Tag Archives: Ubisoft

Train2Game news: Designing games specifically for girls isn’t the way to encourage more into the industry says Jade Raymond

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Train2Game students are likely to be aware that the games industry is currently rather male dominated. And while that’s slowly changing – there are plenty of both male and female aspiring game developers on the Train2Game forum – some believe more needs to be done to redress the balance.

However, according to Ubisoft Toronto boss Jade Raymond, designing games with a female audience in mind isn’t the way to encourage girls into the industry. Rather, if games are good, people of both sexes will be interested in game development.

“It’s not a question of making games specifically for girls, you make a good game and it will be played regardless of gender. A good game is a good game.” she told Eurogamer.

“I come from a family of three girls and we would sit around and play tons of games for our NES. I mean, can you say that Super Mario Bros. 3 is made for girls or boys? No, it’s more about exposure.”

And Raymond says that exposure is changing, as more and more girls own consoles.

“The truth is that perhaps my sisters and I were the exception because we had a console. Now that’s not the case. Games are everywhere. Just as many girls have a Nintendo DS as boys do. That’s step one towards thinking about a career in games.”

“Because if you haven’t been experienced them growing up, then you don’t think that it might offer a career for you. That is changing.” she added.

The full interview is over on Eurogamer, and is a fascinating read.  You can also get some advice on getting into the industry from the Ubisoft Toronto head, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on Raymond’s comments? What do you think is the answer?

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

Train2Game news: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier creative director on the complexity of AI coding

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Coding AI is the most difficult part of developing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. That’s according to the game’s creative director Jean-Marc Geoffroy, who recently offered Train2Game students advice on getting into the industry.

“When we started to work on co-op the first main issue was AI.” he told Beefjack about the team focused Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

“And it was very simple, as you have a lot of shooters where the AI is player-centric, so the AI knows where the player is, but we were not able to do so because with four human players you don’t know what they are doing, especially as the levels are pretty open, so you don’t know.”

The details about coding will no doubt be of interest to those on the Train2Game game developer course.

Geoffroy said Ubisoft had to code the AI in a way that meant that it wouldn’t know if when looking at a four man squad, it was seeing a human or fellow AI player.

“What we have decided to do – and  really, what the most difficult challenge was – is that the AI will not know where the player is unless it sees the player, and will never know if the player is an AI teammate or human being.” said the Ubisoft Creative Director.

“It sounds stupid to say that but it’s a very, very important point. When your AI doesn’t know who is behind the ghost, it changes everything in terms of how you code, how you programme the AI.”

“So, the AI is basically reacting according to its own life, the situation, and the coordination between all the AI.” he added.

There’s much more about Ghost Recon: Future Soldier here on The Train2Game Blog, including this interview from Gamescom last year.

What are your thoughts on the complexity of the code for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier?

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: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier trailer showcases Kinect and mobile functionality

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Train2Game students can get a glimpse at how Ubisoft’s upcoming Ghost Recon: Future Soldier utilises Kinect and a mobile app in a new, somewhat tongue-in-cheek trailer. As previously reported by The Train2Game Blog, Ubisoft see a ‘bright future’ in Kinect.

The Gunsmith trailer shows off how you can build your own weapons using the Xbox 360’s Kinect functionality, or even a smartphone app when you’re away from the console. Watch it below, right here on The Train2Game Blog.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is currently in closed beta, with the game scheduled for full release for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on Friday 25th May, with a PC version arriving on Friday 15th June.

There’s more Ghost Recon news here on The Train2Game Blog, including our interview with the development team at last year’s Gamescom.

We recently spoke to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Creative Director Jean-Marc Geoffroy and Ubisoft IP development director Adrian Lacey about getting into the industry, with their advice to Train2Game students to be published soon.

What are your thoughts on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s Gunsmith trailer? And what do you think about both Kinect and mobile integration?

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

Train2Game news: Ghost Recon: Future soldier public developer Q&A at BAFTA next week

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Train2Game students have the opportunity to gain insights into the industry and development of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier at a special Q&A event at BAFTA next week.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Creative Director Jean-Marc Geoffroy, Ubisoft IP development director Adrian Lacey and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Alpha short film director François Alaux will all be speaking at the game developer Q&A. It takes place at BAFTA’s central London HQ on the evening of Tuesday 24th April.

The Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Q&A could potentially provide Train2Game students with the opportunity to get advice on getting into the industry from the Ubisoft team. Those Train2Game students interested in attending the BAFTA event can book their free student place here.

There’s more information about Game Developer Q&A on the BAFTA website.

The Train2Game Blog caught up with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier developers last year. In an extensive interview, Game Director Eric Couzian, Lead Game Designer Roman Campos Oriola and Associate Producer Thomas Leroux-Hugon told us about development of the game and offered advice on getting into the industry. Read it here on The Train2Game Blog.

Keep reading the Train2Game Blog for the latest news and events from BAFTA Games.

Will you attend the BAFTA event? What would you like to ask the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier development team?

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: “It’s time for our medium to grow up” says Ubisoft’s Jade Raymond

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Train2Game students will have become familiar with blockbusters such as Call of Duty or FIFA dominating sales charts, and comments on the Train2Game Facebook page find this to be a real shame when games with a deeper narrative don’t get the attention they deserve.

However, those with that opinion aren’t alone, as Ubisoft Toronto boss and Splinter Cell producer Jade Raymond believes its time game designers stopped relying on simple stories, and really started to explore narrative.

“I really do feel it’s time for our medium to grow up,” she told CVG in an extensive interview.

“I think we don’t need to make the equivalent to a Michael Bay flick in order to sell five million copies. I think things can be exciting, have meaning and hit important topics, and I’m not the only one that thinks that.”

Raymond pointed to film and TV having success with productions that have deeper narratives.

“I think every other entertainment medium or art form does manage to have commercial success and have the viewers or audience think or be inspired. Games, I think, have even more potential than that given that on top of the narrative side we do have all of the gameplay mechanics and we create rule sets from scratch which can have any kind of meaning embedded in them.” she said.

“It’s not easy to do that, because it requires breaking our recipe and trying to find new recipes, but I think it’s an important thing for us to strive for.” The Ubisoft Toronto boss added, referring to her time as Assassin’s Creed producer.

Jade Raymond has previously offered advice on getting into the games industry, which you can see right here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on Raymond’s comments? Do you think the games industry needs to grow up?

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

Train2Game news: Rayman Origins developer on benefits of ‘less is more’ game design

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Train2Game game designers should find Rayman Origins designer Chris McEntee’s discussion of Ubisofts ‘rational design’ interesting, as he explains how he believes its key to success in game design.

“Rational design is all about eliminating unnecessary information, making things inherently readable, understandable and apparent, introducing mechanics in an orderly and easily digestible fashion, and preserving the learning and difficulty curves of a game, known as macro flow.” McEntee told Gamasutra in a huge feature on game design.

“In principle, it is best to provide a player with significantly interesting and deep mechanics that are well explored and exploited through clever rationalized level design, rather than injecting the game full of one-shot gameplay mechanics to feign depth.”

The Rayman Origins designer added that when it comes to game design, keeping it simple with a less is more approach is a good philosophy to follow.

“We try, as designers, to overstuff our games with content, ideas and objectives because we think that makes it more clever or fun,” said McEntee.

“When we rationalize our game systems and keep things simple but deep, we can truly create a good and meaningful gameplay experience that is also efficient for the team and easy to troubleshoot through iterative play-testing.

“I feel that rationalization is one of the keys to success in the game design field.” he added

Train2Game students can read the full 8 page feature on game design over at Gamasutra.

What are your thoughts on the idea of less being more as a philosophy for game design?

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

Train2Game news: Ubisoft’s Jade Raymond offers advice on getting into the industry

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Train2Game students looking for advice about getting into the industry could do worse than listening to Ubisoft’s Jade Raymond. She was responsible for the development of Assassin’s Creed as a new IP and is now charge of the Splinter Cell brand in her role as managing director of Ubisoft Toronto.

In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Raymond offered useful advice to those looking to get into game development.

First of all, she says it’s important to know what your strengths are when it comes to game development.

“Be honest with yourself about what actually love doing. If you love art and you’re an artist and you’re doodling all the time don’t go into physics. Don’t try and be a bad programmer.” said Raymond.

“But we do have tonnes of jobs for great artists, or music, there’s so many different aspects, so many different specialties that are involved in making a game now almost anything you’re interested in you could focus on that and get a job in games.”

“So I think number one is be honest with yourself about what you actually like and what you’re actually good at and try and become that.” she added.

Of course, Train2Game offers four courses, all specialising in different areas of game development.

The Ubisoft Toronto Managing Director also suggested work placements, something that Train2Game also offers students, are a great way to get your foot in the door.

“And then the second part is to get internships and to really try and get real experience. Even if you’re working for free.” said Raymond.

“Game companies, it’s a big risk hiring someone who’s never worked anywhere before, so if you can work for them for free while you’re still a student and you don’t need or you’re used to not having much money then do that.  When I was young I hounded people, and obviously there’s a line between stalking… [laughs]”

She added that building up contacts and being persistent is key.

“But you know, build up your contacts, stay in touch, try and find out where you can work for free, where are they willing to take me for a couple of months, get some real experience and then you can put that on your CV, and often that company if you do a good job they’re going to hire you in a real role after.” Raymond said.

“And do that while you’re doing your studies so you’re not just doing the school side of it, you’ve got some real world experience.” she concluded.

Speaking of work placements, you can find out what various Train2Game students have achieved on them right here on The Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Jade Raymond’s advice on getting into the industry?

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

Train2Game news: Free-to-play Ghost Recon Online will be AAA quality say Ubisoft

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Train2Game students will be aware that some see free-to-play games as somewhat controversial, or perhaps not as well developed as AAA titles.

However, Ubisoft believe that their upcoming free-to-play title Ghost Recon Online will change these perceptions. Train2Game students can apply to be part of the beta test here.

“As a player, it’s difficult for me to accept that business models are relevant criteria to judge the quality of a video game.” Ubisoft’s Thomas Seris told [a]list.

“Some MMOs switched from a subscription to a free-to-play model, so it’s purely a perception issue. Because of this, Free is sometimes synonymous with low quality products, games that publishers cannot charge for.” he said

“The real question is to understand how the free-to-play model is impacting gameplay. The development philosophy behind Ghost Recon Online is to ensure payers are not given a specific advantage over players. This is great, because the game is all about competition, and it requires fairness. As a consequence, Ubisoft Singapore is focusing on providing players with a great AAA Ghost Recon game, regardless of the way it generates revenue.”

“We simply won’t hide from our free-to-play nature and this message will be prominent in our campaign.” Seris continued.

He added that Ghost Recon Online would get the same PR push as any other title in the series.

“We’re also looking forward to leveraging a franchise history made of various memorable extremely well-reviewed games. Ultimately, the promotional support behind the game, the quality of PR and advertising assets, or just simply the type of campaign behind Ghost Recon Online will definitely be on par with a AAA boxed product campaign.” said Seris.

The Train2Game Blog spoke to Ubisoft about their upcoming title Ghost Recon: Future Solder at GamesCom last year. Find out more about it here on The Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on Ghost Recon Online? Will it be able to match the experience of a AAA title? And what are your thoughts on free-to-play in general?

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

[Source: Industry Gamers]

Train2Game news: Your chance to join The Settlers Online open beta

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Train2Game students have the opportunity to join the open beta for Ubisoft’s The Settlers Online, a browser based free-to-play strategy game set in the Settlers Universe.

The Settlers Online combines the game design of The Settlers franchise with new features designed specifically for a web based browser game.

The English language version of The Settlers Online European beta is now open, and interested Train2Game students can sign up via the game’s official website.

The Settlers is a beloved, enduring franchise which strategy players from all over the world enjoy and it’s exciting to be able to offer those fans a new way to interact with the Settlers Universe,” said Publishing Director Thomas Paincon.

“The success of the free-to-play model is very encouraging and with the rollout of the English language European Open Beta beginning today, we are very optimistic about the future of the Settlers Brand.”

Beta testing is an excellent way for Train2Game students, especially those on the Games QA Tester course to practice their bug hunting skills. Not only that, but in an interview with the Train2Game blog, Trion Worlds Senior QA Tester Karl Tars said that beta testing is potentially a way to get into the industry.

The Train2Game Blog will be sure to keep you up to date with the latest beta testing opportunities.

So Train2Game, is The Settlers Online beta something you’ll be getting involved with?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on The Train2Game Forum.