Broken Sword 5 on Kickstarter

I've blogged about an upcoming Broken Sword announcement before and here it is; in a surprise move Broken Sword 5 (titled a Serpent's Curse) will be a Kickstarter-funded project. The game will be an all new original adventure by Charles Cecil, the original creator of the series and more importantly (particularly for one of the best hand-drawn games of all times) will have 2D graphics, thus going back to its roots.

 

 

A great announcement for all adventure game fans but also people with an interest in and appreciation of quality hand-drawn, non-photorealistic, real-time graphics. The Kickstarter campaign has already managed to collect more than a quarter of the amount needed (with almost a month to go) so hopefully this will soon hit our screens.

More information on its official Kickstarter page here.

TIGA student service

I have recently received word that TIGA, the trade association body for game developers in the UK which Bournemouth University is also a part of as an institution on the back of the BSc Games Technology degree offered at the School of Design, Engineering and Computing, will offer individual student memberships for the first time at some point during the next month.

 

This will include an email address for life,  magazine discounts, the facility to add plus update a portfolio and CV on the TIGA website, access to a TIGA careers guide and TIGA reports and fortnightly web chats with a TIGA member or studio. I would suggest checking back at the official TIGA site here next month; this is definitely a service I will recommend to my students when the next academic year begins and anybody else currently studying in HE for a related subject should definitely consider this as well.

Crytek's new CryEngine showcase

In preparation for the Crysis 3 release, Crytek has released a tech trailer (show in the video below) which demonstrates in-game footage showcasing new techniques used. The setting, as can be seen from the video, is urban ruins overrun by vegetation (one could say a mix of themes from the first two Crysis games).

The new techniques mentioned above are; real-time volumetric cloud shadows, pixel accurate displacement mapping, tessellated vegetation, composite 3D lens flares and FX, procedural HDR flares and shapes, 3rd generation real-time global illumination, dynamic water volume caustics, real-time volumetric fog shadows, real-time area lights, unlimited particle FX lighting, integrated cloth and vegetation simulation, plus the piece de resistance ... "top secret" tessellated toad tech! The vid is worth checking out as it is very impressive indeed and can only but heighten anticipation for the new Crysis game (and corresponding engine tech).

Unity to support Windows Phone 8

A piece of news emerging from the Unite 12 conference, a Unity specific conference, is the fact that the popular game engine (currently numbering version 4) will now offer support for Windows Phone 8, amongst all the other platforms currently supported.

While no date for this is reported yet it is a welcome piece of news for mobile developers but also for Unity users too; the engine has always touted itself as particularly multi-platform and this is yet more evidence of that statement.

Competition for UDK iOS book

I am pleased to announce I can offer three free eBooks of the upcoming book on UDK iOS development (see image below) I have co-authored for Packt Publishing (see my recent post about this here) to readers of this blog who can answer the following Unreal-related question; what is the name of the tech demo which showcased the Unreal engine for the iOS platform for the first time?

The deadline for emailing this in is the 31st of August and I will then be picking the first three emails (please send your emails at cgatzidis@bournemouth.ac.uk), the senders of which will receive an electronic copy of the book. You should find this book very useful if you're interested in the Unreal engine and iOS games development so here's a chance to have a copy of it for free.

You can see more details about the book here.

TIGA press release on A-level results

TIGA, the trade association body for game developers in the UK, released a press release yesterday on the 2012 A-level results (a UK University entry qualification) which can be found here. This is a worthwhile read as it highlights the increase of people undertaking maths and physics for these (an essential part of your skillset if you plan on doing a games programming degree for example).

The press release also includes numerous quotes from a number of academics from UK Universities (including myself).

UDK iOS Game Development Beginner's Guide book

An instructional textbook I have co-authored (which I have blogged about before) is now set for a late August release by Packt Publishing. The book is titled UDK iOS Game Development Beginner's Guide book and focuses on the use of Epic Games' Unreal Development Kit for the creation of games on Apple's mobile devices. An image of the cover can be seen below.

As mentioned on the official website of the book (which can be found here and where pre-orders can also be made) the book's contents can be best summarised (albeit very briefly) as; "You will begin learning the fundamentals of the Unreal Engine before creating a third-person shooter game in UDK. After the game is created you will learn what can be done with any project to optimize your game for the iOS platform and discover special considerations that need to be made. Finally, you’ll publish your game on the App Store for the world to see and play along, with details on different costs associated with publishing."

The book will be available as a print book, an e-book or a bundle which will include both of the aforementioned versions (pricing details are available on the official Packt website listed above).

EU Leonardo GameWise project

An EU-funded Leonardo Transfer of Innovation application I have been involved with has been successful, with the project to begin in September 2012 and finish in September 2014. The project is called GameWise and has received an EU funding (as part of the Lifelong Learning programme) of 250,000 Euros in total.

Led by CV2 in Denmark and with a variety of partners involved (one being Bournemouth University of course) from other countries such as Spain, Norway and the Netherlands, the project is set to focus on the creation of new jobs in Europe by the transfer and adaptation of a model for closer cooperation between VET institutions and the surrounding world of work. As soon as there is an official website for the project (which will be in the next few weeks) I will post another update for this.

Two Wiley CAVW journal articles shared as open access

I have the last few weeks blogged about two recently published Wiley Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds journal articles which I have co-authored. These two articles have now been made open access via the OnlineOpen feature offered by this publisher. It essentially means that these articles are now permanently accessible (for free) to the wider public.

One is titled "Feature-based probabilistic texture blending with feature variations for terrains" (part of the CASA 2012 special issue) and can be found here and the other is called "Painterly rendering techniques: a state-of-the-art review of current approaches" (a survey article) and can be found here.

Games Programming degree at Bournemouth University

In addition to the Games Technology BSc that we have been running since 2009 at the School of Design, Engineering and Computing, it is expected that as of October 2013 we will also be running, in addition to the aforementioned programme, another games development degree titled Games Programming.

As the name suggests this is a more specialist programming degree than Games Technology (which covers all parts of the games development pipeline) and we are currently going through the process of designing the degree. As initial approval for this has been granted by the University more information (such as the specific units that will be taught) can be found here.

Source 2 a fast-approaching reality?

It appears that Valve's Source engine (version 2) is a fast-approaching reality. The company's movie making tool called Source Filmmaker has numerous references to the new version of the engine, albeit in its script files. For a company with a masterful grasp of marketing (see for example how Portal 2 was plugged in the first game of the series by updating it) this is (probably!) no mere coincidence at all.

It is alleged that Filmmaker and Source 2 were developed at the same time which means the release of the latter is closer than we think. As this is one of the main contenders in the game engine arena, this release is definitely very much anticipated.

Oculus Rift now a reality

As described in a previous blogpost covering John Carmack's display of a VR headset with Doom 3: BFG running for it, the prototype device now has a name and more importantly a Kickstarter campaign behind it. Oculus Rift has, at the time of me writing this, well over 5 times the original amount asked for pledged and also the considerable backing of industry giants such as Carmack, Cliff Bleszinski, Mike Abrash and others.

Key points of the device include affordability and also plans of integration with both the Unreal engine and Unity. It's great to see this almost a reality after the very recent Carmack prototype display and hopefully it can be a success in the near future as it could usher in many new great possibilities for gaming (see for example an article in Edge magazine about possible games with the device here).

Bournemouth University Clearing 2012

Those in the UK will know fully well what the clearing process is for domestic Universities and what it entails; Bournemouth University already has its site for this up and running, it can be found here. This contains instructions and of course all the BU the courses participating in the process.

The Games Technology BSc course which I teach on is also going through clearing with available vacancies. If this is of interest to you then clearing helplines open (as mentioned on the website) on Thursday the 16th of August 2012, which is of course the day that A-Level results are announced in the UK.

Ouya, an Android-powered console

Ouya is a new experiment that has been proposing, via the ever-popular Kickstarter, a console which is powered by the Android OS. The benefits of this of course are obvious and multiple (a mobile app model for the TV, open source mentality etc.). According to the company behind this (Boxer8), the console is alleged to be costing $99 and in terms of specs will carry an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor supporting 1080p HD output (via HDMI), 1GB of RAM plus 8GB on-board flash storage.

The device has attracted both support (OnLive for example has recently announced it will ship with Ouya) and a variety of criticisms (from the limitations of the hardware specification to the business model attached to this) but this still remains a hugely interesting development and one which is worth following over the next few months (especially seeing it has already picked up over $6 million of pledges in Kickstarter).

Jet Set Radio also for iOS devices

I blogged a few months ago about the remake of one of the most classic cel-shaded games of all time; Sega's inimitable Jet Set Radio. It appears now that apart from the PC et al platforms that the game is to be released on, Jet Set Radio is also to be concurrently released on iOS and Android driven mobile devices too.

This is great news as it is always interesting to see real-time non-photorealistic graphics on mobile devices, particularly if they drive an all-time classic game such as this one.

Lili, another upcoming UE3 iOS game

BitMonster Games, a team comprising of ex Epic Games people, has announced a new iOS game created with the Unreal engine (current version 3 of course) called Lili. Lili appears to be an adventure/RPG title and while the game does not appear to have a release date (yet), the trailer below (seen below) looks very impressive.

More info about the game, which appears to be another string in the bow of AAA titles using UE3 for the Apple mobile devices can be found here.

Bournemouth University student finishes 4th in games programming competition

Ashley Gwinnell, a student of mine from Computing in the School of Design, Engineering and Computing (at Bournemouth University) came fourth out of 150 applicants in the Search for a Star competition. Organised by Aardvark Swift, a UK-based games development recruitment agency, the games programming competition aims to highlight the UK's finest programming talent. It had applicants from 50 Universities from across the country and was decided over three rounds.

The first round was an initial programming test. The top 25 students from the programming test progressed into the second round, which was a week-long demo debug and feature creation round. The top five students from round two were then invited to Aardvark Swift's Head Office to attend an industry panel interview. The interview panel consisted of industry experts from Headstrong Games, Relentless Software, Rockstar Leeds and Aardvark Swift. Ashley had an hour-long interview with the panel and was asked a range of technical and non-technical questions. The aim of the interview was to give the students an experience of the interview process they can expect in the games industry.

More info on the competition here.

Unity 4 released

Earlier last month Unity 4 was released; the latest version of the successful game engine created by Unity Technologies. The main difference appears to be the fact that the engine is now also better suited for AAA, larger studio development other than just indie work which has traditionally been the case.

New features include Mecanim, an in-built animation suite, full support of Microsoft DirectX 11, the first commercial (non-beta) release of the popular Flash export functionality, Linux support and many others. Great to see the popular engine forging ahead in what is now a very tough competitive environment (with UDK and CryEngine for example also making a bid for some of the market Unity originally catered for).

Serious Games for Healthcare book edited chapter contribution

A chapter I have authored appears in the edited "Serious Games for Healthcare: Applications and Implications" book by IGI, edited by Sylvester Arnab (Coventry University, UK), Ian Dunwell (Coventry University, UK) and Kurt Debattista (University of Warwick, UK).

My chapter is titled; "First-Person Shooter Game Engines and Healthcare: An Examination of the Current State of the Art and Future Potential". The abstract is as follows; "First-person shooter (FPS) games have evolved from humble beginnings to what is currently considered the interactive entertainment genre most associated with state-of-the-art developments in gaming, particularly those of a technological and graphical nature. This chapter outlines and discusses past efforts, current usage of contemporary tools, and, finally, the significant suggested potential of first-person shooter gaming engines in the area of health, irrespective of whether these are targeted towards healthcare professional training, patient rehabilitation, or even raising awareness on key issues (to name but a few contemporary and/or suggested remits of the medium)."

More information about this recently released book can be found here.

Tex Murphy set to return in new Kickstarter-funded adventure game

Something which amongst the hectic and extremely busy last month I managed to miss; there has been a recently completed (and successful) campaign on Kickstarter for the funding of a new Tex Murphy adventure game. The prior games (Mean Streets, Under A Killing Moon, Pandora Directive and Overseer) all defined the genre, with Under A Killing Moon being a game I have particularly fond memories of.

Chris Jones (the series creator) is set to return as Tex Murphy and there is even talk of going beyond the PC platform to XBLA and the like, exciting news especially after other similar campaigns by other equally successful 80s/90s adventure franchises.