BGH – September Newsletter

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Bristol Games Hub – September 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 and let us know for the next one by 15th October please!

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 24th September, 7.30pm – Big Pharma Developer Talk & THREE Demo versions!!

Tim Wicksteed from Twice Circled will be joining us to share some thoughts which he has been having since releasing pharmaceutical-themed tycoon Big Pharma last month.

Most of these thoughts are on the subject of how to market a game, or more accurately, how to design a game that is easy to market. He’ll be keeping the talk relatively short so there’ll be plenty of time for questions afterwards.

PLUS! Demos galore!

Lukas Roper was part of the team that created “Splat Bristol!” with Interactive Scientific, a collaborative multiplayer experience in Bristol’s data dome! The game involves player’s trying to cover Bristol with paint and out score the other team! Using OneTouchConnect, up to 100 people can play together.

Alexander Birke will also be demoing Turncoat Protocol. A cross between War Games & The Matrix, this short form horror puzzle game aims to make the player ask the question “Can I trust what the game is telling me?”. After showing the game Alex will talk about what went into the design of the game’s narrative, and how he used Unity’s new support for WebGL to publish it to the internet.

Large Visible Machine is about to release a new game, The Battle for Sector 219, and will be teaching the game to anyone interested using real physical cards as well as signing up people for beta testing. For more information on the game check out the BGG entry.

So join us then…we’ve got a buzzer! We’re at 77 Stokes Croft on the 3rd Floor. The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft, above what was DHS Heating.

Games Hub News:

Last month we welcomed two new directors, and sadly this month we say goodbye to one of our founding directors and the person who’s idea the hub was – Debbie Rawlings. She’s moving on to do very cool (non-games) things. We’re sure we’ll be seeing her social at games events now and then, but the rest of the directors and community want to wish her well for all the hard work she’s done in putting Bristol game development on the global map!

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…

Dev Scene News

Auroch Digital

The Games Writer we’ve been working with on Dark Future, James Swallow, did an interview recently on Game-Debate. A mysterious tweet game from Slitherine recently too that mentioned us – more to come!

Advanced Retreat Opens – The Private/Secret Gamers Club!

Hello Games Hub people! My name is Greg Kirkby and I am the owner/founder/janitor/barman and Official Club Secretary for ‘The Advanced Retreat’. A private members club and licensed club premises in central Bristol entirely devoted to enjoying all types of games in an fun and welcoming environment. Being a licenced club requires all profits to be reinvested back in and therefore expanding our abilities. Members of the Bristol Games Hub community are offered an earlybird chance to join the club in the first planned expansion of the membership base! Email:advancedretreat@gmail.com for more info!

Ground Shatter

After a year and a bit of development, SkyScrappers is due for release on Steam and PS4 any time now. Built by hub resident, James Parker and with incredible visuals from former Bristol-based artist, Tom Waterhouse, the game is a classic arcade style competitive platform-fighting game for one to four players. Keep your eye on social media, as when then game is released any signal boosting from the Bristol games community would be greatly appreciated! For more details on the release and to check out the latest trailer visit skyscrappers.groundshatter.com

Rumpus Animation

Rumpus are launching a Kickstarter for Episode 2 of our comedy point and click adventure game The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle. We start the campaign on 1st of October and are looking to raise £25,000 so we can finish of the long overdue conclusion and finally uncover the identity of Geoff the Murderer. Episode 1 was the first game we ever made, but with the help of Alex Birke, I think wemanaged to make something pretty special for such a meagre budget. We learnt so much and plan on making Episode 2 much better. And we’ve got some great rewards lined up, including limited edition Gavin sculptures, Plush Pigeons and the chance to have your likeness turned into a character in the game. All we need now is the help of everyone at the GamesHub to spread the word and let everyone know about the campaign. You can follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/BertramFiddle

Evil Twin Artworks

Evil Twin Artworks are proud to announce a new collaboration with Games Workshop using the Warhammer world in sea faring open world combat-action title, ’Man O’ War: Corsair’ for PC, and launching first on Steam Early Access in 2016. Man O’ War: Corsair is a video game of high adventure, naval combat and exploration based on the Games Workshop classic Man O’ War table top game. Play as a rogue Captain of the Empire or Champion of Chaos, personally navigating your vessel in third person across the Great Western Ocean while plundering enemy ships, visiting ports, trading and making legends of your deeds across the land and sea! Engage in boarding actions, with direct control over your Captain and take the fight to the enemy. In Man O’ War: Corsair, players will explore a vast continent featuring over 50 unique ports. Featuring customisable characters, fleets of sailing vessels, cannons, spells and mystical creatures all clashing on an epic scale, but beware the very waters beneath your bows… Here there be monsters! Links; Press, YouTube trailer & Official Website.

Opposable Games

It’s been a manic month at Opposable, with lots of amazing projects on the go and in the pipeline. We launched our latest product for content delivery network Akamai this past week at the IBC Conference in Amsterdam, a VR experience that takes viewers through an imaginative digital version of Akamai’s network. We also finished our collaborative project, Splat the Planet, for At-Bristol’s planetarium. This happened alongside the arrival of our own HTC Vive dev kits, which we were all rather excited about. We’re getting the ball rolling on next year’s SouthWest VR Conference that will take place in April of next year. Plus, with our new PR & Marketing Intern Ryan starting this month, our growth continues! Good times!

Jobs & Opportunities

I4G Funding

Innovation 4 Growth (I4G) is a grant funding scheme developed using the UK Government’s Regional Growth Fund. It supports SMEs in the South West to develop innovative products, technologies, processes and services, with grants of £25,000 to £150,000. Deadline is noon on 14th October. Full info is here: innovation4growth.co.uk

Creative Software Developer Opportunity

OpenUp Music (previously the MUSE Project) have raised the money they need to develop a new accessible, affordable and expressive musical instrument that can be played with any part of the body, including the eyes. This is something that will revolutionise musical access to young disabled musicians. To help them achieve this they are now looking to hire a Creative Software Developer. More information about the role and an online application form can be found here.

VR Contest

Secret Sauce and VRTGO Conference are delighted to announce that we’ve teamed up with nDreams to create a VR contest for students and start-ups in the VR space.
We welcome applications from students, pre start ups, start ups, small games companies and non-games companies working in the VR field in any genre.  The deadline for all submissions to be made is Thursday 1st October at 5pm. For more information on the contest and the prizes please see https://vrtgovrcontest.eventbrite.co.uk or contact elspeth.lawson@secret-sauce.co.uk

Events Diary

GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit (24th Sept 9.30-6pm)

The GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit 2015, supported by Creative England, is the UK’s premier games investment event – and this year is happening in Birmingham as part of the huge EGX games expo. The GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit is an opportunity for small-to-medium-sized games companies to find out more about public and private games investment, and also have an opportunity to network and pitch informally and formally to investors, publishers and platform-holders. At last year’s event, there were more than 60 private meetings between investors and games developers.
Tickets: https://gamesindustryinvestmentsummit2015.eventbrite.co.uk

Games Hub Anti-Social (Thursday 24th September, 7.30pm)

Join us to network and chat and more! Details of event are above in ‘Hub News’.

Pinewood Games Visit (14th Oct)

The team from Pinewood Games will be visiting Bristol on the evening of Wednesday 14th October to host a drinks reception at Kongs of King Street – they will have plenty of marketing materials to showcase their various wares, and they will be outlining Pinewood Studios Group’s particular resources and expertise in Sound (Custom Sound Design, Foley, Localisation), Voice-Casting, 3D Photogrammetry Scanning and Motion-Capture, while plying you guys with refreshments! The event begins at half past five.

If you can’t make the evening event, they will also be giving a brief presentation at the Games Hub in the afternoon and be available to talk to there as well. This will be available to residents and non-residents, so please email james@groundshatter.com if you are interested in attending so we can get an idea of numbers.

GameBench presents open(London) – Thursday 15th October, 11am-6pm

A unique gathering of developers, publishers, chip designers and device makers who share a common goal of improving mobile gaming. No fluff. No dumbing down. No press invites. No sales pitches. Just a gathering of experts who have lots to gain by helping each other out. Join your fellow developers alongside hardware vendors with GameBench while we bridge the gap between hardware and software. The event will have a focus on optimisation, app promotion, and building relationships within the mobile ecosystem. This is a win-win situation. To benefit, all you need to do is turn up, listen to a few of our speakers, have a drink and say hello. Free to indie devs!

VRTGO Conference (12th Nov)

Attend and meet the experts behind VR, developers, hardware developers, buyers of VR, technologists and press.  Hear from the leading minds in VR during the conference and try out the latest VR tech at the expo. Get your early bird tickets now at http://vrtgo.co.uk/buy-tickets/ Register now for your VRTGO 2015 Early Bird ticket and use promo code VRTGO20 to gain a 20% discount if you register before 14th September.

Quick Links

Thanks all!

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