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August 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 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 September.
The Antisocial is on Summer Holiday for one more month so won’t be on this month, it will be back in September!
The usual Meet Ups will still be on, see the Events Diary below for more details on those.
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
Sora Sabi
‘My name is Rory Doona, I create 2D digital art and graphic design as a freelancer, I’ve been doing it for over 10 years and have been based in the Bristol Games Hub for nearly a year. About half of my commissions are for game assets which you can see on my website.
I’ve had a really diverse mix of clients and commission types over the years, including Aardman Animations, Manga Entertainment and Demon Music Group.
When I’m not working on commissions I’m interested in creating work that entertains others. I started my own webcomic a few years ago, it currently has over 4,000 subscribers and 250,000 views on Tapastic.com. However most of that is now behind me as I’ve decided to become a full time Pokemon Go trainer so please don’t contact me unless you know a good Oddish nest in Bristol!
Dev Scene News
Opposable Group
We mentioned last month that we’d be releasing new info on our own VR game, Salvaged. As promised, you can now view our new teaser trailer and also check out our new blog for the latest update on the game.
This month was an unusual one for Opposable, as we headed for the Welsh Hills on a team camping trip. You can see some of our snaps (in 360!) on our Facebook page.
We’re also hard at work on a variety of projects ranging from a brand new company website (which will be up soon and is looking very, very cool) to new VR experiences. Hopefully we’ll be able to share the details on our BIG project very soon…
Auroch Digital
We launched our Twitch channel! We’ll be using it to highlight our games and titles from around the Bristol Games Hub. We’ve already streamed Last Days of Old Earth,Chainsaw Warrior: Lords of the Night, and The Battle for Sector 219.
Backers of Elections of US America Election: The Card Game will be pleased to know that the game is currently in the office and almost ready for distribution, Chainsaw Warrior fans should check out the amazing entries from our haiku competition, and readers of Develop can flick to page 39 of the August issue to find our Producer, Peter Willington, talking about his role.
Phew! Busy! But we did get the chance to get a game of Ogre in. For work purposes, obviously.
Ground Shatter
Ground Shatter has teamed up with Ant Workshop to bring fiendish puzzle-platformer, Binaries, to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One at the end of the month.
In the game you control two lovable balls of different colours across 100 levels of platforming… but you control them both at once. It’s breathtakingly simple in its idea but absurdly difficult in its execution. It’s basically like playing two different Super Meat Boy levels at the same time with the same controller. If you can play it without inventing a brand new set of swear words you’re doing very well.
The game, which was released earlier this year on Steam, is being launched on consoles on August 30th. Find out more at PlayBinaries.com
Jobs & Opportunities
BDH – Freelance Unity Developer
BDH are looking for a freelance Unity dev for a few weeks in September to refine the user experience and mechanics of a VR project. Email dan(at)bdh.net for more info or to apply.
Pitch@Palace – Funding
Pitch@Palace offers tech entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their ideas to an influential audience of global investors who can catapult them to the next level. This year’s theme includes media, communications and entertainment technology so for more info and to apply, go to their website.
Playable City Award
Open call for ideas themed around ‘journeys’ for Playable City. The winner will receive a £30,000 commission, practical support, residency at PM Studio in Watershed and more. For full details for to apply, click here.
Reach Robotics
Reach Robotics, creators of MekaMon, are looking for a freelance contractor with game design experience to support a few areas of the project. Collectable card game and balancing experience is highly desirable. Email Silas(at)reachrobotics.com for details or to apply.
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
Bi-Monthly Board Game Night (16th August)
The first Board Game Night in June was a huge success so don’t miss out in August! Feel free to bring along any games you want play, otherwise between Bristol Games Hub and the venue we have a huge range of great games. To RSVP go to the Meetup page. As long as you are on the list, you will receive an email with the location at lunch time on the 16th.
Bleep Your Heart Out – 8 Bit Festival (20th August)
Free entry to this music festival dedicated to music created on old school Game Boys and other consoles/computers. Go to the Facebook event page for all the info.
Unity Meet Up (24th August)
James Parker of Ground Shatter will be talking at this month’s Unity Meet Up, looking at console porting for indies. Click here for more details or to RSVP.
Unreal Meet Up (1st September)
Join the Unreal group to talk all things Unreal, from programming and assets to dev queries and latest news. Click here for full info and to RSVP.
The Internet of Us: What Does Privacy Mean in the Digital Age? (1st September)
Gregg Latchams’ Digital Media & Technology team invite you to join them for an afternoon of exploring and debating one of the pivotal social issues of our generation. Book your place here.
Women In Games Conference (7th September)
This year’s WIG Conference will be held at the University of Greenwich. With a host of great speakers, it’s not to be missed! Click here for more info and to register.
Grrrl Gamers (9th September)
The monthly Grrrl Gamers will be held from 7:30pm onwards and is open to women at all levels of the industry. Click here for more info or to RSVP.
Quick Links
- The power of games and education
- Getting noticed by streamers and twitchers
- Some VR dev lessons
- Don’t be scared to share ideas because this!
Thanks all!
July 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 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 August.
The Antisocial is going on Summer Holiday so won’t be on this month or August, it will be back in September.
The usual Meet Ups will still be on, see the Events Diary below for more details on those.
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
It’s been a while since we spoke about Salvaged, our own game due for release soon on Steam Early Access. We’ll be releasing a new trailer and some new info for the game this week, so keep an eye on our social media channels (Twitter / Facebook) for the latest word.
Alongside our game antics, we’ve also been keeping up to scratch on our events-focused prospects. An event we co-hosted in London this month was featured in Event magazine, showing the world how VR can be used in events and for businesses in general.
We were also in Shanghai this month, helping out with the running of our own experience for the GSMA at Mobile World Congress! Plus, it’s not too long until we can start talking about our super-secret big project…
Auroch Digital
It has been a busy month for us. We released the first piece of in-game (pre-alpha) footage of Dark Future: Blood Red States, as well as launching the Chainsaw Warrior haiku competition, where fans had a chance to win a 30″ by 20″ canvas print of John Blanche’s classic 2nd edition 40K cover! See here for the full list of submissions, including the winning entry by De Selby!
We are very excited to announce that out of over 200 applicants we are going to be one of the lucky recipients of the UK Games Fund, not only that but GameReactor mentioned us in their article about it. For now though, you’ll have to wait and see what we’re using the money for! We’ve also signed a new project with the legendary Steve Jackson Games!
Finally with Develop just wrapping up, our Design and Production Director, Tomas Rawlings gave a very well-received talk about the importance of number crunching before launching a crowdfunding campaign, which was then featured on Develop.
Orange Rage Games – Hero 2 Zero
Two University of the West of England graduates have come together under the moniker ‘Orange Rage Games’ to make a board game concept as part of a past coursework assignment into reality as a digital board game. Hero 2 Zero has up to four players taking control of very famous Heroes aiming to compete with each other to lose all of their fame, in order to become ignored (or hated) enough to begin living a normal life. Fame is lost through random event cards and purposely throwing combat with Monsters, while sabotaging their rivals with spells and items in order to become a civilian first!
Hero 2 Zero is aimed at a PC release through Steam, more information can be found through the Kickstarter campaign page. Those with a Steam account may also wish to show support on the accompanying Greenlight page.
Jobs & Opportunities
Creative England – Greenshoots
As we mentioned in last month’s newsletter, applications for the Greenshoots funding are now open. For the third year running, Creative England have teamed up with Microsoft to offer independent games developers up to £50k, links to Xbox is open to all of England outside greater London.
To read more or to apply click here.
Rocket Lolly Games – Environment Artist
Ella Romanos from Rocket Lolly Games is looking for a freelance 3D environment artist to work on The Rocky Horror Show mobile game. Send CV / portfolio to ella(at)rocketlolly.com.
UWE Seeking Lecturer
UWE are looking for a senior lecturer in Games Technology. Closes on 22nd July. Info here.
Infinite State Games – PS4 Coder
Infinite State Games are looking for a PS4 coder to do some freelance work, mainly someone who would be able to port their Xbox / PSVita game, Wing King, onto PS4. Get in touch through their website for more info or to apply.
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
Unity Meet Up (20th July)
This month the Unity meet up has a special treat in store, a talk on 2D animation tool Spine, which is gaining more and more traction as the go to solution for making animations for 2D Unity games. Click here for more details or to RSVP.
Games for Health UK Conference (21st July)
See above for more details or click here.
Grrrl Gamers (2nd August)
The monthly Grrrl Gamers will be held from 7:30pm onwards and is open to women at all levels of the industry. Click here for more info or to RSVP.
Quick Links
BGH – June 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 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 July.
The Antisocial is going on Summer Holiday and will be back in September.
The usual Meet Ups will still be on, see the Events Diary below for more details on those.
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
BGH Board Game Night Successfully Launched
Tuesday night saw the first Bristol Games Hub Board Game Night open to the public. It was a huge success with a great turnout. They will run every other month from now on so keep an eye on the Meet Up page for the next one and discussions about games to play next time!
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
Aaron Ashbrooke
“I first started in the industry (aside from a short stint as a tester at Lionhead) about 4 years ago, leaving my engineering software job to join Goldhawk Interactive to work on their 2D indie X-Com alike ‘Xenonauts’ as an artist and general production and design helping hand. We are now working on the follow up, ‘Xenonauts 2’, as a Unity title. I also started a company, Slow Blade Systems, to work on my own game project called ‘Aloft – Airship Pioneers’ which is a 2D physics based game where you design and fly airships. I maintain a dev diary of progress on that which can be found here.
Dev Scene News
Demon Apathy – Critter Fritter
Demon Apathy rebuilt their old game, Critter Fritter, from the ground up and it’s better than ever. It has everything: new graphics, smoother gameplay and farting skunks. Truly everything! The premise is that you, the player, are an alien having to abduct zoo animals (or rescue them, you’re not quite sure) that need to be organised, so you can fit them into your spaceship.
See it for yourself: get it on your iPad / iPhone or Android device or even on Amazon, for whatever reason.
Auroch Digital
If you’re heading down to Develop this July, then make sure to come see our talk there! It’s titled “Second Generation Crowdfunding: How to Make Crowdfunding & Kickstarter Work” and will cover all sorts of details about our experience with crowdfunding for Elections of US America Election: The Card Game. In equally exciting news, we’re proud to announce that our card-based PC strategy game Last Days of Old Earth has now left Early Access and the full 1.0 version is available now. Plus, we’ve been geeking out over all this original Dark Future art work.
Games for Health UK Conference 2016
Coventry University’s renowned Serious Games Institute (SGI) is hosting the second Games for Health UK Conference on 21st July. The event will feature leading names from the games industry, healthcare and academia. Speakers include; Jamie King – co-founder of Rockstar Games, Andy Yeoman – founder of Focus Games, and Howard Rose – CEO of DeepStream Virtual Reality which is developing a system of drug-free pain relieving systems. Click here for more info and for tickets.
Jobs & Opportunities
Women in Innovation Award and Funding
Innovate UK is a government initiative focusing on boosting innovative businesswomen. 12 finalists will receive a package of support tailored to their needs and 4 winners will each receive £50,000 to support their innovation project or activities. For full details, click here.
PQube – Entry Level Content Editor
PQube are looking for a talented writer with an encyclopaedic knowledge of video games to join the editorial team to create articles, features, opinion pieces as well as bit of video editing. No experience necessary, other than able to show you can write about games and the industry. To apply email Oscar Taylor at oscar(at)pqube.co.uk with your CV and some examples of your writing. Click here for examples of content.
Weston College – HE Lecturer in Games & Animation Production – Part Time
Weston College in Weston-Super-Mare is looking for a part time lecturer for their Game and Animation Production Degree. For more information or to apply, click here.
Creative England – Game Development Fund
Funding for studios which show high growth potential. Investments of between £50k – £150k will be made for the development and commercial release of new game IP. Click here for full details and how to apply.
Creative England – Greenshoots
For the third year running, Creative England have partnered with Microsoft to develop the Greenshoots funding programme. Intended for smaller studios and start ups, this funding is for between £25k – £50k along with other benefits, including; bespoke technical guidance and support directly from Microsoft on the ID@Xbox programme for Xbox One Dev Kits. Click here for full details and how to apply when it opens in early July.
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
Bristol Refugee Hackday (24th – 25th June)
Come along to a Hackathon, intended to bring those with coding and technical skills, social media and web skills together with those who have experience of the asylum system and the needs of refugees in Bristol. The hope is to create the beginning of a problem solving, constructive relationship across Bristol. Click here for more info.
Grrrl Gamers (5th July)
The monthly Grrrl Gamers will be held from 7:30pm onwards and is open to women at all levels of the industry. Click here for more info or to RSVP.
Unreal Meet Up (14th July)
Next month’s Meet up has been moved to a week later, so to discuss the latest tools and news from Unreal Engine, click here for more details or to RSVP.
Game for Health UK Conference (21st July)
See above for more details or click here.
Quick Links
- The Xbox One & PS4 continue to sell better than thier predecessors…
- Indiepocalypse Survival Guide
- Players use Alto’s Adventure as coping mechanism, dev responds with ‘Zen Mode’
- Conflict mineral sourcing still hazy for games industry
Thanks all!
Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival
30% Discount for Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival
The all new Edinburgh Digital Entertainment Festival (EDEF) will see an amazing array of emerging technologies at their Tech Hub. This will be an expo of some of the world’s leading VR, AR and Games companies demoing their cool technology and immersive content from 4th to 19th August at the heart of the Edinburgh Festival.
The Tech Hub is predicted to attract up to 1,500+ people a day, these people will be technologists, gamers, press, media and people who are just curious about new technology.
The Tech Hub will be at the heart of the EDEF and based in the stunning Assembly Rooms Ballroom.
Packages start from £500 ex VAT. However, if you sign up before Thursday 9th June, there is a discounted rate of £350 ex VAT per day.
Contact carri@secret-sauce.co.uk to reserve your space.
Bristol Games Hub – May 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 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 June.
Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 26th May, 7.30pm
This month we’ve got:
The Oliver Twins – Over 30 Years of Making Games. This month we are very honoured to have Andrew and Philip Oliver who have been programming computer games since the early 1980’s. In 1986, it was reported that an estimated 7% of all UK games sales were accredited to The Oliver Twins. At the age of 22 they started Interactive Studios, now called Blitz Games Studios, as well as porting a number of prominent games to theSage platform, including Theme Park and Syndicate.
Jonathan Smith – UKTI. Jonathan has worked a lot with Chinese games companies and will be providing an overview of the games industry in China, a description of the key differences between what is popular in China and in the UK.
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
Bristol Games Hub – The Guardian
Bristol Games Hub was featured in an article in The Guardian about how the game development scene is changing!
CCG/LCG Meetup (25th May)
Hey folks! Our semi-regular card game meetups are expanding, and we’re looking for new games to play and new people to play them with. If you play (or are interested in checking out) any CCGs or LCGs why not come along and find some new opponents? We’re mostly playing Netrunner and 40k: Conquest at the moment, but anything is welcome if you bring decks and are willing to teach.
We meet in the Auroch Digital office, on the first floor of Bristol Games Hub from 7pm. See you there!
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
Joe Blakeston
“Hey guys, how’s it goin?
Sooo while I was studying Animation at Birmingham I was doing work experience as an animator and concept artist for a games studio called Flaming Pumpkin. They were kind to me and paid in Subway sandwiches. Once I’d graduated they took me on full time and although I was now getting real money it just meant there was a middle man between me and the Subway sandwiches.
When I moved to Bristol I quickly got a desk at Bristol Games Hub because I had learnt that working from home makes me fat and lonely. Once I was there I slowly managed to worm my way into Opposable Games as a 2D artist/animator using a mixture of proximity and irritation. I was there for nearly two years before leaving to spread my dirty, ginger wings as a freelancer which I have been doing for the past year and working with clients such as Aardman Animations and the BBC.”
Dev Scene News
Twice Circled – Big Pharma
Tim from Twice Circled has released an expansion for last year’s Big Pharma, the pharmaceutical strategy sim. The expansion, Marketing and Malpractice, offers a range of new features looking at the more nefarious side of the industry. Check out the trailerhere.
Auroch Digital
We unveiled in-engine footage of Dark Future: Blood Red States at Warhammer Fest 2016, and it was incredibly exciting to see the superb reaction from the audience. Last Days of Old Earth continues its Early Access journey this month with the release of the Campaign content update, and Develop spoke with our own Tomas Rawlings (among others!) about the wonderful world of games hubs.
Staying In Podcast
Auroch Digital’s Producer, Peter Willington, has recently launched a new podcast called Staying In. Covering video games, board games, comics, movies, and more, the show champions the best of geek culture. You can get the show here and if you have a project you think would be a good fit then drop them an email.
Jobs & Opportunities
Commission: EUPORIAS – Met Office – Kaleider
Our friends at Kaleider in Exeter have a great call out to encourage makers across the globe to imagine and propose a piece of artwork using climate data for the EUPORIAS General Assembly in Oct 2016. Award includes £15k, residency at Kaleider’s studio in Exeter, dev time with Met Office scientists and full support. The deadline is Friday 10th June, click here for full info on how to apply.
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, feelancers and the like. It’s free to use but please don’t use it for asking for work. Currently it has opportunities from, Game Debate, Rendermedia and PQube.
Events Diary
Unity Group (18th May – Tonight!)
For the May meetup, Alexander Birke is back with another talk. This one is a bit special since it’s one he’s going to give at Unite Europe at the end of the month, but you get to see it first! The talk covers how to use the Mesh API in Unity to create 3D models at runtime, a technique Alexander is using extensively in his upcoming self inflicted bullet hell game, Laser Disco Defenders. Signup to the meetup here.
CCG/LCG Meetup (25th May)
See Games Hub News above for full details.
Bristol Games Hub Antisocial (26th May)
See above for more details or click here to RSVP on the Meetup page.
Unreal Meetup (2nd June)
Come along to chat all things Unreal at the monthly Unreal Engine Meetup.
UWE Degree Show (2nd June)
Environment and Technology Degree Show 2016. You’ll have the opportunity to view emerging student talent from a wide range of subjects including computing and creative technologies. Click here for more info.
Grrrl Gamers (7th June)
The monthly Grrrl Gamers will be held from 7:30pm onwards and is open to women at all levels of the industry. Click here for more info or to RSVP.
Quick Links
Thanks all!
April 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 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: 28th April, 7.30pm
This month we’ve got:
Toxic Games demoing their new game, ‘Gravitational’
Tomas Rawlings – How to start a games studio
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
Congratulations Opposable!
Bristol Games Hub would like to congratulate Opposable Group for knocking the VR World Congress out of the park! With over 20 speakers and 25 exhibits it was a sell-out success! It’s great to see one of our own making such leaps in the industry and really helping to put Bristol on the map when it comes to games development.
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
Toxic Games
Toxic Games, established in 2010, is a UK based developer founded by former classmates. The team began development on Q.U.B.E as a student project in 2009 and sought out investment from independent game dev veterans, Indie Fund. All three core team members were game designers and were involved in bringing Q.U.B.E. to fruition without any programming expertise.
Thanks to the encouragement of academic mentors and with the help of Indie Fund, Toxic Games went from student hobbyists to independent developers upon graduation from University.
Five years on and the team have developed a richer Q.U.B.E. experience within the Director’s Cut version, which was released on PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U and mobile platforms in 2015. Toxic Games is now developing a third person puzzle platformer call Gravitation as well as Q.U.B.E. 2 so keep an eye on the newsletter for updates!
Dev Scene News
Force of Habit
Some cool new features for indie games portal Game Jolt. The site now supports upload of GameBoy, GameBoy Colour and GameBoy Advance ROMs and they will all play right inside the browser! Homebrew only though, can’t be infringing on copyrights now can we! Watch this space for a potential unofficial homebrew game jam 😉
Additionally, Ashley’s press management tool, similar to Distribute and Promoter, is in private beta. Email him at ashley(at)forceofhabit.it if that sounds intriguing and you would like to give it a try before release.
Auroch Digital
The Early Access journey of Last Days of Old Earth continues, with a huge new chunk of content being added to the game in the form of the Stealth Update, and another update coming in the very near future. Plus those in the mood for a bargain should check out both of the Chainsaw Warrior games that are part of the massive Games Workshop Sale on the Humble Store right now!.The deal ends at 6PM BST this evening, so get there quick to take full advantage!
Out of Bounds Games
Out of Bounds Games have been busy working up to the announcement of their upcoming self-inflicted bullet hell game, starring space disco, robots and a ton of lasers. They had the pleasure of getting announced on the official Playstation blogalong with the release of the announcement trailer.
If you want to follow the development of the game or just have a craving for 70s music videos, you can head over the the game’s dev blog. See you in space cowboy!
Lo Fi Games
Last month the Monthly Indie Spotlight shone the light on Lo Fi Games and their upcoming beta release, Kenshi. After 6 years of development, this squad-based, roaming PC-RPG has been released to beta on Steam. It features 355 square miles of world map to explore and has a full year’s worth of updates since its Early Access release. Click here to see what Robot Said have to say about it.
PlayWest
PlayWest, a student and graduate games studio based at UWE, have just taken their latest game ‘The Breakfast Club’ to Steam Greenlight. It is a collaborative, physics-based party game where players must work together to make delicious morning meals. Originally built as part of the Global Game Jam earlier this year, they have added more levels and the game has been described as ‘I am Bread’ meets ‘Surgeon Simulator’ with its devilishly tricky controls and low poly art style.
Click here to help support them in their Greenlight campaign.
Jobs & Opportunities
Crowd10
A new scheme to support 10 South West startups looking for between £20-150k in launching crowdfunding campaigns on Crowdcube in June. For more info or how to apply , click here.
Jennifer Ann’s Group
Up to $11,000 in prizes from Jennifer Ann’s Group’s Life.Love. Game Design Challenge as featured on gamesindustry.biz. Click here for more info or to enter. Entry closes 1st June 2016.
Aardman Animations – Creative Director
Aardman are looking for a creative individual with at least 5 years experience in a commercial and digitally focussed environment to join the team of Creative Directors. You will be responsible for a number of individual projects from generation of an idea through to its full creation, spanning new business and live projects. Click here for full job spec and how to apply.
UWE – Lecturer in Games Tech
The Department of Computer Science and Creative Technologies is looking to appoint a new Lecturer. You will contribute to teaching on the BSc (Hons) Games Technology degree programme. For more info and how to apply, click here.
Plus… South West Games Dev Jobs
There are job posts on South West Games Dev Jobs Facebook page including 3D games artist over at Rendermedia and with PQube for a Digital Media Assistant.
Events Diary
Unity Group (moved to 27th April!)
Hey Unity lovers! If you find your way to this month’s meetup, Ben Pitt from Unity will be giving us a talk on Navmeshes and AI, which is what allows characters to navigate around an environment. Signup to the meetup here.
Bristol Games Hub Antisocial (28th April)
See above for more details or click here to RSVP on the Meetup page.
Grrrl Gamers (3rd May)
The monthly Grrrl Gamers will be held from 7:30pm onwards and is open to women at all levels of the industry. Click here for more info or to RSVP.
Unreal Meetup (5th May)
Come along to chat all things Unreal at the monthly Unreal Engine Meetup.
Quick Links
March 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 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 April.
Next Games Hub Anti-Social: 31st March, 7.30pm
This month we’ve got two great games being demoed:
Alexander Birke will be demoing his procedural action bullet hellish game, Laser Disco Defenders. Survive as many computer generated levels as you can but beware, every laser you fire stays in the level so the more you shoot the harder it gets! Besides demoing the game Alexander is also going to talk about how the design of the game and the struggles of turning a game jam prototype into a full commercial release. This new iteration of the game also includes a brand new local multiplayer mode so come along and see who’s got the best moves!
We will also be hearing from aPriori Digital who will be demoing their game, Aperion Cyberstorm. A 2D sci-fi twin-stick shooter for 1-5 players with over 200 unique areas to find what remains of your lost team. You will have a chance to explode entire rooms of enemies with plasma-coated spiralling rockets, or smash an enemy to almost nothing with electricity-imbued mines before hitting their remains with lasers!
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 Meat Liquor.
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
Lo-Fi Games
Lo-Fi Games has been working on its first game, Kenshi (an openworld RTS-RPG sandbox game on PC) for around 6 years, although the team only got together in 2014 when it hit Steam early access. Before that, Chris, the head dev, worked on it alone alongside his night shifts as a security guard. At the moment the rest of the team work from our office in Gran Canaria, while Natalie works remotely from Bristol Games Hub, mainly on writing dialogue, lore, world building, QA and bit of marketing and admin thrown in too. It’s been in development a long time, but they’re actually hitting the beta this month so look out for a link to that in next month’s newsletter!
Dev Scene News
Opposable Group
Opposable is heading full steam ahead now for our very own VR World Congress, which is set for April 12th. We’ve managed to assemble a fantastic virtual reality event (if we do say so ourselves) with a world class speaker line up and an expo hall filled to the brim with awesome VR games, companies and experiences. We recently added a bunch of developer tickets for those looking to get into the conference for a cheaper price, or we’re offering expo-only tickets for those who just want to try out all the cool kit!
In fact, we’ve been going conference crazy of late, as it was earlier this month that we headed to Mobile World Congress to set up FOUR VR experiences that we created for different companies as the event! MWC organisers GSMA, AT&T, Huawei and Akamaiwere all using experiences that we built over the course of the past year, although mostly in the last few months!
Auroch Digital
With Last Days of Old Earth in Early Access, we’ve been busy working on new content for the game. This week we’re launching our Deck Builder, which will allow players to create their own custom decks.
Work on our successful Kickstarter card game Elections of US America Election: The Card Game and action strategy title Dark Future: Blood Red States continues in earnest, as does work on some super secret projects we sadly can’t tell you about… yet.
I Love My Circle
I Love My Circle is a brand new game, made by Bristol based developer Joshua Burr and released on 1st March this year. It is an unputdownable, arcade style, mobile game you are trying your best to stay with your circle, the rectangles don’t approve of your love so they try increasingly harder to knock you part. It is highly addictive and worth checking out!
Evil Twin Artworks: Man O’ War
On the 15th April Evil Twin Artworks will be releasing Man O’ War: Corsair for Steam Early Access. 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.
To celebrate the launch announcement, Evil Twin Artworks has created a brand new trailer to show how far the game has come since the first announcement. Click here to see the trailer.
Jobs & Opportunities
Jennifer Ann’s Group Game Design Contest
Jennifer Ann’s Group have announced they will be running their annual game design contest to tackle preventing teen dating violence. There are three top prizes totalling $11,000. Click here for full details and how to enter.
Reach Robotics are Recruiting
Reach Robotics are looking for a game developer, a full stack developer and an art lead to be involved in MekaMon, think Robot Wars meets Pokemon, an augmented reality and real-world multiplayer battle game. Click here for full details and how to apply.
Senior 3D General Artist – Opposable Group
Opposable Group are recruiting a senior 3D general artist with a minimum of 2 years experience. Click here for the full job description and details on how to apply.
Games for Change Climate Challenge
The Games for Change Climate Challenge invites you to submit a working prototype of a digital game that focuses on scientifically-grounded climate solutions. $10,000 cash prize, deadline 6th May.
Watershed Food Residency
Watershed are inviting applications from artist and creative practitioners who would like to develop an idea or project in residence at the PM Studio that combines art, tech and food. Full details.
Watershed New Talent Residencies
Watershed are inviting applications from talented and ambitious individuals at an early stage in their professional development, who are looking to explore ideas related to creative technology within an open and inspiring Studio community. Full details.
Watershed Artist in Residence
This is an open call for artist to explore ideas at the point where art and technology meet. One residency available, aimed at artists who have been practising for two or more years. Full details.
Events Diary
Spacial Storytelling for VR Talk – 18th March
This month’s Lunchtime Talk down at PM Studio is by Studio resident Catherine Allenwho will be talking about spacial storytelling for VR. Full details here.
Unity Meetup – 23rd March
Lukas Roper will be giving a talk about Corrupt Cup Contest, his game about running a corrupt sports agency. For more info and to RSVP, click here.
Nominet Social Tech Seed event Bristol – 24th March
Are you working on a project that harnesses the power of the internet to tackle a pressing social challenge? If you’re looking for early-stage funding through the Social Tech Seed programme come and get all the information you need.
BGH Antisocial – 31st March
See above for details, click here for more details and RSVP.
Grrrl Gamers Group – 5th April
A welcoming get together for women working in the games industry at any level of experience. Click here for their Meetup page.
Unreal Meetup – 7th April
Discuss the latest news and tools from Unreal Engine. Click here for more details and to RSVP.
Quick Links
- Fighting the perception problem of how much it costs to develop a game
- And making games is hard – lots of competition!
- Steam Early Access is hitting it’s stride
Thanks all!
February 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 newsletter, host events, and also rent desk space at cost price and 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: 25th February, 7.30pm
At this month’s Anti-Social we’ve decided to shake things up a bit, so, Bristol Games Hub presents…
The Mega Dev Quiz 2016!
A pub quiz style affair, hosted by our very own James Parker. Here’s a tip: try and get something of everything into your team!
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 Meat Liquor.
Games Hub News:
Global Game Jam
The end of last month saw the return of Bristol Games Hub’s Global Game Jam. It went off with a bang and the theme ‘Ritual’ inspired the jammers to create games ranging from the technically advanced, to the outright bonkers! The event was covered by Vice and TechSPARK.
A huge thanks again to Watershed / PM Studios for donating the space, as well as Aardman Animations, Opposable Group, Auroch Digital and Ground Shatter for sponsoring the event.
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…
Hub Resident Spotlight
New feature! Each month we will be putting the spotlight on one of Bristol Games Hub’s residents so you can get to know the companies that keep the community going a little better. This month is….
Meteor Pixel
Meteor Pixel is run by Sam Ibbitson who moved into the Hub in March 2015 where he started work on their latest project, Bushido: Legend of the Samurai. As a company they’ve been running for about 4 years, although they only started working full-time in Spring last year. Before that Sam was a front-end web designer at a large corporate company and was making mobile games / mod’s in his spare time.
Sam is primarily a 3D artist (environments are a specialty), but also does animation, including working with motion capture data. He is currently trying to learn more about programming and has started using more code-focused tools like PlayMaker (for Unity)!
Dev Scene News
Auroch Digital Update
Elections of US America Election: The Card Game is the satirical card game based on the upcoming US elections that we’re making with our friends at Wonkette. We’re now over 60% funded on Kickstarter and we’d love for you to pledge your support to our project too. By backing us you’ll be part of our newsgame initiative GameTheNews game. One of the games from this, Endgame: Syria was featured in The Guardian’s article, ‘Fifty Apps that are Reinventing Mobile Gaming’. This was a big honour for us and we’re proud to be considered amongst some of the other fantastic games on the list.
Our strategy game with Slitherine, Last Days of Old Earth is almost ready for public consumption, with an Early Access release scheduled for the 3rd of March. We’ve been speaking with Gamereactor about the project (as well as Dark Future: Blood Red States) and PCGamesN goes into a little more detail about our Early Access plans.
Virtual Natural History Museum
Bringing evolutionary education out of the Stone Age. Fossils from around the world will be displayed in an online computer game museum designed to help teach pupils about the evolution of life on Earth.
Virtual Natural History Museum is a live crowd funding project with the aim of making the unseen 99.9% of the worlds fossils available to teachers, students and the general public.
Go to their Walacea site to find out more and to back the project.
Jobs & Opportunities
Mudox Studios
Modux are on the hunt for a permanent, full time coder / developer. This is a great opportunity for the right candidate. Click here for more details, to apply, send a CV, cover letter and link to portfolio if you have one to samh(at)modux.co.uk
Minecraft Coders Wanted!
Control/Alt/Delete are looking for help running their Monday after school Minecraft group for young people. Click here for more details and to apply.
BAFTA Crew
BAFTA Crew is now open for application from game practitioners with at least two years professional experience until 2nd March. Click here for more details and to apply.
Game Debate
Game Debate are looking for a PHP Developer and Server Admin. Click here for more details and to apply.
Ancient Beast
Ancient Beast are looking for a part time coder to work on their turn based strategy game. For more information and to apply click here.
Feed the Pig: Game Design Challenge
Design a game to change people’s spending habits and encouraging them to save and you could win $10,000 plus a $40,000 development grant. Open to applicants of all levels, click here for more details, deadline for submissions 10th March.
Apprenticeship Levy & Next Gen Skills Academy
The government is considering creating an apprenticeship levy on employers, to support renewed training in the creative and other industries.
The Next Gen Skills Academy, a consortium of employers such as Microsoft, Sony, Framestore and others, is offering to host a presentation in Bristol to clear up some of the confusion around the levy.
This is primarily aimed at animation, VFX and games companies. If you would like to attend, please email Pete.Levy(at)nextgenskillsacademy.com to find out more.
Events Diary
Unity Meetup (17th Feb)
This month’s Unity Meetup has a guest speaker from Aardman Animations. Mark Burvill will be talking about how Aardman took a 12 year old’s idea and turned it into a chart topping mobile game. The Meetup page has all the information you need to come along.
BGH Anti-Social Quiz (25th Feb)
See above for full details.
Grrrl Gamers Meetup (1st March)
The regular monthly meetup for women in the gaming industry, for full details and to RSVP go to their Meetup site.
i-Docs (2nd-4th March)
A three day event dedicated to the rapidly evolving field of interactive documentary. Looking at the use of immersion, evolving practices and tools for thought. A special £100 concessions rate has been released for Bristol Game Hub, click here for more details and to access the special hidden price.
Unreal Meetup (3rd March)
The Unreal monthly meetup is the perfect place to come and talk all things Unreal, whether you are just starting out or want to discuss more advanced features. Go to their Meetup site for more details and to RSVP.
Quick Links
- The BBC are going to be commissioning ‘games for grown-ups’
- How Playing D&D teaches patience
- Embracing real-word stories in video games
Thanks all!
Bristol Games Hub: 1 of over 600 Global Game Jam sites!
After a year off, Bristol Games Hub have teamed up with PM Studio in the Watershed to create a Bristol site for the 2016 Global Game Jam.
This year’s Jam has already broken world records with over 600 sites in 87 countries. We are so excited to be a part of this again and looking forward to smashing it out of the park for another year.
Tickets have now sold out but if you want to add your name to the reserve list please email nina(at)aurochdigital.com. Similarly, if you can no longer attend, let us know asap and we’ll try and find a good home for your ticket.
Important Information
Timings
Friday 29th Jan: 5pm – 10pm
Saturday 30th Jan: 10am – 10pm
Sunday 31st Jan: 10am – 6pm (game submission starts at 3pm, judging at 5pm)
Location: PM Studio, Watershed
A huge thank you to Aardman, Opposable Group, Auroch Digital and Ground Shatter for their sponsorship, and Watershed/Pervasive Media Studio for providing the space, thanks to them we were able to create the site and keep the devs fuelled with tea and coffee.
Pocket Gamer Connects: London 16 Discount Tickets
Pocket Gamer Connects is the leading dedicated mobile games industry event in Europe expected to attract around 1,500 attendees from across the global mobile games ecosystem to the Brewery, London on 18-19th January 2016.
Run by the creators of the industry’s leading mobile games media (including Pocket Gamer, 148Apps, AppSpy and PG.Biz) the event brings together a cross-section of the leading players in the global mobile games industry from indie devs, media and tool-makers through to triple A publishers, investors and monetisation specialists.
They have 170 speakers lined up including reps from King, Supercell, Kabam, Wargaming, Tencent, Netease, Google, Amazon, Fox Interactive, Wizards of the Coast, Bossa, EA, Frogmind, Ustwo, London Venture Partners, Natural Motion, Space Ape and many more across our 7 conference tracks. With 4 pitch events, 2 expo spaces and a whole host of networking opportunities including the PG Party this promises to be the essential mobile games show of the year.
Visit their Eventbrite page for the latest discounts to tickets.
6 reasons to attend:
1 – The Best Networking in the Mobile Games Industry – dedicated free pitch and match meeting tool, 4 pitch events, after hours networking, 2 expo areas and ample meeting space
2 – Pitch your game to media, publishers, investors and platforms – In our dedicated Big Indie Pitch events and 2020 SpeedMatch!
3 – Meet the biggest mobile publishers and platforms – Rovio, EA, Chillingo, Wargaming, Scopely, Tilting Point, Sega, Wooga and many more. Plus rhe biggest platforms will be in attendance to with Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Apple.
4 – Indie Apocalypse – How to survive and thrive in the modern mobile ecosystem
5 – Future Visions VR – Exploring the next generation of mobile (and PC/console) gaming through the lens of VR.
6 – Best of British – Celebrating the UK’s talent and why it’s a great place to make games
Visit www.pgconnects.com/london for full programme details.