this film made and backed our original funding campaign to begin filming. However as is common with many films financed via crowdfunding, money is now needed to complete post-production, to secure archive footage, stills, music usage and clearances. Without these crucial elements the film would simply be 2 hours of talking heads and not the true and lasting documentary movie experience that the subject matter deserves. So we hope people will rally and help us make a permanent record of this golden era in British Industry”
The ‘From Bedrooms to Billions’ project went live on Kickstarter on Monday 25th February and has just 60 days to reach its funding goal of £18,000.
To help with their cause as well as having the option to simply order a copy of the film on digital download, DVD and Blu-ray, some of the most famous UK Video Games makers and musicians have donated and signed various items that are being offered as funding perks.
The film’s trailer, as well as further information on the ‘From Bedrooms to Billions’ Kickstarter campaign, can be found at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1195082866/from-bedrooms-to-billions
You can also visit the film’s official website www.frombedroomstobillions.com or by emailing press at b2b@graciousfilms.com
Also the Facebook page for the film can be visited at http://www.facebook.com/pages/From-Bedrooms-to-Billions-History-of-UK-Video-Games-Industry-Movie/136306856397331
Twitter @FromBedrooms
Gracious Film’s own website can be found at www.graciousfilms.com
Train2Game Student studio and Make Something Unreal Live 2012 winners, Commando Kiwi, have released their first game on to the app store.
The game, Warlock of Firetop Mountain: Lost Chapters, was created by the students in their spare time for last years Make Something Unreal Live contest, held by Epic. The game was created using the UDK software and is based on the very first Fighting Fantasy novel, Warlock of Firetop Mountain which was written by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.
The studio, which consists of Cat Forsyth, Martyn Whittel, Tom Chipchase, Jonny Robinson, Ashley Taylor, Adam Sherratt, Aaron Reeve, Andrew Smallwood, Tom Constable and Ezekiel Morris, have been working on the game since the beginning of 2012.
The students won the competition after demonstrating their game to a number of industry professionals, including Peter Molyneux, Cliff Bleszinski and Jon Hare. The final descision was that of Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson who decided Commando Kiwi’s game best captured the essence of Fighting Fantasy.
The game is a third person action game which puts you in the shoes of the adventurer who is travelling through the deadly Firetop Mountain in search of the fabled treasure of the all-powerful Warlock. The game features enemies and locations from the classic book with a battle system based on the system from the book its self. The unique combat system based uses skill and luck combinations made famous by the series of novels in an intuitive Active Time Battle System.
The game is available for free to download now from the app store.
You can re-live the Commando Kiwi story in the video below:
It could be you! Realise your dream of creating the next big gaming character
Yippee! Entertainment launches competition to design a chimp to join Chuck’s family in Chimpact
Calling all: crayonists, felt tippers, doodlers, painters, artists, designers, games animation enthusiasts and children who like to draw on their parent’s walls. Yippee! Entertainment is launching a competition to design a character to feature in the Windows version of its on-going games series; Chimpact. Entries are required to create a chimp similar to those in the game and any level of artistic ability will be considered for the top prize.
The competition is open from the 25th February to the 12th April. The final judging decision will be made on the 3rd May. Entrants can be submitted in physical form in the UK or digitally; drawings, photos or any type of picture, will be accepted. Though in the US, only digital images can be submitted via the competition’s website.
The competition is open to all ages and backgrounds: enthusiasts, students, gamers, artists, children of any age and even grandparents, anyone in the UK and the US can enter. Winning entries will be chosen from both the UK and the US and will appear in respective versions of the game. The winners will be decided by the Yippee! Entertainment team and the judging criteria will include: Originality, Use of Colour and costume design.
The winning competition entries will be created by the Yippee Entertainment team and put into future versions of Chimpact on Windows 8 and Windows Phone via an update. The UK based winner will have the opportunity to visit the Yippee! Entertainment studio in Manchester, to see how the game is made and to meet the team.
Full details of the competition and submit your entry, here: www.chimpact.com/competition
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chimpact
Twitter: @chimpact_chuck
Chimpact is currently available on the Windows 8 store here
This is another great opportunity for Train2Game students who have a game idea and just want an excuse to get working on it! From now until 30 April, Microsoft will give you points towards a prize of your choice for every app you upload to the Windows Store.
Open to individuals who are eighteen years or over at the date of entry and who have the applicable UK Windows Store and/or Windows Phone Developer Account.
The programme is open for apps that are published between Monday 4th Feb 2013 to Tuesday 30th April 2013. App builders will have up to Sunday 19th May 2013 to claim points for their app(s) (see the “How Do I Claim My Points” section). The points must be redeemed for rewards by Tuesday 31st May 2013 (see the “Redeeming Points For Rewards” section).
Windows Store and Windows Phone apps published between Monday 4th Feb and Tuesday 30th April 2013 are eligible for the programme. Furthermore, in order to earn points for your app, it must certain requirements. Click here for full details.
To validate that you are using one of the Windows Azure Services, please provide your Windows Azure Subscription ID and Live ID so this can be verified when you are claiming your apps for points.
Any unused and remaining points earned in this reward programme that are not used before Friday 31st May cannot be carried forward to any future reward programmes and will, therefore, be lost. So, make sure you use your points before the programme finishes. App builders will have up to Sunday 14th April 2013 to claim points for their app(s). The points must be redeemed for rewards by Sunday 28th April 2013.
To ensure that your points are allocated effectively and efficiently, please ensure that you accurately input your Windows Store and/or Windows Phone developer details (publisher details, full name, and email according to the developer account).
Please note that processing time is not immediate and not in real time. Points will be awarded after 5-10 working days. We will do our best to turn this around as soon as possible. But please bear with us and only contact us if you have not received your points after 10 working days you have claimed your point online. As outlined before, you can help by ensuring your publisher name, for the Windows Store and/or Windows Phone details are correct.
There is no maximum in the number of points you can earn but all points earned must be redeemed by 31st May, and, there is a maximum number of points we have on offer for each point category. See below for the maximum of points we will allocate to each category.
| General Points for Apps | |
|---|---|
| Publish a Windows Store App | 50 Points Maximum of 60,000 points available across the whole rewards programme. |
| Publish a Windows Phone App | 25 Points Maximum of 12,500 points available across the whole rewards programme. |
| Bonus Points | |
|---|---|
| Your Windows Store or Phone App incorporate one or more Windows Azure Services | 25 Points Maximum of 12,500 points available across the whole rewards programme. |
| Your app Windows Store app is ported from Windows Phone or Windows Phone app is ported from Windows Store. | 25 Points Maximum of 12,500 bonus points available across the whole rewards programme for WP>W8. Maximum of 6,250 bonus points available across the whole rewards programme for W8>WP. |
You will receive your reward within 6 weeks of redeeming your points
Sorry, but this programme is available to residents in the UK only (Northern Ireland excluded).
Yes, join us on the UK App Builder LinkedIn group here http://linkd.in/ukw8apps.
Please email us on enquiries@my-rewards.com.
Train2Game is again bringing you jobs from all across the games industry in the hopes that you will take that all important first step in to the industry.
DEVELOPER
| Job Title | Tools Programmer – Runescape MMO |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Programming |
| Skills Required | Tools |
| Location | Cambridge, UK & Europe |
| Job Description | Jagex Ltd, the UK’s leading independent online games studio, is looking for bright and passionate programmers who want to work with cutting edge technology to join our Tools Department. Joining the Jagex Technologies team, you would be developing new in-house tools to support our content development and graphics teams while also working with our code libraries, scripting language and game engine.
Key Duties Include:
Essential Requirements:
Desirable Requirements:
You can apply, here. |
DESIGN
Jagex Ltd, the UK’s largest developer and publisher of online games, is looking for an exceptional individual to play a major role in shaping the world renowned RuneScape.
The successful candidate will be responsible for the UX design of key game features; guiding the production of their systems and content from original concept, to creation & prototyping, through final polish and community feedback.
This amazing opportunity to be a key contributor to a world class MMO from a successful and stable developer/publisher demands high levels of expertise, experience, passion and commitment.
Key Duties Include:
Essential Requirements:
You can apply, here.
ART
| Job Title | 2D Artist for Smartphone Games – London |
|---|---|
| Job Category | Art / Animation |
| Skills Required | 2D / Concept / Texture Artist |
| Location | Hammersmith, London, UK & Europe |
| Job Description | Capcom, Beeline is currently seeking a talented 2D graphic designer and animator to join our London studio. The successful candidate will work with the Lead Graphic Designer and Producer to design, create and animate graphical content for freemium social games.
Required Skills:
Desired Skills
Profile
Applicants must be able to start ASAP and will work from our studio in Hammersmith. Please send applications with your portfolio to jobs@capcom.com |
QA
| Job Title | QA Functional Tester |
|---|---|
| Job Category | QA / Localisation |
| Skills Required | QA Tester |
| Location | UK & Europe |
| Job Description | Pole To Win Europe Ltd. – Functional QA Testers wanted for video game testing! Pole To Win Europe Ltd. is looking for motivated and responsible people to join us as Functional QA Testers. Ideal candidates will have a very strong knowledge of video games, ranging from consoles, handheld consoles and mobile devices. The video games industry is a fast paced industry; the candidate should have knowledge of video games history, having experience on previous generation of hardware as well as understanding the current status of the industry and its future development. As a Functional QA Tester you will be responsible for finding bugs in the video game that you are testing. You will be making sure that all bugs that you find are written and tracked in a bug database, which the development team will receive and then fix the issues that are present. You will then have to verify that the fix has been successful in a new build, or sent the issue back to the developers in order to ensure the correct fix has been made. The Pole To Win group is a leading company in providing quality services to the games industry with over 18 years of experience. Our West London Studio opened in April 2012 and has been expanding ever since! This is an excellent opportunity to join our passionate team and pursue a career in the videogames industry with opportunities to move up within the company. The position is open to any person based in or around London. Contract will be based on the length of the projects. Required Skills
Preferred Skills
Due to the number of applications we are only able to contact candidates who have successfully passed on to the interview stage, thank you for your understanding You can apply by emailing info@poletowineurope.com |
I got the pleasure of talking to Terri Mardel last week about her work with Road Hog Games. She tells me about how her love of gaming grew from being a young child and the work she does with Road Hog.
You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1222192-train2game-student-terri-mardel-speaks-to-mark-on-t2g-radio
Or read the transcript below
Hello my name’s Terri Mardel, I’m on the Designer course and I’m from St Albans.
Hiya Terri, how you doing?
I’m OK thank you
Good! So what’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life to who you are now?
Well I have been a gamer since my Dad introduced me to games, say from about the age of 6. 5, 6, 7 maybe. I have very early memories of a sports game on a Spectrum which involved wiggling a joystick really fast. I think from there I’ve always played games. I had a Master System in my bedroom and I used to love playing Sonic and stuff like that, so I’d say it’s something I’ve grown up with and at the moment I work in Blockbuster so I’m constantly trying all the news games out and I’ve just loved games my whole life! Then a couple of years ago, I saw an advert in the paper about Train2Game and I was like “Yeah, why don’t I make games?”
Excellent! So you are quite a fan of the old classic games then?
Yeah, yeah as I say, I have very good memories of childhood, spent in my bedroom playing on Sonic and Alex Kidd and various other games like that!
So you’re now part of Road Hog Games, how did you get involved with that?
Well me, Gareth and Izzi all met at the Game Jam. I’d actually been talking to Gareth before hand, we met over the forums and stuff but the three of us met face to face at the Game Jam and we decided we work together so well that we were going to carry on afterwards and so its just grown from there really!
So What is it you do for Road Hog Games?
I’m the design director, that’s my official title, and basically myself and with Gareth’s input as well we basically design the games and come up with the story lines and all the attributes and features that we want to have. Then communicate that to Izzi the developer and Amy the artist and then it all comes together to make a game!
With Road Hog Games, you are working on Little Green Dude, what was the idea behind that?
It actually came out of wanting to make a game quick sharp and Gareth came up with the idea of doing like a Pong style game and then from there I suggested elements of other games that we could then bring in to make it more interesting, instead of just a single Pong game and its grown from there!
So it was quite a lot of influence from all those classic games you used to play then?
Yeah, yeah! There’s quite a few games I’ve designed through the course and for other things which are based on mechanics in games which I used to love as a kid.
So I know that Road Hog Games has input from an industry veteran, what’s it like working with him?
It’s really good! Just the wealth of experience and knowledge that he has and that he is willing to impart that on us, it’s just amazing!
You’re learning a lot from him then?
Yeah!
What is your greatest ambition in your personal career?
Wow, uh, one of several! I guess I’d like to create the next million dollar franchise, character and story behind it. I’d like Road Hog to take off and make something of ourselves that way. There’s tons of dreams!
Always good to dream big! Well I think that’s all we have time for today Terri, so thank you very much!
Ok then!
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