Tag Archives: Modding

Train2Game News: Mass Effect 3 producer praises benefits of modding for aspiring developers

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Train2Game students looking to show that they have that little bit of extra dedication in attempting to break into the games industry should be building and finishing mods.

That’s according to BioWare producer Michael Gamble, who is currently focusing on Mass Effect 3 DLC.

Speaking to the BioWare Blog, he said building a fully working mod shows potential employers that you can finish something that you’ve started.

“Work on a lot of mods and finish them. This shows that you have the rigor to complete something you have started, and gets you working in a team environment.” said Gamble.

“Developing mods will also show you what it’s like to pour your heart into a creative work, and to expect nothing in return!” he added.

The BioWare producer’s advice is almost identical to what id Software creative director Tim Willits has previously told The Train2Game Blog.

“What I suggest to people who want to get in the industry is find their favourite engine – Unreal, Source, it doesn’t matter, id tech – find whatever engine they like, what games they like to play, get the mod tools and make a mod.” he said.

“And make sure they complete it! Lots of times we have people who send resumes’ in with 20 half completed mods; we don’t want that, we want a handful of one’s that are actually done, and that’s really important.” Willits added.

There’s more advice from industry professionals right here on The Train2Game Blog, while be sure to keep reading for the latest news from BioWare.

What are your thoughts on the advice from BioWare producer Michael Gamble? Are you already following it?

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

Train2Game news: ‘Learn by making mistakes’ says Black Mesa mod project lead

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Train2Game Blog readers are likely to have seen one of our posts about the benefits of modding, but the benefit of building your own games or levels isn’t just that it’s good for your portfolio, you’ll also learn a lot while doing it.

That’s what happened for the guys behind Black Mesa, the much anticipated but rather delayed mod that’s bringing the original Half-Life into the source engine.  Project Lead Carlos Montero told Rock, Paper, Shotgun that, if anything, there are delays because the team are learning how to build a game, often by making then fixing mistakes.

“This hasn’t been about polish for polish’s sake; it’s been about learning all there is to know about how to make great games, and using it to make a great game. There aren’t any shortcuts there. We just had to learn by doing, by making mistakes, by screwing things up and starting them over again.”  said Montero.

“Sometimes along the way we have learned things that fundamentally changed our way of thinking, and sometimes we have gone back and fundamentally changed parts of the game to reflect that.”

The Black Mesa project lead added that, the team are very eager to release the game, but only when they’re totally happy that it’s good enough.

“So no, I don’t think it is tempting to over-polish at all. We are all eager to get the game out. We are dying to get this game out and show everyone what we’ve been working on, but we aren’t so eager that we would sacrifice our values and what we believe will make this game great. We aren’t going to put out something that isn’t good enough for us.” Montero said.

Read the full, fascinating, interview over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

In an interview with The Train2Game Blog, Valve’s own Chet Faliszek told us modding s a great way for aspiring game developers to  practice and show off their skills.

There’s more modding news on The Train2Game Blog, while the latest from Valve is here.

What are your thoughts on the comments from the Black Mesa project lead? Have you found modding to be a great learning experience? And are you looking forward to the mod eventually being released?

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

Train2Game news: Skyrim mods downloaded over 13.6 million times using Steam

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Train2Game News reported that in February, two million The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim had been downloaded since the release of Skyrim Worksop on Steam.

Now, Bethesda has announced Skyrim Steam mods have topped 13.6 million. Modding is a great way for Train2Game students to show off their skills, with Ubisoft’s Adrian Lacey last week telling us that the Ghost Recon team features a number of former modders.

The Train2Game Blog has previously shown you some of the stranger Skyrim mods, including ones that let you turn Dragons into My Little Pony or “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and a mod that turns Mudcrabs into Futurama’s Doctor Zoidberg.

If you want to get involved with the Skyrim modding scene, but are unsure where to start, can watch this helpful Skyrim Creation Kit tutorial video from Bethesda. You can also look at this thread on the Train2Game forum in which students are sharing their own Skyrim mods.

There’s much more about modding here on The Train2Game Blog,

Are you involved in the Skyrim modding scene?

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

Train2Game news: Mass Effect 3 Development Director’s advice on getting into the industry

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Mass Effect 3 will have Kinect support

Train2Game students looking for an extra advantage in getting that first job in the games industry should get involved with modding. That’s according to Mass Effect 3 Development Director Robin Mayne in an interview with the BioWare Blog.

“There are three avenues I can think of that are worth looking into: get involved with a modding community.” he said when asked how aspiring developers can get a foot in the door.

Modding is something that developers often emphasise as a great way to practice your skills, with Ubisoft’s Adrian Lacey last week telling The Train2Game Blog that the Ghost Recon team features a number of former modders.

Valve’s Chet Faliszek and id Software Creative Director Tim Willits are among those that have also spoke highly of modding when talking to The Train2Game Blog.

Mass Effect 3 Development Director Robin Mayne also told the BioWare Blog, that those aspiring to get in should make themselves familiar with the industry by reading specific websites and attending show.

“Check out the job listings at as many companies as you can and look for patterns in what skills are sought after. Find creative ways to obtain those skills.” he added.

There’s more advice from professional game developers on how to get into the industry, right here on the Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the advice?

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

Train2Game news: Portal 2 Perpetual Testing Initiative update to add level creation tools

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Train2Game students will soon be able to create and share their own Portal 2 level designs when Valve releases the free Perpetual Testing Initiative DLC next month.

The Perpetual Testing Initiative puzzle maker allows Portal 2 players to publish and download levels directly through Steam Workshop, where players can also rate the designs of others.

The free update comes to PC and Mac on Tuesday 8th May.

In an interview with The Train2Game Blog, Valve’s Chet Faliszek says modding or using community creation tools is a great way for aspiring game developers to show off their skills.

There’s more Portal 2 news right here on The Train2Game Blog.

So, will you be designing Portal 2 puzzles? And what are your thoughts on Valve releasing free content over a year after the game was released?

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

Train2Game news exclusive: Ubisoft senior figures offer advice on getting into the industry

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Train2Game News recently attended the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier game developer Q&A at BAFTA. While there, we were fortunate enough to grab a quick word with Creative Director Jean-Marc Geoffroy and Ubisoft Development Director Adrian Lacey.

They gave us some words of wisdom on how you can secure that first job in the games industry, first of all telling The Train2Game Blog that you need to know what specific area you want to go into.

“There are so many different jobs in the video games industry from coders to designers, to artists; there are so many different things it’s so important to know what you want to do. It’s not ‘I want to do video games,’ because that doesn’t exist.” said Geoffroy, who has over 18 years experience in the industry.

“So if you want to be a game designer it means you want to rules and mechanics, so study game design.” he continued.

“If you want to be an artist, you want to be a modeller, you need to know textures, shadows, 2D art. There’s so much stuff you need to know. Well, not to know, but what you like and what to push into.” said the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier boss.

Ubisoft development director Adrian Lacey added that the variety of platforms available now means aspiring game developers have different options available to them.

“Then push with that experience and from there and there are so many options. Plus I think all the different platforms of video games that are open to you give people ways that they can programme their own game or make their own app, then it’s a starting point.” he said.

Lacey also revealed that a number of Ghost Recon developers started out as modders, and building mods is a great way to show off your ability to a potential employer.

“On Ghost Recon, the amount of modders and stuff like that we ended up hiring. I remember, back in the day [Former Ubisoft designer] Christian Allen was a modder and he got hired because he was doing mods on the original Ghost Recon.” he said.

“We always look at what people are doing, people are making, so if you like to make your own things, it’s always something that’s interesting in the industry.” Lacey added.

Geoffrey added that it’s important for artists and coders to be able to show off their skills too.

“For an artist, making some cool 3D stuff, think about real-time, show that you are creative. Even when you are a coder be creative, because a good creative coder is amazing, like gold-dust!”

There’s much more about the development of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, in The Train2Game Blog interview with Ubisoft at last year’s Gamescom. You can read more advice from industry professionals about getting into the industry here.

What are your thoughts on the advice from Creative Director Jean-Marc Geoffroy and Ubisoft Development Director Adrian Lacey?

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

BAFTA’s public events and online resources bring you closer to the creative talent behind your favourite games, films, and TV shows. Find out more at www.bafta.org/newsletter,www.facebook.com/bafta or twitter.com/baftagames

Train2Game news: Dungeon Defenders map contest offers prizes of your creation in game and $1000

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Train2Game students have the opportunity to take part in a map contest from Dungeon Defenders developer Trendy Entertainment, which offers you the chance to see your creation become part of the game.

There’s also $1000 – around £620 – up for grabs for the winner, with second and third placed cash prizes also available. Trendy are encouraging “people of all experience” to enter the contest which provides Train2Game students with a perfect opportunity to showcase their skills.

The Dungeon Defenders development kit required to take part in the contest is downloadable on Steam for free, but you’ll also need a copy of the £9.99 full game. Full rules for the map design competition are available on the Trendy Entertainment forums, while this helpful guide will get you started designing maps.

The deadline for submissions is Thursday 21st June, so there’s plenty of time for Train2Game students new to Dungeon Defenders to get to grips with the development kit.

Modding and map creation is a great way for aspiring developers to practice building games,with Valve’s Chet Faliszek and id Sofware’s Tim Willits have both previously told The Train2Game Blog its a great way to showcase your skills to potential employers.

There’s much more about modding here on The Train2Game Blog.

So, will you enter the Dungeon Defenders contest?

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

Train2Game news: Community created Left4Dead 2 DLC Cold Stream almost ready

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Train2Game students might be interested to hear that Cold Stream the latest instalment of Left4Dead 2 DLC is almost ready for a full release.

The significant thing about Cold Stream is that it’s a community created campaign, the brainchild of a Left4Dead 2 player that started out as a personal project but is now almost ready to become part of the full game.

“Now that we have a solid version of the maps (some minor changes still coming), we are focused on the DLC and getting some pesky bugs out of the shipping version. As soon as we have a release date we will let you know.” read the Cold Stream update on the Left4Dead blog.

You can find out more about the community created map for Left4Dead 2 here on The Train2Game Blog.

Using community creation tools and modding aren’t only great ways for Train2Game students to practice their skills, but it can potentially provide a way into the industry. That’s what Valve’s Chet Faliszek, writer of Left4Dead, told The Train2Game Blog in an interview towards the end of last year.

“It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able” he said.

“Normally modders have to work as a team and that’s important, and they also have to be able to finish something and that’s really important. So those two things together are a really good way to demonstrate that you’re ready to work in the industry.” Faliszek added.

For all the latest news about modding, and how it can be a great benefit to you, keep reading The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on a community created campaign becoming an official part of Left4Dead 2?

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

Train2Game news: Mojang hire new developers from Minecraft community

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Train2Game students might be very interested to hear that Minecraft developer Mojang has hired some new employees, and all of them are from the in-game community.

The four new Mojang employees all come from Bukkit, a community modding group focused on improving Minecraft servers.

The team “will work on improving both the server and the client to offer better official support for larger servers and server modifications.” posted Minecraft lead developer Jens Bergensten on the Mojang blog.

“The plan is to build a fresh server API, and then extend it to support client-side modding. We will try to make it easy for bukkit users to convert if they wish to do so, but backwards compatibility is not guaranteed.

“We will, however, help bukkit to be compatible with 1.2, to avoid having a long gap while you wait for the official Minecraft server to catch up.” he said, before adding that the main reason for the hires is to make Minecraft better.

“We hope that this will help the quality of Minecraft multi-player to improve, both for large and private family servers, while still being able to add fun stuff for the bigger audience.”

It serves as a reminder to Train2Game students about the benefits of modding. You can remind you about that throughout the Train2Game Blog.

Keep keeping The Train2Game Blog, for the latest news from Mojang.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Mojang hiring from the Minecraft community?

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

[Source: Mojang]

Train2Game news: Over two million Skyrim mods downloaded since creation tools launched

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Train2Game Blog readers are likely to be aware that modding tools for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim were launched last week, and the Skyrim Workshop has proved to be very popular.

Over two million Skyrim mods were downloaded in the first three days the Bethesda Creation Kit was made available to the public, with more than 2,500 mods published on Steam by the community.

Train2Game students who want to get involved with the Skyrim modding scene, but are unsure where to start, can watch this helpful Skyrim Creation Kit tutorial video from Bethesda. You can also look at this thread on the Train2Game forum in which students are sharing their own Skyrim mods.

The Train2Game Blog has previously shown you some of the stranger Skyrim mods, including ones that let you turn Dragons into My Little Pony or “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and a mod that turns Mudcrabs into Futurama’s Doctor Zoidberg.

Meanwhile, Bethesda held their own internal game jam using the Creation Kit, you can see what possibly could be extra content for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim here.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news about modding and how it could benefit you.

If you’ve made a Skyrim mod, let us know!

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