August Newsletter

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Bristol Games Hub Newsletter

All the latest updates from the hub, news from Bristol & SW developers, jobs, opportunities & events.

Bristol Games Hub is a non-profit space for games and play. We run this news letter, host events and also rent desk space at a cost price with no strings attached so you can get on and create amazing games. Contact jake at aurochdigital.com for more information or with news items for the next newsletter by 15th September please!

Hub Directors and Moves

Bristol Games Hub is welcoming 2 new Directors to the Hub for a year appointment. They are James Parker and Nils Hellberg.  Both have been residents of the Hub and active community members since our inception in 2012 (and before with the monthly meet-ups) so we welcome them and look forward to working with them and having their input in all that we do here.

Also there will be some changes happening in the office space.  Auroch Digital is outgrowing the current office so we’ve negotiated with the landlords to take over the first floor where Happy Cities where until a week ago.  We move in on 1st October but Auroch will very firmly still be a part of the Hub.

Finally we’ve been attending ‘hub of hubs’ meetings both at Develop in Brighton and also at the Dutch Game Garden – the hubs idea is really taking off and that is very exciting to see!

SW Freelancer/Company Dev Directory

If you’re looking for people to help on a project, or you are available for work – put your details in. Please only list info you’re happy to have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory

SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page

Find roles and post new openings here…

The Hub Anti-Social returns this month! See below for more info

Dev Scene News

Geek Beach

We launched OreLight early access on Steam at the end of last month. OreLight is a dungeon crawling, multiplayer RPG with crafting, mining, base building and stabbing. There’s a healthy injection of humour and oddities to set it apart. We’ve still got LOADS to add to the game and we’re keen for community input. So if you pick it up, then please feel free to get in touch via the Steam community or email in with your ideas or suggestions.

Reach Robotics

Reach Robotics is a UK company currently based in San Diego as part of a startup accelerator.  We are developing the world’s first intelligent gaming robot, they battle each other (a bit like Pokemon in real life or that robot fight club in big hero 6). It’s basically like having your video game character in real life, you can upgrade them and distribute stats etc Then there’s the augmented reality solo play.

Our robots are controlled by smartphone / tablet and we need to redesign the app UI for an investor demo day coming up in about 4 weeks, we’ve wire framed it and we now need very good graphics design and art to implement it.

Auroch Digital

As well as the office move (see above) we’ve been busy making games! We’ve got a new competition running to design a card for Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night –see here. We’ve just had that game and the original in the Humble Bundle Mobile this month. Also for kicks, we’ve run the game though Google’s Deep Dream – here are the results!

We also did an interview for Red Thirst on Dark Future: Blood Red States, check it out here.

Go! Button Power Team!

Local developer Alistair Aitcheson demoed his latest project – Go! Button Power Team! – at the JOIN Local Multiplayer Summit in Berlin on 1st August.

A combination of game and live performance, the game involves five players, morphsuits and wireless buttons attached to human bodies. The video shows the calamity in action!

Opposable Games

Opposable have been hard at work on Salvaged, largely building out the single player campaign and adding some fun new features (grenades, more music, horror, yay!).

We’re also working on a really exciting local multiplayer game for up to 100 players that’ll use At-Bristol’s Planetarium and our OneTouchConnect tech, it’s a collaborative effort by the name of Splat the Planet created with Interactive Scientific for Bristol is Open.

Pesky gNATs is now entering trials at a number of health institutions, it’s a CBT computer game for young people who experience anxiety or low mood. The game use three desktop games and a series of accompanying mobile apps to make therapy more accessible. You can grab the Mindful gNATs companion apps on the App Store orGoogle Play right now for free.

Creative England launches CE50

Creative England launched the CE50 report to celebrate the achievements of the most innovative companies and individuals in the creative industries and the contributions that they are making to our economy. The report is a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the most exciting creative talent in the country – innovators, entrepreneurs and boundary breakers – people who are challenging and changing preconceptions of our world-leading creative industries – indlucing games. The criteria for nominations this year is as follows:
– Working in film, TV, games or the digital media sector
– Based in England
– Highly creative – entertaining/educational/informative way of working
– Innovative – pushing the boundaries of their discipline
– Recognised – have demonstrable achievements in their marketplace
– An SME or individual early or mid-career

If would like to have your say, please send a maximum of 2 nominations to henry.watts@creativeengland.co.uk by 27th August for consideration as part of the CE50 Report 2016.

PLAY Margate Awards

PLAY Margate on 21/22/23 August will have a distinguished panel of people in the know from across the industry to cast their expert vote on the shortlisted games. Indie studios wishing to include their games in the official selection need to meet the following criteria:
– The game has been developed/published by an independent studio
– The game was released (or is planned to release) within 2015
– Playable code can be provided for display at PLAY Margate

There is no requirement for you to personally attend the event (though that is preferred and shortlisted studios get a free pitch if they want one!), the winners will be anounced at the end of the show and their trophy sent on.

Contact PLAY Margate for more information

Jobs & Opportunities

World War 1 Games Commission

There is a commission abible for up to £82,000 to create a game around WW1. Deadline is 18th Sept for pitches. Full info is here.

Events Diary

Hub Anti-Social – Thurs 27th Aug from 7.30pm

Overview of GameBench’s current tools for mobile game developers. GameBench has a unique tool to test the release readiness of Android games before they are published in the play store. GameBench will give a quick overview of the tool and how it can be used to perform mobile game QA on a variety of Android devices. We will also set up a free subscription for game developers so they can use the tool in their QA phase.

User testers needed for a input device for VR gaming – Joe Ryan will also be bringing along his new motion controller chair – the VRgo. He will have a gaming station set up with the chair hooked up to the Oculus Rift for people to try out and give some feedback. www.vrgochair.com

Bristol Unity Game Developers Meetup – Weds 19th Aug from 7.30pm

Over the last few weeks Alex has been galavanting around Germanyland attending GDC Europe & Gamescom giving a talk on the game he worked on last year, and trying to find new publishers for his next game. He’ll be talking about how he got to go in the first place, the experiences of attending some of the biggest development events in Europe and what he got out of it.

As always there’ll be time afterwards to talk about Other Stuff ™ that you lot have been up to, so YOU BEST BE READY (you don’t have to be ready (but you should be))

Lots of love,
Bristol Unity Game Developers Meetup folks ™ (r) (c) (ccc) (thanks)

Pocket Gamer Connects (Helsinki 7th – 8th September)

See here for everything you need to know about the event. PG are currently offering a 25% discount on tickets for hub supporters!

Quick Links

Thanks all!

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