Tag Archives: Train2Game Student Studio

Train2Game News: Audio editing Kickstarter

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eJayThere is a new interesting Kickstarter to support for an audio editing kit that you can use on your mobile phone.

This Kickstarter project is a perfect example of how Kickstarter can be utilised to get your project out to the masses and offer special rewards to those who invest. If you are thinking of using Kickstarter to fund your own game this is certainly a good template to work from.

The software, eJay Pure, is being developed by Wired Productions and it will be free for everyone to download and create your music, using preloaded samples. You can be a DJ from your own mobile.

You will get the full eJay experience from the first moment. If you enjoy what you create, you will be able to further your experience by purchasing additional features and buying many thousands of samples which will be constantly created.

eJay Pure is being developed from the ground up for touch screens so that the user interface is intuitive and the experience is fast and seamless.

Wired have been working on eJay Pure for 9 months, and have completed pre-production, technology tests, R&D, and have even started making some of the cutting edge samples that defined the eJay experience.

The reason the company has chosen Kickstarter is because they have spent months working on this project and are now moving to the final push.

The software could also be very helpful to Train2Game students who are looking to making music for their own games whilst on the move. This can be done on the train with headphones giving you more time to work on getting the core mechanics of the game when at a PC.

If you are thinking of using Kickstarter to fund your game then get in touch with the Train2Game PR Team through the Train2Game forum. You will be advised the best way to display your game on Kickstarter to get the most from the service.

If you want to find out more about this project and support the Kickstarter go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wiredproductions/ejay-pure

Train2Game News: Train2Game Radio talks to Shaun Steer

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me n zakI spoke to Train2Game student Shaun Steer last week. Shaun discussed with me how his career has progressed from being a Chef to the games industry and how he finds time to study whilst looking after five children.

You can listen to the interview here: http://audioboo.fm/boos/1274977-train2game-student-shaun-steer-talks-to-t2g-radio

Or read the transcript below:

My name is Shaun Steer, I’m doing the Game Designer course and the nearest town to me Ashford

Hi Shaun, how you doing mate?

Yeah not to bad, you?

I’m very well cheers mate. So what’s your story? What are the past experiences that have shaped your life?

Work wise, I’ve always been a chef. So it’s a bit of a drastic change to what I am doing now. I’ve been doing that since I was about 15 years old.

So why did you decide to change from being a chef?

Well a few years ago I had a few health issues which made me go out of main stream cooking and just take little jobs, in smaller kitchens. That was my chosen career path, pretty much, finished there. Last year I was getting fed up with where I was working and I just happened to come across a Train2Game advert. So I clicked on it, forgot about it, requested more information, a few more months down the line they contacted me and the rest is history. It’s all going really well at the moment, it’s all going very well.

Excellent, I understand that you’ve got quite a hectic family life as well?

Yeah, that’s one way to put it! Yeah I’ve got a house with five children to look after as well so that can take up a lot of your time.

Yeah it sounds like it! So how do you find the time to study with your five kids?

It’s a mystery to me as well! Sometimes I’ve actually got the little one you see there in my picture, little Zak, sometimes he’s just sitting on my lap while I’m studying away through the books and making the games. He was a tester for me actually on the Game Maker games I made.

That’s got to be quite good! Your own in house testers?

Oh yeah! He loved it, he loved the shooter and he is obsessed with Mario so when I did the platformer he was in his element.

I have seen you on the Train2Game forum and you get quite passionate about the course. Where did that passion come from?

I think it’s about gaming in general really. Well the first console I had was a SEGA Master System, way back when, what was it ’91 or something?

Yeah it was about that

I’ve had every console under the sun since then. So gaming has always been quite a passion. Well being able to learn how to put my input in on it, well it’s something I feel quite strongly about!

So it’s 2013 now Shaun so what objectives have you got in your course?

Well it’s funny you should mention that really. I’ve obviously been talking to quite a lot of people with in the course and we’ve just recently set up a student studio.

Oh really?

Yeah, we’ve started doing some concept work on a couple of game ideas already.

What’s the studio called?

The studio? We’ve named it Devils Ink Studios.

Very nice!

We’ve got a Facebook page up if anyone wants to click on it and like it for us! It will help get the word out.

What’s the address?

I think if you just search Devils Ink Studios and it will take you straight to the page.

Very nice so have you got a game in development at the minute or is it just ideas throwing around at the minute?

We are in concept stages at the minute. So we are just drawing up the concept documents and we’ve got some environments being drawn up and characters. We are just going to be writing the back story and everything like that well, today. We have been for the past few hours actually. There’s five of us at the moment but we will probably need more people to join the team so if anyone’s interested, just drop me a line! Just get in touch via our Facebook page, that’s Devils Ink Studios, thank you!

Well that’s perfect Shaun! I think that’s probably all we’ve got time for today so thank you very much for your time!

Excellent, thank you!

Train2Game News: Phil Cross of Microsoft talks to Train2Game Student Studios

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Phil CrossEarlier 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 News: Icey Monty visits Yippee! Entertainment

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Icey Monty and Yippee! EntertainmentThis week the guys at Icey Monty had the privilege of heading over to Yippee! Entertainment as part of a Train2Game scheme to connect students with established games makers.

Yippee! Entertainment are the creators of Chimpact, the monkey-swinging title which hit number one on the Windows Store. Veterans of the UK’s gaming industry, members of the Yippee! team have worked on games such as: FIFA, Mario Artist Paint Studio, The Simpsons and The Rugrats.

The Train2Game student studio, made up of Lee Sainsbury, Nick Walker and John Esslemont, were taken on the visit to get an insight into the Yippee! team’s experiences as a start-up studio, take a look behind the scenes at Chimpact, see the team’s latest project in development and be given advice on video game design and development.

The visit

Icey Monty sat down with Steve Ruddy, Technical Director at Yippee! Entertainment, to discuss the tech they use for their titles. The Icey Monty boys were blown away by some of the things they were shown, and it really gave them an insight into how professional studios develop tech to manage time scales and repetitive tasks, and how to use tech to really polish a game.

They then met with Kevin Green, Lead Artist at Yippee! Entertainment. Icey Monty then discussed the importance of documentation, how to decide on the best design to proceed with and how to go about creating an interesting and innovative GUI. They learnt a lot about how to make the correct design decisions and talked about making an overall enjoyable title.

Icey Monty, were asked to show a short demonstration of Tamarex, their first title for mobile which is yet to be released. It was well received by the Yippee! Team and they got some great feedback on how to improve the game.

It was a pleasure for Icey Monty to meet the Yippee! team and get to see how a professional studio operates, to see what top mobile developers are currently working on. The students are incredibly grateful and wanted to thank Yippee! for giving up their time.

Special thanks to Lorraine Starr, Commercial Director at Yippee! Entertainment, for additionally giving the team a tour of media city and making sure they were well looked after.