Today a few graduates now game developers from Blitz Games, Codemasters, Rockstar and Devil’s Details all came to talk about how they joined the games industry, what working in the industry is like an some advice for both applying and working for a games company. It was really helpful to hear from professionals closer to my age, as well as ones that studied at the same University as me, talking about the application and working process from a student and graduate’s perspective. After the talks and Q&A in the lecture room we all went to the Union’s bar and had some further discussions with them. They are really nice guys and definitely know a lot about programming, so I know who to ask if I need any serious help.
New Videos and One Large Summer Trip
Hey guys!
Two updates on the site, I’ve added videos to some of the game pages, so you can see some gameplay footage of 8-Bit Theater and Death Maze.
Also, I’ve posted up a new game demo, this one of my second semester assignment. It’s a demonstration of user interaction of a Katana demo made in OpenGL using GLUT. Click here to check it out.
Now for the big news
Blitz Open Day
Today, I returned from the Blitz Games Studio Open Day. Obviously because of confidentiality I can’t say much without getting into trouble, but there were a lot of talks about different aspects of the games industry, a tour around the company offices and a really interesting and useful Q&A session with staff members of the main professions (for me it was the programmers).
New Game (sort of): Game of Life
Hey everyone!
Just thought I’d let you know two things. Biggest one is that made a little program in XNA for you guys to have fun with. It’s called Game Of Life, and it demonstrates the Behaviour System. In it you can draw simple pixel shapes and then let it behave. If you know any special shapes of Conway’s Game of Life (some are on the Wikipedia Page), those (or at least most) will work.
So download it from the page here and have fun!
I’ve also updated the download links as Mediafire doesn’t seem to store the data permanently.
EDIT: I’ve updated the game. The changes are:
– Fixed mouse pointer bugs that crashed the game on rare occasions.
– Added the ability to change the speed of the GoL in action. Just re-download the game and hopefully installation should be fine.
My Next Game
I’ve been looking at a few ideas I already have and I’ve decided on the game I’m going to make. So I announce the next game I’m making is:
Siegfried will be a fantasy/steampunk themed scrolling shooter. At the moment I’m going to make this game (or at least a prototype) in XNA and maybe transfer it over to another engine or make my own to make more features in it and bring it to other systems (e.g. Mac and Linux).
I’m currently trying to set some information down on what I want the game to be like and setting up the developing environment. I’ll also see about getting some temp artwork and tracks to test out everything.
Aardvark Swift and Stuff
So Aardvark Swift did a talk today about getting into the Games Industry. It was some interesting, if not predictable stuff, such as getting C++, Maths and Problem Solving Skills, and working on a demo to show the companies that I wish to apply for. Hopefully this site will help me get working with that.
As for right now I’m working through my modules on C++, OpenGL, Object Oriented Programming and System & Databases, and trying to go through my book on XNA and C++. Also trying to think up some ideas of games I could make as well.
Into Blitz
Remember the game Death Maze that you can download right now? The game that was submitted as my first University Assignment? Well I also submitted it to Blitz Studios for a place on their 2012 Open Day.
Every year, the local Blitz Games Studios runs an open day for students who want to work in the Games Industry. Students have to apply and submit work for a place due to the demand, as well as to give people who put in the effort to show their dedication. I’ve been wanting to go to it since I first found out they did them two years ago, since it’d be a great opportunity to understand the industry and work better, and that living in Leamington Spa for most of my life meant Blitz has been the most local game company to me.
However, the day I found out that Blitz were open for applicants for the open day was the weekend before the deadline. It wasn’t really a problem because I was planning to finish the game on the weekend anyway, so as soon as the game was done I filled in the application form, checked all the files worked, sent an email with everything (which included a video demonstration and text instructions) and in a sigh of relief, I got an email acknowledging the submission. Now I had to wait over a week or two to see if I got a place, and today I found that I did!!
So now in late March I’ll be heading back to my hometown to go to Blitz and hopefully talk to many of the staff! Now I need to wait for the actual results of my assignment.
UPDATE: I just got word of my results, it was a grade A! Awesome!!!
Hello world!
Hello,
My name is Tim Stoddard, I am currently studying Games Programming at Staffordshire University and I like to make games. This blog will be here to document my progress as a game dev, any game related events I go to, and where I will allow you readers to play my games for free.
My dream is to make games that people will play and one day work in the Games Industry as a Games Programmer, as generic as it sounds, it’s been a dream I’ve had for a couple of years, and it’s not because I love video games, I love programming, art and a little bit of music and enjoy every achievement I get from working on a project.
To summarise what relevant things I have done so far: I began programming in Visual Basic during my A-Levels and made my first proper game as an extended A-Level project using Game Maker 8, I achieved a grade B for that project. I enrolled into Staffordshire University in 2011 and as of writing I am in my Second Semester. I have made one game using Microsoft’s XNA (written in C#) for an assignment and hopefully by the end of the Semester I will have completed a few more projects to gain and improve my skills in certain areas, including C++, which I have been trying to learn independently since A-Levels.
Hopefully this blog will feel a bit more populated as I work on. Hope you will continue to read this blog, maybe give me some advice or suggestions and maybe even try out the games once I upload them.
GAMEPOPPER 