Studio Small Jelly is a new London based studio which is working on Rocket Rumble. The independent studio is using Train2Game student Tabi Poulson to provide insight into the current market and research the potential audience for the game.

Rocket Rumble is a multi-player turn based card game set on rocket propelled ships. It’s a game with a hard-core mechanic at its heart which caters for the casual audience. Players can drop in and play games for minutes at a time but still get there hard-core gaming fix. The artwork was created to be accessible while also being on trend.

A great deal of passion has gone into the game. During testing the team often find themselves’ enjoying the game rather than testing its limits. The Small Jelly team are passionate games makers and hope the success of the game will let them create titles long into the future. The team plan to get Rocket Rumble into Beta at the end of the year.

The Small Jelly team spoke of Tabi’s contribution and how important it is as an Indie to have support. Resourcing as an indie is a challenge, but by working together they have overcome these challenges. Keeping control of the product and working with a great team has been the reward.

Train2Game students can help going into the future by joining the Beta and reaching out to the team to support.

An a full interview with the studio founders is below

What’s your history in the games industry and job history?

Ben: I started my career in the games industry in Vancouver Canada about 10 years ago. I’ve worked on everything from PC RTS to educational games for kids.

Vicky: I spent about half my career as AI programmer for PC and console, then later moved to mobile where I’ve mostly had lead roles.

Where does the name come from?

Small Jelly is really just our surnames Vicky Smalley and Ben Geliher. Vicky’s is easy to see but mine comes from a mispronunciation of my name that kinda stuck as the nickname ‘Jellyhair’.

What are you currently working on?

We’re making our first game, Rocket Rumble. It’s a multiplayer CCG set in space. It’s a bit like Hearthstone meets FTL.

How did you come up with the concept?

Both of us are gamers and have been all our lives. We’re at that point in life where we don’t have as much time to play games as we used to but we still want the same thrill of playing hardcore games.

Most casual games just aren’t exciting to play for gamers and hardcore games tend to need much more time commitment. We wanted to create games that scratched both itches – thrilling to play but easy to pick up and play in a 10 minute session.

The art is outstanding; can you tell us more about how it came together?

It’s mainly the work of our outstanding Art Director Graham Denney! I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for space games and they’ve been having resurgence recently but we knew we wanted to do space in a way that was fun and more accessible than the gunmetal greys and blacks you tend to get. When Graham came on board he got it straight away.

It’s a unique idea; would you say there’s a lot of passion in this game?

There’s a ton of passion in this game; you can’t work in the games industry without it. It helps that we all actually find the game really fun. Sometimes that can cause problems though. When we’re supposed to be testing a new build people are actually just trying to beat each other rather than properly test it.

What’s next for the game in its lifecycle?

We are still in development at the moment but we’re working towards a closed beta at the end of the year. It’s a multiplayer game so we want to get people playing it as soon as possible so we can learn what to do.

What have been the challenges in being an indie?

A lot of the business side of things is difficult. Bigger companies have a lot of specialist departments to sort out every little thing but as an indie you kinda just have to jump in and do it yourself. Everyone’s been great chipping in where they can to bridge the gaps.

What are the rewards?

Working on a game where you are in control is highly motivating. The team is also a big plus. Working with people that are not only amazingly talented but also great fun to work with.

How has Fitsy been helping out?

Fitsy has been amazing in helping us with market research and she’s going to help us going forward figuring out what players want from the game as we develop it.

What are your ambitions for the game?

Our hope is that it is successful enough that we can keep making games. We’re in this because we love what we do for a living and we hope we can create a business that can keep us doing what we love.

How can Train2Game students help you out?

Follow us on Twitter, read our dev blog at smalljelly.com and get involved with the game. As I mentioned, we want to release as early as we can and build a community who can help us make the game better as we build it so if any of your readers are interested in the closed beta then they should get in touch at hello@smalljelly.com.

Website: www.Smalljelly.com

Twitter @smalljellygames

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Read the Train2Game blog at www.train2game-news.co.uk Train2Game is a proud supporter of www.gamatier.com

Ben is a favourite of Train2Game and studied with T2G for a number of years, taking part in game jams is a strong part of the wider community. It’s always great to speak with this young man who has a passion for games and is extremely well driven. Since finishing with Train2Game he’s gone on to a career in games and we caught up with him to hear how he’s getting on.

Ben enjoyed Train2Game and it was a catalyst in his gaming career.  He found he learnt on the course but experience in making games and having good mentors are essential to developing as a games maker and therefore a career in the games industry. Taking part in Train2Game Game Jams taught him about the development process. He’s gone on to mentor at Game Jams and be part of the judging process. Ben still regularly attends game jams and sees it as essential to becoming a better game developer.

He now takes part in one game a month, a collective of games makers that share their projects in creating a title a month. Creating nice simple games and he encourages players to first make the first ever game: Pong.  He sees it as a way to train yourself as a developer which highly recommends. Through the experience he’s learnt a great deal and made a huge variety of games. He’s not going to release any games as yet as he is still aware that he is growing as a developer.

Ben works in the support team at Unity providing answers to any enquiry from any Unity user. He’s enjoying it a great deal, providing assistance by day and making games by night. He’s found that his skills as a rounded developer have continued to grow.

Ben Stoneman, Unity Support Team: ‘Train2Game is a catalyst in your game development career. However, I do believe that if you are not honing your skills without T2G’s help (in your personal/free time) then you will not make it in the industry. You need to want to do it, like an alcoholic wants to go to the pub.’

‘In my first T2G game jam, I learnt about the development process. Most of what I know now, the skills that make me a good game developer come from mentors and personal projects (make an inventory system that looks cool). The learning material helps only a small amount but having mentors is very important in life.’

‘I did go on to judge at a game jam, only a small game jam at “Insomnia” Games Festival. It was okay, but the fun was not in judging but in helping people with their Unity and general game development questions.’

‘One Game a Month, well it is exactly as it sounds. Starting from now, you begin making a game and the deadline is the last day of the month. The game does not need to be “call of duty” it can be as simple as pong, in fact I recommend that you make pong to start.’

‘After a year you will find that you have made 12 games and you have experience in making different games. It is a good way to train yourself. A body builder goes to the gym every week to get bigger muscles, a game developer makes a game every week/month to become better.’

‘I’m keeping to it. I never really show off the games as they are for my own personal learning. It’s taught me a lot. Through it I’ve made boss battles, memory games, inventory systems, quest logs, networking/multiplayer systems, graphical shaders, dialogue systems and so much more!’

‘I’m not currently looking to develop the games further, there are game ideas that I love and hold in my mind, but I’m not really looking to make a game to sell yet. Rovio (makers of angry birds) made over 40 games before angry birds, I’m getting my first 40 games done now and out of the way I would encourage Train2Game to help its students to achieve it!’

‘I am attending plenty of Game Jams. Game jams are the staple diet of any game developer. If you are not making games, then you are doing it wrong. Game jams are a really good way to practice; they prompt you by giving your ideas (the theme) and a deadline (T -48hours). It is surprisingly hard to give yourself a deadline in the same way.’

‘I work in the Support team at Unity. I’m currently a support specialist; I deal with any question that anyone wants to ask. I help users that do not pay for premium support with technical questions or other general questions. It is going great, I’m the happiest I’ve been. I get to help game developers all day and make and play games in my spare time.’

‘I’m learning all the time. I went from someone who could only design games to someone who can make games all by myself. It is easy to stop learning and just settle but if games are your passion then even if you are a billionaire, you would still make games. I feel like I can make any game that is presented to me. The key to this is not in knowing all the answers already but in knowing how to find the answers by myself when I need them.’

‘In the future I plan to progress in Unity and ensure that Unity stays strong and helps anyone who wants to make games. I also like to mentor and teach others C#, blender3d and the Unity editor itself.’

A Train2Game success story, Appatier is now working on its second major project of 2016. The small and diverse studio staffed by a group of friends is working on a new title.  But the studio can’t give out the details as it has been sworn to secrecy. The project is under NDA but they can say, it’s a mobile game…

According to John Esslemont MD of Appatier the project is going really well. They are working hard, there’s a great Producer onboard who’s giving them excellent leadership and direction. The nameless Producer has kept an eye on the team, helping them to overcome many obstacles.

This is by far the largest project the team has undertaken and they have learnt a great deal. Appatier is working to deadlines and milestones in the project. Overcoming bugs has been a key obstacle as has tinkering with the original code as the design changes.

They did not think they would get the project, it’s a huge step up for them and they are now working with professionals at the top tier of games development. John says the project was easy to staff as he chose friends that have a similar ethic to him.

The team has done some ludicrous hours to deliver what the client wants but learnt a great deal along the way. For John he’s learnt to be prepared and earnt even more respect for Designers. His advice for others is to ‘’work smarter’’ and to make sure you are spending time on the right things.

John Esslemont, Managing Director, Appatier: ‘The project is going really well at the moment three days away from a deadline which I only just realised but we are on track apart from one little bug. There have certainly been times where I think “Ok we have gone and messed up now”. But it has always turned out to be really good in the end. We have Stephen our producer to thank for that, the guy is so down to earth and understands development which from my previous experience is a hard thing to come by.’

‘I have learned so much I feel like I have forgotten more. The one thing I have learnt is to design everything before a single line of code gets written. We went ahead and carried on development after we passed a milestone, when we delivered it was not what the client wanted, so crunch time it was, 16 hours days became the norm, all the way through to 36 hour days and nights to make sure we got what they wanted done and we got it done fast. They trusted us to get something done so we made sure we delivered on it.’

‘It is actually awesome working with a Producer! He knows about development so it’s really good as he understands the hurdles you go through and little things that crop up. Not only that but when he found out we were working stupid hours he told us to stop and get rest he doesn’t want us getting ill. Now I have never had this before so that too me by surprise. He is so relaxed about stuff, you know when he wants something done by talking to him, Also the guy is like a mind reader he can just tell if you are thinking something or if something is up does it with Edd all the time haha.’

‘This is by far the biggest project I have even done, Financially, Professionally, and everything else in-between. When we put in our pitch I truly didn’t think we would get it, I mean we have the skills and experience we were not fazed by anything. But to go from freelancing to working with top tier people in games is a huge level up for all of us.’

‘It was easy to choose who to work with. I have worked with Domm for about 3 years, I knew he didn’t like his job and wanted to offer him something better so with us being mates it was a no brainer. I worked with Edd over the last year and his work ethic and attention to detail is insane! Not only that but a UI Artist, Designer, Web Developer, and musician all in one, is a no brainer.’

‘We have hit a fair share of problems while working on the game, infact I’m busy fixing one now. Essentially we wrote a system that would do what we needed it too at the time, but as the design changes we need to go back and change it to accommodate for the new changes.’

‘As for design, well let’s just say I now know what a designer does and I’m not into that! I help a lot with these things but it is so time consuming and you really need to break the idea down to will it work or not, do we think it is good or not, if not why if yes why. It’s all theoretical of course but the amount of work that goes into it I never even knew. So yeah respect to all game designers!’

‘Recommends for others, well with design just send a lot more to client and see what is said, have more meetings about things. One thing that the producer did say to us which we are still using right now is “Work Smarter”. If we need to know something and no one is say online or your waiting for a reply just do what you think until they are available. Do not leave it and go work on something else finish your task as best you can until you really cannot do any more on it then move on. Or if you are starting to get code block or your mind is fried take a break and go chill for a bit. A fresh mind is always better than a foggy one.’

‘What’s next? Well we need to finish this current deadline so we can move onto our server side stuff and social integrations.’

Train2Game student and former soldier, Daniel Smith (Smudge) has left the army to embark full time on his games making journey. He plans to use his unique insight into warfare to develop military strategy and RPG games.

The course is going very well for Dan. Train2Game has been very understanding, when he embarked on the course he was still serving. It was tough to balance getting through the course alongside the requirements of military training for the 28 year old.

Dan gained extensive experience and training in the army, he had many roles including; Sapper, Medic, Combat Engineer and Searcher. Dan served in Afghanistan 2011. Dan enjoyed the travel, camaraderie and the accomplishments during his time serving.

He’s since left the army to pursue life dreams as a games designer. He’s studying computer games design with Train2Game. He plans to use his army experience as inspiration for games.

Train2Game student, Daniel Smith: ‘I’m 28, from Newark (near Nottingham), although I have just moved to Preston. I’m studying the Computer Game Designers Course with Train2Game. It’s going well at the moment, but it was quite sporadic while I was in the Army. Sometimes I would be able to get into a good study pattern, other times there was a lot going on, from additional training, which can be long and intense, to exercises aboard and deployments. This meant I would have to spend a lot of effort catching up.’

‘I’ve just started Section 2 Part C. The experience has been very positive, they’ve been very understanding of my situation and have given me lots of support and advice. I’ve wanted to become a Game Designer for some time, before taking the course I had no idea what was required to become one, so taking the course to make sure I have all the skills and knowledge I need.’

‘I was a Sapper in the Royal Engineers, After completing Basic Training I was trained as a Combat Engineer, learning such skills as Water Supply, Field Fortifications and Demolitions. I then went on to being trained as an Electrician. I had many roles after I had finished my training, I was given the responsibility of looking after a store, and being trained as a Team Medic, I volunteered to be trained in EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) and further trained as a Searcher.’

‘I have a lot of positive memories from the Army. I’ve visited many places, like Petra in Jordan and Bosnia. I’ve been parachuting, white water rafting and scuba diving. But my best memories have to be with the friends I made and the (now legendary) things we all got up to. I’ve also achieved a lot, even completing some of the training courses were huge accomplishments. I served in Afghanistan in 2011 as a Searcher, which involved clearing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) routes and buildings.’

‘I’ve now left the military, Army life was starting to get in the way of where I wanted my life to go. I’ve always been interested in gaming. I prefer playing computer games over reading books or watching TV. I’m also an avid wargamer and have been since I was in my early teens. it seemed logical to start studying the subject.’

‘I have written a set of rules for a squad-sized tabletop game that draws from my army experience of firefights, being fast and chaotic events that can easily devolve into a confusing mess if not controlled well. I also have an idea for a war inspired game that involves the use of infantry tactics, as well having to manage what equipment you take with you on missions. I am a fan on RTS, TBS and RPGs games and would really enjoy creating games in there genres.’

‘I’ll predominantly draw from the fighting side of my time in the army for war-style games, but this sense of conflict and overcoming obstacles will translate to other genres, particularly RPGs. Soldiers also have a very unique sense of humour that will inevitably find its way into my games.’

‘I hope to work my way up to the position of Senior Designer and Lead Designer. I hope to create games that people will love to play and that will be looked on as classics.’

Muir who’s originally from the US now lives in Leeds with son and cat, has been with Train2Game for three years. At this stage coming to the end of the course and looking at City & Guilds qualifications.

Muir is volunteering with Atom Republic as a moderator, working on its Atom Universe social world, a project which is now available on PS4 and Steam.

Muir sees networking and working with professionals as a huge plus and has learnt a great deal from the experience. Now plans to use the experience to get into making games or as a foot in the door as a moderator or QA.

Train2Game student, Muir Halleron ‘I’m an American ex Pat and have been living in the UK for 15 years. Currently I live in Leeds, West Yorkshire with my teenage son Paul and our cat Felix. For the last 3 and a half years I’ve been studying T2Gs Computer programming and Game Design course.’

‘I’ve finished the programming part of the course and am on the last optional module that I’ve chosen (Design module D15 – Seeking Employment). In addition to this, I am currently working on the C&G diploma assignments. I’ve met lots of other students through my time on the course which is a huge positive. Another highlight is meeting some of the T2G staff a few years ago at a gaming convention in London.’

‘With only one month left of the six months extension I was given to do the C&G assignments, I am definitely feeling the pressure right now and have been all year. Out of the four assignments, I only have two of them complete, with another nearly done and the fourth about at the halfway mark.’

‘Working between 8 – 10 hours per day, 7 days a week, I should be able to get the last two remaining assignments working well enough to turn in on time though. I am 100% looking forward to finishing and will be taking at least a month off to unwind once it’s all done.’

‘Currently I’m working with Atom Republic as a volunteer forum moderator. Atom Republic is made up of a small team of developers and they are currently working on Atom Universe, a social world much like PS Home was before Sony retired it.’

‘So far, it’s been a good experience. I’ve worked with their Community Manager before, which is good, as it allows a bit more rapport. We know how the other works and have similar work ethics, which really help us to work together well.’

‘Through volunteering, I’m learning the different ways to manage the gaming community and how to develop and encourage a healthy community. The moderation team is larger than I’ve worked with previously, but I would say it’s just the right size, allowing everyone to get to know each other. ‘

‘Atom Republic is currently developing Atom Universe, as I said above. It is Free to Play and is currently available to the public on PS4 and Steam, where it’s in Early Access.’

‘As for personal projects, I have a few that I’d like to work on, but they’ve been put on hold until after I’ve completed the C&G assignments.’

‘I don’t think I’ll be applying for a job with Atom Republic, just because they live outside commuting distance from where I currently live. However, the experience will most likely serve me well when I do start applying for jobs around the Leeds area.’

‘Once I’ve finished the C&G assignments, my plan is to flesh out and improve on my knowledge and ability in C# and Unity as well as C++ and DirectX 11. I plan on doing this by designing and making a game or two in each language. These will then become a part of my portfolio, with which I hope to use to get a job in either the gaming industry or in a non gaming specific programming position, if any are available. If not, I should be able to get in on the ground floor so to speak in either QA or community management.’

Atom Republic, Atom Universe http://www.atomrepublic.com/AtomUniverse/

Two brothers based in West Midlands are looking to expand their studio and take on new volunteers to create games with them. They are using the studio to get hands on experience and want to offer others the same opportunity.

The team called SolarFlare are made up of Edward and his brother. Edward is studying with Train2Game, he’s had a positive experience with Train2Game and wants to get more students involved in studios. The Turrall’s created SolarFlare to release games in the UK on Android, and looking to take steps into Switzerland in the future.

The brothers are using SolarFlare as work experience in their games making journey and the door is open for more students to join them. They also want anyone who is interested in gaming to join up and experience is not necessary, new team members will learn on the job and thrown straight into a working company.

Edward Turrall, Train2Game student and SolarFlare founder, said: ‘My name is Edward James Turrall, 23 years young and live in the West Midlands.’

‘I did a course with Train2Game a few years back. It was the Arts and Animation course, however I did not finish that one and got transferred to the App Development course which I am still doing as we speak. Admittedly, I am taking longer than I thought I would as a lot of other things have come up since I started.’

‘Both the courses have been very informative for me and helped me gain more experience in each field. App Development and Art & Design. My experience with Train2Game was amazing and 100% positive, I would, in future, work together with them to get more Students involved in new Studios, existing Studios and more Student arranged Events.’

 ‘SolarFlare is a new start-up Studio that my brother and I have formed because we love making games and wanted to get into the Industry in the UK and Switzerland as we want to take the Gaming Industry over there.’

‘We founded the Studio in November 2015 with the aim to develop Android and iOS games at the beginning and then large scale multi-platform MMORPGS based in the distant (or near) future. Another aim that I have had for the UK Office was for Students to get the opportunity to work together with some professionals and gain experience, almost like work experience, just this won’t be anything like it.’

 ‘I myself aim to give Students a chance to be part of a large company without having to go through years of University or education. They will be able to join us (as long as they Study anything to do with games, art & design or App development) to hone on their skills, get experience and build an amazing Portfolio/CV for the future! Any students we like, could even be offered a starting position in the Studio and work themselves up the ladder.’

‘We are a family run business as it is my brother and I. We get along well, work gets done and we give the players what they want. Games have been a HUGE part of my life growing up, and have helped me through times where I had nothing else to do as a kid. They’ve given me a new sense of my imagination and inspired me to do a lot of things such as Photography, 3d Art and Design and more. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have done all of those things without games, but I certainly wouldn’t have been able to adjust my imagination in such a way without them.’

 ‘I want to help other people and show them that not everyone needs to go to school for years just to get a great job. I want to be able to pick a few students from a College, give them all a computer and an office to work in and give them 2 months to make a game. And then hopefully over them a job if they can pull that off. If not, I will give them a chance to change their lives and learn more than they could ever learn in a College or University as they would be working on real games, with real people and with real money involved. Sure the College/University Degree/Diploma will be needed at some point, but I hope to be able to work together with Train2Game so that they could work towards that degree while working for us at SolarFlare Studios.’

‘At the moment we only develop for the Android market place as we do not have the funds available to release onto iOS devices. But we plan on working that out in the near future and then develop iOS games as well as Android games. I can’t tell you much about the latest project as it is still on the drawing board, however I can tell you guys about the game already released.’

‘The game we already released on the Android Market is called Count Rockoola and features a Rock that happens to be a Vampire. You adventure as this rock, collect Blood as the Score, Premium Garlic as the “Coins” in the game and avoid the normal Garlics as they will, as you are a Vampire, hurt you and then kill you if you happen to find too many of them (5). The project itself is still in its infant stages but I am bringing out new updates soon to fix a few issues we’ve been having. Crashing issues, Sound issues, Sprite issues, etc. The other things I am also working on are procedurally generated Levels as I do not have any Level Designers that could help me make any at this point.’

‘We are looking for new people!! However, you cannot really call them “employees” as they will not be getting paid as of yet. But in the near future, if we make enough games and enough people download them & buy in game currencies, they will be paid per Level they make.

For example; You make 1 Level for a game that’s got 500,000+ Downloads, if 50% out of those 500,000+ people buy currency, you will be paid. Depending on the length of the Level you made, you will be paid around £1 – £50. It all varies on your experience as well.’

‘But for now, we just want Students to get involved as we want them to gain experience and get a good feeling with the Programme we are using. You just need to know how to use a Programme called Construct 2, which was made by Scirra LTD. You will need to know how to make a Level in it and how to send it as an individual file. Nothing special J’

‘The main objective of our “employees” will be to make Levels and improvements to the game if they wish to do so, in future, I want to be able to have over 500 levels, if not over 2,000. They will need to be able to attend weekly, if not daily Skype calls to give us updates on what they are doing and give us weekly/monthly reports on the Levels they have made, if they hit any issues or if they’ve made a mistake in the game.’

‘This is a great opportunity for a Student to jump out of their comfort zone and show everyone what they can do! If you are someone that wants to show everyone what you can do, then you should come help us out! You will learn a lot about is and about the gaming industry in the UK. You will have the chance to meet new people and get closer to something you love doing – MAKE GAMES.’

‘We aim to be the first ever Gaming Studio to succeed in Switzerland and bring games to the people down there in Central Europe. We aim to help Colleges and Universities with Student Projects and give them support with Students that don’t know how to do a certain thing. We want to show people that making a game isn’t always “fun” or “lazy” or something you do because you are a Nerd/Geek. I myself, want to give everyone the opportunity to jump out of their seat, shout at the TV and say “I HELPED MAKE THAT GAME!!!!” without having to hide it. Be proud of making a game and be proud to be a gamer. The future is now, not tomorrow.’

‘Join SolarFlare Studios as a volunteer, help us spread our wings and you might just get a chance to be part of the Studios first ever employees to bring out amazing games for Kids, Teenagers and Adults in each and every country of the world.’

Visit SolarFlare here: http://solarflare-studios.com/

For more information contact: mark@train2game.com

Train2Game, bringing City & Guilds to the Games Industry
Read the Train2Game blog at www.train2game-news.co.uk Train2Game is a proud supporter of www.gamatier.com

Michael McGurk from Northern Ireland seeks new members to join his team, which has released three titles and has another on the way. This student team is rapidly releasing titles, which are great for portfolios and they could make the next big hit.

The team is looking for new members to expand MG Games and release more titles. It’s looking for an artist and someone to help them build titles in Construct. It’s a two man team at the moment and Michael’s father is the third voluntary member.

The team has released three games already, working on its next bigger one, which is why they need additional support. MG Games plans to expand to make larger games in the future, the next release is coming in two months’ time, with support from new team members.

Michael is a Train2Game student and enjoying the course. He’s balanced creating games alongside his studies. The team likes working on its own titles as means it can deliver the game it wants to, retaining control of what they produce and their production timeline. The benefits for new joiners will be experience and work for portfolio content, and who knows in the future.

Michael is based in Northern Ireland but happy for team members from anywhere in the world

Michael McGurk, Student Train2Game and head of MG Games, ‘My experience with Train2Game has most definitely been worthwhile and I have enjoyed every minute of it. It has helped me bring my ideas to life and put them into games. Games are my passion and without Train2game I would not have the knowledge I do have in game making. To have created and put my first game out there live, watch the number of plays grow is an indescribable feeling.’

‘I am currently on module D4 lesson 4. The course is slowly coming along, I say slowly because I am taking my time doing the course as I am currently making my fourth game. Its a larger game compared to the other arcade games I have made on the side and is taking a bit of time to do.’

‘I work from home I started MG games so I could build my own gaming company and make my own games I have started MG Games off from scratch. I want to further the company and I would like to give others a chance to use and combine their game ideas and bring them to life.

Currently on the team is myself as the games designer and my dad helps me out with the the art work and the animations. Currently we are making games for browser and mobile devices. Small games such as arcade etc. But in the near future I would like to make bigger games with storylines.’

‘As MG Games expands, I would like to start making bigger and better games with every team member having a say in the games we make. I would like MG games to become a known company, with a large team who is willing to work as a team and express their ideas openly. I would like to have an official studio where all the works will take place as a professional company.’

‘I have worked on four games that are now live on mg-games.itch.io if you would like to take a look and I two more games are in the works. One of which is a larger game and has so far taken me almost seven months to get as far as I have within the game. I’m hoping for this game to go live within the next month or two.’

‘The benefits of working on our own games are that we get to see our games ideas come to life and when the games are done we have the joy of saying we made that. Also we can spend as much time as we want in the making of the games and we are not under any pressure in having the games done for a certain time. No pressure means no mistakes.’

‘I am looking for new members to join MG Games as I said its really only me and more team members will result in better games more games ideas and more fun in making the games and it will help MG Games grow as a company. I would like someone who can do the art work for the games and someone that could work with me building them on construct.’

‘I would like commitment, flexibility and members that are here for the games and the fun of making them and not just for money. The new team members will gain the experience from working in a team, games that they can use on their portfolios and there game ideas being heard and brought to life.’

‘I would like the applicants to show examples of their work, note their strongest and weakest points in game making and what area do they mainly specialise in. I would also like their contact details and to tell me a bit about themselves, why they are applying and what is it that has them interested in this field of work.’

‘If anyone is interested they can email me at*mggames0@hotmail.com*or messages me over our Facebook*page witch you can find at this linkhttps://www.facebook.com/MG.Games1/?ref=hl.’

For more information contact mark@train2game.com

Train2Game, bringing City & Guilds to the Games Industry

Student Ezekiel Morris is working with animation collective Theory Studios to gain valuable experience as he embarks on his games making journey.

Ezekiel is working as a concept artist for the US team and not currently employed. He has been working on film projects and hopes the experience will be another string to his bow as he looks to gain full time employment in the future.

Theory Studios is an award-winning studio with a team based around the world, producing: commercials, cartoons, and high-quality visual effects.

Ezekiel Morris, Train2Game student: ‘I’m working as a Concept Artist for the Theory Studios but not employed at this time. I am finding it alright actually.  The people are friendly, down to earth; they have a lot of passion and respect. I’m learning some new stuff, it’s a new opportunities with new people.’

‘I’m experiencing good things. My ambition is to break my own records to outpace my yesterday by being better today, to do my work with more force and power now more than ever. I got the position by networking and volunteering. My advice for others is start networking, volunteering and collaborating on small projects.’

‘Studying with Train2Game I’ve learnt how to use different modelling techniques in 3Ds max to speed up my workflow. I am concentrating on other projects at the moment so my work on the course has slown down.’

‘I’m not working on any games at the moment just Film Animation. But I can’t tell you what the projects are, watch this space.’

http://theorystudios.com

www.train2game.com

Former student from India who studied the Art and Animation course with Train2Game is working on his portfolio and creating his favourite characters to show off his work.

Murthy enjoyed the course and said it gave him a base of knowledge to build upon.  He studied alongside both of his brothers and they have created games together. His brother Srinath is now studying at a prestigious university in the US. Murthy is currently working in customer services but gaming is still his dream.

Murthy is working on the VFX Model of Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter films,  he’s also creating other pieces for a demo reel. Murthy’s dream is to work in the games industry and he says a strong portfolio is essential in getting recognised.

He told Train2Game that he created the character as it is a favourite of his and his wife told him to! When we asked if he wanted his own house elf, he said ‘A that is really handy but unethical. I’d rather have a house-elf as a friend.’ Which we agree with and we promised EA and JK Rowling about his project.

Murthy Upadhyayula , Train2Game student: ‘My Name is Murthy Upadhyayula (Rambo 85 on the forums). I am from India, currently living in Luton. I am studying the art and animation course.’

‘The course is quite good for beginners trying to understand how the game pipleline works. It gives students a solid foundation which they can use to build upon. I have discontinued the course half-way through. But it must be noted that I had to do it because of reasons beyond my control. After a long gap, I am now back into the scheme of things, and somewhere down the line I may try and finish the course if the opportunity presents itself.’

‘The knowledge I gained from the first two sections of the course proved to be very useful in some of my personal projects as well as making an android games with my brothers titled “Chimping”.’

‘Both my Bros (Bhanu and Srinath) had signed up for the developer course. Srinath was forced to leave the country mid-way through his course as his Visa expired, and he didn’t have enough investment to apply for a Business Visa which was the only option given to him at the time. Thankfully, he got accepted in a prestigious university in United States (Texas), and his experience with Train2Game had played a big part in it. Bhanu continues to study at his own pace.’

‘For the past couple of months I have been working on a VFX model, Dobby from the Harry Potter films. I am also doing some motion graphics, and character animations, all to be compiled into a demo reel.’

‘I simply wanted to create a VFX character that would fit well into modern games as well as film and TV. I thought it is best to show as many skills as I can in one project rather than creating separate portfolios for Games and Film/TV. This way, I can diversify my portfolio.’

‘When I said I was going to create an elf-like character, my wife suggested Dobby as its one of her favourite characters. I jumped on the idea, as I too love the character in the books and in the movies. Besides, anyone who’s married knows that you never say no to your missus.’

‘I have learnt a great deal with this one project. I have been able touch several aspects of the pipeline: sculpting, re-topologising, texturing, shading, compositing, rigging, posing, storytelling, and animation.  I have also researched and came across some useful shortcuts that speed up the creation workflow.’

‘A strong portfolio is the single most important thing according to many of the experts in the industry. I have never heard anyone saying they got a job because a great reading CV. As an artist you are judged based on your portfolio and if you have one that stands out, nothing else really matters.’

‘I would love a full-time position at a games studio. I have tried and failed a lot in the past couple of years, but I am looking forward to another push this year, and hopefully someone notices my latest demo reel and offers me a position. Fingers crossed. I will be updating the website with Dobby images and latest demo reel once it’s ready.’

You will find some of Murthy’s work at  http://murthy85.wix.com/artbymurthy

Freelancer and Train2Game graduate Michael Bird is working with US based Creative to create incredible Star Wars 3D spacecraft.  The latest project created is a 3D Tie-Fighter based on the US Designer’s concept of what could be the next Tie Interceptor.

Michael found the original design’s creator on LinkedIn, before contacting him to get permission to develop his concept. Michael added in detail and has made the design game ready.

Michael is a Train2Game graduate who had a positive experience on the course; he’s worked with student studio Derp Studios and is now doing some freelance work.

Michael Bird, Freelance Animator and Designer:  ‘The project that I have just finished was a realised version on the Tie-Fighter from Star Wars films. That honour of the original concept goes to a man called Michael Stribling from the San Francisco Bay Area. I happened upon his concept art on LinkedIn and asked if could maybe build it in 3D and I was lucky enough to get a yes.’

‘I loved the concept and I saw it as a challenge to see if I could build it following someone else’s concept work but using my ideas as to the amount of detail, poly counts and texturing that would make it look like the concept but also to make it efficient for a game engine.’

‘I wouldn’t say spacecraft are a speciality even though I have two in my portfolio, I really want to specialise in asset/prop and environment work but it does show that I can do hard surface work. In truth if someone asks me to build something or if I ask if I can build it then I’ll try it no matter what it is. Every piece is a challenge that I relish.’

‘I am a big Star Wars fan. Always have been and always will be I grew up with Star Wars I think I saw the first film when I was about 9 or 10 and they have been a part of my life ever since to the point that know it word for word.’

‘In regards to the new film, I’m in two minds with it to tell you the truth I think I need to watch it again. It looks beautiful the way they have gone back to the old way of creating the beings that populate the Star Wars world instead of all CGI gives it a more realistic look. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this story goes.’

‘I think the reason Star Wars is so inspiring could be because the underlining story is about good vs evil, Black vs white, that’s something everyone can connect to in their life. Just the thought of having the Force powers or flying the ships it something that I would say everyone would want to do and have in their lifetime at least once.’

‘On the whole I would say the Train2Game experience has been positive, without the guidance that they offer I would never have been able to complete the course the way I did. There were time when I just couldn’t get my head around the lessons but they are always positive with their help they don’t tell you the answers they lead you onto the right path until you figure it out yourself. I would recommend the courses to anyone who is interested in getting into the industry.’

‘I finished the Art & Animation course in 2014, since then I work for a while at Derp Studios a micro online studio that helped me better my skills doing all sorts of 3D art for them, character creation and animation asset/prop creation as well as environment work. I left last year and since then I have been working for myself creating personal work and a bit of freelance when asked.’

‘I always have other ideas that I want to work on. I see my next project as an old graveyard with a small church with mist creeping between the headstone and trees all light in moonlight. I am at the concept stage at the moment but as I create I post WIP screen shot onto my website.’

‘Because the design was for my own personal pleasure it will go onto my website for the world to see www.michaelbird74.com’