Tag Archives: Modding

Train2Game news – Valve: modding ‘a really good way’ to get noticed in the games industry

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Train2Game students should take up modding in order to help demonstrate that they’re ready to work in the games industry. That’s according to Valve Software’s Chet Faliszek who spoke to the Train2Game blog at The Eurogamer Expo.

“It’s a really good way for someone to get noticed because it shows that you’re able” he responded when asked about modding.

“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.”

Valve have a reputation of hiring modders, and as previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Team Fortress 2 regularly sees community created items added to the game.

As part of an interview that’ll shortly be published  on the Train2Game blog in full, the Valve writer added  that it’s important to just “make sure you’re doing something.”

“Do whatever you’re doing,” he said.  “Like we (at Valve) weren’t necessarily writing for games when Gabe (Newell) tapped us, but do whatever you do as well as you can and with a view as to what your eventual goal will be”

Faliszek’s comments echo those of id Software’s Tim Willits, who last month also told the Train2Game blog that modding is a great way to get into the industry. Willits himself started his career as a modder.

“Modding is a great way to get into the industry. Most of the key guys at ID come from the mod community – myself, Matt Hooper, Robert Duffy, Jan Paul Van Waveren – and we have numbers of other guys” said the RAGE Creative Director.

“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. 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” he added.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Faliszek’s advice? Do you mod? Would you like to take it up?

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

Train2Game students get option to use Epic’s UDK on Mac OS

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Train2Game students will be able to use Epic’s Unreal Development Kit on the Mac OS.

The new, completely free update, allows modders to use UDK to create game builds that can be released on both Apple and Windows systems. The latest update also includes support for Apple’s ios platform for smartphones and will be available this month.

According to Epic, using UDK for Mac is “virtually identical” to the Windows system. “Every UDK game’s potential user base has increased dramatically yet again.” the engine provider added.

However, those with ideas of only using UDK for Mac will be disappointed, the platform is only available to those who also have a Windows system.

As reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this year, Epic’s free UDK has been downloaded over 800,000 times and provides excellent game building and modding opportunities.

Of course, Train2Game students will have the opportunity to test their skills with UDK at the Train2Game and Epic Game Jam from 4th-6th November. To find out more visit the official Train2Game and Epic Game Jam website.

What are your thoughts on Epic’s UDK coming to Apple? Have you used the UDK? If so, how have you found it?

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

[Source: Train2Game]

Train2Game at Gamescom: Interview with RAGE Creative Director Tim Willits

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Train2Game  attended Gamescom from 17th August to 21st August.  During our time in Cologne we were fortunate enough to get hands on time with RAGE and speak to Creative Director Tim Willits.  

During our interview he discussed the ideas, design and development process behind RAGE. Willits also reveals how he got into the industry through modding, and suggests Train2Game students should do the same if they want to follow in his footsteps.

Read the interview with RAGE Creative Director Tim Willits below, or listen to it on via Train2Game Radio.

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

Train2Game news: FPS is the ‘best’ genre say id Software

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Many Train2Game students will be very familiar with Id Software; the game developer is arguably the father of the first person shooter with the likes of Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake and soon, RAGE, coming from the studio.

However, despite the amount of competition in an FPS market – with Call of Duty currently the most successful – Id Software still believe the genre still has a massive future.

“The FPS I feel is the very best genre because it places you, the game player into the experience like no other type of genre does.” creative director Tim Willits told Quakecon.

The comments from Id software echo those made by Irrational Games Ken Levine earlier this, as previously reported by the Train2Game blog.

“It’s one less barrier to the experience,” The Bioshock  creatorsaid on the subject of making games immersive through a first person view.

“It’s a strange thing to be in someone else’s shoes. It’s something we do very naturally as children, but it’s something that is much more difficult for adults. I think that games give us enough of a nudge in the right direction to have that childhood experience of play.”

While RAGE will be played from a first person perspective, Id Software’s title will feature driving and RPG elements, and Willits believes this is a positive step for the games industry.

“Even the word genre is a bit too constricting and I think that people should remove labels from games and let games just be games.” He said.

“I’ve always felt that the future is very bright for first person shooters. We have so many fans and there are so many different directions it could take that I believe that in itself, it’ll be around for years and that id software will be around for years too.” Willets added.

RAGE will be helped along by the fact that graphically, the games Art & Animation looks very good indeed, and as reported by the Train2Game blog this week, id Software believe that “graphics will always matter.”

RAGE could provide a great opportunity for Train2Game students, given that modding tools will be available for the PC version.

So Train2Game, do you think the FPS is the ‘best’ genre? Or is genre becoming an obsolete word?

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

[Source: CVG]

Train2Game student lesson for the future? id Software’s fans ‘sometimes drive them nuts’

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All Train2Game students are gamers, and they’ll all have different ideas about various games with some even voicing opinions on the Train2Game forum.

Of course, not all comments about games are positive with gamers demanding various things that for one reason or another won’t be in a particular game.

The upcoming RAGE from ID Software contains shooting, driving and RPG elements, but creative director Tim Willits believes that fans of the game will still find problems with it, things that they believe should be added.

“The worst thing is that everyone wants the kitchen sink and everything else too,” he told Xbox World 360 Magazine.

“For Rage, we’re doing all these things and yet people are like ‘Well I can’t blow up these boxes’, and I’m like ‘Are you serious? We have driving, racing and all these cool characters!’ ‘But in this other game I can blow up boxes’, and I’m like, ‘This other game doesn’t have any racing in it!’

“It’s crazy. Fans: I love them but sometimes they drive us nuts!” he concluded.

Train2Game students probably have criticised certain games, and they may even find fans demanding things from their own games in future!

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, RAGE will be released with mod tools potentially allowing the community to add the things they believe should be in the game.

As Train2Game students will know, modding is also a great potential path to a full-time role in the games industry.

Rage is scheduled for release on October 7th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC

So Train2Game, how important is fan input into game development? Would you accept it for your games?

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

[Source: CVG]

Train2Game students may have to wait for Skyrim mod tools

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Skyrim Dragon Fight screenshot

Train2Game students looking to get their hands on modding tools for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim may have to wait for a little while after the game is released.

“We put a big premium on our editor, which we then ship with the games,” Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard told Gamasutra.

“It’s going to come out again with Skyrim, the Creation Kit. So when it comes to content creation, we just have so much of it that we have to put a lot of development time into the tools, because the game is so big.

“We’re hoping [the Creation Kit] will be available as a download on launch day. I don’t know if I can promise day-one, but it will be very close.”

Skyrim looks extremely impressive indeed, and it’d be interesting to see what modders can do with the Creation Kit.

You can find out a little more about Skyrim here on the Train2Game blog

In an interview published on the Train2Game blog last month, Red Faction: Armageddon Lead Level Designer Jameson Durall said that modding is an excellent way for those with desires to get into the games industry to practice their skills.

Indeed, Valve, who was reported by the Train2Game blog will be releasing the Source SDK for free have a long history of supporting modders, and as many Train2Game students will know, the popular shooter Counter-Strike begun as a mod for the original Half-Life.

More recently, Valve have allowed Team Fortress 2 community developers a cut of the revenue made from the in-game items sold through digital transactions.

Some amazing games have been made by modders for various engines, who knows what they could come up with when using the Skyrim Creation Kit.

So Train2Game, is the Skyrim Creation Kit something that interests you? Or are you just looking forward to the game itself?

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

[Source: Gamasutra via VG247] 

Train2Game good news for modders! Source SDK will soon be free

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Exciting news for Train2Game modding enthusiasts! Valve has revealed that their Source Software Development Kit will be available to anyone for free.

The announcement comes following Valve stating that they were working on making the Source SDK ‘less painful to use, as reported by the Train2Game blog earlier this year.

Currently, you need to buy a Source based game such as Half-Life 2 in order to gain access to the mod tools, but it appears Team Fortress 2 going free-to-play last week has fundamentally changed this.

The news of the Source SDK becoming free first appeared on Reddit, after a mod tester known as Riley contacted Team Fortress 2 developer Robin Walker to ask if buying an in-game item would allow access to the tools. Walker replied with:

“Yep. That said, your email has triggered a process here that made us re-examine that, and we’re going to just go ahead and make the Source SDK freely available. Thanks for making us better!”

PC Gaming blog Rock, Paper Shotgun also contacted Walker to confirm the news, to which he replied:

“We are in the process of getting it all done. It’s a bit messy because we have multiple versions of the SDK, and there’s some dependencies we need to shake out. But yes, the gist of it is that we’re just going to go ahead and make the Source SDK freely available.”

So there’s good news for budding Train2Game game developers, you’ll now be able to access the Source modding tools for free!

Valve have a long history of supporting modders, and as many Train2Game students will know, the popular shooter Counter-Strike begun as a mod for the original Half-Life.

More recently, Valve have allowed Team Fortress 2 community developers a cut of the revenue made from the in-game items sold through digital transactions.

In an interview published on the Train2Game blog last month, Red Faction: Armageddon Lead Level Designer Jameson Durall said that modding is an excellent way for those with desires to get into the games industry to practice their skills.

So Train2Game, will you be using the Source SDK? Have you used it before? And does the  support Valve give mods inspire you?

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

[Source: Rock, Paper Shotgun]

Minecraft 1.7 patch to add “adventure” and modding to Train2Game forum user favourite

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The 1.7 patch for Train2Game forum user favourite Minecraft is named the adventure update in what appears to be a move towards adding goals to the cult indie game.

As previously reported by the Train2Game blog, Minecraft creator Notch suggested achievements might be introduced as a way of giving a narrative Game Design to the title. Writing on his blog, Notch says:

“We are working on Minecraft Beta 1.7, which I’m referring to as the “adventure update”. We’re keeping the details secret so people can get surprises. The idea with this update is to flesh out the game a bit, making it reward exploration and combat more.”

He also added that Mojang will be adding modding support to Minecraft in the near future.

“We’re starting the modding support on a small scale with 1.7. We’ll be giving the source code out to a very VERY small group of people before the release of 1.7. We’ll use those experiences to work out the final details, then we’ll get the modding api out as soon as possible after 1.7 has been released.”

As previously mentioned on the Train2Game blog, modding can potentially provide aspiring game developers with the hands on experience required to get into the games industry.

And in a recent Train2Game blog interview, Red Faction: Armageddon Lead Level Designer Jameson Durall also stressed the importance of modding for those who want to improve their skills.

If Minecraft modding becomes more widely available, it could be a dream for Train2Game students.

Notch also reveals the Xbox 360 and Xperia Play versions of Minecraft are both entirely new titles, which he’ll be working as a Game Designer on. He adds that he remains focused on the PC version of Minecraft.

For more information about Minecraft on the Xbox 360, see the Train2Game blog.

It’s worth remembering that despite still officially being in Beta, Minecraft has been downloaded over 2 million times.

So Train2Game, what do you want to see in the “adventure update”? Will it change the Game Design? And if given the opportunity, would you create Minecraft mods?

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

[Source:  The Word of Notch]

UK Charts: Duke Nukem Forever takes No.1

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After 14 years away, the King is back with Duke Nukem Forever taking top spot in the UK chart in its first week on sale.

As reported by the Tain2Game blog, Duke Nukem Forever finally went gold last month after all those years in development Hell. Interested Train2Game students can find out much more about the long game development process behind Duke Nukem Forever in the Train2Game blog report of a Q&A session with Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford.

The debut success of Duke Nukem Forever finally knocks long time No.1 LA. Noire from the top of the chart down to No.2, while another former No 1, as reported by the Train2Game blog, in the form of Zumba Fitness climbs one to No.3.

infamous 2 enters the chart at No. 4, and as reported by the Train2Game blog, it’s a game Train2Game students should take an interested in due to the user generated content tools available for creating levels.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, Dirt 3 and former No.1 Brink all drop places down to No.5, No.6 and No.7 respectively. New entry Red Faction: Armageddon  enters at No.8, with much more information about the game available in a Train2Game blog interview with Lead Level Designer Jameson Durall.

He also stressed the importance of modding and user generated content to those looking to get into the games industry.

The remainder of the top ten is made up of familiar titles with Call of Duty: Black Ops at No.9 and Portal 2 at No. 10.  FIFA 11 drops out the top ten to No. 11.

The UKIE Gfk Chart-Track All Formats Top 10 for the week ending 11th June 2011 is therefore as follows:

1. Duke Nukem Forever (2K Games)
2. LA Noire (Rockstar)
3. Zumba Fitness (505 Games)
4. inFamous 2 (Sony)
5. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney Interactive)
6. Dirt 3 (Codemasters)
7. Brink (Bethesada)
8. Red Faction: Armageddon (THQ)
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision)
10. Portal 2 (EA)

Releases this week include Child of Eden, Alice: Madness Retuns and Dungeon Siege III.

So Train2Game, is it a well deserved No.1 for Duke Nukem Forever? Is it just something that the game has been released? Have you tried the Infamous 2 level creator? And which game will be No.1 next week?

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

[Source: UKIE Games Charts©, compiled by GfK Chart-Track]

One for the Train2Game modders: id Software to release RAGE SDK

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RAGEAs the Train2Game blog reported last week, the popular Unreal Development kit passed 800,000 downloads. And soon a new set of modding tools will be available for Train2Game students to practice their skills with in the form of the Rage SDK.

Rage is the new FPS from ID Software that’s due for release later this year, and the studios  founder John Carmack’s ‘sense of sharing’ is the main reason for SDK’s inclusion.

John is still very active in open source,” id Software creative director and Rage developer Tim Willits told Gamasutra.

“We’re the only ones that release our source now to such an extensive level, and the PC version [of Rage] will have the SDK. All that stuff will be available.

“The spirit of [Carmack’s] sense of sharing and working with the community, that’s still pretty intact. I wouldn’t stress too much about it.”

id Software are the developers behind the classic Wolfenstein, Quake, and Doom series of games that Train2Game students will no doubt be familiar with.

Other prominent PC game modding tools include Valve’s Source SDK – which is as the Train2Game blog reported is being made ‘less painful’ to use – while a Starcraft II also provides modding tools. The Train2Game blog previously revealed that one Starcraft II modders work was so impressive; it brought about attention from game development studios.

Modding is certainly a way for Train2Game students to not only gain valuable experience building games, but it could potentially get their work noticed. In an interview with the Train2Game blog, Red Faction: Armageddon Lead Level Designer also stresses the importance of modding.

So Train2Game, would you want to work with the Rage SDK? What do you expect of the game? Are you looking forward to id Software’s next release?

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

[Source: Develop]