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May 2017 Newsletter

Posted on Updated on

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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached, so you can get on with creating amazing games! Contact jake at aurochdigital.com for more information.

Jake can also be contacted regarding including news items in the next newsletter, the deadline for which is 10th June.

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 25th May, 7.30pm

Join us for some great talks!  This month we’ve got:

Matt Walker – Red Panda Audio

Red Panda Audio’s Matt Walker talks us through his experiences designing sound for games – complete with ukelele!

So join us then! 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 MeatLiquor.

Games Hub News

BAFTA Breakthrough Brits Applications Open

For five years BAFTA has been running a mentoring programme to support burgeoning dev talent in the British video games sector. Applications for the 2017 programme are currently open and will close on May 30th.

Successful applicants (of which there are 20 each year across videogames, TV and film) receive a bespoke programme of career development support, including one-to-one mentoring, guidance sessions and networking opportunities, as well as free access to BAFTA events for 12 months.

To qualify applicants must have a professional credit on a piece of work released in the UK between August 2016 and August 2017, and reside in the UK. Applicants should be over 18, and there’s no upper age limit. Small teams may apply, though each team member must complete the application process individually.

It’s easy to apply or find out more: http://www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/breakthrough-brits/apply-now-to-breakthrough-brits

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 happyto have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory

SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…

Monthly Indie Spotlight

Cole Jefferies

I’m Cole, a one-person indie dev who makes games under the banner of ColePowered games. I recently moved to Bristol after living for a while in Gloucestershire and Cardiff, so I decided to join the Games Hub – really loving it so far! I haven’t done any high profile games, but Concrete Jungle is probably the one you’re most likely to have heard of – a city-building puzzle game.

I’m currently working on a brand new project that involves managing a detective department, and catching a generated criminal/crime syndicate. Basically it’s a procedurally-generated police procedural. I’m drawing inspiration from 90s management/strategy games of old, as well as recent indie games such as ‘Orwell’ and ‘This is the Police’ that touch on similar themes. It’s super early days, so I don’t have much to show at the moment (the only graphical asset right now is a corkboard texture), but I’m hoping this project will turn into something interesting. See you around!

Dev Scene News

Opposable Games

Opposable VR are busy beavering away preparing for the opening of the Bristol VR Lab later this year. They’ve also recently posted official VR World Congress photos on the event’s Facebook page! There are some absolute beauties in there so do go check them out and getting tagging yourselves and your colleagues if you were at the event, or simply have a scroll through!

Tuesday pics
Wednesday pics
Thursday pics

A huge thanks to Scott Salt and his photography team for doing such an excellent job! Videos of the talks are coming soon!

Auroch Digital

We’ve had lots of exciting steps forward in our development of Dark Future: Blood Red States and Ogre.  We’ve also met with investors to pitch ideas for our future projects, which was all really positive and we’ll hopefully have more to share on that soon!

Both Chainsaw Warrior titles are on sale at 50% and 60% off respectively in the Humble Store Spring Sale.

You can also check out the three new Dark Future screenshots on the Steam page and wishlist the game now to be kept up to date with developments.

Ndemic Creations

After its launch last month in the USA and UK, Plague Inc: The Board Game is now available in Canada, and is going down really well both online and in brick and mortar stores across the country. We’re also in the process of planning out a second manufacturing run and have our sights set on localised versions for European fans.

We’re celebrating both the board game launch and the arrival of the Plague Inc: Scenario Creator for mobile with a community competition this month, asking players to create scenarios based on the theme “Board Games”. Winners will be picked in August, so look forward to some interesting fan creations!

We’ve also seen one more addition to the team, bringing us up to a full roster of seven in Office Zero!

Jobs & Opportunities

Complete Control – Senior HTML5 Developer

Complete Control is a double BAFTA award winning children’s entertainment and games agency, located in a beautiful studio just outside of Bath. We are a small team of 17 that produce digital content for the best loved children’s brands across the BBC, Cartoon Network, LEGO, Nickelodeon, Penguin Books and many more great clients. More info at https://www.completecontrol.co.uk/job/senior-html5-games-developer/

Aardman Animations

Aardman Animations are in the hunt for animators exprienced in using Motion Builder. For more information email george.rowe@aardman.com

Events Diary

Ocean Games Jam (May 20th-21st)

The weekend of May 20th-21st sees Noize Fabrik in Berlin host the Ocean Games Jam. The two-day event will bring together game developers, scientists and journalists to develop new playful ways to tackle environmental issues associated with the oceans such as pollution, overfishing and resource exploitation. Participants should register their interest on the website here. Flights and one night’s hotel accommodation will be paid for the first 8 UK-based participants who register their interest!

Unity Group May Meet Up – Pervasive Media Studio (May 18th)

Hi everyone. We had a great time at the PM Studio last time and we’re very grateful that we’re able to host this month’s meetup there again.
Thomas Greener, a developer at Atkins and former developer at Opposable Games will be leading the main talk. He’s developed his own asset for the Unity Asset Store and will detail how he developed that from concept to finished product and detail the other challenges of marketing and supporting his asset.

Quick Links

Thanks all!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

April Newsletter

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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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.

Nina can also be contacted regarding including news items in the next newsletter, the deadline for which is 10th May.

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 27th April, 7.30pm

Join us then! More details to come soon.

Games Hub News

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 happyto have in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory

SW Game Dev Jobs Facebook page – Find roles and post new openings here…

Monthly Indie Spotlight

Vulpo Byte
Bath-based indie game dev, Szymon Lis, presents his science-inspired game, Mr. Gansy: Quantum Jump, which will take you to the unseen world of semiconductor physics and quantum mechanics, available now for free on Google Play.

So join Mr. Gansy, a nanoscale light emitting diode, in his adventures travelling through a semiconductor’s crystal growth reactor and save the nanoworld!

Don’t forget to visit the Mr. Gansy page and learn more about the game and about science from funny cartoons.

Dev Scene News

Ndemic Creations

This month we’ve launched the Shadow Plague update across both PS4 and Xbox One versions of Plague Inc: Evolved and we’re also about to launch the standalone Scenario Creator app for mobile. Plague Inc: The Board Game has also just gone out into retail in the UK and US. Early reviews have been spectacular (4.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon), so lots to celebrate!

Aside from these updates and releases, it is an exciting time for us as a company as we are in the process of expanding the team with new hires across multiple areas. A trip to Ikea for furniture will be needed soon!

Opposable Games

Opposable VR are recovering from their massive three day event VR World Congress, which took place in Bristol’s harbourside in At-Bristol, Millennium Square and the Watershed. Hosting more than 100 speakers, 34 exhibitors, an investor showcase, workshops and after parties, the event was a huge success.

Thanks to everybody that came along, helped us spread the word or indeed got involved!

Coverage came from more than 100 publications and radio/TV shows including Points West, BBC Click, Bloomberg, UploadVR, MCV and a whole host of others. Sign up to the VR World Congress/Opposable VR newsletter for links to the conference’s talks, pictures and news coverage.

You’d think we might be relaxing now but that couldn’t be further from the truth! Plans are already being made for the next event and we’ve got the Bristol VR Lab to work on – a co-working space opening this year that we announced at VRWC!

Auroch Digital

Work is progressing very well on Dark Future: Blood Red States, our adaptation of the Games Workshop cult-classic board game, and we’re making significant strides forward with another classic board game adaptation, Steve Jackson Games’s Ogre.

Producer Peter Willington has also written a guest article for TechSpark, featuring a selection of the most exciting games coming out of Bristol and the surrounding area. Look out for games from Hub residents Ground Shatter, Auroch Digital, Out of Bounds Games, Meteor Pixel and more!

 

Events Diary

Meet and Greet with Curve Digital’s John Vega – May 10th @ Bristol Games Hub

John Vega, Business Development Manager at Curve Digital (http://curve-digital.com/) is visiting the Bristol Games Hub on the afternoon of May 10th and is looking to talk to local developers about what they are working on and check out what’s happening in the local development scene.

Curve Digital is one of the largest and most successful indie games publishers on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One with released titles including 10 Second Ninja X, Human Fall Flat, and Thomas Was Alone. If you are currently working on a title that would be a good fit for PC/Console release and are considering a fully-published route to market, then please email james@groundshatter.com with details for your studio and the game (or games) that you are looking to pitch, they will be passed onto Curve, and meeting slots will then be assigned to selected studios.

Game Sound/Next Gen – April 27th @ Arnolfini

Game Sound / Next Gen is a symposium event exploring the world of audio in games, apps and other forms of nonlinear media.

You will have the opportunity to get hands on with 3 cutting-edge interactive audio/VR projects from the MSound (Games and Apps) 3rd-year degree students at dBs Bristol.

More info can be found at https://www.gsng.co.uk/

Bristol Games Hub Anti-Social – April 27th @ Bristol Games Hub

Join us then! More details to come soon.

Quick Links

Thanks all!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

March Newsletter

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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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.

To have your news items included in the next newsletter, please send them to jake at aurochdigital.com, the deadline for which is 10th April.

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 30th March, 7:30pm

This month we’ve got:

James and Jamie from Keymailer – “5 Ways to Up Your Game in YouTube & Twitch”  

Alex Tutty from Sheridans Law Firm – An Introduction to legal issues in games and media, things to look out for and how to not get stung.

So join us then! 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 MEATLiquor.

Games Hub News

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…

Monthly Indie Spotlight

Opposable Group

The history of Opposable Games stretches all the way back to the origins of the Bristol Games Hub – with our CEO Ben Trewhella setting up the Hub along with Tomas and Debbie Rawlings from Auroch Digital.

Before and during that time, Opposable Games was focused on creating brilliant and inventive games that often involved new and interesting technology.

When the early prototypes of the Oculus Rift VR headset began to circulate in 2014, Ben felt that VR and AR would grow into a multi-industry technology, so created sister company Opposable VR, under the Opposable Group, to work with technology companies explore how VR could be used in their business.

From there Opposable VR has continued to grow as one of the UK’s top VR companies, working for clients such as Cartoon Network, IBM, AT&T and many more. We’ve also released our own VR strategy game Salvaged to Steam Early Access!

Of course, VR World Congress has become an integral part of our DNA, evolving from a small regional meetup to one of the world’s biggest VR events.

With Opposable’s involvement in VR & AR research and community development becoming increasingly prominent, we’re now on the verge of setting up the Bristol VR Lab – set to launch in September of 2017!

Dev Scene News

The City of Games

The City of Games (Park Street) are pleased to be launching The City of Kings board game on Kickstarter on the 28th March at 4pm.

Having received high praise from Rahdo, Man vs Meeple and other industry personalities we are expecting a fantastic first day and hope you can join us for our virtual launch party.

Opposable Group

Get a 20% discount on VR World Congress 2017 tickets!

VR World Congress is just a few weeks away and we’d love to see as many Hub folks and followers head to the conference as possible! As such, we want to give you an opportunity to grab VRWC tickets for a sizeable discount. We’re offering 20% off the price of any ticket, from full three day passes to single day expo tickets, specifically for Hub associates.

To get your discount, head over to the VR World Congress website, see our huge speaker and expo lineups, and grab a 20% discounted ticket using the code BGH20.

It’s important to note, however, that there are a very limited number of these discount codes available, so you’d better grab your ticket soon if you’re hoping to attend!

Auroch Digital

We’ve been working hard on our Games Workshop adaptation Dark Future: Blood Red States, using the models from the original tabletop game to nail down some of the finer points of our RealTimeShift strategy and action gameplay. We’re also thrilled to be invited to London Book Fair to demonstrate our innovative interactive documentary VR project based on Jack the Ripper. The response was great, and we’ll have more to share on this soon!

Jobs & Opportunities

Aardman Animations – Artists and Animators

Aardman Animations are putting a call out for GAMES 3D modellers and texturers, and animators with excellent experience in Unity to get in touch, with a fantastic opportunity to work on a beautiful indie game. If you are interested please email george.rowe@aardman.com

VocTech Seed Funding

UFI are about to launch a call for their VocTech Seed Fund. They will be offering up to £50,000 for projects lasting up to 12 months, and are looking for innovative ideas for using tech for vocational learning. For more information and how to apply, click here.

Plus… South West Games Dev Jobs

There is a Facebook group for devs to post opportunities; South West Games Dev Jobs. It’s for companies seeking new people, freelancers and the like. It’s free to use but please don’t use it to ask for work. Currently it has opportunities from Aardman, Rendermedia and PQube.

Events Diary

The City of Kings Virtual Launch Party (28th March)

Click here for full details and to RSVP.

Anti-Social (30th March)

See above for full details.

Grrrl Gamers (4th April)

The Grrrl Gamers monthly meetup, for more info or to RSVP click here.

Bristol Unreal Developers Meetup – Setting yourself up for a good time (5th April)

This month, continuing the ‘production process’ theme, we’re going to be discussing how you can structure your project and use best practices to ensure that you give yourself and your project the best chance you can.

For more info or to RSVP, click here.

Quick Links

Thanks all!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

February Newsletter

Posted on

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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.

Nina can also be contacted regarding including news items in the next newsletter, the deadline for which is 10th March.

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 23rd February, 7:30pm

This month we’ve got:

Open Dev Night – This month’s Anti-Social will be a social-focused gathering, where anyone is free to show something they’re working on, raise a topic for discussion, or just come along and hang out with like-minded people in the industry.  

So join us then! 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 MEATLiquor.

Games Hub News

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

Opposable Group

We’re currently on the look out for volunteers to be part of the UK’s biggest conference and expo about the world of virtual reality! Gain some valuable experience and network with some of the most important players in the industry. For just four hours of your time, you’ll be offered a free full day ticket for VR World Congress 2017.

Volunteering is a fantastic opportunity to connect with the brightest minds in the VR industry and learn about the present and the future of VR – especially if you’re a little strapped for cash!

Expect to meet exhibitors, speakers, buyers, sellers and professionals in VR gamesdevelopment, TV and film, 360° film making, augmented reality, architectural visualisation, medicine, engineering and beyond.

We have a variety of roles in various areas of the conference, so if you are interested in lending a hand and want to support us then please visit our site or this form to find out more.

If you would like any further information about the roles then please do not hesitate to contact Sarah, the operations director, on sarah.keates@opposablegroup.com

Auroch Digital

Our physical card game, Elections of US America Election: The Card Game, was reviewed by The Guardian, noting that the game was “intelligently written and sometimes cuttingly cynical, [the game] brings a refreshing levity to the serious mood around global politics”. Plus Games Workshop fans keeping an eye on Dark Future: Blood Red States will have spotted that there was more info about the game in White Dwarf recently!

Jobs & Opportunities

Harmonia Technologies – App and Game Developers

Harmonia Technologies are offering a great opportunity to be involved in the design of a gaming app specifically tailored to help stroke survivors recover in a fun and interactive form. As a start-up company, this will be our flagship product. At this stage, our main focus is on developing an attractive minimal viable product.

From this opportunity, you will gain a great amount of experience and have the opportunity to really get creative with our idea to make it your own. We will also be offering sweat shares as payment. Not to mention we hope to develop more apps in the future that you may have to opportunity to be involved in.

Our company is made up of four Biochemistry students. We’re really excited about this idea and want to find someone just as enthusiastic to help make it a reality.

For more information, please feel free to email us at: sophie.duffell@harmoniatechnologies.com

 

Rendermedia – Unity Developer and Games Artist

Rendermedia are looking for Unity Developers and Game Artists to join their team, building engaging and beautiful VR and AR experiences. For more information, click on the following links:

Unity Developers
Game Artist

 

Spectrum48 – Unity Developer

Spectrum48, based in Bristol Games Hub, are looking for a Unity Developer to help with a mobile game project. The contract is initially 4-8 weeks. For more information, click here.

Reach Robotics – Various Roles

Reach Robotics still have 17 vacancies they are recruiting for, including; artists, animators and engineers. For the full list and how to apply, click here.
Plus… South West Games Dev Jobs

There is a Facebook group for devs to post opportunities; South West Games Dev Jobs. It’s for companies seeking new people, freelancers and the like. It’s free to use but please don’t use it to ask for work. Currently it has opportunities from GameDebate, Rendermedia and PQube.

Events Diary

 Unity Meetup (22nd February)

Click here for full details and to RSVP.

Anti-Social (23rd February)

See above for full details.

Scaling Up Inclusively – Minding the Gap (24th February)

A free event at The Engine Shed, looking at how enterprises can thrive and ‘scale up’. Members of the panel includes The Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, and Helen Simpson – Professor of Economics at UWE. For more info or to register for a ticket, click here.

#GAconf (27th February)

Advancing accessibility for gamers with disabilities – San Francisco, click here for more info.

Grrrl Gamers (7th March)

The Grrrl Gamers monthly meetup, for more info or to RSVP click here.

 
Thanks all!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

January Newsletter

Posted on Updated on

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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.

Nina can also be contacted regarding including news items in the next newsletter, the deadline for which is 10th February.

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 26th January, 7:30pm

This month we’ve got:

Mega Dev Quiz 2017 – The annual Mega Dev Quiz is back! Come along and test your knowledge, as a team or team up when you get here.  

So join us then! 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 MEATLiquor.

Games Hub News

Global Games Jam 2017

3 days and counting until we kick off GGJ17. We’re very excited to be hosting a site again this year at the PM Studios in the Watershed. With only 6 tickets left out of 40 you need to get your skates on if you want to come along! Tickets can be found here and for all the details for the venue, timings etc. please go to the Global Game Jam site page.

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…

Monthly Indie Spotlight

Ground Shatter

Initially a one-man powerhouse of PC and console development, Ground Shatter released SkyScrappers (Steam/PlayStation 4) and Black & White Bushido (Steam) in late 2015, and has subsequently rattled out console ports of fiendish puzzle platformer Binaries (out now), classic musical puzzler Chime Sharp (out soon), and the long-awaited console versions of Black & White Bushido (out eventually).

Ground Shatter has recently expanded to three people and expanded its ambitions accordingly. Now working on a buddy-cop themed first-person shooter, the currently-unnamed game is due for Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview release in the summer. The company is currently looking to enlarge yet further – so see the posting in the jobs section for more details.

Dev Scene News

 Brexit and the Games Industry

Over the next three month’s Ukie are touring the country with its Brexit Roundtables. They want to hear from game businesses about their post-referendum concerns and examine opportunities for providing more support for the sector.

On the 31st January, they will be holding the Bristol event at the Watershed. This is a great opportunity to be heard on behalf of the UK Games Industry. For full details and to register for your place, please click here.

Opposable Group

VR World Congress 2017 is now officially THIS year! It sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed how many time we would call it ‘this year’s conference’ back in 2016…

Anyway, plans for VRWC17 are still full steam ahead, with a host of new speakers announced at the tail end of last year. This includes a special talk from Microsoft concerning HoloLens – something we know many developers will be keen to learn more about!

We’ll also be announcing a fair few more talks and exhibitors very soon that we hope will catch the eye of local developers, so keep a lookout on our Facebook, Twitter and newsletter for those announcements.

Ndemic Creations Ltd

This month amongst other things, we finally got the office all set up after our recent move from London to Bristol, finished shipping Plague Inc: The Board Game to Kickstarter backers and prepped the Shadow Plague update for XB1 and PS4. We also did Locked in a Room (Invisibility Gene) for our Christmas party – highly recommend it!

We are looking to hire a number of people (permanent and freelance) to work on Plague Inc. and other projects – check out the jobs page here: http://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/19-careers

Auroch Digital

After a well-deserved break we’re back hard at work on all our projects, including Dark Future: Blood Red States with Games Workshop, Ogre with Steve Jackson Games, and some more titles we’ll be telling you all about in the coming year. In the meantime, it’s not too late to prepare yourself for the upcoming US presidential inauguration with a copy of our critically acclaimed Elections of US America Election: The Card Game.

Jobs & Opportunities

Ndemic Creations/Plague Inc – Various Roles

Ndemic Creations is the creator of Plague Inc., one of the most successful paid mobile games ever with over 85 million players worldwide. It was recently recognised by the Sunday Times as one of the fastest growing tech companies in the country.
We have recently moved to Bristol and are hiring across multiple areas including:

  • Graphics
  • Programming
  • Community Management.

More information and application details here: http://www.ndemiccreations.com/en/19-careers

Ground Shatter – Communications and Marketing Assistant

Ground Shatter are looking for someone to help handle our marketing, comms, and community management on a full-time basis. Would suit a recent marketing graduate with a love of games, a journalist looking to move into the heady world of dev, someone with social media and streaming presence looking for an expanded challenge, or YOU, if you think you fit the bill.

For more details, click here.

Auroch Digital – Games Designer

Auroch Digital is looking for an experienced Game Designer who has demonstrable experience leading the design on a selection of commercial projects. An attractive salary for the right candidate who has worked with Unity (and preferably other engines too!) and ideally will be a fan of turn-based strategy games.

For more information or to apply please send a covering letter and CV to nina(at)aurochdigital.com
Plus… South West Games Dev Jobs

There is a Facebook group for devs to post opportunities; South West Games Dev Jobs. It’s for companies seeking new people, freelancers and the like. It’s free to use but please don’t use it to ask for work. Currently it has opportunities from Game Debate, Rendermedia and PQube.

Events Diary

 Global Games Jam (20th – 22nd January)

See above for more details.

Antisocial (26th January)

See above for full details or RSVP on the meetup page.

Brexit Roundtable – Bristol (31st January)

See above for details.

Grrrl Gamers (7th February)

The Grrrl Gamers monthly meetup, for more info or to RSVP click here.

Scaling Up Inclusively – Minding the Gap (24th February)

A free event at The Engine Shed, looking at how enterprises can thrive and ‘scale up’. Members of the panel includes The Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, and Helen Simpson – Professor of Economics at UWE. For more info or to register for a ticket, click here.

#GAconf (27th February)

Advancing accessibility for gamers with disabilities – San Francisco, click here for more info.
Thanks all!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

December Newsletter

Posted on

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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.

Nina can also be contacted regarding including news items in the next newsletter, the deadline for which is 10th January.

Please be aware there is no Anti-social in December, back in January!

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 26th January, 7:30pm

 

Games Hub News

Merry Christmas from Bristol Games Hub!

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…

Monthly Indie Spotlight

Out of Bounds Games

Run by Alexander Birke, Out Of Bounds Games is a one-person indie studio that has been based at the Hub since it was founded last year. With a focus on desktop and console premium games, Alexander got a publishing deal for Laser Disco Defenders, a groovy, self-inflicted bullet hell shooter that has been released on Steam, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation 4. It even got a physical retail release which was a nice unexpected surprise.

Hailing from Denmark, Alexander is an avid user of the Unity game engine, which landed him his first job in the UK games industry for Ninja Theory in Cambridge. He soon moved to Bristol to work on the point-and-click game Bertram Fiddle, before transitioning into freelancing for local companies such as Auroch Digital, Aardman and Shadow Industries.

Alexander often participates in game jams, and does talks at industry events such as Unite and GDC Europe. At the Hub he runs the Unity Meetup, that meets on a monthly basis to share knowledge and get feedback on the projects its members are working on.

Dev Scene News

Pocket Gamer Connects: London 2017

Pocket Gamer Connects is back early next year with two days of over 140 speakers and over 500 companies in the show hall. Pocket Gamer have offered all BristolGames Hub affiliates 20% off tickets, delegates also get access to the sister event VR Connects!

Use the code PGCL-BGH to get 20% off your ticket.

Global Games Jam 2017!

After last year’s sell-out success of the Global Games Jam, we’re organising it again! Back at PM Studios and running from Friday through to Sunday, the 2017 Global Games Jam tickets will be available from the 5th of January for just £10. Contact Nina@aurochdigital.com for more information.

Opposable Group

By far the biggest news from us this month is that our very own game Salvaged is finally available on Steam Early Access! As many Games Hub followers may know, Salvaged has been a significant long-term project for us and many others who call the Hub home, so it’s been great to get it into the hands of gamers across the globe. We’d obviously love for you to pick up the game and help it grow!

Alongside the release of Salvaged we also created the Salvaged: VR Comic, the world’s first audio-driven virtual reality comic series. You can watch the (really cool) comics on YouTube or Facebook 360 or download the Salvaged: VR Comic app to watch them using a mobile VR headset!

A lot of new info, yes, but we’ve got one more important piece of news from this month. We’ve announced the first wave of speakers & exhibitors for our very own VR World Congress, so be sure to give them a look and pick up tier two early bird tickets (tier one sold out, sorry!) as soon as possible.

Auroch Digital

One of our many talented artists – Chris Raadjes – is featured in this month’s issue of Develop Magazine (which is now in subscribers’ hands and should be online shortly), talking about the skills required in the field of UI. Plus our Design and Production Director – Tom Rawlings – was involved with a panel at Future Games Summit 2016 titled: “Augmented Reality Games – Where Do We (Pokémon) Go from here?”.

Elections of US America Election: The Card Game is pulling in some great reviews at the moment too, including this from God is a Geek: “even if you stripped away the politics, you would be left with an interesting and extremely tactical card game“.

Other than that we’ve been heads-down on projects, which you can find out all about via our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Grrl Games

Grrrl Games is taking a break in January. First Tuesday will be back in the hub on Feb 7th 2017

https://www.meetup.com/Grrrl-Games–Bristol-First-Tuesday/

Jobs & Opportunities

REACH ROBOTICS Job Opportunities!

Reach Robotics are hiring, with 17 varied positions available inc.-

– 3D Modeller and Texturer (and Generalist)
– Backend developer and Dev ops
– Character engineer and animator
– Digital Animator (and generalist)
– Digital Marketing Manager
– Experienced Game Designer
– Experienced Game Developer
– Internal QA Manager
– Office and People Manager
– Project Manager

Apply here: https://reachrobotics.breezy.hr/

Mentoring Computer Science Students

Interested in being a mentor for a Games Project module this year at the CS Dept at the University of Bristol? In this unit teams of 6 students build a state-of-the-art computer game. The commitment of a mentor would be to meet teams about 7-10 times throughout the project and discuss their development, reflect on how they run their teams etc. This process is flexible in terms of the when, where and what. Contact Tilo Burghardt – tb2935@bristol.ac.uk

Codebyfire

Codebyfire is looking for a 3D artist to help out on our upcoming PC strategy title for around two to three months starting in the New Year. Ideally you’d have experience creating lovely low-poly models and animating them. Please send portfolios, rates and availability to hello@codebyfire.com
Plus… South West Games Dev Jobs

There is a Facebook group for devs to post opportunities; South West Games Dev Jobs. It’s for companies seeking new people, freelancers and the like. It’s free to use but please don’t use it to ask for work. Currently it has opportunities from GameDebate, Rendermedia and PQube.

Events Diary

Pocket Gamer Connects: London 2017 (16th to 17th January)

See above for full details.

Global Games Jam (20th – 22nd January)

See above for full details.

GAconf (27th February)

Advancing accessibility for gamers with disabilities – San Francisco, click here for more info.

Quick Links

Thanks all!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.

November Newsletter

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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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price with no strings attached so you can get on with creating amazing games. Contact nina at aurochdigital.com for more information.

Nina can also be contacted regarding including news items in the next newsletter, the deadline for which is 10th December.

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 24th November, 7:30pm (Tonight!)

This month we’ve got:

Do’s and Don’ts for Getting Publicity for your Project – Dave Bradley, Operation Manager from Steel Media, will be coming in to talk to us about how developers should and shouldn’t go about trying to get publicity for their projects.

The Twitch talk from Jake Connor has been moved to January. Look out for more info closer to the time. Apologies.

So join us then! 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 MEATLiquor.

Games Hub News

Want to Meet Publishers?

Bristol Games Hub has been offered a table at The London Book Fair from the 14th to 16th March 2017, we would like to accept and spread 3 to 4 developers over the 3 days. With the table, they are also offering a concierge service where we are able to highlight the publishers we want to meet and they arrange for them to stop by the table. Perhaps you plan to make a digital version of printed IP? Register your interest by emailing nina(at)aurochdigital.com.

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…

Monthly Indie Spotlight

Codebyfire

Codebyfire is a one-man development studio run by Rich Wallis. Rich has been based in the Games Hub since it started in 2014 and has worked with fellow residents Auroch Digital and Ground Shatter as well as collaborating with Large Visible Machine on digital board game Doomstar which was released earlier this year.

Rich started out making Flash games for companies like Logitech and Gillette before moving into indie mobile development and now combines freelancing with work on his own title, a city-building strategy game for PC, which should be hitting Steam’s shelves sometime next year. If computers still exist by then.

Dev Scene News

Pocket Gamer Connects: London 2017

Pocket Gamer Connects is back early next year with two days of over 140 speakers and over 500 companies in the show hall. Pocket Gamer have offered all BristolGames Hub affiliates 20% off tickets, delegates also get access to the sister event VR Connects!

Use the code PGCL-BGH to get 20% off your ticket.

VR & Accessibility – Gamasutra

Ian Hamilton, one of Bristol Games Hub‘s newest residents has posted a very interesting article to Gamasutra which goes into the barriers and accessibility issues presented by VR.

He looks at everything from motion sickness, including the long term affects of this, and the possible solutions, but what is really interesting is Ian’s in depth look at how VR might be made accessible for disabled users. Issues that most of us probably haven’t considered when thinking about this relatively new technology; hearing loss, motor impairment and photosensitive epilepsy are amount them.

To read the full article, click here.

Opposable Group

This month has all been about VR World Congress for us here at Opposable (at least on the ‘publicly visible’ side). We’ve officially announced the dates, location, sponsors and all the other details for VRWC17, a 2000 attendee event that will be biggest of its kind in Europe!

The event is spread across three days – the 11th, 12th and 13th of April 2017 and will be taking place from Bristol‘s Millennium Square and surrounding venues. Tickets are available RIGHT NOW, with full conference passes available at a Super Early Bird half-price rate.

We’re currently on the lookout for sponsors, exhibitors, speakers and helpers, so be sure to sign up/get in touch if you’re interested in filling any of these roles.

Auroch Digital

We’ve received a gloriously positive and completely unbiased review of Elections of US America Election: The Card Game from our partners at Wonkette. They love the game and so will you, and you can pick up a copy of your own here.

Our Unreal Engine 4-powered strategy game Dark Future: Blood Red States has some new weapons effects screens for you to take a peek at, plus we’ve been continuing on with our Twitch streams of Last Days of Old Earth, which you can catch live every Thursday at 1630.

Jobs & Opportunities

Bristol University – Mentors

Bristol University are looking for mentors for their games course. If you are interested the contact Tilo at tb2935(at)bristol.ac.uk. Click here to see an example of one of last years projects.

Aardman – QA Manager

Aardman Animations are looking for a candidate with a passion and enthusiasm for digital entertainment and ideally experience in QA testing. It is an exciting opportunity to work for an award winning creative company and to work alongside established Unity and HTML-5 developers. For more info or to apply, click here.

South Screen – Games Designer

South Screen are looking for one or more freelance games designers to create up to four games. For more info or to apply click here.
Plus… South West Games Dev Jobs

There is a Facebook group for devs to post opportunities; South West Games Dev Jobs. It’s for companies seeking new people, freelancers and the like. It’s free to use but please don’t use it to ask for work. Currently it has opportunities from GameDebate, Rendermedia and PQube.

Events Diary

Submerge Festival (18th – 20th November)

A weekend of audiovisual arts, electronic music and liver performance that will leave you gasping for air. Click here for full details.

Antisocial (24th November)

See above for full details or RSVP on the meetup page.

Grrrl Gamers (6th December)

The Grrrl Gamers monthly meetup, for more info or to RSVP click here.

Pocket Gamer Connects: London 2017 (16th to 17th January)

See above for full details.

GAconf (27th February)

Advancing accessibility for gamers with disabilities – San Francisco, click here for more info.

 

Quick Links

Thanks all!

This entry was posted in Uncategorized.