BGH – September Newsletter

Posted on September 23, 2015 Updated on September 23, 2015

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

• Transparency in F2P
• Interview with Oddworld creator
• Adult women are now the largest demographic in gaming

Thanks all!

August Newsletter

Posted on September 2, 2015 Updated on September 2, 2015

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

• How playing ‘FIFA’ helps men deal with their feelings
• Signifying nothing: making indie games in 2015
• Unreal launches form to connect freelancers with projects

Thanks all!

Develop in Brighton

Posted on July 7, 2015

Develop in Brighton Special

Hi all, this is a special edition of the BGH newsletter focused on Develop in Brighton (tickets & schedule). It runs from the 14th-16th of July and is an important part of the UK dev calendar. This is news of SW devs at the event and other things you might find of interest.

#Developconf News

Free IP Sessions

In the afternoon of the 15th July, running alongside Develop are two panel discussions and one set of consultation slots that you can get – all for FREE! It’s a fringe event, so even if you don’t have a Develop ticket – it’s free to attend. Note; you can go to one or both of the panels and add a one-to-one if you want – your choice! Also if you do, the panels are timed around the Develop sessions, so it’s convenient to attend. Plus it’s 4 mins away from Develop. Finally the 1pm session comes with free lunch! Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch 🙂  The sessions are:

The IP Lunch: Top 5 IP Management Tips @ Clearleft Ltd, 68 Middle Street, BN1 1AL Brighton
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 from 1pm to 2pm
This session gives indie game developers a chance to question a panel of IP experts from different creative industries on their top tips on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting intellectual property. A fantastic learning opportunity for indies who are without guidance or mentorship in this area, or who are just starting out and looking for the basics, and also those with a growing IP and wondering what to do next. Panel is:

• Mo Ali (IP Co-ordinator, UKIE)
• Professor Charlotte Waelde (Professor of IP Law, University of Exeter)
• Jon Gillard, Head of Licensing for Games Workshop
• Ella Romanos, Co-Founder, Strike Game Labs & columnist for Develop (creating new IP now!)
• Phil Gaskell – Former Sony Senior Producer, now co-founder of indie publisher Ripstone
• Chair: Dr. Tomas Rawlings (Auroch Digital/Bristol Games Hub)

Free ticket – book here.

The IP Surgery @ Clearleft Ltd, 68 Middle Street, BN1 1AL Brighton
Book sessions between 2.30pm and 3.30pm Wed 15th July.

This workshop gives indie developers the chance to begin working through any specific IP challenges they are facing at the moment. Developers can come with a particular question or issue, and find out how best to resolve their problems from legal experts and those who have faced similar issues. The surgery will also provide practical advice in how to navigate the common roadblocks for IP in the gaming industry today. Professor Charlotte Wealde will host this surgery. This is organised with short face-to-face slots with an expert and are free!

Book free slot here.

Navigating the IP Eco System @ Clearleft Ltd, 68 Middle Street, BN1 1AL Brighton
Wednesday, July 15, 2015 from 4pm to 5pm

This session is ideal for developers who are looking to either adapt an existing IP, or to transfer their game IP to another medium. It will give valuable advice on how to actively work with other creative industries such as publishing, television and film and the best practice for putting together a tender bid and approaching the right gatekeepers. Panel includes:

• Colin MacDonald (Games Commissioner, Channel 4)
• Professor Charlotte Waelde (Professor of IP Law, University of Exeter)
• Alison Sterling (Film producer, Ignition Films)
• Alexander Birke, Indie Developer of acclaimed ‘Adventures of Bertram Fiddle’ and creating new IP now!
• Chair: Dr. Tomas Rawlings (Auroch Digital/Bristol Games Hub)

Book your free place here.

Hyperthetical Games – CentraSphere

The team plan to demo a further updated version of CentraSphere, with new arena and multiplayer game mode plus a bit of visual and audio feedback updates. They will be there Wednesday and Thursday, somewhere near the Tea and Coffee. Got to experience it!

Owlbear  & Barbara-ian

Myself (Kristian Andrews) and Games Hub regular Sam Chester will be at Develop demoing Barbara-ian (www.barbaraian.com) in the indie section on the edge of the expo. Go check it out!

Alistair Aitcheson

Alistair Aitcheson is going to be running the latest version of Codex Bash at the Games By The Sea party on Wednesday 16th. The event is at Pub du Vin, from 6pm to 11pm.

Toxic Games

QUBE 2 is going to be in the Indie showcase at the expo. Go check it out!

PS. Dave from Toxic Games has a spare ticket for the Indie event on the Thursday – email him if you want it! Dave.Hall at toxicgames.co.uk

Quick Links

• Games can help with PTSD
• Is Apple embarrassed by games?
• Steam sale data
• More on Kickstarter

Thanks all! PS. Do check out the Special Effect charity drinks event on the 16th at the end of Develop! Well worth attending!

Auroch Digital is Hiring!!

Posted on June 2, 2015 Updated on June 2, 2015

Auroch Digital has 3 permanent employee positions available. Please share them with your contacts, thanks.

The roles are: Producer, Experienced Games Programmer and Bookkeeper/Office Manager. For all the details, see here; http://www.aurochdigital.com/jobs/

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WORKING FOR AUROCH DIGITAL

• We develop great games, projects and people
• We work with major partners such as the BBC, The Wellcome Trust & Games Workshop
• Flexible start and finish times
• You get an extra day off for your birthday
• Once you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll get a training budget to continue your professional development, extra annual leave days, access to cycle scheme and other benefits
• We’ve been going from strength to strength for 5 years and we’re expanding
• We’re fair and we’re flexible
• We’re keen to listen and take on board your opinions and ideas for your role and for the company
• The Directors are also co-founders of Bristol Games Hub, a non-profit space for games and play

April Newsletter

Posted on April 20, 2015 Updated on April 21, 2015

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 30th April, 7.30pm

This month we’ve got:

Special Effect – How they are making games accessible for all!

Check this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uhsUKFDiso – and see the joy that Ben (who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy) gets from being able to play games. We can help that happen for more people!

Special Effect‘s Barry Floyd is coming along to talk about their important work and how we can help in their mission. Special Effect’s mission is, “…to enable anyone, whatever their physical disability, to enjoy video games and leisure technology. But we’re not just doing it for the sake of fun. By giving people the means to participate, we’re kick-starting rehabilitation, self-esteem and, most importantly, inclusion.”

So join us on the 30th April at 7.30pm – we’ve got a buzzer! The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft, above what was DHS Heating. After the chat, the usual rounds of networking, socialising and chatting video games!

Games Hub News:

April Unity meetup – D- D- Double the talks!
We are back and this time around we have not one but two talks lined up for you to enjoy. In the first talk Tim Wicksteed from Twice Circled will talk about how to achieve a resolution independent interface for your Unity game. In the second one Pretty Pixel will give demo their crowd funded Unity game Lux and the Shadowmaker. The meetup is talking place the 22nd of April at the Bristol Games Hub and starts at 7.30. As always signup is through our meetup 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…

Dev Scene News

Looking for Investment? Apply for VentureFest!

Venture Fest is now welcoming applications to exhibit at the Engine Shed event on the 9th June. The events sees a wide range of tech entrepreneurs and investors converging on Bristol to discover what’s next and who to invest in. They have 20 slots for the Start-Up Village and 10-12 slots for the Investor Pitches. They’re estimating over 1000 visitors on the day. If you wish to exhibit there, then the deadline for applications is 24th April. Apply for the Start-Up Village here, and the Investor Showcase here, both can be accessed from their website.

Green Capital Digital Challenge

See how this event is shaping up and learn about the three games groups who’ve been flying the flag for gameplay in the competition!  Watch short film here.

Free Game Book!

A new academic book covering how to apply a wide range of research methods to games and game culture has just been published. It includes one chapter written by Bristol-based game academic and designer Nathan Hook. The book is published as a free download, with print-on-demand hard copy also available. More info can be foundhere.

Auroch Digital

It’s been a busy month for us – as well as releasing the mobile version of Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night with Games Workshop, we’ve also been working with BBC Radio 1 (along with amazing help from Force of Habit & Peter Simon) on a newsgame for the election. You can check that out here. We’ve going to have even more cool news coming soon, so sign up here if you want to be among the first to know!

Rumpus

The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle has been released on Steam. They’re getting some great reviews and have partnered with Deck13 in Germany to help market the game in Europe.

Opposable Games

The Opposable Games team have been incredibly busy beavering away developing our tactical sci-fi action game Salvaged, and boy is it looking good. It’s a little unconventional in terms of how the game is played (single screen, dual screen, dual monitor or VR), and after our initial testing, we decided to have a pretty big rethink about exactly how the game works. Our resident writer-designer Daniel Dowsing has detailed our thought process in a couple of new blog posts, which you’ll find below:
‘Lost and Found’: New Salvaged Part 1
‘A Place in the Universe’: New Salvaged Part 2
One of our rather awesome 2D artists, Lewis Gilliard, has been creating some pretty special pieces of Salvaged promo art, which we’ll be releasing on a weekly basis. Make sure you like us on Facebook and sign up to the Salvaged Newsletter to keep up and as they’re sure as heck rather purrdy.
If you don’t know much about the game already then a good place to start would be to meet Salvaged protagonist Alex Pieterson. Finally, we’re getting into the Instagram thing, so do give us a follow for a few exclusive bits and bobs of concept art (and most likely some stupid photos of Joe Blakeston).
PS – LASER QUEST PHOTO

Nathan Hook has self-published his board game Magus

Jobs & Opportunities

Ground Shatter

Are looking for a junior Unity programmer to help out with SkyScrappers and more. Take a look here: http://groundshatter.com/jobs.html

Aardman

Any freelance developers on here with experience of making games or interactives with three.js / WebGL and available soon? Please get in touch ASAPgeorge.rowe@aardman.com

Play Nicely

Play Nicely are looking for a Unity developer to work on a mobile app. If interested, please email becky@playnicely.co.uk with a CV and links to any relevant work. Thanks!

Rancon

Hi! Here at Rancon we’ve got lots of exciting Unity and C# based projects coming up, with the I additional Flash and Xamarin project for good measure. Check outrancon.co.uk for details. So we’re after any freelancers in and around Cheltenham who might have availability across the next 6 months for a few days at a time. Emailrob.mason@rancon.co.uk to find out more.

FireTechCamp

Have paid tutor posts in camps for kids learning tech including game dev; https://firetechcamp.com/camp-instructor-job-application

Events Diary

Unity Meetup (22nd April, 7.30pm)

Next Unity meetup will take place the 22nd at 7.30pm. See above for full info. Sign up page is here!

Anti-Social (30th April, 7.30pm)

Special Effect are coming along. See above for full info.

Quick Links

• Ideas on making creative teams.
• The writer will do something (for games writers…)
• Minimum sustainable success

Bristol Games Hub Newsletter

Posted on February 23, 2015

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 26th Feb, 7.30pm

We’ve got two demos! Infinite State Games and Lukas Roper from Opposable Games.

Lukas will be showing a short presentation (or possibly a demo) on a VR hardware, technical side project that he’s been working on.

Mike from Infinite State Games is going to show us his Frutorious HD on iOS.  It is a completely re-designed and re-polished remaster of Frutorious SD.  The SD version released in 2012 was nominated for two TIGA awards. This version has totally HD art, every single level has been polished and re-balanced to within an inch of its life, and has had innumerable tweaks and improvements made over the last 3 years. It has 144 levels of goofy puzzle platforming action and NO IAP!  Oh also, the voice of Frutorious F.I.G. is provided by Bristol based rapper ChetMega. Come and have a play and give feedback & ask questions….

So join us on the 26th Feb at 7.30pm – we’ve got a buzzer! The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft, above what was DHS Heating.

Games Hub News:

We’ve got the new board games night on 4th March at 7.30pm – full info below in ‘Diary’ section…

Dev Scene News

Knowle West Media Centre – Visible You

A group of 8 Junior Digital Producers at KWMC are creating a documentary to address the issue of reported increased numbers of 13 – 19 year olds who are socially isolated. The team has started a Made Open crowd funding campaign here to contribute towards equipment that they need and promoting the project. You can read more about it here and get in touch with them on Twitter and Facebook.

Allicorn Games

Bristol based Allicorn Games proudly launches their first title this month. “Heckabomb”, a twin-stick shooter for PC, will be available on Steam and other stores from Feb 27th.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/344300

Auroch Digital – Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night hits Steam!

Our 2nd title with Games Workshop has just hit Steam. It can be found here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/307600/ – if you are a reviewer and want a review copy, drop us an email to geoff at aurochdigital.com. We’d appreciate if you could Like this Facebook post, Upvote this Reddit post and/or RT this tweet!  Thanks 🙂

Barbara-ian Hits Greenlight

Barbara-ian is a super fast paced twin-stick dungeon crawler focused on pure action. Using a physics-based combat system where 1 hit kills kills anything and everyone (including you), collect randomised weapons and master the procedurally generated dungeons. Unlike other dungeon crawler heroes, Barbara-ian has no inventory, no skill system, no health bars. She doesn’t want to duel with her enemies, doesn’t want to carry a bag full of calipers OR tongs, and she doesn’t need a spreadsheet to tell her how to kick ass. She just wants to smash.  Our greenlight page is here. There’s a beta-testing build available here (which everyone is welcome to)  Aaaaand the trailer, featuring a beautiful rendition of O Fortuna with the lyrics… adjusted, performed by myself, Sam Chester & colleague Kristian Andrews, is here  (Watch the volume on that one). Follow us on twitter for more updates! @SamChesterD & @KristianAndrews

Force of Habit

Busy busy busy! Let’s go with bullet points…

• We released a mobile mini Sinking Feeling to iOS and Android. It was featured for a bit, which was awesome.
• Our long-awaited bullet hell party game Friendship Club is coming to Steam Early Access very soon!
  • We’re announcing everything tomorrow Tuesday 24th. Stick your email address in here if you want the big notification. Or, you know, keep an eye on Twitter.
• Finally, we’ve been working on a tool to help indie devs and small studios (like you!) manage their PR and marketing. More info on that in the next newsletter!

Jobs & Opportunities

2 Roles at Play Nicely

Play Nicely (www.playnicely.co.uk) are looking for an experienced freelance Unity 3D developer & a3D character animator. Experienced freelance Unity 3D developer to work in-house for an exciting project starting in the next couple of weeks. 3D character animator for rigging and animating high res human characters, AAA game quality. Can anyone interested in this role email megan at playnicely.co.uk with your availability, day rate and a link to your most recent portfolio please?

Unreal Offers Dev Grants

More info here.

EU Fund for Games is Open

More info here.

Bristol Anime & Gaming Con – Looking for Devs

…to show their games off at the event. Find out more and get in touch…

Events Diary

24th Feb: South West VR Conference

On Tuesday, 24th February, Opposable Games will be hosting the SouthWest VR Conference. Tickets have now sold out and the office is buzzing with excitement. We’ve got some incredible speakers coming to talk about aspects of narrative, storytelling and the way virtual reality will shake up the entertainment industry. After three months of hard work, planning and late nights, the team is almost ready for the event. As you can imagine, the event’s organiser Dan Page is over the moon! All the hard work is now paying off and in just under 4 days time, the fruits of the team’s labour will be realised.

Recently additions to the lineup include local tech start up Ultrahaptics, which has been continuously making headlines with its award-winning tactile technology. Delegates of the South West VR Conference will be given the chance to try out this impressive technology. Another recent addition is the mindbogglingly impressive company Nozon, who’ve somehow managed to add positional tracking to 360 videos.

Adding to our great features, exhibitors and speakers, we will be live streaming the event in virtual reality in Riftmax Theatre! This means viewers can put on their DK1 and DK2 Oculus Rifts, meet up with the rest of our virtual reality community and watch the event’s talks for themselves. In addition to this, we’ll be filming the event in 360 with the help of immersiv.ly, and making the talks available and viewable in VR at a later date.

During the day we will also be fundraising for UK charity GamesAid, a great organisation that helps disadvantaged and disabled children and young people. We’re on the lookout for volunteers to help out with the running of the conference. If you’re interested in virtual reality and want a chance to brush shoulders with some of the most influential people in the industry, this weekend is your last chance to contact us! It’s going to be an amazing day, we’re looking forward to seeing you.

26th Feb: 7.30pm – Games Hub Anti-Social

See above for details.

26th Feb: New European Media Meeting

New European Media is an industry association that advises the European Commission on its funding programmes. Its constituency includes all major European organisations working in the networked and electronic media area: content providers, creative businesses, broadcasters, network equipment manufacturers, network operators and service providers, academia, standardisation bodies and government institutions. NEM is currently developing a proposal for a major European fund to accelerate the development of ‘immersive entertainment technologies’. On February 26th the organisation is hosting its General Assembly in the UK for the first time. This will be a major event, featuring leading figures in the fields of media and entertainment technology including a presentation by Colin Davidson, Chief Scientist at The Imaginarium Studios. Colin is a double Academy Award winner and a world expert on 3D, computer vision, VFX, performance capture, and image-based modelling. You can get more information and register for the event here: http://nem-initiative.org/19th-nem-general-assembly/

4th March: BGH Board Games Night

Join us on 4th March from 7.30pm at Bristol Games Hub to play board games! We’ll have a few here but also bring yours along to play. Last event was great fun and lots of new and classic games were played… Email tom at aurochdigital dot com if any queries…

4-6th March: GDC

GDC is here again in San Francisco, USA. You might want to support Dames Making Games going there to show off dames making games?

Quick Links

• Valve’s economist has become Greece’s new Finance Minister. Fear the hat event horizon
• Could Godus’ failure fuel a crowdfunding backlash?
• Video games in museums: fine art or just fun?

Thanks all!

Ye Hub of Games Bristole 2015 Newsletter for all Things New!!

Posted on January 20, 2015 Updated on January 20, 2015

Bristol Games Hub Newsletter

Below is news 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 geoff at aurochdigital.com for more information or with news items for the next newsletter and let us know news for the next one by 15th February please!

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 your information in the public domain: http://bit.ly/bghdirectory

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

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 29th January, 7.30pm

This month we’ve got:

Jack the Ripper: Shadow Over Whitechapel – An Anatomy of our Crowdfunding Campaign so far..

Auroch Digital and their GameTheNews.net project are about to launch their crowd-funding campaign for the playable documentary title on the Jack the Ripper murders. Auroch’s community manager @AurochJake & designer @TomasRawlings will give a tour through the extensive prep work that has gone into the campaign and the particular challenges with launching a campaign based on real events.

So join us on the 29th January at 7.30pm – we’ve got a buzzer! The entrance is off Thomas Street, just up from the junction of Thomas St/Stokes Croft, above what was DHS Heating.

Plus – if people are good, there will be a special post-social bit of gaming (shhh)…

Unity Developers Group

The first Unity meetup of the year is to take place on 28th January 7.30pm. A new year awaits and with Unity 5 looming in the horizon it is going to be an exiting one. The meetup will follow the traditional format with us gathering at the Games Hub, showcases of what people have made or a chance to ask for questions to the problems the members are facing in their current development. Signup for the meetup can be found here: http://www.meetup.com/Bristol-Unity-Game-Developers-Meetup/events/219916255/

We hope to see a lot of cool prototypes since the meetup lies after the Global Game Jam. As always we will be heading to a nearby pub at around 10pm after we finish..

Dev Scene News

On 24th February, 2015, Opposable Games will host the SouthWest VR Conference at the At-Bristol Science Centre

SouthWest VR Conference is a one-day event with a focus on narrative and storytelling within virtual reality. The format will consist of quick-fire talks from significant industry-leading figures with plenty of time to network and try out the hardware, software and 360 degree movies on show.

Taking place at the At-Bristol Science Centre in Bristol on February 24, the conference has already attracted big-name official guests such as Oculus, the developer of the Oculus Rift virtual reality head-mounted display, Aardman, Pinewood, The Imaginarium and Yogscast, with quick-fire talks by Atlantic Productions’ Alchemy VR, Unity 3D, nDreams and Innerspace lined up. Other high profile speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.  We’ll touch upon the challenges and lessons learnt telling stories and making games, experiences and films for virtual reality devices, but don’t plan to be too hung up on the technical side of things in the main track. For those that would like to talk tech however, a second track will feature demos and talks on VR input, gesture, facial recognition and more from some of the smartest minds in the business.

SouthWest VR, which is to be hosted by renowned games journalist Will Freeman, will also provide delegates with a chance to try out the latest in virtual reality technology including the Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 and Samsung’s Gear VR Innovator Edition, powered by Oculus along with a few special surprises. The line-up of speakers and guests at SouthWest VR includes: Callum Underwood, European developer relations manager at Oculus; Phil Harper, creative director at Atlantic Productions’ Alchemy VR; Patrick O’Luanaigh, CEO of virtual reality-focused games studio nDreams; and Nick Pittom, director of critically acclaimed VR studio Fire Panda.

SouthWest VR will be fundraising for UK charity GamesAid, which will be running a GamesAid Tenner collection. Attendees are asked to bring £10 with them to donate to GamesAid.

The conference is supported by Invest Bristol & Bath, Creative Skillset, the Digital Cultures Research Centre, Webstart Bristol, the Centre for Digital Entertainment, the BMT Group and Unity 3D.  For more information, tickets and links to our social media visit www.southwestvr.com

Skills empowerment workshop for women working in the games industry – 3rd Fed 10am-5pm in Bristol

Following on from the UK Gender Balanced Workforce Survey last month, which had an overwhelming response of over 300, this series of workshops across the UK supported by renowned industry speakers is set to empower women involved in the games industry by focusing on the skill areas women identified as wanting to advance in more… Sign up to take part here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skills-empowerment-workshop-for-women-working-in-the-games-industry-bristol-tickets-15251731339

Global Games Jam 2015

We’ve had this at the Watershed, Creative England and Bristol Games Hub. This year UWE is hosting the event and it’s FREE to enter! – UWE is hosting GGJ15 Bristol! Registrations are now open! The Global Game Jam 2015 is taking place around the world on the 23rd January with UWE as a registered site. Doors open from 4pm at Frenchay Campus. It is a chance to come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games. Be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression, after a 48-hour development cycle you will have taken part in the world’s largest game creation event. Many participants have gone on to release their titles, but taking part is also an excellent way to expand your portfolio of work. We encourage people with all kinds of backgrounds in game development and creativity so if you are interested please register at the UWE Global Game Jam Site with your team details at the following link: http://globalgamejam.org/2015/jam-sites/gamestech-university-west-england

Auroch Digital

First off we’d like to say congratulations to our Director of Operations (and hub director) Debbie Rawlings as she’s been listed in the Top 100 Women in Games! Also we’re gearing up to launch our first Kickstarter in Feb – our project on the Jack the Ripper murders. You can get a flavor of it here. We’re also giving a talk about the project at the next anti-social to share our planning process.

Pretty Digital

Have been awarded support by Creative England after successfully meeting the crowdfunding targets in the Queen of Code competition. Work on their first game has begun! http://www.prettydigital.co.uk/

Jobs & Opportunities

Aardman Opportunities

Aardman Digital are looking for talented Flash Animators and HTML5 Developers to work on a number of exciting new projects looking to kick off around early February! If this sounds like your cup of tea, and you’re interested in joining the best team EVER, please contact digital at aardman.com for more information.

Game Jam Co-ordinator

As part of the GamesLab South West programme, Creative England are looking for a delivery partner to organise a 2-day Game Hack for indie devs in the region. If you are interested in applying to run the jams, please email ella.waving atcreativeengland.co.uk for more info. Do so quick as the final deadline for completed applications is 30th Jan.

PlayWest/UWE

Our Game Simulation Post for Bloodhound SSC is now live, and has a closing date of19th January, so if this is of interest, act quickly. £24k / 1 year fixed term with possibility of extension. Looking for experience of making things pretty and go FAST in Unity. Click through to Computer Science & Creative Technology. See here: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AKH006/games-technologist-vehicle-educational-simulator-project/

Events Diary

23rd Jan, 4pm+ GGJ15

Global Games Jam! It’s at UWE – see above.

28th Jan, 7.30pm Unity Developer Group

At the hub – see above.

29th Jan, 7.30pm – Games Hub Anti-Social:

Auroch Digital will give a tour though the extensive prep work that has gone into their new crowdfunding campaign – see above.

30th Jan, 1pm: Syncself 2 – How Tech can enhance the Storytelling Experience (PM Studio)

Friday, 30 January 2015 13:00 to 14:00: Karen Palmer will introduce us to SYNCSELF 2, a Transmedia Parkour Neurogame, an immersive storytelling experience in which the obstacles that the freerunners face within a film are determined by the user’s mental focus. http://www.watershed.co.uk/pmstudio/events/fri-30012015-100pm

24th Feb – SouthWest VR Conference

Full info is above!

Quick Links

• Games Hub type space launches in London
• Lyst – an event about love, sex & relationships in games…
• Unity adds analytics.
• How console publishers are trying to break into mobile.

Thanks all!

Chrimbo Newsletter

Posted on December 17, 2014

Special Offer on New Desks! Bristol Games Hub is offering 5 desks to new residents at half-price for the first month i.e. just £55 (that’s internet, all bills, tea &coffee and of course a desk and chair). Please email Debbie if you’re interested debbie at aurochdigital dot com (Update! Four desks have gone now – so just one left!!)

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…

Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 29th Jan 2015, 7.30pm

We will be giving more info about what is in the session in the January newsletter. There is a lot happening in early 2015, so do watch this space! If you want to do a talk – drop us an email to geoff at aurochdigital.com with the idea and info.

Dev Scene News

Siobhan Reddy to Judge Digital Challenge

Siobhan Reddy of Media Molecule is confirmed as a judge for the Green Capital Digital Challenge! Time to get in the action before the deadline closes and the spaces fill up! https://www.bristol2015.co.uk/digitalchallenge/

Peter Simon (Demon Apathy) – Silly Village

Hey everyone! My interactive children’s book, Silly Village is finally finished! Check it out if you have an iPad and a kid. Or just an iPad.
It’s a tiny tale about a bunch of forest animals who are…well, not the brightest.
Hope you’ll enjoy!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/silly-village-tale-brainless/id944638587?ls=1&mt=8

Auroch Digital’s GameTheNews.net Listed in Nominet 100

Auroch Digital are honored to have been included in the 2014 Nominet 100 – a list of technology organisations, companies and individuals doing amazing things for the social good with tech. Auroch Digital were included for our GameTheNews.net project, which is exploring newsgames as a means of engaging people with real-world issues via gaming. There is more information on the nomination here and the full list is here.

Make It: Technobabble – Online free game maker for kids

Aardman have just released a public beta version of a game making and digital creativity tool they are making for the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/games/make-it-technobabble-game-maker
We’ve been doing lots of user testing which going to feed into the release version to be launched in February. All thoughts from Bristol Games community appreciated, please email: George.rowe@aardman.com

Queen of Code – Lux and the shadowmaker Crowdfunder

Constance Fleuriot is one of the women making games who have joined the Queen of Code initiative recently launched by Creative England and Crowdfunder UK to encourage more women into developing their own game projects. Now live on Crowdfunder UK, her game, Lux & The Shadowmaker, has until December 22nd to hit its target of £5000 – achievable if 172 people each pledge £20!
http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/lux-and-the-shadowmaker
There’s more information about the game itself on PrettyDigital.co.uk or follow@prettydigi for updates. The first phase of development of Lux & The Shadowmaker will focus on making the mac/pc game, with plans for an immersive VR/Oculus Rift version as soon as possible.
Constance is more than happy to talk non-stop to anyone who is interested in the story of the game and how it will look, feel and sound.

Jobs & Opportunities

Creative Industry Finance Loans

Creative Industry Finance is an Arts Council England initiative, delivered by Creative United, offering business development support and access to finance for creative industry enterprises – including games! Find out more at https://www.creativeindustryfinance.org.uk/

Reach Robotics

Adventurous Android and software developer position open at Reach Robotics, we’re developing the world’s first gaming robots. Have a look at our main site here: www.reachrobotics.com for context and job description here:www.reachrobotics.com/openings

Playwest/UWE Games

PlayWest / @UWEGames have an exciting opportunity for a Unity dev to work modelling (bringing to life) live data from Bloodhound SSC and it’s world land speed record. Full ad. will be live imminently and I’ll update this post with details, but until then, if you’ve done “pretty” or “realistic” or even “FAST” In Unity there could be a 24k fixed term post at Frenchay campus with us, with potential for more work with PlayWest in future….oh, and access to the 1000mph car, the team and the achievement of involvement with this prestigious project itself! Any questions, tweet @andy_m_k / @playwesthq

Daredevil Project

The Daredevil Project is a venture-backed start up based in the PM Studio building a competitively social mobile app. We’re on a fast paced journey and looking for a Backend Developer to make a significant contribution to our team.
The ideal candidate will be managing all of the backend requirements for the app and our online presence. We’re after an excellent communicator who wants to help define the business, own the backend development and work closely with our frontend team. Contact us: mark@daredevilproject.com

Events

What an adventure! Bertram Fiddle launched on iOS.

Rumpus is proud to announce that the first episode of our point and click series staring Bertram Fiddle, leading Victorian explorator can now be found on the App Store. To our delight we even got featured on the front page!
The game is currently on launch sale at £2.99 for the rest of December so if you fancy a bit of adventure then now’s the time to get our little quirky game.
Get it here.

Opposable Games to host South West VR Conference

On February 24th, 2015, Opposable Games is to host the inaugural South West VR Conference at the At-Bristol Science Centre with guests including Oculus, Alchemy VR, Unity, The Imaginarium, Bossa, nDreams, Tammeka Games, Ana Ribeiro, Fire Panda, Triangular Pixels and many more to be confirmed. With a large focus on narrative and storytelling, SouthWest VR will look at the ways in which virtual reality is set to shake up the entertainment industry by completely transforming the way we interact with films, games, TV and animation. Early bird tickets are on sale via Eventbrite until 24th December, visit SouthWestVR.comand follow @SouthWestVR for more info, or get in touch with Dan Page if you’d like to speak, sponsor or exhibit.
We recently worked with local firm Simpleweb on a prototype augmented reality game for McDonalds by the name of Picca Pirates, you can read all about it from Simpleweb’s perspective here. Make sure you check out the presentation for an interesting look at how social games in “restaurants of the future” can feed useful data into a CRM.

Quick Links

• Ella makes the case for gender balanced dev teams.
• Seeing games dev as a business.
• The Speccy returns!!

Thanks all!

Gaming and Tech Camps for Kids and Teens

Posted on July 1, 2014