Develop - Issue 111 - November 2010

G A M E D E S I G N | C O D I N G | A R T | S O U N D | B U S I N E S S

NOVEMBER 2010 | #111 | £4 / e7 / $13

plus minecraft • kinect • james bond • bigpoint• tools news & more

How a lone female codertook on games develop-

ment’s cash-rich big boys –INSIDE: Special report on why

Canada’s game industry thrives

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

ALPHA05 – 13 > dev news from around the globeThe Italian dev sector’s global presence, the new James Bond games’ creators talkabout their chance to step in where Hollywood fell short, and NaturalMotionexplains why it created a special Kinect module for Morpheme

14 – 21 > opinion and analysisRick Gibson ponders the fate of the global development hubs, David Braben takesa look at the Hollywood production model, Billy Thomson analyses Microsoft’s‘three screens and a cloud’ proposition, and Ben Board waves a heartfelt goodbye

23 > 10 years of game connectionThe business networking event celebrates a decade of handshakes and signatures

BETA30 – 32 > minecraft: inside the phenomenonMarkus Persson explains how his hugely lucrative indie game captured theattention of the global gaming community

35 > bigpoint’s rise to the topThe giant of browser gaming goes under the microscope

42 – 63 > canada in focusOver 20 pages analysing the companies, trends and organisations making sure theNorth American country’s games industry outclasses every global competitor

BUILD66 – 67 > tools news: shiva 1.9French outfit Stonetrip on the new version of its ambitious game engine

68 > key release: xaitmapXaitment’s nav mesh and pathfinding technology profiled

70 > epic diaries: inxileMark Rein examines the use of UE3 in dungeon crawler The Hunted

72 > unity focus: aquirisThe studio behind the Bootcamp demo on crafting its impressive browser game

73 > heard about: f1 2010Codemasters tells all about its exclusive time under the bonnet of a Formula 1 car

74 - 75 > game art: mass effect 2Dead End Thrills’ Duncan Harris admires the architechture of the BioWare epic

CODA86 > an offbeat look at the industryResults for the Develop Quiz and Develop Football challenge, gamification gets its justdesserts, Steve Jobs suffers at the hands of Wrong Numbers, and we take a rose tintedtrip all the way back to 1993. Plus: the BioWare founders come clean in our FAQ

ContentsDEVELOP ISSUE 111 NOVEMBER 2010

77-85studios, tools, services and courses

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DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET NOVEMBER 2010 | 05

A ‘confident and expanding’ national industry to be showcased at the Italian Videogame Developers Conference

ITALY’S DEVELOPMENTsector is currently enjoying aperiod of significant growthand buoyancy.

That’s according to theorganisers of this month’sItalian Videogame Developers Conference.

The conference itself takesplace from Friday, December3rd to Saturday, December 4that Rome’s Luiss University Main Hall.

The IVDC’s organisers are alsoconfident that this year’s showvastly improves on the 2009event. Now in its third year, theIVDC has moved from Milan.

“[At the IVDC] you will comeinto contact with a confidentand expanding Italian gamesmarket and developmentscene, which will be extremelyinteresting and insightful froman international point of view,”said president of the IVDCMarco Accordi Rickards.

“We are very excited withthe potential and prospects forcompanies working in theItalian video games industry –many of which will be featuredat this year's IVDC conference.Over the coming years Italywill become a majorinternational force.”

“We’ve made a huge leapfrom last year’s IVDC to thisone,” insisted Rickards.

“Rome, for example, offersgreater opportunities likehaving Governmental

speakers at the event detailingtheir support for the Italiangames industry. Theprogramme is also moreinternationally-oriented with anumber of star developersspeaking at the conference,and a brand new consumerarea called IVDC Play.”

Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux,Crytek founder Avni Yerli andindustry figurehead PhilHarrison are all set to speak atthe free-to-attend event, alongwith a number ofrepresentatives from theItalian Industry, includingMilestone, Artematica andSpinVector. In an attempt tobroaden global appeal, Englishis the IVDC’s ‘official language’,and will be used throughoutthe panels and sessions.

Meanwhile, the IVDC Playelement welcomes the widerpublic to a special consumerarea of the show.

“We’re very excited withIVDC Play as it broadens theappeal of the event and –whereas we’re helping to push the Italian andinternational industry debatesforward – at our core we wantto bring in aspiring gamedevelopers to the industry,”confirmed Rickards.

The IVDC Digitalprogramme is also set to runalongside the main conferenceschedule, offering a number oftailored workshops andsessions, and a specialroundtable addressing newmarkets for games.

The European GameDevelopers Federation is alsopreparing to addressattendees of the IVDC.

More information onattending can be found at theIVDC’s official website.www.ivdconf.com

ADVENTURES IN GAMES DEVELOPMENT: NEWS, VIEWS & MORE

“Since 2008 studios have shednearly nine per cent of the UK’s

full-time developer headcount…”Rick Gibson, p14

Morpheme’snew Kinect

moduleNews, p8

Anatomy of a

blockbusterNews, p13

10 years ofGame

ConnectionNews, p23

by Will Freeman

At the IVDC you will come intocontact with a confident and

expanding Italian games market anddevelopment scene.

Marco Accordi Rickards, IVDC

Italian dev sector now ‘amajor international force’

06 | NOVEMBER 2010

ALPHA | NEWS

THERE’S A bunch of people who I am sure this month’scover story will rankle. Good.

For all the championing everyone in the UK gamesdevelopment sector has done – even Develop throughour increasingly popular Industry Excellence Awards,which services all of Europe – it’s clear that Great Britainain’t so great on the global stage we once dominated.

It’s not just a ‘the writing’s on the wall’ scenario. Thefacts bear this out. Tiga’s recent census of the UK sectorshows that half of the jobs lost in the UK went overseas,three-quarters of them to Canada.

Some more anecdotal context: our ‘Six Reasons WhyCanada Thrives As UK Shrinks’ mini-feature on p43 wasn’ta stretch to put together, it tripped off the tongue giventhe many positive things Canadian patriots (many ofthem UK ex-pats) relayed to us in the 20 pages after.

So yes, a long list of games that includes Assassin’sCreed, Splinter Cell and Mass Effect proves a new fact oflife; the UK just can’t cut it in the big boy league oftraditional games. APB killed RTW. Enslaved waseffectively a flop. Even this month’s diamond releasesthat show the strength of UK development are the newBond games by Bizarre and Eurocom – games ultimatelybased on a sure-thing licence and bankrolled by therichest publisher in the world. Yes, there’s Fable, Batmanor GTA – but they are exceptions to rule.

But you know what? Let’s leave the triple-A games toCanada. It’s territory lost that we just can’t win back.

Despite this, the dynamism that defined the UKindustry’s strengths on fixed platforms in the ‘80s, ‘90s and‘00s – Spectrum, SNES or PS2 – hasn’t disappeared. But ithas moved on. The exciting UK companies aren’t the 100-man studios pumping out 360 games, it’s nimbler non-traditional outfits. Moshi, Hello Games, Wonderland, Six toStart… Just ask EA: it’s the one that spent $500m in 12months to buy iPhone and Facebook stars from Londonand Macclesfield.

UK developers, those that want to stay in the game inthe UK, need to start preparing themselves for thesearenas – if they aren’t already – and fast.

Editorial

Michael [email protected]

“Leave the triple-A games toCanada. It’s territory lost thatthe UK can’t win back.”

VIDEO GAMES can do morethan complement filmfranchises – they can add tothem as well.

That’s the belief of Bizarreand Eurocom, the two studiosworking on Activision’supcoming games James Bond007: Blood Stone andGoldenEye 007.

Financial troubles at MGMhave indefinitely delayed thenext Bond film – and the UKdevelopers believe this is theperfect time to show that thegames industry can carry thetorch in Hollywood’s stead.

“It’s an interesting exerciseto see if the fans can embracea game as much as theywould a new film,” Bizarre’s

Nick Davies, producer forBlood Stone, told Develop.

“Ideally, we want people totalk about Blood Stone as partof the Bond chronology. Thefilms translate so well togames because they’re actionpacked and full of a varietythat lend themselves verynaturally to the game form.”

Activision’s executiveproducer for sister titleGoldenEye 007 JulianWiddows added: “It’s anopportunity to show thatvideo games can give peoplea different way of accessingthe universe,” says Widdows.

“Our GoldenEye is nottrying to be a film. It has hadall of these people involved,but involved in a way thathelps us create a real video

game, not an interactive film.There’s a very importantdistinction there.

“And it’s quite fortunate forus that there isn’t a film out,because it gives this game itsown breathing space.”

The two games boastexpensive production values,with plenty of cinematictalent supporting bothBizarre and Eurocom.

Each title features thevoices and likeness of currentBond Daniel Craig and DameJudi Dench, who plays M.They also follow storylineswritten by Bruce Feirstein, theveteran Bond writer whopenned GoldenEye andTomorrow Never Dies.

Eurocom’s GoldenEye 007 isa reimagining of both the

Bond devs: Games Bizarre and Eurocom claim upcoming 007 titles prove that the games

by James Batchelor


NEWS | ALPHA

original game and the 1995movie, with a brand newmusical score written by theseries’ composer David Arnold.

Meanwhile, Blood Stonefeatures takedowns stuntsthat were motion-captured

using Daniel Craig’s stunt co-ordinator Ben Cooke, whilesinger Joss Stone provides thetitle theme – as well as starringas the Bizarre game’s Bond girl.

Publisher Activision waskeen to employ a film-likestrategy to developing bothBlood Stone and GoldenEye, inorder to prove how wellgames can stand upalongside the classic films.

The firm’s general managerfor its licensed business unitin Europe David Tyler said:“Our goal was always tohandle them as though they

were additions to CasinoRoyale and Quantum ofSolace. Interactiveentertainment can be anextension of a license.

“We feel like we’ve doneexactly that this year byworking with Bruce Feirstein to pen the stories forboth games – his presencealone adds a level oflegitimacy to the games forhardcore fans. Those areessentially original Bondscripts that live on their own.

“Without a movie this year, the games are the onlyway real Bond fans canimmerse themselves into aJames Bond adventure. Theyreally stand on their own astrue entries into the mainBond universe.”

can fill the Hollywood void industry can sustain the iconic movie series in the absence of next James Bond film

Our GoldenEye is not trying tobe a film. It’s quite fortunate

for us that there isn’t a film out, because it gives this game itsown breathing space.

Julian Widdows, Activision

Right: Blood Stoneproducer Nick Davishopes his game will beaccepted as part of themain Bond canon

Why introduce your Kinect module?Kinect for Xbox 360 represents acompletely new way to interact

with your game. To make this kind oftechnology really shine, you have to integrateit seamlessly into your game animation system.

This is what our Kinect module forMorpheme does. It means that animatorsand programmers can graphically authorhow Kinect data is used on their characters,and it allows them to use all the features inMorpheme like physics, IK, or advancedblends. What’s also cool is that you canprototype Kinect game ideas or controlsquickly in Morpheme without having to get adedicated engine going.

How does the tool work, in terms of Kinectdetecting motion and that beingtranslated to game animation?The Kinect system runs live alongside ourMorpheme runtime engine. The Kinectmodule in the Morpheme runtime retargetsthe live motion data onto your character andfrom there can be treated like any otheranimation data. For authoring, ourMorpheme Connect tool presents a simpleKinect drag and drop node in the animationblend tree. This means, for example, you canapply Kinect to only the upper part of yourcharacter, whilst the lower part is driven by awalk cycle. Or you use the player’s shouldertilt to drive the direction of the walk cycle.

Microsoft provides this technology itself.Why pay for more?Microsoft provides the Kinect technology,SDK and core dev tools. NaturalMotion

provides two important pieces to use Kinectin a game.

Firstly dedicated Kinect algorithms forretargeting and noise reduction.

Secondly there’s a tight integration into agraphically authorable animation engine. Inour experience, both are required to get themost out of a live motion input system.

What has the feedback from Microsoftbeen like?Great – Microsoft has been very supportivefrom day one, both in terms of sending ushardware, as well as using and testing ourtechnology over the past few months. It’sclear that Kinect is crucial to Microsoft’s Xboxstrategy, and it’s great to see how it’ssupporting the development and techecosystem around it.

What is the key benefit of this tool foranimators? Does is it take workload awayfrom programmers?Yes, the key benefit is that animators cancontrol how live body motion is integrated

into their animation networks – a keycomponent in creating immersive livemotion experiences.

Equally, programmers benefit from ready-made motion processing algorithms, such asretargeting and noise-reduction algorithms.

Is the module competitively priced? Howmany studios are you hoping to adopt thetech in two years?Kinect for Morpheme is very cost effective interms of the time and money it saves bothcompared to creating a similar solution in-house, as well as in terms of sheer reductionin iteration time.

The tech has already been deployed inmultiple studios, so we’re very optimistic forthe months ahead.

Who’s your intended market?Independent studios?It’s both publishers and independent studios.Right now, we probably have a few more ofthe former than the latter, but that mainlyreflects hardware availability.

If developers use Morpheme’s animationmodule do you think it can improve lagtimes in play?Lag times in Kinect are just not a problemwith the right filtering algorithms, and with judicious use of motion input indifferent situations.

Morpheme helps with both, and it letsanimators and programmers adjust andexperiment with all the necessary settings graphically.www.naturalmotion.com

Animating KinectThe arrival of Kinect represents a significant challenge for animators. NaturalMotion’s CEO Torsten Reil tellsRob Crossley how the company has responded to the new platform with a specially created Morpheme module…

The Kinect modulein the Morpheme

runtime retargets the livemotion data onto yourcharacter and can then betreated like anyanimation data.

Torsten Reil, NaturalMotion

Above: The new KinectMorpheme module inaction and (right)NaturalMotion CEOTorsten Reil

08 | NOVEMBER 2010

ALPHA | Q&A

ALPHA | WORLDVIEW

WorldViewOur digest of the past month’s global games news…

10 | NOVEMBER 2010

DEALS

JAPAN/USAJAPANESE GIANT BUYS NGMOCO FOR $400MJapanese social game firm DeNA hascompleted a $400 million buyout ofCalifornian group Ngmoco.

The deal is one of the most costly in themobile game space, indicative perhaps ofNgmoco’s success on the App Store andAndroid Market.

“The big tide in social gaming is coming,right now,” said DeNA CEO Tomoko Namba.

“We’d like to capture it and quicklybecome the world’s No.1 mobile gamingplatform.

“We’re only active in the Japanese market,and we haven’t figured out how to cover theWestern market.

“We want to enable developers to gocross-device, and to go cross-border. And weneed this to happen quickly, in about thenext one or two years.”www.ngmoco.com

FINLANDANGRY BIRDS FLYING ONANDROID MARKETRovio, the Finnish studio that realised theApp Store dream of turning an indie studiointo a world-conquering money-maker, hasfound new success on Android devices.

The studio that saw its full-price AngryBirds game downloaded nearly seven milliontimes on Apple’s App Store, has now passedtwo million downloads on google’s own

Android Market for smartphones.“Another day, another million,” read a post

by Rovio on social networking site Twitter.Rovio previously revealed that the first

million Angry Birds downloaded on Androidwas achieved in less than 24 hours.www.rovio.com

AUSTRALIAKROME FACED AGAIN WITHCLOSURE AND LAYOFF CLAIMAustralia’s prominent game studio and oneof the biggest independent dev outfits in theworld has again faced rumours ofcommercial breakdown.

The latest claim – that Krome has in factclosed completely – has arrived a few weeksafter the company’s CEO hit out at the mediafor speculating and “exaggerating” onrumours of layoffs.

“What’s real and those stories in the pressare two different things,” Robert Walsh said.

On the latest claims, Krome declined torespond to requests for comment.

Various connected individuals said onsocial networking site Twitter that therumours were accurate.www.kromestudios.com

INDONESIAINDONESIAN, 12, DEVELOPSNOKIA APPS Nokia has been flaunting Fahma WaluyaRosmansyah, a 12 year-old Indonesian boywho creates games and apps that helps

other kids learn English and maths.His output is quite prodigious – the lad

was encoding Flash in the fifth grade, beforegraduating that same year to create an appcalled BAHAMA for the Nokia E71, whichtaught the alphabet, counting and colours.www.nokia.com/developers

USALANGDELL EDGED OUTTim Langdell has informed all licencees of hisold ‘edge’ trademark that he no longer haslegal ownership of the now-infamous name.

A United States district judge made theorder at the very end of what had been themost damaging and humiliating week inLangdell’s controversial career.

In what resembled a swift mafia-like‘clean-up’ job, District Judge William Alsuptold the United States Patent and TrademarkOffice to cancel all of Langdell’s ‘edge’trademarks, and told the man himself toinform his licencees – those who’ve alreadyfallen victim to his pugnacious ‘trademarktrolling’ – that his power has been dissolvedcompletely.

It leaves Langdell bereft of a reliablesource of income, stung by legal costs, andin danger of criminal convictions.

A legal fight with EA over the Mirror’s Edgetrademark, though embarked on withLangdell’s typical confidence, marked thebeginning of the end for the retired gamedeveloper.www.chaosedge.wordpress.com

ANOTHER £10M GRANT FORCANADIAN STUDIOSThe Canadian game industry has received another luxuriousmulti-million dollar investment from its government, in what isa further demonstration of how the country’s game developersare thriving on the world stage.

The Canada Media Fund this month granted £8 million totwenty-seven tech companies – twelve of which are gamedevelopers. Over £6.5 million remains in the fund for a

subsequent investment round, which is currently beingconsidered for new applicants.

The princely financial support underlines how central thegame industry is considered to Canada’s digital economy. Thenation is widely considered to have set a global mastertemplate for supporting its development studios – a modelwhich the UK is despairingly at odds with.

Canada offers game development tax breaks in three regions,saving as much as 40 per cent on production costs.www.cmf-fmc.ca

Japanese studioLevel-5 is workingwith Capcom tobuild a crossovergame featuringboth ProfessorLayton and PhoenixWright - set forrelease onNintendo’supcoming 3DShandheld.

Chipmaker giantIntel has invested$3 million in AuroraFeint, makers of theOpenFeint socialplatform for mobileapps.

Facebook haschosen PlaySpan’sUltimate Paymonetisationsolutions as a newmethod ofpurchasingFacebook Credits insocial games.

San Francisco-based casual gamesgroup PlayFirst hasraised $9.2m infinancing from arange of VC firmsincluding MayfieldFund and TrinityPartners.

Californian studioSperasoft haslicensed ForkParticle’s SDKmiddleware for itsupcoming, as yetunannounced,project.

EA has acquirediPhone publisherChillingo in a dealthought to beworth around $20million.

Canadian mobilegame studio Ludiawill sell a controlling51 per cent share ofthe company to RTLGroup.

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

WORLDVIEW | ALPHA

NOVEMBER 2010 | 11

SAY WHAT?!?FOR THE LATEST NEWS...

NORDIC EUROPENORDIC FUND INSPIRES ANDWORRIES ORGANISERCompetition in this year’s Nordic GameProgram has far exceeded expectations forthe organisers of the initiative.

As many as 136 projects have beensubmitted for a share of the remaining£350,000 in the fund, which will ultimately besplit between just six.

The 136 brings the total number ofapplicants this year to 228 – a figure whichthe head of Nordic Game said he is bothproud of and worried by.

“The number of projects has increased by50 per cent from the last round,” ErikRobertson said.

“This staggering figure, about four timeswhat we planned for, proves that the Nordicgames industry is still very much expanding,but also that it is impossible for the fundingscheme to meet the growing demand”.www.nordicgameprogram.org

CANADA‘MASS LAYOFFS’ ASPROPAGANDA AXES GAMEDisney is rumoured to have handedredundancy notices to as many as 100 staff atCanadian outfit Propaganda Games.

Disney confirmed the layoffs, though didnot disclose how many were affected.

The downsizing is a result of Disney axingthe Pirates of Caribbean project. www.propagandagames.go.com

UKTORIES TO AXE RDAS...The enormity of challenge facing the UKGovernment is now being put into bleakperspective by brutal measures to eliminateBritain’s budget deficit.

In what was, in reality, a footnote toextraordinary spending review cuts,Chancellor George Osborne confirmed theUK will close its Regional DevelopmentAgencies (RDAs) as part of a wider plan tosave money on the masses of quangosdotted across the UK. As much as £270million of the public’s money is hoped will besaved by axing the RDAs – yet at least five ofthese, and ikely more, have routinely fundedand promoted the games industry.

“RDAs will be abolished and functionswhich are to be retained will be transferred tocentral or local government, and others,” reada cross-departmental document.www.hm-treasury.gov.uk

UK...BUT NESTA IS SPAREDNESTA, the National Endowment for Science,Technology and the Arts has been grantedfull independence from the UK Government.

According to the official documentdetailing the ‘quango cull’, NESTA is to ‘seek toestablish as an independent charity’. It’sendowment is to be held in a separate trust.

“The NESTA Board welcomes this decision,”said Sir John Chisholm, NESTA’s chairman.www.nesta.org.uk

THQ: WE’D HAVELOOKED PAST CANADA One of the industry’s biggest publishers has putinto bleak perspective the link betweenemployment, investment, new studios and taxbreaks in the UK.

Danny Bilson, THQ’s executive VP for coregames, announced this month the opening of itsnew mega-studio in Canada’s subsidy-supportedQuebec region, which is expected to create 400new jobs, in five years.

And if the UK government hadn’t scrappedplans for game tax breaks, he says, THQ wouldhave considered opening its studio in Britain.

“It’s all about money,” Bilson said.“There’s no issue with talent; it’s just economics -

and if the government finds subsidies there,absolutely we would build out.

“I wish that Los Angeles or California would giveus 37.5 per cent [tax break] on the labour; thenwe’d be building out here. If it was in Manchesterwe’d be building out there. If it was in Lyon, we’dbe building out there.”

Tiga CEO Richard Wilson urged the UK Coalitionto act now on tax breaks in light of the claims.

“We are losing in a global battle,” he said. careers.thq.com

HEAD TO WWW.DEVELOP-ONLINE.NETOur online resource features news, analysis and commentaryposted daily, and is available via the web, mobile, RSS and dailyemail and news alert blasts.

“A mess.”

But is it magical? Apple CEO Steve Jobsnutshells Android game development,claiming Tweetdeck devs had troubles.

“Did we at any pointsay it was a nightmare

developing onAndroid? Errr nope.”

Jobs ProTip: If you’re going to makeassumptions about someone, perhapsthe creator of Tweetdeck might have

some kind of way to publicly respond?

“A monstrous majorityof those buying games

with an Online Passare getting somethingfor free. People see it

as a plus, I think.”

Oh, Peter Moore, what would SteveJobs say about such an unprepared

corporate line? “A mess” ?

“That was a joke!”

See! Bobby Kotick was simplyexcercising his famously dry sense of

humour when talking about “taking thefun out of game development”.

THE SENSATIONDespite having one of the most pervasivepre-release marketing campaigns a Rockstargame has yet received, there were those whohad no faith in Red Dead Redemption’s power.

Analysts pointed to a lack of heavy-duty in-game firepower as a likely sore point forthose weaned on titles of the likes of Call ofDuty and Halo. Other Western-themed gamesbefore it had failed to achieve the loftyheights expected of the classic genre,arguably including Red Dead Redemption’sown precursor, Red Dead Revolver.

Those concerns were proven more thanunfounded on the game’s release, however.Racking up a Metacritic score of 95 per centand selling over two million units in its firsttwo months of release alone, Red DeadRedemption became one of the biggestselling games of 2010.

THE GAMEA desperate anti-hero with a troubled past.The heartless G-Men threatening his loved-ones. The old gang members at large in anepic landscape. Red Dead Redemption’s plotreads like an amalgamation of all the bestbits of every great Western film everproduced. Add to that a score that wouldhave made Ennio Morricone proud; andperformances of a quality rarely found inmodern Hollywood blockbusters, and youhave the makings of something very special.

In terms of gameplay, the mixture offirefights, brawls, horse races and huntingquests across burning deserts and grassyplains kept the focus fresh throughout the 25to 30 hours of gameplay.

Throw in an online multiplayer with anever-expanding series of game types andsome of the most creative use of DLC yetseen in video games, and that specialsomething gets acutely realised.

THE STUDIORockstar San Diego, having outside of RedDead Revolver only worked on racing titleslike Midnight Club and the weirdly brilliantRockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, reallyoutdid themselves on this title. Its staff certainlywent beyond the call of duty during the game’snotorious crunch period, the fallout from whichshowed the ease with which Rockstar studiosworldwide can pull together; you can really feelthe Rockstar/GTA qualities in the game. Not asurprise given the franchises share an execproducer, Rockstar North boss Leslie Benzies.

UNIQUE SELLING POINTWesterns by their very nature are nothingnew, and even in the relatively youngmedium of video games this statement holdstrue. Since The Oregon Trail in the early 1970s,the old American frontier has been arecurring inspiration for developers. Thetendency for the games they made hasgenerally been to keep to a formal liniarity;represent the awesome geography of theWest with smoke and mirrors, but to keep theplayer at a distance from the distance.

The primal appeal of Red Dead Redemptionis simple. See that vast, impossible-lookingrock formation just on the brink of thehorizon? Get on your horse, cowboy, and letssee what’s happening over there.

WHY IT WORKSThe allure of Rockstar’s games is theopportunity to play through archetypalsituations in fiction. In the GTA series, thevisceral sex-appeal of crime and vice in anurban environment, as-seen in Scarface andHeat, can be experienced first-hand. In theMidnight Club series, street racing culture ismade accessible to the millions of people

who cannot afford to get involved with thereal thing, be it financially or morally.

Red Dead Redemption? To ride alone intothe sunset, the bad guy dead, the maiden’svirtue intact, the towns-folk safe – thesethings represent the heroic ideal that everyfan of Westerns has aspired to at some point.Inversely, to kill the good guy, steal themaiden and raze the town to the ground isalso pretty fun. In John Marston players findthe cypher for their own heroic or villainousfantasies. His story is the player’s story, andhis fate is all the more important because of it.

TRY IT YOURSELFThe gruff private detective. The killer with aheart. The soldier with a past. Stereotypes all,but when well developed and granted free-reign over a world at once familiar yetdistinct, players will fill in the gaps and createan unforgettable character that will nevermean the same thing to any two individuals.

What makes you tick? What is yourfavourite film, TV show or book? How coolwould it be to experience that fiction in videogame form? And remember – the old storiesare always the best.

NOVEMBER 2010 | 13

CRITIQUE | ALPHA

ANATOMY OF A BLOCKBUSTERRed Dead RedemptionPUBLISHER: Rockstar GamesSTUDIO: Rockstar San DiegoFORMAT: Playstation 3, Xbox 360PRICE: £49.99CHART SUCCESS: Five weeks at UK number one www.rockstargames.com

Our monthly dissection of a recent hit game...

Rockstar’s Western epicsucceeds in making anadored, if tired, culturalarchetype feel fresh andexciting

14 | NOVEMBER 2010

ALPHA | OPINION

COMMENT: BUSINESS

by Rick Gibson, Games Investor Consulting

When big studios like RealtimeWorlds suddenly switch their lightsoff, the industry collectively

shudders, blusters about probable cause,crosses itself and gets back to business.

Post-mortems range from the uninformed(failure of business model – patently wrongas many similar companies would kill forAPB’s ARPPUs), personalised (it’s alwaysmanagement’s fault) to astute (most triple-AMMOGs with console production values fail),pragmatic (quality dampened retailperformance killing funding) or unvarnished(APB was heavily over-engineered comparedto direct competitors). But why do someclusters collapse where others survive, what’sthe long term impact of losing that manystaff on Dundee, and what are the prospectsfor those let go?

KNOWLEDGE IS POWERAt the heart of the industry’s biggest clusters– Seattle, Montreal, Vancouver and SanFrancisco – are giant studios training talent inthe latest development technology andprocesses. Since most of these powerhousesare publisher-owned or are publishers intheir own right, they typically have the scaleto attract talent from afar, which in turnattracts other companies. Eventually somestaff spin out, diversifying the cluster. Thelocale often provides start-ups with seasonednon-execs to add strategic clout, reassuredinvestors and eventually, sometimes, brokersales. When acquired, these studios close thevirtuous circle by delivering cutting edgecreativity and technology back into publisherstudios, whose innovation is commonlyevolutionary not revolutionary.

Our industry needs the balance andinterplay between publishers and

independents. They provide services, a talentpool and business opportunities to eachother, as well as trigger subtler interactionsbetween creative business people.

Many clusters have grown and benefitted from cross-fertilisation fromadjacent industries, most notably film inVancouver, and Silicon Valley in SanFrancisco. London now has numerous gamescompanies from new media agency-land,making it the UK’s largest cluster by numberof studios and headcount.

COME TOGETHERLarge publisher studios in your cluster arethe best defence against shocks like RealtimeWorlds, whose demise robbed Dundee ofover 60 per cent of its full time staff. Many ofthese newly-available top-flight developersare being scooped up by other studios, butthe UK overall is still losing headcount.Dundee itself now has under 160

development staff in full time roles intwenty-odd small-to-medium sizedcompanies, which no longer enjoy spill-oversfrom a well-funded giant studio.

There’s no doubt that the cluster would bein much deeper trouble without Abertay,which provides a degree of safe haven duringstorms, housing developers and providingfunding and staff.

Dundee’s local funding environment, whilebetter than most due to local benefactorsand the new prototype fund, isn’t quite at thelevel to trigger multiple new start-ups.Finance is the other key to many clusters’success. This financing is not universallysourced from public bodies. Canada maypump-prime to attract global publisherstudios but the privately funded clusters ofLos Angeles, Hamburg and San Francisco

arguably create more long-term value byincubating indigenous studios.

Whether clusters and newly redundantstaff bounce back from such redundancyshocks is driven too by timing. During thelast collapse in developer numbers in theearly-to-mid 2000s, many staff, with fewerjobs to go around, left the UK or the industryaltogether. Three-to-four years ago studioswere growing but faced recruitmentshortages, so many released staff wereabsorbed by companies relieved to findexperienced people. Since 2008, UK-basedstudios have tightened their belts, sheddingnearly nine per cent of the UK’s full-timedeveloper headcount.

What about these new routes to marketswith lower barriers to entry? Let’s notoverstate it: perhaps ten per cent of UK staffmade redundant since 2008 went on tofound companies. But, since then we’vetracked well over one hundred start-upstudios in the UK, whose fate correlatesstrongly with platform choice.

iPhone companies have mostly struggledwhile browser game studios have thrived.The North East lost many start-ups whichalmost exclusively chose iPhone, but failed tofind a market. Start-ups in the South Easthave tended towards Flash and Facebook,with a greater proportion surviving, so far.

After the RTW recruitment auction, aminority may leave gaming, but in a globalindustry with a highly mobile workforce,many will use this as the opportunity to workfor overseas games companies.

Data is hard to gather, but TIGA’s late 2009survey found that half of studios’ lost jobswent overseas, 72 per cent of them toCanada. Perhaps globalisation can rescuesuch staff. I’m as unhappy with the UK’sdecline as anyone but recognise that lookingout for number one may mean taking ourfocus overseas.

What will happen to Dundee? It may bedown but it’s not out. Local studios likeProper Games, Tag, Dynamo and DigitalGoldfish are still going strong, and withRockstar down the road, Scotland is still a topgames development destination.

Rick Gibson is a director at Games InvestorConsulting, providing research, strategyconsulting and corporate finance services to thegames, media and finance industries.www.gamesinvestor.com

Above: How Dundee’sdev scene will adjust tothe Realtime Worldsclosure is a topic ofmuch debate

Since 2008, UK-based studios have

tightened their belts,shedding nearly nine percent of the UK’s full-timedeveloperheadcount.

When clustersimplode

This is the dawn of a new era of Digital Entertainment Creation and it’s fueled by the 2011 releases of Autodesk® 3ds Max® and Autodesk® Maya® Software .

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AUTODESK MAYA AND AUTODESK 3DS MAX

*Based on Market Perspectives, Productivity and Return on Investment and Productivity Benchmark reports for Autodesk 3ds Max 2011 and Autodesk Maya 2011 conducted by independent technology research institute and benchmarking firm, Pfeiffer Consulting. Download the full reports at www.pfeifferreport.com.

Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at anytime without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2010 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

OPINION | ALPHA

Billy Thomson is the creative director of developer Ruffian Games. Billyhas over 13 years experience of designing video games, including designroles on Grand Theft Auto and GTA2, before working as lead designer onRealtime Worlds' celebrated Crackdown.www.ruffiangames.com

NOVEMBER 2010 | 17

Any first party game developerworking with one of the currentconsole manufacturers will know that

this partnership comes with some massivebenefits. However, they will also know thatalong with these advantages they are alsoexpected to make sure that their gamecommits to as many of the publisher’s firstparty strategic goals as possible as it tries toensure they lead the way in the console war.

That’s something evident since ourpublisher Microsoft Games Studios hasimplemented the ‘three screens and the cloud’strategy that was unveiled to the public backin 2009. The three screens are the TV, the PCand the mobile device or smart phone, whilethe cloud represents data stored online.Microsoft announced that they envisioned afuture where any Windows device wouldcreate a persistent, shared, connectedexperience allowing people access to theirpersonal data, information, and servicesacross all three screens and the cloud.

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS?For Microsoft this strategy is not aimeddirectly at games, the goal is to connect eachof the screens and the cloud in as manydifferent ways as possible, harnessing the fullspectrum of entertainment mediums. As aconsumer it’s clear to see how Microsoft areutilising each of the screens and the cloudfrom a high level, but what about the specificfocus required to make a game cross eachdivide and present a truly persistent, shared,connected, and valuable experience for theplayer on every screen? How do we makesure that wherever the player is, that they canaccess their favourite game in some meaningfulway that doesn’t feel like a cheap gimmick?

First of all we focus on the TV, as it’s theone we know the best, all you have to do toconsider this one ticked off your list is tomake a high quality game that is playablesolo as well as multiplayer over Xbox Live.Obviously this game must be adored by thecritics and public causing it sell gazillions.Easy. So, now that’s done, what do we dowith the rest?

The best connection to the PC is to portyour Xbox 360 game across and have itconnect to the Xbox 360 game via the XboxLive/Windows Live integration. This will allowyour players to be connected and have a Liveshared gameplay experience. This is a great

connection between the screens, but thededication to the PC shouldn’t end there, westill have the social networking phenomenathat is Facebook to utilise.

Facebook gives a developer a few options;they can create completely standalonegames that only connect to the 360 game byunlocking content between both games,which is a method Microsoft used with theirChuck’s Ducks game that unlocked content inCrackdown 2 when a global game objectivehad been completed. Or they can create agame that is seamlessly integrated into the360 game’s universe, which is my preferredoption and admittedly far more difficult yetundoubtedly a more compelling propositionfor the player. As well as games you also havethe ability to create a dedicated Facebookpage. Simple, yet incredibly powerful if usedproperly as it allows you to keep the playersinterested for a longer period than theynormally would be in a game.

GETTING SMARTWhile the smart phone is listed as a differentscreen I find it difficult to separate it from thePC due to the fact that most smart phoneshave the power and internet connectivity todo everything the PC can do short of portingthe full 360 game.

The one advantage that the phone has isthat it comes with you everywhere you go –which means that the possibility of having afully integrated smart phone game that willsomehow ease your progress in the 360game would likely be played at everyopportunity, making it a truly valuableaddition to the three screens.

The cloud isn’t getting that much attentionright now, but it is likely the area with themost potential of all as it allows thedeveloper to keep the data from all thesedifferent games and apps in perfect sync andstored online making it theoretically possibleto seamlessly move from one game or app toanother on a different screen and continuefrom where you left off.

I don’t know of any game that is deliveringon all three screens and the cloud in this wayyet, but I would guess there are quite a fewbeing quietly developed around the worldright now.

How do we makesure that wherever

the player is they can accesstheir favourite game insome meaningful way thatdoesn’t feel like acheap gimmick?

3 Screens,

1 Cloud

COMMENT: DESIGN

by Billy Thomson, Ruffian Games

Above: Microsoft’svision of persistantworlds across mobile,PC, TV and the cloudpresents substantialchallenges for triple-A

18 | NOVEMBER 2010

ALPHA | OPINION

COMMENT: OPINION

by David Braben, Frontier Developments

As many know, I like to draw parallelswith the film business, but here is anexample that I think doesn’t work

too well in our industry.In film, often a ‘production company’

(usually just one or two people) findsindividuals from each discipline as they areneeded – cinematographer, script writer,director, actors, etcetera – and then they allwork together to produce a single film only.

Some have suggested using this ‘guns forhire’ model in the games developmentbusiness – but generally it is said wistfully aspeople count the cost of any downtimebetween funded projects; one of the realchallenges in development.

Some ‘indie’ start-ups begin this way, withno formal structure, just a bunch of like-minded people working together, as did I,long ago. Without going all misty eyed aboutit, in the ‘80s it worked well, but that isbecause the projects were small.

We have seen this again with mobilegames, and the ascendant platforms likeiPhone and Android now, but that doesn’tmean they will stay that way. As with muchof the history of this business, those groupsare already changing, and as the size ofprojects increase, eventually a formalstructure is needed.

It works in film as there are standardprocesses across most of the industry, sopeople in a given role are prettyinterchangeable. This is because most filmsare stylised in specific ways; they may be setin a particular historic time period; shot withstrange lighting; with post-process effects tomake the film look desaturated or grainy like

the tradition for some times of wartime films,but none of these things change theprocesses significantly.

LUCAS’ ARTSSome of the things George Lucas did whenhe made Star Wars changed the process alittle; he used much larger film stock to allowoverlaying of special effects withoutdegrading the quality.

It had major knock-on effects on filmingand editing – and the unions hated it – but itgreatly improved the end result. More

recently the move to digital editing (againchampioned by Lucas through IndustrialLight and Magic) improved the results butchanged the processes. It meant he had tobuild a team around him with those newskills as the people were no longerinterchangeable.

More importantly, look at Pixar (foundedby George Lucas too– you can see why I’m afan of his); the move to purely CGI contenthas turned the process upside down, and

revolutionised Disney too. Even before this,producing a cartoon (or claymation – I’m anAardman fan) is very different to that of afilm. These need large teams to stay togetheras their skills are mutually interdependentand not interchangeable with other groupsbecause of the different processes.

SONS OF GUNSWith games, the premiere evangelists for‘guns for hire’ are the beneficiaries -companies offering middleware or centralcontent libraries. Some games are starting tobe made this way, but they look and soundthe same.

Eventually that ‘look’ will approximate thereal world, which for many types of games isfine – but as with film, those that don’t lookor feel the same will really stand out. Theytend to be the blockbusters.

The trouble is, innovation is stillhappening, and this model makes innovationmuch harder. As with the film business, thetransition will never happen altogether; therewill still be some die-hard groups innovatingon processes, but we are not the filmbusiness - we need to remember that. Ourprocesses are way more involved – closer tothose of CGI, which doesn’t use the ‘guns forhire’ model yet in film.

For these ‘standard’ films, the main cost isthe big-name actors, who are typically paidonce the film is released. Other costs –camera rental and so on – are low, especiallyif the film is made in an existing location. Thisis why the model works.

In games the costs of middleware, content libraries, actors, staff are still too highfor this model to work, without the costsbeing deferred to after the game ships. Thiswill change, and as with film, it will be thenames of the ‘talent’ that can help carry sucha project.

Until that happens, the ‘productioncompany’ model will not be for mainstreamgames, in my opinion.

Right: The Hollywoodmodel is attractive, butwill it really work as atemplate for gamedevelopment?

With games, thepremiere

evangelists for ‘guns forhire’ are the beneficiaries –companies offeringmiddleware orcontent libraries.

Guns for Hire

vs Companies?

David Braben is the founder of Cambridge-based Frontier Developments. Best known asthe co-creator of Elite, Braben has contributedto, designed or overseen a number of otherprojects including Frontier: Elite II, Dog’s Life,Thrillville and LostWinds. Frontier is currentlydeveloping his next title, The Outsider. He is alsoclosely involved with Skillset. www.frontier.co.uk

20 | NOVEMBER 2010

ALPHA | OPINION

I’m not cool. I have a BA in ComputerScience, carry a Swiss Army knife and cantell you the difference between an F-16A

and and F-16C, and I say things like ‘I’mincredibly proud to work for Microsoft’.

This column will be my last for now, unlessOutlook quickly learns how to interpret andreply to the questions of Xbox gamedevelopers on my behalf, so with a touch ofstirring music and a small green flag placedin front of my desk fan I’d like to use it to talkabout why that is.

I had the privilege of working at Lionheadin the early Noughties as a lead on the firstFable. I wasn’t privy to all the publishingconversations that went on, but for thepurposes of tight narrative, one dayMicrosoft walked in and decided that Fablewas going to be one of the world’s biggestgaming franchises. The potential of the gameand team was already jaw-droppinglyobvious, but even back then blockbusterstatus required much more than that, and acommitted publisher was essential. And I’dnever seen such commitment. Suddenlyhordes of people of a supernatural calibrewere working alongside the team to finishand polish the game – experienced anddiplomatic producers, tireless programmersand scripters, armies of QA, high-tech userexperience teams; the hardest-working andmost patient and cheerful and single-mindedbunch imaginable. The Lionhead teamboasted (and still boasts) probably thehighest concentration of talent of any teamI’ve seen, and the combination was awe-inspiring, and we all worked very, very hard,and the game we made was not justsuccessful but important.

And Xbox had a convert. I saw at first handjust how much Microsoft, this gamingupstart, cared about making great games,and I made a note in my margin that shouldthe opportunity ever arise to be part of thatdrive to make the best games better then Ishould jump at it; and five years later, it did.If anything I feel it all the more now, beingpart of that process on the other end, andseeing that a comparable degree of supportis bringing benefits to many titles day in, dayout. Not very English, I suppose, to expresspride in working for a corporation, especiallya ginormous American one, but forMicrosoft’s services to gaming I say withouthesitation: proud I am.

So if it’s services to gaming I value, how doI feel about The Other Guys, our consolecompetition?

THE OTHER SIDEThis is where it gets odd. Games have anintrinsic, platform-agnostic value, but my job isultimately to get people to buy Xbox consolesand games and not PlayStations or Wiis. Mygamer-half says that any new platform hasvalue if it provides new experiences; my Xbox-half wants you to ignore the others and buyKinect and a new 360 S. Partisan column ornot, I won’t dwell – much – on the thesis thattitles with both 360 and PS3 SKUs oftenperform better on our box, or how muchslicker I reckon our online experience is, or soon, because it leads to nothing but tiresomefanboy forum flamewars.

Thing is, while we’re in healthy and attimes fierce competition with Nintendo and,more directly (for now), Sony – and be in nodoubt that we want to be top dog – we have

more in common than we like to think. MyMum couldn’t tell you the differencebetween them, for a start.

A few columns back I talked about thesignificance of rival ecosystems. While wemay each defend our own branch we’rereally up the same tree. Most games releasedon one platform also appear on the other;CTOs spend years abstracting away thedifferences to their code teams; our respectiveplatform logos form an orderly queue at thebottom of the bus shelter or magazine ad;and my own role is performed in SCEE bysome top-drawer guys and gals, in afunctionally identical way. Tribalism aside Ihave nothing but respect for them. We usethe same publishers, retailers and marketingchannels, and we’re all appealing to the sameline in people’s entertainment budgets, andwhen recessions hit, they hit us equally.

Meanwhile it’s no great insight that weformat holders are having to compete forgamers’ attention on more fronts than everbefore. Apple, to its credit, has broughtphone gaming from fragmented non-viabilityto mainstream acceptance, and our ownWindows Phone 7 intends to take that evenfurther. Facebook’s success with gameswasn’t even predicted by Facebook. My five-year-old son is, this week, in love with golf,and woe betide you for trying to lever him offthe DS or one of the thousand browsergames he’s found. One can argue about therelative merits of those games versus consolegames, but in that fight the two HD consolesoccupy the same corner.

We’re all incredibly fortunate to beinvolved in such a dynamic, evolving andentertaining business. There are times I careabout Xbox games over others, but most ofthe time, I just care about games.

Now go and buy Kinect - it’s so muchbetter than that other thing. It’s been lots offun contributing to Develop. Thanks toMichael, Will, Stuart and Rob for theopportunity, and the first person to mail meproving they read all my columns gets a copyof Halo Reach.

Ben Board is European developer accountmanager at Microsoft, supporting all studiosworking on games for Xbox and Games ForWindows platforms. He previously worked asa programmer and producer at the likes ofBullfrog, EA and Lionhead.

Above: Microsoft’sdevotion to Fable pre-launch was integral tothe company’ssubsequent acceptancein the games industry

COMMENT: TECHNOLOGY

On BeingPartial

by Ben Board, Microsoft

While we’re incompetition with

Nintendo and Sony - and bein no doubt that we want tobe top dog - we have morein common than welike to think.

www.trinigy.net

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Experience the freedom of Vision with our 30-day trial.

Visit Trinigy at MIGS, I/ITSEC and GDC China

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

EVENTS | ALPHA

NOVEMBER 2010 | 23

WHAT WAS the original visionwhen Game Connection wasfounded 10 years ago?The vision behind GameConnection was both practicaland engaged.

The core idea was to make theprocess for a developer to selland finance a game projectsimple and easy.

Ten years ago the gamesindustry’s creative teams didn’thave an event to bring playabledemos to and pitch their know-how to potential publishers;especially console and techdevelopers. Game Connection’sarchitecture and values were alsodesigned by game developersthemselves for game developers.

Back in 2000 our local industrywas at its pinnacle.

I was myself a game producerbefore owning Game Connectionand I can you tell how hectic thespirit was between colossalpublishers likeInfogrammes/Atari, EA and abunch of highly talented indie orin-house studios such as EdenGames, Arkane studio, EtrangesLibellules, Phoenix Interactive,Widescreen Games and others.

All that positive energy wasgathered to answer alldevelopers’ needs.

How has Game Connectionexpanded its remit since thefirst show?There are more events. Since2001, the event also changedfrom a France-centric event atfirst to two international events

gathering the whole industrywith up to 20 nationalities. Theevent has evolved from adevelopers and publishers-onlyto all players from theproduction pipeline – includingthe services providers andoutsourcing companies.

We also now give theopportunity to our attendees tomeet investors and that’ssomething the games industryreally gets with the GameConnection Invest initiative.Today, it would be crazy to thinkthat you can grow a business as adeveloper without having anexcellent business model in place.

We are also really eager tokeep offering what the currentmarket needs by bringingtogether the good players and toadd exciting new initiatives likeGame Connection SelectedProjects and Game ConnectionInvest, rather than offering onlythe same, limited event each andevery year.

How have events in newterritories and countriesbolstered what GameConnection offers?The global landscape wasdifferent 10 years ago. That’s afact and the real catch for anytrade show is always to revamp,rethink, and reinvent itself tobring the best quality of serviceand return on investment toparticipants. Over the last 10years, only a few happy eventshave grown outside their ownfrontiers to achieve a realinternational recognition.

Game Connection is amongthe top-five events with E3, GDC,TGS and Gamescom in terms ofbusiness results, and is the fourtholdest after GDC, TGS and E3.

I’ve seen a couple of otherevents trying to mimic GameConnection, and we’re flattered.But, we’ve been doing thissuccessfully for a long time andwe have long standingrelationships with key industryplayers, so we expect to

10 years ofGame Connection

This month the Game Connection networking event series celebrates its tenth anniversary. Will Freeman talksto managing director Pierre Carde about the history of the industry’s leading business meeting gathering…

Above: GameConnection’s managingdirector Pierre Carde

Our DNA is still very much non-profit. We want to help the

industry grow and develop as much aswe did 10 years ago.

Pierre Carde, Game Connection

ALPHA | EVENTS

THE MONTH AHEADA look at what November has in store for the industry and beyond…

NOVEMBER 1ST:All Saints’ Day ,or, the day afterHalloween. Thatpale developerskin becomesuncool again.

NOVEMBER 4TH:The London GamesConference looks at survivaland profit in an ever-changingindustry. It’s going to bepretty damn insightful.

NOVEMBER 5TH:Bonfire Night. On this nightin 1605, Guy Fawkes failed toblow up theHouses ofParliament,which meansyou need to eat ajacket potato cooked in a fire.

NOVEMBER 6TH TO 7TH:Tired of the generic nature ofmodern games? R3playin Blackpool bringstogether hundreds ofplayable retro classicson arcade cabs,classic consoles,vintage computers, andeven pinball machines.

NOVEMBER 8TH TO9TH:In snowy Québec, the seventhMontreal InternationalGame Summit will bebringing developers in fromthe cold fortwo days oftop-flightindustryspeakers.

NOVEMBER 10TH:The ongoing motion controlwar will heat up once again asMicrosoft launches its Kinectperipheral and almost 20launch titles.

NOVEMBER 10TH – 12TH:The Unite 2010 Conferencetakes place in Old Montreal,Canada. See page 26 for ourinteresting, informative andentertaining copy.

NOVEMBER 16TH:Ezio Auditoreda Firenzereturns as amiddle-agedknife-for-hiretrying to keep upwith the kids inUbisoft Montreal’s Assassin’sCreed: Brotherhood.

NOVEMBER 18TH:Get your thinkingfaces and ‘deep’ideas ready forthe UNESCOInternationalPhilosophy Day.

NOVEMBER 18TH:The ME Awards2010 will beawarding andrewarding thestandoutdevelopers andbusinesses working in themobile sector today.

NOVEMBER 25TH TO 29TH:The 1st AshesTest takes place atThe Gabbastadium inBrisbane,Australia. Younggamers in Englandand Australia fighttheir dads forcontrol of the TV.

NOVEMBER 30TH:Warren Spector’sconservativelytitled newmagnumopus, EpicMickey, isreleased onthe Wii.

24 | NOVEMBER 2010

continue in our leadershipposition with ongoing andpermanent improvements.

What has the impact of GameConnection actually been onthe industry? The impact was immediate in2001 and Game Connection’seffect on the industry hascontinued to grow throughoutthe past decade.

The number of developersdemoing new titles, the numberof interested publishers, and thenumber of attendees hasexpanded consistently everyyear. Even during the difficultglobal economic challenges of2008 and 2009 the attendeenumbers rose significantly.

We think that these growingnumbers provide evidence thatthe industry believes GameConnection to be worth its time,In turn that tells us there areprofessionals making dealswhich both sides of the industry–developers and publishers –think are especially good fortheir businesses.

How has Game Connectionchanged over the years toreflect the changing industry?Nothing and everything. We keptthe format and the skeleton thesame and the rest of the event isrenewed almost completely. Thephilosophy behind GameConnection remains unchanged.It was created by a non-profitassociation and, even though theteam behind it bought it to run itas a private project, our DNA isstill very much non-profit. Wewant to help the industry growand develop as much as we didten years ago.

The industry has changedsignificantly, probably more thana lot of other industries. Luckilyenough, most people are greatindividuals in the game industry,and that makes every GameConnection a very fun andworthwhile event.

The networking gathering hasshifted from a console market toa global production and finance market, that is probablythe main change.www.game-connection.com

Game Connection –The main event

LIKE ITS predecessors Game Connection’s tenth anniversary show isdesigned to bring together those from development, publishing,finance, outsourcing and a wealth of other disciplines for focusedbusiness meetings.

The event’s unique Meeting Application tool has been conceived tomake it easy to secure face-to-face time with dozens of prospectivebusiness partners.

Glance over the list of over 1,400 companies large and smallavailable to spend face-to-face time with, and it’s clear GameConnection offers a significant boon to attendees’ prospects.

This year’s show takes place in Lyon, France, and runs from Tuesday,November 16th until Thursday, November 18th.For information on attending visit www.game-connection.com

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

EVENTS | ALPHA

NOVEMBER 2010 | 25

EVOLVE IN LONDONDecember 8thLondon, Englandwww.evolveconference.com

Evolve in London is a day-longconference focusing on how todevelop games for new platforms,new technologies and new markets.

The event's programme willexplore emerging platforms, newbusiness models and theintegration of internet services anduser-generated content. It has beenconceived to help game developerstackle the issues arising fromemerging platforms and digitalmarketplaces, connected gaming,user-generated content, and thecrossover between games andInternet services.

Key speakers include ngmoco’sCEO Neil Young and Playfish bossKristian Segerstrale.

DEVELOP DIARYLONDON GAMES CONFERENCENovember 4thLondon, Englandwww.develop-online.net

MONTREAL INT. GAMES SUMMITNovember 8th to 14thMontreal, Canadasijm.ca/2010

NEON 10November 8th to 14thDundee, Scotlandwww.northeastofnorth.com

UNITE 2010 CONFERENCENovember 10th to 12thOld Montreal, Canadaunity3d.com/unite

SOCIAL GAMING SUMMITNovember 11thLondon, Englandwww.mediabistro.com/events

SOCIAL GAMING SUMMITNovember 12thLondon, Englandwww.mediabistro.com/events

GAME CONNECTIONNovember 16th to 18thLyon, Francewww.game-connection.com

ME AWARDS 2010November 18thLondon, Englandwww.mobile-ent.biz

DEVELOP IN LIVERPOOLNovember 25thLiverpool, Englandliverpool.develop-conference.com

MCV PUB QUIZDecember 2ndLondon, Englandwww.mcvuk.com

ITALIAN VIDEOGAME DEVELOPERSCONFERENCEDecember 3rdRome, Italywww.ivdconf.com

GDC CHINADecember 5th to 7thShanghai, Chinawww.gdcchina.com

EVOLVE IN LONDONDecember 8thLondon, Englandwww.evolveconference.com

D.I.C.EFebruary 9th to 11thLas Vegas, USwww.dicesummit.org

CASUAL CONNECTFebruary 8th to 10thHamburg, Germanyeurope.casualconnect.org

GDCFebruary 28th to March 4thSan Francisco, USwww.gdconf.com

november 2010

december 2010

february 2011

Your complete games development event calendar for the months ahead…

Connecting peopleSome of the industry’s leading developers and publishers reveal what GameConnection means to them, and offer some advice…

PETE SMITHExecutive producer, SCEE“When it comes to discovering new talent Game ConnectionEurope has been one of the high points in the calendar forthe past ten years. In allowing easy access and opportunityto catch up with established studios while being introducedto up-and-coming developers it is one of the key annualevents for the ongoing health, growth and innovationwithin the games industry.”

CASPER GREYAcquisitions manager, Square Enix London Studios“There are always pitches that surprise and intrigue me –you never know what the next meeting will bring. It’s anevent that constantly reminds you of the passion anddedication to the craft that is so prevalent in our industry.We’re all in this to make games that are great entertainment,that reach the biggest possible audience and that delivercommercial success for everyone involved. Over the lastdecade, developer/publisher relationships have grown intocollaborative partnerships and, to me, this is a positive signof a maturing industry.”

RAPHAEL COLANTONIOPresident and co-creative director,Arkane Studios/Bethesda“We signed two publishing deals following up meetingswith publishers we probably wouldn’t have even thought ofif it weren’t for Game Connection. When we wereindependent, there was simply no better way to meet allpublishers in such a fast and cost effective way. Now thatwe’re part of Bethesda, we still attend the event from thebuyer’s side”

MARTYN BROWNCo-founder, Team17“For developers I’d advise that they try and presentthemselves and their projects very clearly, keeping the pitchshort and succinct. With each meeting only lasting 30minutes, you need to have plenty of time for discussion. Ithink it’s also helpful to understand that developer’s firstmeetings with publishers should be considered veryvaluable introductions and first impressions are veryimportant, so make yourself and your projects memorable – the real work will come in follow-up talks,meetings and such.”

ALPHA | UNITE 2010

26 | NOVEMBER 2010

SHAPING THE FUTUREAT UNITE 2010

Develop meets Unity’s chief creative officer Nicholas Francis to ask why the industry should head to Montréal this month

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

UNITE 2010 | ALPHA

NOVEMBER 2010 | 27

Meeting our users is always the mostexciting thing for us as it is how weget to find out about how they use

Unity,” says Unity’s chief creative officerNicholas Francis.

“It’s also a great time for us to find outwhat they want and for them to engage withus and help shape the future of Unity.”

He is talking about Unite 2010, the latest ofUnity’s annual conferences for its Unityengine users, and those who are interested inthe engine. Thisyear the three-day event will betaking place atthe MarchéBonsecours inMontréal, Canada.Francis seemsexcited about thepotential of thisyear’s location.

“As Unity is aglobalphenomenon,Montréal has theadvantage ofbeing convenient for both our European andNorth American developers,” he says.

“And it was actually the location that wasmost voted for by our developers.”

This year’s conference, as well as featuringseveral hands-on tutorials with the Unityengine every day, will offer sessions on Unityfor both console and mobile gamesdevelopment, serialisation and advancededitor scripting and how to make moneywith Unity.

There will be talks and panel sessions fromUnity staff and users, and the event will endwith the annual Unity Awards show,recognising some of the most exciting usesof Unity over the past year.

“Attendees will learn how to make moreeffective use of Unity to make better gamesand applications. We’ve got some deeplytechnical sessions being given by our staff aswell as sessions from other developers,”Francis states.

“Our engineers will also be giving hands-on sessions for developers to come and talkabout their projects and get advice onaspects of Unity that interest them. This yearwe’ve also introduced a speed-dating session

for developers tomeet publishers.”

As ever, thereseem to be somesurprises in storefor Unityattendees thisyear as well.

“At Unite wealways treatusers to newannouncements,and this year willbe no exception,”says Francis.

Now in itsfourth year, the Unite conference is goingfrom strength to strength. The event hasgranted Unity a whole new level ofinternational exposure as a company and,according to Francis, opened up interactionswith its customers around the globe thathave changed the firm for the better.

“Unity has such a broad user base todaythat having our own event allows us to reallygo in-depth on a variety of technical aspects,”he says.

“It also allows our users to meet and interactwith each other – sharing knowledge andexperience is a great thing and our communitycontinues to be really important to us.”unity3d.com/unite

Far left: Unity foundersNicholas Francis, DavidHelgason and JoachimAnte

As Unity is a globalphenomenon,

Montréal has the advantage of being convenient for both European and NorthAmerican studios.

Nicholas Francis, Unity CCO

A host of sessions, panels and Unity hands-ons gatherings fillthe agenda for the three-day Unite 2010 conference. We havepicked out the best of the upcoming sessions and panels:

SESSION: MakingMoney with UnityTony Garcia, VP of businessdevelopment, UnityTechnologiesUnder a brilliantly simplesession title that says it all,Garcia’s will break down themost important thing Unityusers need to know. Accordingto Unity it will offer advice forthose looking to addressUnity’s financial demands,covering topics like marketingand filling out RFP’s. Real-world examples will be used toillustrate Garcia’s arguments.

PANEL: State of SocialJason Della Rocca (PerimeterPartners), Matt Meeks(Bender/Helper Impact),Andrew Gracie(Overinteractive Media),Ludovic Bodin (CMUNE)This panel will attempt toexplore the state of gamesand social networks in theface of rapidly alteringmonetisation models,marketing and viral tactics todistribution strategies. Casestudies will be presentedduring the discussion, with aQ&A to follow.

SESSION: Unity 3.0’sGraphics PipelineShawn White, UnityTechnologiesDaniel Brauer, SilverbackProductionsIn this session, attendees willbe introduced to the deferredlighting system and newcustom shaders workflow inUnity 3.0, as well as the newgraphics pipeline featured inthe latest engine update. Thehosts will explain how tocreate custom surface shadersthat utilise forward anddeferred lighting.

SESSIONS: The Joys ofSerialisationAmir Ebrahimi, UnityTechnologiesSerialisation is an importanttopic to all games developers.In this session Amir Ebrahimiwill outline the ins and outs ofthe serialisation optionsavailable to the developersand tools, engine andgameplay programmersmaking use of the UnityEngine. Learn to store thelikes of data for GUI layouts,model and texture formatsand AI state data with ease.

THE PICK OF THE SESSIONS

KEYNOTE SPEAKERAs the keynote speakerto the event this timearound, Schell GamesCEO Jesse Schell islooking ahead tokicking off proceedingsin Montréal on the 10thof this month.

“I will discuss thepast, present and futureof animated 3Dcharacters, in andoutside of games,because I believe thatwill be central to thesuccess of Unity 3D.”

HILTONBONAVENTUREHOTEL

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Bigpoint’sbrowser game

revolutionp35

An offbeatinsiders’ guide

to Liverpoolp39

Why everyoneis heading to

Canadap42

DEVELOPMENT FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, ESSAYS & MORE

“The Canadian Government believes insupporting a digital economy, not

propping up a manufacturing one.”Trevor Fencott, Bedlam Games, p52

Gold MineMinecraft is a phenomenon. Develop meets creator Markus Persson to

find out how a game made money before it was finished, p30

30 | NOVEMBER 2010

BETA | MINECRAFT

Markus Persson’ssuccess will be an

inspiration to manyaspiring microstudios

PERSSONUNKNOWN

In just a few months, a still-in-beta user-generated content game has pushedSwedish indie developer Markus Persson into the industry spotlight. And the

game, Minecraft, has pushed his bank balance skywards. But who is he? And whydo so many developers love his creation? Will Freeman finds out…


MINECRAFT | BETA

The snowballing success of indietriumph Minecraft has been nearimpossible to miss. The world-building

game, created by the relatively unknownSwede Markus Persson, made the headlineswhen last month it started to clock sales of€300,000 a day.

Initially conceived early in 2009, Minecraftis still only in beta, but has already enchantedgame development’s most fashionable opinionformers, and given new hope to the smallstudios playing the self-publishing lottery.

Keen to find out more about how Minecrafthas become the year’s indie sensation,Develop tracked down Persson for a rareinterview, and asked him how he did it.

What has caused the recent burst ofenthusiasm for Minecraft? Was theresomething you deliberately tapped?Something about the game makes itentertaining to both show to other peopleand to watch other people play it. I think thisis what caused the word of mouth to spreadso fast. Then lately a number of large internetsites and magazines started talking aboutMinecraft, and that’s certainly helped. Ihaven’t intentionally tried to tap into this, butI have spent a lot of time trying to make thegame as accessible as possible.

So how much is luck part of the equationwhen being successful with a self-published game?I think originality and easy access is muchmore important than luck. If you make agame that’s genuinely good, and it’s relativelyunique, you can get a lot potential customers.If you make sure they don’t have to jumpthrough too many loops to play or even payfor the game, you can convert those intoactual customers. To get as popular asMinecraft has become, I think you might needa bit of luck, but I don’t think it’s at allimpossible to reach a decently large audiencejust by hard work.

Do you think you could take what you’velearned and repeat that success?I used to think I would be able to repeat it,but then it started spreading even faster. Idoubt I will be able to reproduce the currentlevel of hype, but I will certainly try. One thingthat’s in our favour is that we have a lot offollowers already in Minecraft, so we can getthe word out about new games much fasterthan before.

Minecraft seems to have particularlycaptured the attention of gamesdevelopers. Why do you think that is?Minecraft started out on the tigsourceforums, where a lot of indie gamers hang out,and it’s always been developed as an indiegame. There are other commerciallysuccessful indie games out there, butrelatively few of them are open about exactlyhow much they sell.

I think Minecraft is a combination of asomewhat original game, and an indicationthat indie games are really an alternative tomore traditional development styles. That hasprobably got a lot of different people’sattention across the world.

Can you tell us a little about your previouscareer in the games industry?Many years ago, I developed a game calledWurm Online with Rolf Jansson. That game isstill running, and he’s been doing that as hisday job for many years now. After that, Iworked for King.com where I made a wholepile of small Flash games, each having usuallyone-to-two months development time. Ibriefly joined Avalanche Studios during thistime, but went back to King.com almostimmediately. Working in big machinery is notfor me.

How important was the tool and techchoices you made to defining Minecraft’ssuccess?I chose Java because it’s really fast to developin, even if it’s a bit verbose at times, andbecause applets were starting to becomemuch less annoying than they had used to.Without something like Lightweight JavaGame Library, it wouldn’t have been possibleto make a game like Minecraft at all in Java. Iprobably could’ve made the game in C++,but then I wouldn’t have had the browser-friendly applet, which I think is a large part ofthe success.

I’m a bit worried now that Oracle ownsJava, though. They haven’t shown anyinterest at all in client-side Java.

Why make so much of your game availableto buy before it was finished?I wanted to work on games for a living, and Irealised that the biggest obstacle to that isthat people would have to actually pay forthe game. So I decided to just get that out ofthe way as early as possible. And why not? Ifit’s fun, people might be willing to pay for it. Ithink it’s a really interesting model for studioswith small budgets, and it also lets you have amuch more personal relationship with theplayers instead of just developing the gamebehind closed doors for two years, thenhoping it’s good.

What are the challenges in keeping peopleinterested in the coming months? How dokeep up the momentum and avoidbecoming a fad?Once we get the company up and running,we can hopefully ramp up developmentspeed a bit, and get the multiplayer modefully functioning.

Once that’s in place, I think there’s a hugepotential in competitive multiplayer modeslike capture the flag and so on, which shouldkeep people – including myself – interestedfor a long time.

Minecraft is acombination of a

somewhat original game,and an indication that indiegames are an alternative tomore traditionaldevelopment styles.

Markus Persson

So what is Minecraft?While the logic of Minecraft’s dazzling success has left many observerssomewhat bewildered, its simple freeform mechanic is a little easierfor spectators of the phenomenon to grasp. So what is Minecraft?

“The easiest way to describe it is usually just to describe thegameplay,” suggests the title’s creator Markus Persson. “Basically, it’s ahuge world made up of one-meter blocks of different materials, likewood or dirt or stone or water. You can pick up these blocks and usethem to craft items or build houses with. Then there are monsters tofight, treasures to find, and mine carts to ride.”

Minecraft’s world is one where generating content is to all intentsand purposes the end experience. It is a virtual construction kitsteeped in the jagged aesthetics of the 16 and 32-bit eras, and thrivesin letting users build and destroy landscapes that make furiouslyenthusiastic nods to the kingdoms made famous by Miyamoto andhis contemporaries.

But Persson’s creation is more than a paint set of sky blues andgrass greens where fan-boys can sketch three-dimensional love lettersto Nintendo. It is a flexible pallet that lets users escape stylisticconfines, and as an eager army of beta testers are already proving, it’scapacity for the original and surreal is immense.

32 | NOVEMBER 2010

BETA | MINECRAFT

For the single player game and co-opgame, I plan on adding some kind ofoverarching narrative to the game to drivethe player forward and provide a sense ofdirection, and add many more new features,like monster towns and alchemy.

Is there any satisfaction in knowing thatevery Euro spent on your game is aEuro taken from the giant publishers?I don’t think it’s a zero sum game. Heck, mybiggest expense is computer games, so someof the money goes to them anyway, viaMinecraft. There is room for all types ofgames, and I personally love a lot of bigbudget super games. Some of them, likeBioShock (not the sequel) and Dragon Age,actually have soul. Others are just mindlessfun for an afternoon.

But I find it very comforting that people arewilling to pay for games even if they’re not

made by huge publishers. Even if they don’tsell as well, it means that small teams of indiegame developers could actually make areasonable living.

Do you intend to stay in the self-publishedspace, or are you looking to useMinecraft as a launch pad for a career witha bigger studio?I’m investing in starting up a new studio,actually. We’re hiring people and getting anoffice, and all that. Initially, I will keepworking on Minecraft and get some help onit, while a friend of mine will leaddevelopment of another, unrelated gamethat we’ve talked about doing for some timenow. Everyone in the company will beinvolved in both project to some degree, andonce they’re both complete the plan is tomove on to a third game as a team.www.minecraft.net

Minecraft’s army ofusers have a knack for creating landscapesboth surreal andesoteric

Why I Minecraft

Gary PennDenki:“I love Minecraft. It’s like LEGO meets Lost. It’ssuch an empowering construction toy set – asimple and powerful system – blended withthe need to survive in an unknown microcosm.There’s a lot to learn and manipulate – and inyour own time and way. It works on so manylevels that combine to tickle your most baseinstincts – and it’s not even finished.

“I’m also impressed and envious of the waythe author’s working. It’s a lovely ‘nakeddevelopment’ approach that I never did getaround to doing myself.”

Quintin SmithRock, Paper, Shotgun:“MineCraft is LEGO, basically. It provides youwith a world that’s been simplified to such anextent that you can build or sculpt anythingyou can imagine with perfect precision, andthat’s hugely satisfying. Except unlike LEGO,you then get to live in this world.”

Alice Taylorcommissioning editorChannel 4 Education:“Why it’s so successful? Who knows; a mixtureof timing, magic and zeitgeist? Maybe we’rebored of 8-bit retro and now it’s all aboutDoom/Quake retro. Maybe it’s the limitlesspossibilities of house building: from FallingWater repros, to castles, to the StarshipEnterprise at 1:1 scale. Maybe it’s the gold-panning: regular, but unpredictable andvaluable ‘finds’ tickles our dopamine receptors.None of this on paper would have predictedthe enormous, almost ridiculous response toMinecraft, though.”

Part of Minecraft’s staggering success is down to the fact that the dev sector’s hip hegemony havenot only embraced the game, but felt compelled to spread the word through the likes of Twitter.But just why do the industry’s brightest admire the game so, and why do they think it’s a hit?

NOVEMBER 2010 | 35

GAME CHANGERS: BIGPOINT | BETA

Back in 2002 Heiko Hubertz hadforesight that would do much to setthe template for the now vast browser

gaming sector. It was then that he founded website

m.wire, which gradually began to introducesports management titles to a new wave ofinternet-savvy consumers. In turn a series ofinvestments and reorganisations eventuallygave birth to the Bigpoint.com portal, whichin 2006 brought together just 16 titles.

After that inception, which was in equalparts humble and visionary, Bigpoint’sfortunes snowballed, and now, as CEO,Hubertz overseas one of the most significant empires in the contemporarygaming industry.

The firm’s network of over 60 games todayreaches more than 140 million customersworldwide, and have been translated into 25languages. The likes of Dark Orbit andSeafight might not be the most potentbrands when contrasted with the giants oftriple-A, but the future that terrifies many ofthe games industry’s traditionalists is a placefilled with opportunities for Bigpoint’sleading titles.

FORWARD THINKING“We believe in pushing the boundaries ofwhat’s possible in online gaming,” saysHubertz of Bigpoint’s future-ready position.“We are building high-quality 3D games that

provide a gaming experience similar to whatgamers are used to getting through consoles.

“Upcoming titles, such as BattlestarGalactica Online, Poisonville, and The Mummywill change the perception of what’s possiblethrough a browser. Our distribution networkis far broader than most in terms of channeland regions. Our payment platform has takenyears to develop and allows users fromaround the world to use their preferredpayment method regardless of country orregion. We’re monetising in over 180countries around the world.”

Confident words indeed, but for Hubertzthere is reason for his conviction. Behind thecash flow and customer base on whichBigpoint thrives is a business and technologyplatform that many of the company’scounterparts have been eager to emulate.

“For us, technology is vital,” confirmsHubertz. “We build atop platforms that are

able to deliver the best gamer experience. Weunderstand that innovation is vital to success.Over the years, we have developed titles withFlash, Java, and now Unity.

“On the business side, we have a globalnetwork that includes over 1,000 partners,including our own portal that we drive trafficto very aggressively. We have integrated withevery major payment solution you canimagine. The combination of high qualitygames, a massive network, and the rightmonetisation solutions are what keepsBigpoint ahead of the competition.”

FACE-TO-FACEBOOKBigpoint has overcome many obstacles thathave caused lesser operations great problems.It has resisted the pressure to piggyback on asocial networking giant, maintaing itsindependence whilst making games with aglobal appeal. Its strength in that regard, saysthe CEO, is down to quality of staff.

“Game portals are gaining momentumfast,” concludes Hubertz, turning his attention– as ever – to the future. “They’re also gainingcredibility among core and hardcore gamersas windows into real games. Many of thegames we have under development aredesigned to appeal to the most criticalgamers, and run in a browser. We don’t thinkhigh quality games should require expensivehardware to enjoy. Our mission is to unlockbarriers to high quality gameplay, no matterwhere the player is. We are excited aboutwhat the near future looks like.”www.bigpoint.net

A case in BigpointIn under a decade German outfit Bigpoint has emerged to dominate the browser gaming space.Will Freeman talks to CEO Heiko Hubertz about how the company did it…

Upcoming titles,such as BattlestarGalactica Online

and Poisonville will changethe perception ofwhat’s possiblethrough a browser.

Heiko Hubertz, Bigpoint

IN ASSOCIATIONWITH...Amiqus Games is aleading provider ofspecialist talent tothe video gamesindustry. Thecompany recruits forsome of the world’spremier studios forartists, animators,producers,programmers,designers andexecutives such asstudio heads anddirector level roles.

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

Above: Bigpoint founderHeiko Hubertz beleivesa robust technologyplatform is vital to thecompany’s success

36 | NOVEMBER 2010

BETA | GAME CHANGERS: CONNECT2MEDIA

Above: With titles like365 Puzzle Club (above)and Edge (right),Connect2Media hasmade a significantimpact on the evolvingmobile space

Manchester-based developer andpublisher Connect2Media, foundedas nGame in 1998 and bought by

US publisher Mforma in 2002, has beenworking with award-winning and immenslypopular mobile IP of the likes of Edge and PES2010 since its 2008 restructuring.

It has built a reputation that is synonymouswith the work that it produces, but the recentefforts that the company has made to launchsubscription services for its games have alsobeen attracting a lot of interest. It recentlyfollowed up its original Prize Play service withthe new Game A Day facility that those incharge have high hopes for.

“We believe that the Game A Day servicewill be successful as it’s target audience is thelarger number of people whose appetite forcontent is much larger than their budgets,”says the firm’s COO Greg Robinson.

“Our aim is to make the service availablefor a low subscription fee, delivering fun andsocial content to their phones. The Flash Litetechnology can overcome the limitations ofdevice power and fragmentation between allmarkets and allows for a rapid, low costdevelopment process.”

DEDICATED FOLLOWER OF FASHIONGetting to the position whereby thecompany can attempt to shape the industryin which it operates has been no simplematter. Robinson explains the way in whichConnect2Media has redefined itself to suit itsbusiness targets in relation to market validity:“We have moved a very long way since we setout, becoming leaner and more critical of thebusiness oppourtunities that we pursue.

“We have achieved a lot since 2008. We’verestored most of our direct carrier relations,joined several industry groups and added theNorth American carriers to our distribution.

“A lot remains though. We are hard at workon our biggest challenge in the migrationfrom traditional BREW and J2ME markets tofuture platforms and distribution models. ThePrize Play and Game A Day services we aredeveloping are all complimentary to our corefocus to remain in the carrier mobile space.”

Prize Play, the founding subscription-basedgaming service from the company, still holdspride of place on the rosta of whatConnect2Media offers to it’s numerouscustomers. “It is hugely important to us”,Robinson agrees.

“Prize Play is a fantastic service and aunique product for the sector. Unlike otherplay to win products the service links the userto many games on the service carrying theiraccount seamlessly from one game to another.

“It has a proven track record on the UScarrier decks and we believe that the categorycan be reinvigorated into a successful servicefor Connect2Media and the consumer.”

BRAND NEW DAYAs for the future, Robinson has separated outthe immediete and more distant years andlaid out his expectations accordingly.

“It’s quite hard to say where the mobilesector will end up. The short term future is atransition to large, touch screen devices andincreasing flexibility in pricing,” he says.

“Long term the future looks good, as evenmore people play mobile games. On J2MEhandsets only two to three per cent of ownerspurchased games. The iPhone has shown that,given access, this rises dramatically.”

There can be little doubt thatConnect2Media will be at the fine edge ofany movements of this kind. Robinson isconfident of this, and is under no illusions asto where he thinks the company’s ability tomove with trends comes from.

“The main thing that has got us throughthis has been the hard work andprofessionalism of the whole team. We havebeen lucky to have had very good people inthe company,” he says.

Connect2Media is upbeat and determined,and if the new wave of subscription servicesfor mobile gaming catch on, seeing its namemay become increasingly commonplace.www.connect2media.com

We are hard at workon our biggest

challenge in the migrationfrom traditional BREW andJ2ME markets tofuture platforms anddistribution models.

Greg Robinson, Connect2Media

MAKING THE CONNECTIONWith over a decade in the business behind it, develop and publisher Connect2Media is currently pushing expectationsin the low-cost subscription space. Stuart Richardson talks to COO Greg Robinson about the new Game A Day drive...

IN ASSOCIATIONWITH...Amiqus Games is aleading provider ofspecialist talent tothe video gamesindustry. Thecompany recruits forsome of the world’spremier studios forartists, animators,producers,programmers,designers andexecutives such asstudio heads anddirector level roles.

Partner Partner Member Discount Organised by

BUSINESS

DESIGN

DESIGN

DESIGN

PRODUCTION

THE DEN

THE DEN

KEYNOTE

Partner Partner Member Discount ganised byOr


DEVELOP IN LIVERPOOL | BETA

Antony Gromley’s‘Another Place’installation on CrosbyBeach, near Liverpool

ScouseHonour

As the Develop in Liverpool conference draws close, the city’s industryinsiders offer a local’s guide to making the most of the cultural metropolis...

THINKING OF MOVING?“Up and coming developers can speak tothe Mersey Partnership and receivefunding via the grant for businessinvestment scheme. This can cover up to30 per cent of staffing costs for smalldevelopers for the first three years of astudios growth. This can substantiallylower costs when looking to set up.”Stig Strand, head of games recruitmentteam, Amiqus www.amiqus.com

LIVERPOOL’S OVERLOOKED GEMSJuice Studios in Warrington, famed for theJuiced racing franchise, was recently re-branded to THQ Digital UK. After a bout ofredundancy this studio has now gonefrom strength to strength signing deals fornew IP like Red Faction: Battlegrounds. Oneto watch out for on PSN and Xbox Livearcade.Stig Strand, Amiqus

NEED INSPIRATION?“FACT, the Foundation for Art and CreativeTechnology, is a great place for inspiration.FACT is a Liverpool-based cinema, artgallery and the UK’s leading organisationfor the support and exhibition of film, artand new media including video games.”Kevin Oxland, Spiral House

HELLO WORLD“Rage Games, which ran from 1992 until2003, was based in Martin’s Bank Buildingswhich was the first bank in the world touse a computer.”Ivan Davies, Catalyst Outsourcing

With the Develop in Liverpoolconference set to take placetowards the end of this

month, many of the industry’s leadinglights will be heading to the UK’snortherly development hub.

In preparation for your visit, and toarm you with facts for those eveningnetworking events, Develop askedsome of the Merseyside area’s finest fora local’s guide to the former Europeancity of culture, and some insideknowledge on the Liverpooldevelopment sector’s underbelly.

TRIPLE-A IS LIVERPUDLIAN JARGON“Not many people know but the industryterm triple-A was coined by Peter Sullivanseeking a way to differentiate title salesforecasts for the first PlayStation games tobe launched by Liverpool’s Psygnosis. Thefirst ever triple-A’s were WipEout andDestruction Derby.”Ivan Davies, production and developmentdirector, Catalyst Outsourcingwww.catalystos.com

WHY SET UP IN LIVERPOOL?“Liverpool is a vibrant city, full of creativeactivities and inspiration all over the city –it was European city of culture in 2008.From a business perspective, it haseverything you would need in a city; agood transport infrastructure, an airport, alively and vibrant night life, greatrestaurants, a rich and long history andthe like. A major re-development is goingon all over the city. So for a gamedeveloper like Spiral House, it makes ourjob much easier when trying to attractcreative talent when we have such adiverse culture and dynamic environmentthat is on the move, on our doorstep.”Kevin Oxland, MD and creative manager,Spiral House www.spiralhouse.co.uk

40 | NOVEMBER 2010

BETA | DEVELOP IN LIVERPOOL

AFTER THE success of the first Develop inLiverpool conference last year, the eventreturns to the development hub that hasin recent years courted a reputation as aleading cultural destination for many ofthe UK’s creative industries.

The one-day Develop in Liverpoolconference takes place on Thursday,November 25th at the Hilton HotelLiverpool. The show includes three tracksand a number of networking sessions,culminating with a post event drinksreception. The conference will take placealongside Software City, which isorganised by Merseyside ICT.liverpool.develop-conference.com

The Develop in Liverpool programmepromises delegates a broad range ofhigh quality sessions, delivering expertinsight and practical take-awayknowledge for developers of alldiscipline. Here we pick some of theevent’s scheduled highlights.

OPENING KEYNOTE: Seeing is Believing:3D a New Creative Medium for GamesMick Hocking, senior director, Studio Liverpool,Evolution Studios, and BigBig StudiosThe entire keynote is presented in full HD 3D,at the Odeon Cinema Liverpool. So yep, youhave to wear glasses.

Building the Magic: Fun with LicensorsArthur Parsons, lead designer, Traveller’s Tales

Kinect: A Whole New Business Philip Oliver, CEO, Blitz Games Studios

Innovation in the Fast Lane:A Driving Game Designer Mash-upCharnjit Bansi, Bizarre Creations andNick Baynes, Disney Black Rock

Putting Formula 1 back intoPole PositionPaul Jeal, senior producer F1 2010 andStephen Hood, chief games designer, F1 2010,Codemasters

Designing for Kinect - The Lessons fromFighters UncagedPascal Luban, AMA Studios

Hohokum: The First Three YearsRicky Haggett, Honeyslug and Richard Hogg,independent artist and illustrator

Developing a Games Culture in theBusiness WorldAshraf Hegab, Orange

User-Generated Content and SocialNetworking on Xbox LiveBen Board, Microsoft Xbox

A Brief Walk Through the State of the ArtTechnologies and Tools TodayLee Sandberg, Colorod

PC Profiling Made Easy with IntelGraphics Performance AnalysersLeigh Davies, Intel

Develop In Liverpool

INDUSTRY HANG OUTS “The Albert Dock restaurants offer apicturesque setting for business meetingsand the city centre is always a good nightout with bars like Alma de Cuba and theliving room often proving regular hauntsfor trendy developers.”Stig Strand, Amiqus

LOCAL LEGENDS“One Liverpool studio of the past that getsoverlooked, in my mind, is Psygnosis pre-Sony. In their time, they were pioneeringand to some extent, shaped our industry.Apart from developing and publishingsome of the greatest classic games of alltime, such as Lemmings and Shadow of TheBeast, they were cutting edge, pushingtechnology to its limits. For good or bad,and very controversial at the time, theyalso defined FMV, something we couldn’tdo without in today’s big games. And weall remember the fantastic and distinctivebox art, which also filtered through to thegame art.”Kevin Oxland, Spiral House

FEELING HUNGRY?“Not many people know that scouse is atype of stew. It has been eaten byLiverpudlians since the 1900s. Ingredientsinclude lamb or beef, cabbage, carrot,potatoes and onions.”Ivan Davies, Catalyst Outsourcing

BACK IN THE DAY“Manic Miner was developed andpublished by a Liverpool based company,Bug Byte, back in 1983 and its sequel, JetSet Willy was made by Software Projects,which is also a Liverpool based company.”Kevin Oxland, Spiral House

Above: Liverpool wasthe European city ofculture in 2008

BETA | GAMES DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA

42 | NOVEMBER 2010

M o n t r e a l

Vancouver

Ontario

Nova Scotia


1 AN OUTSTANDINGQUALITY OF LIFE

Vast, clear skies. Rugged, beautiful terrain. Wealth,land, health and a strong, multicultural society.Canada can make you happier just thinking about it.

2 A ROBUST INDUSTRY WITHJOB SECURITY

A government that goes out of its way to supportgames development at both national and regionallevels has produced a sector powerhouse.

3 AFFORDABLE ANDGENEROUS HOUSING

With more land to play with than your average Britcould easily comprehend, houses in the provincesgenerally come with gardens the size of the ScottishHighlands. They look quite similar, too.

4 FORWARD THINKING AND INCLUSIVEEDUCATION SYSTEMS

Development-related courses at schools anduniversities in Canada feed into industry careers witha professional ease that the UK setup simply cannotmatch at any level.

5 A CHANCE TO WORK ONBLOCKBUSTER IP

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, FIFA 11, Dead Rising 2,and Mass Effect 2 have all come out of Canadiandevelopment this year alone. In Canada, it rainsblockbusters.

6 A FIERCELY CREATIVEINDIE SCENE

As the industry evolves, Canadian indies are leadingthe way in casual, mobile and online games. Turnover to find out more...

WISH YOUGAMES DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA | BETA

WERE HERE?WHY CANADA THRIVESAS THE UK SHRINKS

Thousands of UK developers have already made the move to Canada. Will you be next?Over the next 21 pages Stuart Richardson and Will Freeman look at why game dev

hubs in Vancouver, Ontario, Montréal and Nova Scotia are booming...

The westernmost of the Canadianprovinces, British Columbia is a regionrenowned for its stunning natural

beauty. Home to one of the largest individualstudios on the planet in EA Canada’ssprawling Vancouver campus, BC also has astrong development community that hasundergone an impressive ongoing growthspurt that has rolled on for the past few years.

“There are lots of benefits of working inBritish Columbia,” says Jonathan Dowdeswell,

general manager of THQ’s RelicEntertainment Studio.

“The fact that we have a big developmentindustry means that there’s a really strongtalent pool, and that the local schools aregetting more sophisticated in theirgraduation of the stars of the future.

“Additionally, Vancouver is just a beautifulplace, with an incredible lifestyle potentialthat runs the gamut from metropolitan livingto outdoor recreation, in all seasons, so it’srelatively easy to attract people from far awayif we need to.”

The region is also fortunate enough tohave the British Columbia Interactive TaskForce (BCITF), a trade body-like organisationfor developers in the region, which under the

guidance of its chair Howard Donaldsonrepresents the combined interests of thesector to the regional government.

“The BC Interactive Task Force is a greatexample of the community we have here inBritish Columbia”, Donaldson, who is also VPof studio operations for the local DisneyInteractive Studios, states.

“The Task Force was formed in 2009 bylocal leaders of the video game industry towork with the BC government on a long-termplan to support video game development inthis province, and today more than 30 BCcompanies, ranging from large internationalpublishers to small entrepreneurialdevelopers, are represented by it.”

THE TAX MANThat unified engagement with the politicalscene in the region lead to the introductionof an Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit, a17.5 per cent break on production costs,which came into working effect onSeptember 1st of this year. This highly-anticipated tax break was met with a wave ofpositive responses from BC developers, all ofwhom have high hopes for its future effect onthe region.

“It was pleasing to note the government’scourageous decision to introduce a taxincentive during a time of grave economicrestraint but the industry needed it, to stay

BRITISH


Vancouver is abeautiful place with

an incredible lifestylepotential in all seasons. It’srelatively easy to attractpeople from faraway if we need to.

Jonathan Dowdeswell, THQ

44 | NOVEMBER 2010

Above: Vancouver restsamong some of themost dramatic sceneryin Canada


COLUMBIAcompetitive and to be able to offer projectsthat will use our talent before they startlooking outside the region,” says managingdirector of Ubisoft Vancouver Bertrand Helias.

“Tax incentives should help our industry toplant the firm roots of a stronger digitalinfastructure which the industry along withacademia must formulate and facilitate inorder to maintain momentum in the region.”

SVP and chief operating officer of EASports Pauline Moller agrees with that visionof the region’s future.

“The Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit isa really positive development for the localgames community,” she enthuses.

“British Columbia has really stepped up tothe plate.”

STEP IN TIMEAs encouraged as the community in theregion seems by recent development, BritishColumbia has long been working in the wakeof Québec, which has enjoyed the kind offinancial benefits that are only now cominginto effect in BC. Now that the playing fieldhas been levelled in that regard however,developers in the latter region are excitedabout future competition.

“Québec has long recognised the value ofinvesting in the sector, and it has led to thedevelopment of a local industry that’sextremely healthy,” agrees BCITF’s Donaldson.

“We have a strong industry that will onlyimprove in the future. Some of the world’sbiggest franchises live here, and there’s anamazing level of local pool. Local studios willcontinue to produce hits, do new things inonline and digital and continue to strengthenCanada’s reputation as an industry leader.”

That optimism seems to span the entiresector in British Columbia. However, it is alsofused with a level-headed sensibility thatstems from a culture built on hard work inwhat was traditionally a wild and difficultenvironment to live in.

Relic’s GM Dowdeswell knows what hewants for the future of his studio, and it is ahope that would seem outlandish in some ofthe more furious centres of sector growth

that have grown up and vanished almostovernight around the world.

“It’s easy to grow a studio, but I think it’sactually harder to keep it smaller and moreintimate,” he says.

“Now we are able to make a few games atonce, and we have a great studio vibe. It isimportant to protect that, executing thehighest quality in game design rather thangrowing to meet projects we could sign.”

And that sums-up the developmentindustry in British Columbia. Powerful,forward-thinking and yet dedicated topreserving the important work it is alreadyperforming. The future in the far CanadianWest looks bright indeed.

GAMES DEVELOPMENT IN CANADA | BETA

We have a strongindustry that will

only improve in the future.Some of the world’s biggestfranchises live here, andthere is amazingdepth to the talent.

Howard Donaldson, BCTIF



“THERE’S A really strong history betweenstudios in British Columbia, and wheneversomething new opens, you can assume thatwithin their first growth period they’ll endup with a good cross-section of peoplefrom the city,” Relic’s general managerJonathan Dowdeswell says.

“There is a lot of support for each otherhere. Most of the studio leaders know eachother, and everyone knows how hard it canbe for studios to succeed.”

Not that Relic seems to struggle. Over thepast decade or so, the studio has producedsome of the most popular and acclaimedRTS titles of the current generation.

“The only real difficulty is that it can bechallenging to convince people to just upand move their entire lives to another partof the globe. The industry is establishedenough that there is a pre-existingacknowledgement of the serious levels ofdevelopment talent around here, as well asa lot of interesting games to work on,”Dowdeswell says.

“However, sometimes people are justwary of uprooting and moving to Canadafrom the US or Europe. Often we findsomeone that fits us culturally, but themove is just a bit too big for them.”

But that won’t hold Relic, or thecommunity in British Columbia, back.

“I believe that we have some of the mosttalented developers in the world here,”Dowdeswell enthuses.

“I’m certain the games industry here inBritish Columbia will continue to be aleading light in the future of the interactiveentertainment business around the world.”www.relic.com

“THE BC Interactive Task Force is a greatexample of the community we have here inBritish Columbia,” says the chair of thedevelopment community spokesbody inthe region Howard Donaldson.

“The Task Force was formed in 2009 bylocal leaders of the video game industry towork with the BC government on a long-term plan to support video gamedevelopment in this province.

“More than 30 BC companies, rangingfrom large international publishers to smallentrepreneurial developers, are representedby the Task Force.”

Donaldson is clearly, and rightly, proud ofthe work that his sector body has achievedfor the games development community inBritish Columbia. Despite this, he has nointention of taking time out to bask in hisachievements to date.

“Going forward, our mandate is toeducate, promote and influence the the BCvideo games development industry with asingle, unified voice,” he continues.

“That includes continuing to work withthe provincial government to implementand improve the Interactive Digital MediaTax Credit, promote BC’s industry inpartnership with the provincialgovernment, and encourage newinvestment in the local industry.”

For Donaldson, these factors allcontribute to the relevance of Canada as aninternational games development centre,and high esteem that the country holdsfrom with in this position.

“Canada is already well known for makinghigh quality games across multiple genres.As a country, it provides a great quality oflife and is a desirable home and destinationfor world-class talent,” he explains.

“You only really need to look at all thetitles that are made here, and that Canadaranks as the number three video gamedeveloper in the world compared to beingninth in the world based on video gamesales. It’s something that this country is veryproud of.”

BC INTERACTIVE TASK FORCEFounded: 2009Headcount: 30+ firms

RELIC ENTERTAINMENT STUDIOFounded: 1997Headcount: UnspecifiedPrevious games: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War,Company of HeroesCurrently working on: Space Marine

48 | NOVEMBER 2010


“WE HAVE such a deep history here in BC,going all the way back to DistinctiveSoftware which started in 1982. We haveour amazing campus here in Burnaby whichis a great place to make games,” says EACanada vice presidentPauline Moller.

“Being in the sametime zone as California isan advantage, as is thepleasantness of theregion and the stronglocal talent pool.”

And clearly the overall effect of livingwithin a development community in theverdant wilds of British Columbia is one thefolks at EA Canada enjoy.

“There’s always been a very strong senseof community amongst the developers inthe town. We know each other and whilewe compete for the best people and forsales, we also recognise that we all play arole in keeping our industry as healthy andpositive as possible.”

Moller is convinced that this has had ahugely affirmative effect on EA.

“Our BC-based business is anchored byour EA Sports business, with blockbusterfranchises life FIFA, NHL, Fight Night, and

others. It has also beenhome to the Need For Speedfranchise since its inceptionmore than 15 years ago,”she explains.

“Working in BC hasallowed us to attract andretain world-class talent to

drive world-class titles.”“We think that the products speak for

themselves in relation to our reputation onthe global stage. Two of the biggestfranchises of all time, FIFA and Need ForSpeed, were originated in BC and continueto thrive. Our studio is one of the mostsuccessful in the entire world and it’stestament to the quality of our productsand the amazing talents of our team.”www.ea.com

EA CANADAFounded: 1983Headcount: 1,800+Previous games: Skate series, Need for Speed seriesCurrently working on: The Sims 3: Late Night

“BRITISH COLUMBIA benefits from unique,tech-savvy talent that Canada boasts and isthe birthplace of video games developmentfor Canada,” enthuses Ubisoft Vancouvermanaging director Bertrand Helias.

“Still be the location of a critical mass ofgame developers, the province can build onits successes and continue being a leadingworld force for games development.”

That enthusiasm spreads to the work thatthis young studio is busy cracking on withas well.

“Vancouver is known for some hugesport franchises so logically, the studiostarted by working on sport titles –specifically five-a-side soccer games, firstAcademy of Champions for the Wii and PureFootball for 360 and PS3,” Helias explains.

“These projects managed to bring talentin and to create an Ubisoft culture. Nowteams have started tackling different genresand they are facing the challenge ofbringing quality and innovation to the nextround of products.”

Armed with that rolling start in hand,Helias is determined that his studio willcontribute to what he sees as the loftystanding which he believes the Canadianindustry holds internationally.

“Canada has always been well-positionedin the creative & technology industries.Canada’s population is concentrated inurban centres,” he says.

“This allows each new generation to growup with easy access to media andtechnology making Canadians very techsavvy and therefore some of the world’sbest game developers. Canadians areknown for being early adopters and canadapt easily to technology transitions.

“Because of this unique reputation, itseems only natural that Canada should beseen as a global leader within theinternational development community andit is certainly not surprising that Canada isnow third in rank for video gamedevelopment worldwide.”www.ubi.com

UBISOFT VANCOUVERFounded: 2009Headcount: 115Previous games: Academy of Champions, Pure FootballCurrently working on: Unannounced

Paid for by the Government of Ontario.

NESTLED BESIDE FOUR GREAT LAKES,

YOU’LL FIND ONE IMMENSE TALENT POOL. Otherwise known

as the Ontario workforce: the most educated in the G7. But Ontario’s advantage

isn’t just talent. It’s access to market: over 440 million consumers reside in the

North American Free Trade zone. Toronto, Ontario’s economic hub, is within a

day’s travel of much of the U.S. midwest and Eastern seaboard. And while you’ll

have access to U.S. markets, the talent pool here – drawn from all over the world

– will make you feel right at home. Talent plus access: why the world works here.

i n v e s t i n o n t a r i o . c o m / t a l e n t

Home to both the most populousCanadian city of Toronto and thenational capital of Ottawa, Ontario is

a hub of metropolitan life in a country withmore than a few gleaming cityscapes spreadout across its (mostly) untamed terrain.

“Ontario is really the engine that drives therest of Canada in terms of economic activity,academic institutions and the like,” saysBedlam Games CEO Trevor Fencott.

“We benefit greatly by having so many topquality schools in the area and a governmentthat understands our business. Ontario isalso a huge centre of film and televisionproduction, so we also have a lot of cross-over talent coming from those industries.

“We’re actually located right in the heart ofToronto, Canada’s largest city. It is one of themost multicultural and cosmopolitan cities inthe world which really helps to attract andretain top talent.”

COME TOGETHERMuch of the games development scene inthe region is located in the capital city ofToronto. With such a volume of talenteddigital entertainment professionals living inthe town, Ubisoft Toronto’s managingdirector Jade Raymond points out theobvious benefits of establishing adevelopment studio in an emerging, city-based development community.

“There is definitely a sense of communityhere in Toronto. The IGDA chapter here isabout to be ‘re-launched’ with Ubisoftproducer Lesley Phord-Toy as its newpresident,” she says. “There is the HandEyeSociety, which has a strong indie focus, andgreat companies are established throughout

Ontario. Bedlam Games, Silicon Knights,Digital Extremes and some smaller mobileand indie studios.

“The diversity of studios makes theprovince a great place where an evenstronger community will most likely develop.We have high hopes for Toronto.”

CEO of Big Blue Bubble Games DamirSlogar describes a shifting landscape in thenational development scene.

“To a certain degree, Ontario has been inthe shadow of Québec and British Columbiabecause they both have several majorpublishers located there,” he states.

“With the growth of the digital distributionmodel and the slight shift in the role ofpublishers that now sees them as not theonly option for funding, Ontario is standingout more and more.”

And Slogar expects that new nationalposition to have a very positive effect on hisown business.

“We expect our studio to double in sizeover the next two years, and I see a similartrend with some of the other studios that wework closely with.

“The amount of change in the industry inthe past year or so is unprecedented, so thetype of industry we have in Ontario, withpredominantly small developers, can onlybenefit from these changes as we will be ableto adapt very fast.”

SIGN OF THE TIMESRaymond is also noticeably excited about thefuture for the region.

“We are convinced that Toronto will in timebecome another great games developmentcity for Canada. Indeed, Toronto has not yetbeen established as a gaming city, andVancouver and Montréal have been far morepresent and recognised in what is Canada’s


With the growth ofthe digital

distribution model and theslight shift in the role ofpublishers, Ontario isstanding out moreand more.

Damir Slogar, Big Blue Bubble

50 | NOVEMBER 2010

Above: the sprawlingregional capital ofToronto

ON


still short history of video gamedevelopment,” she says.

“Vancouver is closer to Asia, while Montréalis a hybrid city, halfway culturally andgeographically between Europe ad the USA.Now, Toronto has many other advantages,and we are sure that our newest studio willsucceed within our group, and contribute tothe Canadian industry’s growth.”

That expected growth will be built onstrong relationships between universities andindividual studios, as well as thedevelopment industry as a whole.

“Toronto universities have been trainingvideo game experts for the past few yearsand our plan is to collaborate with them tomake sure that what they teach correspondsto the industry’s goals,” Raymond explains.

“We bring the practical knowledge, theyhave teaching resources. It fits.”

Trevor Fencott considers his companyfortunate to be doing business in a regionwith the kind of links to education thatOntario offers.

“As an industry we have been very verylucky. Because of the huge film and televisionindustry here in Ontario, schools have beenturning out world-class digital talent for sometime now.

“They have definitely been very receptiveto working with us to make their programseven more relevant to the gaming industry.”

And Fencott also sees securingrelationships with other local entertainmentindustries as the best course of action forbuilding on the industry’s notable successesto date.

“It never exactly made sense to me thatfilms like The Hulk were made here, but thegame was made somewhere else. In its ownway, Ubisoft has recognised this powerpowerful synergy and the fact that Ontariohas such deep strength on the cinematicside,” he says.

Interesting things are going on in Ontario.


Toronto universitiesand colleges have

been training video gameexperts for the past fewyears and our plan is tostart collaboratingwith them.Jade Raymond, Ubisoft Toronto

TARIO

52 | NOVEMBER 2010


WAGGWARE HAS ben recuitingtalented folk to the burgeoningCanadian IT industry for a decadenow, and has significant experienceand understanding of thefluctuations of the gamesdevelopment industry.

“The Ontario government hascreated extremely aggressive taxincentives to encourage growth inall areas of interactive media,including games. Companies arerelocating and being founded in theregion. In recruitment, we see thisas being a significant growthopportunity,” says accountsrepresentitve Tanya Lunshof.

“Ontario does face a challengecompeting with the more wellestablished gaming communities inMontréal and Vancouver for talent.With more and more gamingcompanies arriving in Toronto we’rehoping the developers that had torelocate to these areas to get workwill start coming back to Ontarioand filling the talent gap.”

This understanding has alsomade those at Waggware acutely

aware of the difficulties that thedevelopment industry faces today,and the potential solutions thatexist for them.

“It’s always challenging to findexperienced senior talent such asarchitects. They are a limitedresource and many are happy withtheir existing roles. Ontario has asmaller pool of existing talent dueto its stage of growth as a gamedevelopment area, but that alsomeans it is an area of opportunityfor those who have skills andambition to come and make theirmark,” Lunshof explains.

“We are very bullish on theopportunities for gamesdevelopment in Ontario. Theprovincial government has createdlarge incentives for growing thesector and we have a number ofpost-secondary institutions offeringeducational packages that will helpcreate new talent for the industry.Major companies are alreadyopening offices here, and we seethat trend accelerating.”www.waggware.com

WAGGWAREFounded: 2000Headcount: 70+

REPRESENTING ONE of thesubstantial and healthy indie scenestudios in Ontario, Big Blue Bubblehas been producing a vast andexciting array of material for mobile,iOS, PC, GBA and Facebook since itsfounding in 2004. That rollingdevelopment has produced apositive perspective among those atthe studio.

“We expect our studio to roughlydouble in size in the next two years,and I can see a similar trend instudios we work with,” says CEODamir Slogar.

“The amount of change in theindustry in the last year or so – withnew business models, newplatforms, boom of social gamingand the like – is unprecedented, sothe type of industry we have inOntario can only benefit from thesechanges as we will be able to adaptvery fast.”

Slogar has an understanding ofthe kind of community his studiorelies on for this confident outlook.

“Developers that focus on thetechnology aspect can leverage thefederal R&D tax credit. There aremany other initiatives and fundsthat are geared towards specificaspects of game development.”www.bigbluebubble.com

FOUNDED BY former RockstarToronto developers back in 2006,the staff at Bedlam Games boast alevel of experience that many triple-A studios would envy.

“Bedlam is a transmedia-focuseddeveloper, and since Ontario is afilm and television developmenthub, we will grow in the comingyears,” states CEO Trevor Fencott.

“We work actively with othermedia. One example of this is oneof our upcoming projects,Neuromancer, based on the WilliamGibson novel. The idea is to workwith the filmmakers from thebeginning to make sure the work isas awesome as possible.”

The reputation of Canadiandevelopment abroad is somethingthat matters a great deal to Fencottand Bedlam Games.

“Canadians pay high taxes andinvest public money into a world-class educational infrastructure. Ourgovernment believes in supporting

the transition to a digital economyrather than propping up anantiquated manufacturing one.

“I suppose that is what peoplemean by a ‘subsidy culture’,although a ‘forward-thinkinginvestment culture’ might be a moreappropriate phrase.”www.bedlamgames.com

BEDLAM GAMESFounded: 2006Headcount: 60+Previous games: Scratch: The Ultimate DJCurrently working on: Unannounced

“THE GOVERNMENT of Ontario hasbeen very clear in its desire todevelop this growing sector,” saysUbisoft Toronto managing directorJade Raymond.

“There are some great companiesalready established here in Ontario:Bedlam Games, Silicon Knights,Digital Extremes, smaller mobilestudios, and indie studios. Thediversity of studios makes theprovince a great place where aneven stronger community will mostlikely develop.”

And continuing development isexactly what Raymond has in mind,both for the new Ubisoft studio aswell as for the city of Toronto inwhich it has been established.

“Our goal is to reach 800employees by 2019. We areconvinced that there is very strongtalent in Toronto, and that Ontarianscurrently working for studios inother cities will be interested incoming back,” she says.

Raymond is assured, and UbisoftToronto knows the direction inwhich it wants to be heading.

“The message from theGovernment of Ontario this year hasbeen clear. They believe in thisindustry, they want it to grow.”www.ubi.com

BIG BLUE BUBBLE GAMESFounded: 2004Headcount: 55+Previous games: Destroy All Humans!,Red Faction II (mobile)Currently working on: Untitled 3DS project

UBISOFT TORONTOFounded: 2009Headcount: 40Previous games: N/ACurrently working on: Untitled Splinter Cell sequel

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54 | NOVEMBER 2010

Above: Montréal ishome to a highlysuccessfuldevelopment scene

Q With around 80 per cent of its

population speaking French astheir first language, the large

Canadian province of Québec is a home awayfrom home for all those of a Gallic sensibilityaround the world.

Officially recognised as a nation within aunified Canada, the region also hosts animpressive mix of developers, publishers andtech firms thanks to its strong levels of sectorsupport. In a country where gamesdevelopment thrives, Québec representsperhaps one of the most cutting-edgeregions for industry incentives in the world.

“We have a multimedia tax credit of around37.5 per cent of salaries,” explains CEO ofFuncom Games Canada Miguel Caron.

“R&D tax credit can go as high as 75 percent of salaries. From that, Montréal hasbecome the sixth-largest games developer inthe world.”

General manager of THQ Montréal DaveGatchel highlights the volume of industryprofessionals entering the region througheducational routes and international

recruitment as another cause of itsdevelopment strength.

“There is a large and talented workforce todraw from, a very strong university system, anattractive and cost efficient businessenvironment, and government sponsoredfinancial incentives,” he says.

“For us the most important factor is thetalent, and Québec has great talent. The

financial incentives are also importantconsiderations; however, we are in thebusiness of making great games, whichmakes acquiring talent our top priority.”

The pillars of support and staff also seemto stand upon a great deal of public andbusiness goodwill, as well as aid for the videogames sector.

LEADER OF THE PACK“The sense of community extends beyondour industry and permeates other sectors aswell,” Gatchel agrees.

“It encompasses private and publicorganisations, which might not be unique,but it is certainly uncommon when you lookat similar hubs worldwide.”

In Québec, of course, that community alsoextends to the wide variety of technology,tools and service firms which back up and fillout the development scene in the region,producing an almost entirely self-sufficientcentre of video games production.

Bruce Stamm, VP of QA at Babel Media,jokes about the ease with which his firm doesbusiness there within that arrangement.

“The only challenge is getting people torelocate to Montréal because of our coldwinters,” he says, laughing.

“The amount of red tape is minimal andthe Québec government has been extremelyhelpful in both the establishment of our

The most importantfactor is talent, and

Québec has great talent.Financial incentives are alsoimportant, but we are in thebusiness of makinggreat games.

Dave Gatchel, THQ Montréal


studio as well as aiding us with multiplebusiness expansions.”

Ties with local education is also just asimportant for the sector services industry asfor the development studios in terms ofmaintaining the quality of the workforce.

“We all realise that it is important to getinvolved in order to make sure we getproperly trained resources,” statesAudiokinetic’s VP of sales and marketingGeneviève Laberge.

“With more and more companies openingoffices and studios in Montréal, this willcontinue to be important. I do think thatmore experienced people should getinvolved with the schools and universities to

either teach or help build curriculums thatmatch what companies need fromemployees today.”

UNDER PRESSUREIt has not escaped the attention of thosestudios and companies that have establishedthemselves in Québec, however, that theregion has over 7,000 working developers,and is rapidly approaching what, elsewherein the world, would be considered criticalmass for an industry.

“With the addition of three new majorstudios in Funcom, THQ and Warner Brothersin the last year or so, people might think thatthis should be the end,” says Eidos MontréalGM Stephane D’Astous.

“But we think a little differently. Theecosystem is delicate, but studios will find away to grow and prosper. The increasinginternational recruitment of talent and thealignment with local schools will definitelyhelp us to remediate this great challenge.”

Nicolas Rioux, MD of Ubisoft Québec, isconfident that these issues will not effect theoverall reputation and output of the region orthe country as a whole.

“It’s quite impressive for the country to beranked in the top three countries in the worldwith a pool of somewhere around 35mpeople. The ratio of game developers percapita across the country is incredibly high,it’s striking,” he says.

“Today we know we have all thegovernment support we need on both theprovincial and the federal levels, and we hopeto have the level of talent to sustain the levelof quality and industry recognition that wecurrently have.

“We are all judged on our final product.”


The community’secosystem is

delicate, but I think studioswill find a way to grow andprosper. The recruitment oftop internationaltalent will help.

Stephane D’Astous, Eidos

UÉBEC

56 | NOVEMBER 2010


HAVING RECENTLY snapped up Assassin’sCreed creator Patrice Désilets from hisUbisoft retirement, new kid in school THQMontréal has been making waves evenbefore major work at the studio has begun.As a development studio and focusedproduction facility, THQ Montréal is likely toget busy, quickly. General manager DaveGatchel plans to draw strength for this taskfrom the region of Québec itself.

“There is a large and talented workforceto draw from here, a very strong universitysystem, an attractive and cost-efficientbusiness environment and governmentsponsored financial incentives,” he says.

“These incentives helped facilitate thedesign and build-out of our facility. Inaddition, the existing workforceconcentrated on game development hasenabled us to generate interest and attracta large number of highly skilled candidates.”

And those incentives clearly motivatedTHQ to push hard for the new facility tocome into being as smoothly as possible.

“Québec believes it is important topreserve its culture; it has implementedsome regulations to ensure that key aspectsare maintained, primarily focused aroundthe use of French” Gatchel explains.

“In dealing with these regulations ourapproach has been to fully comply, but tominimise the impact by planning for thesedifferences during the studio set-up.

“By planning and implementing systemsto accommodate these regulations up-front, we believe that compliance willbecome an integrated part of our wholestudio culture.”

That effort is most certainly expected topay off as well.

“THQ Montréal is actually expected tobecome the largest development entitywithin the company, expanding THQ’sglobal network and increasing efficiencieswithin its studio system.

“I believe that the future for gamedevelopment in Québec is bright.”www.thq.com

THQ MONTRÉALFounded: 2010Headcount: UnconfirmedCurrently working on: Unannounced

REPRESENTING THE indie scene that hasbuilt up within the stately Québeciandevelopment ecosystem, Frima Studio hasbuilt up a very impressive momentum sinceits founding seven years ago.

This doesn’t mean that it has not hadmany challenges to face down, however.

“Finding video games programmers andartists who have ten to 15 years ofexperience and who live in Québec isactually quite a challenge,” explains thestudio’s CEO Steve Couture.

“We have put together a very greatpackage of social benefits for ouremployees: chair massage during workhours, flexible work schedule, free bus pass,free time to work on personal creativeprojects during work hours.

“The challenge is to attract people ofgood experience into key positions withinin our organisation.”

The rapid growth that has come to definethe plucky studio seems to be continuing ata fast and unabated pace, and Couture is

assured that Québec as a business entityhas made this impressive expansion processpossible for Frima.

“We have announced, thanks toinvestment in our training program, that wecan hire up to 140 new employees for Frimain the next three years.

“The relationships with the local,provincial and federal governments areexcellent. The industry benefits from taxcredits for production, tax breaks for R&D,and the availability of the Canadian MediaFund to support creation of brand newIntellectual Properties, some of which Frimahas already received.

“This June we received a joint investmentof $2m from the Québec Government. Nowwe want to put forward more IPs anddevelop our brands.”

And so work continues at Frima, drivenon by the momentum of its young backcatalogue and a confidence in the work ithas yet to complete.www.frimastudio.com

FRIMA STUDIOFounded: 2003Headcount: 250+Previous games: Young Thor, Widget’s OdysseyCurrently working on: Unannounced



A MULTI-LINGUAL QA testing company is agreat idea in any games market, but whenYan Cyr and Emmanuel Viau set up Enzymetesting labs in French-speaking Canada,they knew well enough that they would beworking at an international crossroads werea grasp of several languages sets a companyapart from its competition.

“For Enzyme, our growth is from a varietyof markets, not just the North Americanmarket,” explains Enzyme president andCEO Cyr.

“We see a lot of opportunity in enhancingthe quality and effectiveness of testingmethodology and technologies, in additionto focusing on value added services thatmakes us more of a development partnerwith the developers and publishers wework with around the world.”

And the tailoring of a focus towardsdigital entertainment within the institutionsof the entire Québec province has lead tothe region serving Cyr well in the role of abase of operations.

“Québec is great place to do business.The economic and political climate isfavourable to the video game industry,there are many schools and institutions thatalso give us access to a pool of qualified andmostly bilingual resources,” he explains.

“As with any strategic growth industry,the government here facilitates expansionand supports development efforts througha variety of means like training and sometax credit incentives.”

It is that strong regional contributionacross the country to the overallpowerhouse that is national gamesdevelopment which Cyr sees as reason forthe current successes of the Canada.

“Well, I think its quite clear that Canada isa leader in the industry. You just have tolook at the number of internationallyrenowned studios that operate in Québecand Canada and some of the titles that havebeen produced here are some of the mostsuccessful ones in the world.”www.enzyme.org

ENZYME TESTING LABSFounded: 2002Headcount: 300+

BEST KNOWN for its outstanding Wwiseaudio pipeline solution, Audiokinetic hasestablished itself internationally as thecompany to beat in terms of video gamesaudio solutions. The Wwise package hasbecome synonymous with the notion of thehighest quality solutions available today.

“Our main focus at Audiokinetic is toprovide the most complete audio pipelineto game developers. We have been focusingnot only on improving our audio solutionWwise but also to offer a variety of pluginsand options to the professional game audiocreators,” says vice president of sales andmarketing Geneviéve Laberge.

“Not only do we consult our internationaluser base, but we also leverage some of thelocal talent when we need to get somefeedback new ideas that we have had.Audio is frequently outsourced and we havesome great local talent when it comes tooffering services, companies like Game OnAudio or Wave Generation among otherscome to mind.”

Audiokinetic is happy with its position inone of the world’s leading games industries.

“There are numerous incentives to getinvolved in the industry. The goal of the taxcredits is to drive innovation and localemployment. Beyond the government help,I think that a few important factors that alsomake Canada appealing,” Laberge says.

“The cost of living is very reasonable, weoffer a great quality of life and a goodeducational and health care system, there isa real ecosystem present making it possibleto actually have a career and allowing youto evolve and a solid and sound economy.”

As Audiokinetic sees it, that positivity isset to continue on into the developmentcommunity of tomorrow. The companyhopes to be there, at the fine edge of theaudio pipeline industry.

“With all the entrepreneurial talent,support from our Government andcreativity this country has to offer, I certainlythink we have what is takes.”www.audiokinetic.com

AUDIOKINETICFounded: 2000Location: Montréal

58 | NOVEMBER 2010


BioWare Montréal began operatingout of parent company EA’sMontréal studio back in 2009,contributing significantly to thepopular RPG sequel Mass Effect 2.Studio director Yanick Roy believesfirmly that the studio’s future ismassively dependent on the strongdevelopment community around it.

“There’s a great tradition of gamedevelopment here in Québec sotop-class talent knows this is a greatplace to create top-class games andentertainment,” he says.

“EA in Montréal works veryclosely with the local institutions, inareas like internships and otherpartnerships. We recognise theneed to invest in the nextgeneration of game developers forthis market.”

And Roy believes the strength ofthat market is drawn from the manyinstitutions that revolve aroundgames development and businessin general.

“Québec has shown foresight inbuilding out positive economicconditions for the video gameindustry, and it’s resulted in thedevelopment of a thriving andexciting industry in the province.

“The tax credits are a very positivecontributor to the growth that’soccurred. The provincial governmentare great partners of our industry.”

Although it seems BioWare maybe actively involved in dialoguerelated to exisiting industry systems.

“We also need a long term visionthat ensures Québec can besustainable for future, and known forits quality not simply its low costs.There is a risk of diluting the talentpool if too many players are comingto Montréal too quickly,” Roy says.

“BioWare is continuing to grow inMontréal and will be doubling ourlocal team size this year. We lookforward to continuing that path withour Montréal studio.”www.bioware.com

BIOWARE MONTRÉALFounded: 2009Headcount: 700+ (inc. all EA Montréal assets)Previous games: Mass Effect 2Currently working on: Mass Effect franchise

“I WOULD hope that the sector hereis seen as a leader,” says vicepresident of QA and multi-servicesfirm Babel Media Bruce Stamm.

“With many of the major studioshaving some presence in Canada, Ithink both the level of innovationand quality of product coming outof Canada is exceptional.”

QA, audio and translationsservices are big business, and in aregion where triple-A productionoutshines several other bigdevelopment centres, Babel Mediasees big business indeed.

“We work with pretty much allthe major publishers and studioswith interests here, includingActivision-Blizzard, Eidos,Electronic Arts, THQ and Ubisoft.More and more, these customersare looking for one provider ofmultiple services.

“I think we are pretty unique inbeing able to provide this.”

The firm has great expectationsabout the work that will be involvedin providing services to an industrygoing through rapid change.

“Being an ex-software engineer,what excites me is testing Kinectgames and the inherent challengesin that. Consideration needs to bemade for additional space; lighting;different body types used fortesting; and even different dialectsfor testing of the voice recognitiontechnology,” Stamm says.

“Babel made a significantinvestment earlier in the year to set-up Kinect Testing Labs and we haveproven to be a trusted supplier formany publishers in recent months.”

Stamm has faith in Québec.“What will sustain Québec is the

spirit of innovation and the qualityof talent that is currently working inlocal companies,” he says.

“Innovation is tough to clone.”www.babelmedia.com

BABEL MEDIAFounded: 2005Location: Montréal

ART OUTSOURCING is a difficultthing to do right, and VoltaCreations should know it. Supplyingtop-flight artwork to some of thebiggest of the big triple-A gamesthat have been developed and arecurrently in-development aroundthe globe, the firm has a trackrecord that places them in the frontof row their sector.

“We have roughly a dozenongoing triple-A projects at anymoment, from single-assetassignments like marketing postersto hundred-asset long termprojects. Assassin’s Creed:Brotherhood, Red FactionArmageddon, FEAR 3, Rage and DeusEx Human Revolution are amongstthe most recent of these,” saysbusiness development managerSebastien Caisse.

Caisse is also very conscious ofthe manner in which Canada isviewed by the developmentcommunity worldwide.

“On the corporate side of things,you have this sweepingoversimplification about the key

role of tax breaks that clouds thedeeper dynamics that really made itwork as a hub,” he says.

“I hope it stays that way if itmeans competing governmentsmiss the point, but I do hope thedevelopment community perceivesit as a hub of creativity rather than ahub of tax incentives. On the talentand consumer side of things, I hopeit simply becomes known as a placewhere great games are made.”

Despite these tentative concerns,there is a serious underlying faith inthe future of Québec.

“Québec is ripe for indies. The UKgot its first game hits years ago, soentrepreneurs gained investors’trust. This could happen here.

“I love working here.”www.volta.ca

VOLTA CREATIONSFounded: 2006Location: Québec City

UBISOFT IS a developmentpowerhouse, today boasting asuccessful back catalogue thatmany will seek to emulate.

“Over the years, Ubisoft has builtan extremely strong and creativeworkforce in the Province ofQuébec, one of the most importantin the industry worldwide. Thisrepresents an advantage for us inmany ways but I think the resultsspeak for themselves,” saysmanaging director Nicolas Rioux.

“Today, in Québec, Ubisoft has2,500 employees in its studios inMontréal, Québec City and atHybride Technologies, a specialeffects firm located in theLaurentians that Ubisoft acquired inback in 2008.”

There is a consistency to the workof Ubisoft Montréal that holds it in agreat position in regards to theregion’s development future.

“In 13 years, the industry hasgrown exponentially in the provinceof Québec and it looks like it willcontinue to do so. On a moretechnical note, the newtechnologies like Kinect and 3DSwill force us to reinvent ourselves asa publisher and as an industry,” saysRioux, smiling.

“There is also a need toconstantly evolve our current keyfranchises and ensure that we shiphigh-quality games. And we are allwaiting to see what the nextgeneration of consoles will bring tothe table.

“Mobile and social gaming arealso going to take a larger portionof the pie of our industry. UbisoftMontréal and Ubisoft Québec arewell positioned in each of thesesegments and we are definitelyexcited by the future.”www.ubi.com

UBISOFT MONTRÉALFounded: 1997Headcount: 1,800+Previous games: Assassin’s Creed, Prince of PersiaCurrently working on: Your Shape: Fitness Evolved,Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

The south-eastern province of NovaScotia is a beautiful and enchantingcorner of Canada. Currently wrapped in

a blanket of oranges as autumn grips theregion, its rolling hills and dense woodlandpaint a vision of rural bliss.

Even the most heaving towns have a placidcharm, and there is open space in anabundance that will be somewhat alien tothose entrenched in Europe’s packed cities.

Yet Nova Scotia is no rustic backwater. Itsurban spaces have a youthful, cosmopolitanfeel, and across the cities and towns adevelopment sector is cementing itsreputation, gaining momentum andexpanding ambitiously.

It may not yet rival the likes of Ontario andQuébec in terms of industry headcount, butNova Scotia appears to be booming. Theprovincial government’s Digital Media TaxBreaks are well established, and a number oftrade bodies such as Nova Scotia Business Incwork tirelessly to assist developers of all sizes.

“The support that is in place in Nova Scotiahas allowed the development industry to rideout the transition of the last couple of yearsand we have been able to keep the numberof people employed that we have,” explainsAlastair Jarvis, studio head at HB Studios’main office in the town of Lunenberg. “Itwould have been a very different storywithout the tax credit in place.”

“We’ve got – and still get – a big supportfrom NBSI,” adds states Estelle Jaquemard,general manager at Longtail Studios, whichhas expanded from Québec to set up a spacein Halifax, the provincial capital that is justunder six-hours plane flight from the UK.

“They’ve been working with Longtail for afew years now and propose to companies likeus a payroll rebate. They work also with thefinancial minister to define the multimediacredit. On another level, for someone like mewho is new here, they provide a lot of adviceand contacts when I need specific services.

“NSBI also provides aggressive assistanceto the industry with labour rebates, hiringincentives and as a lobbyist for significantlabour tax credits from provincialgovernment,” states Willie Stevenson, founderof Silverback Productions, which is based in afashionable neighboured in Halifax. “Theorganisation also provides critical networking between game companies,educational institutions and industryrepresentatives globally.

A WAY OF LIFETax breaks and trade bodies are one thing,but neither of those attributes are unique toNova Scotia. Spend some time with theprovince’s developers though, and you’ll hearmuch about a way of life that Nova Scotian’sseem to feel is the region’s strongest asset.

“Nova Scotia brings a style of life that isattractive to many of our employees,” saysWes Gould, division manager of brandedbrowser gaming specialist TheREDspace.“Nova Scotia is definitely a place where youcan feel comfortable moving your family to.This works well for us, because the clients wework for are some of the best in the world.”

Gould is not alone in highlighting plenty ofother advantages that bolster Nova Scotia’sculture and environment as a powerfulrecruitment tool, from short commute timesand a low cost of living to friendly maritimeand an economy that leaves plenty ofdisposable income

There’s also a strong sense that the NovaScotian development industry is increasingit’s potency and size with a newfound energy.

“It’s early days here in Nova Scotia, but Ithink it is true that, particularly in the lastcouple of years, the development industry in the region is gaining momentum,” suggests Jarvis.

“We’ll hopefully see an IGDA chapter set uphere, and other ways of mentoring and supporting new developers. That whatwas great about Toronto about five years ago,and that’s what we need here.”

To succeed, however, a provincial industrywith a global view needs a balancedecosystem. While Nova Scotia makes for avery tempting proposition for those looking

Nova


60 | NOVEMBER 2010

Above: Nova Scotia’scapital city Halifax iscosmopolitan andenergetic (top)


Almost everywhere inNova Scotia is close tothe waterfront

Scotiato move to a new country for a better life, itstill needs local talent and resource to remainsustainable. Fortunately, the area’s industryand educational establishments are forminga union that should prove beneficial to all.

A LEARNING EXPERIENCE“Many educational institutions hererecognise the potential of the video gamebusiness and tailor their programsaccordingly,” confirms Stevenson. “This is trueboth on the technical and programming sideand the artistic side.”

To that end, Nova Scotia’s Acadia Universityhas been working with local studios to offer acourse that can serve as a valuable asset tothe province’s develop industry.

“We’ve had such great interest from theNova Scotia industry, from people like NSBI,and students in the area. It seemed like anatural course to offer Nova Scotia,” saysDaniel Silver, associate professor and directorof the university’s Computer Sciencedepartment, which now offers a gamedevelopment specialisation at degree level.

“A lot of our previous students have foundthemselves working at places like HB Studios.The word that we’re getting from thesecompanies is that in the area of programmingthey want good, core knowledge, and thequality of our existing programmes here hasalways provided that. But there were things

missing around the periphery missing, andthat’s why we consulted with HB and others.We have our alumni links to thank.”

TOUGH TIMESDespite the collective effort of government,industry and academia, there are of course

challenges for Nova Scotia. As a smallerregion on the rise, Nova Scotia must competefor visibility of the province in Canada and inEurope. Attracting staff and companiesremains an ongoing effort.

“Canada now has an internationalreputation as the best place for the videogame industry. So, it facilitates therecruitment,” says and upbeat Jaquemard, butshe highlights the fact that Nova Scotia’s

strength can be its weakness. Good studiosand a good education system create greattalent, but it is talent that can be tempted bya move to another province.

“The talent pool is growing quickly but isnowhere near what one would find inMontréal, Vancouver or Austin Texas,”suggests Stevenson. “Manning-up forprojects requires HR departments casting awide net. It’s expensive and risky. Establishedtalent might view Nova Scotia as a backwaterand fear leaving more established epicentresof the video gaming industry.”

Nova Scotia’s people are hardy though, andthe mutually supportive system of industry,education and government puts the area ingood stead to rise as one of Canada’sstrongest development hubs.

On top of that, there is an admirablestrength of community that sees local studiostalk of one another with fondness, andsometimes go as far as staff sharing.

“We have a sense of community with everygame studio we have met,” concludesMatthew Doucette of two-man Nova Scotiaindie Xona. “There are little to no friendlyrivalries. There is a lot of respect that floatsaround effortlessly. We believe we can do‘our’ games better than other developers, andI am sure it is visa versa.”

With that kind of spirit, Nova Scotia haslittle to worry about.


It’s early days herein Nova Scotia, but I

think it is true that in thelast couple of years, thedevelopment industry inthe region is gainingmomentum.

Alastair Jarvis, HB Studios

62 | NOVEMBER 2010


THE EXTERIOR walls of HB Studios part astriking cultural contradiction. Inside thegleaming steel stairways and geek-chic wallhangings are typical of an energetic,contemporary developer. Outside, however,is the picturesque rural town of Lunenburg.It’s an enviable juxtaposition that hasplayed backdrop to ten years of successmaking high profile sports games for EAalong with many other games.

“The biggest upside in Lunenburg isquality of life,” confirms studio head AlastairJarvis. “It affords us the opportunity to walkout the doors into such beauty, and for a lotof us, it’s a huge benefit of working here.The way I think of it is that we live in one ofthe most beautiful towns in the mostbeautiful country in the world, and we getto make games we like”.

HB Studios, which has also worked withthe likes of Konami and THQ, is Nova Scotia’slargest studio, and a case in point thatdemonstrates the province’s capacity toplay host to upscale developers. In fact, the

studio currently at work on Rugby 2012 issomething of a poster child for the region’sdrive to increase its standing on the globalstage. It has also benefited from NovaScotia’s generous provincial support.

“The support that is in place in NovaScotia has allowed the developmentindustry here to ride out the transition ofthe last couple of years, and we have beenable to keep the number of peopleemployed that we have here,” confirmsJarvis. “It would have been a very differentstory without the tax credit in place.”Clearly besotted with the area, Jarvis isquick to highlight the advantages ofLunenburg’s proximity to Halifax.

“The city has a vibrant arts communityand a young vibe that is contributed to bythe many universities and colleges in thecity,” he says.

Positioned perfectly to embrace NovaScotia’s quiet life and Halifax’s urban bustle,HB Studios has it good.www.hb-studios.com

HB STUDIOSFounded: 2000Headcount: 90+Previous games: 2010 FIFA World Cup, Big Beach SportsCurrently working on: Rugby 2012 and variousunannounced titles

IN STARK contrast to HB Studios, Xonaconsists of a two-man team working from asmall office on the waterfront in the ruralfishing town of Yarmouth. The company is amicrostudio by any definition, but its sizehasn’t been an obstacle to progress.

Most famously, the team is at work on thehyperactive XBLA shmup Duality ZF, but it isits recently confirmed dealings withMicrosoft with regard to the first WindowsPhone 7 games that is most interesting.

The giant computing organisation wassuitably impressed by Xona’s work toapproach it with a view secure two launchtitles for the much hyped mobile handsets.

While the final details are still beinginked, Xona’s shooters Decimation X 2 andScore Rush could become defining titles onWindows Phone 7, and as such have apotential that could see Xona expandsignificantly in the future.

“Xona Games will remain a moderate sizeuntil we obtain working capital, at whichpoint we will expand by hiring contract

work on a per-project basis,” confirms studioco-founder Matthew Doucette.

“Eventually this will transform into a full-time position, most likely filling businessand marketing positions first, to allow Jasonand me to get back to the reason we arehere in the first place, which is to makegreat games.

“Eventually our company will grow andpotentially may split into two developmentsub-studios working on separate games.The growth potential is great, but we wantto maintain the indie spirit.”www.xona.com

XONAFounded: 2008Headcount: 2Previous games: Decimation XCurrently working on: Decimation X 2, Duality ZF,Score Rush



YOUTHFUL AND hip, Halifax’s SilverbackProductions made the bold move ofsuspending work on larger games to gainlow-risk, high-payout revenue streammaking casual titles.

The strategy worked, and the studio’sgames like have not only caught the eye ofolder female players in their droves, but alsoattracted some of the world’s most prolificdistribution channels, such as Big Fish andGamehouse. As a result, Silverback are in arobust position, and poised to expandaggressively in the coming months.

“We expect to at least double our team to30 people within the year,” reveals presidentWillie Stevenson.

“We recognise that tax credits might notlast for ever so we want to build a strongfoundation on our own. Also, a growingindustry regionally is a double-edgedsword. More critical mass is good,” he adds.

“But when big players move in its hard tocompete with their human resourcescapabilities and so on. We have been able toroll with the punches so far.”www.silverbackgames.com

SILVERBACK PRODUCTIONSFounded: 2005 Headcount: Up to 14Previous games: Mr. Jones Graveyard Shift, Empress of the DeepCurrently working on: Empress of the Deep 2 and an unannounced title

BASED IN a sizable studio in the Bedford areaof Halifax city, TheREDspace has made animpressive niche for itself creating webgames for high-profile clients. Particularlysuccessful with broadcasters, the company’sportfolio includes work for the likes of MTV,Nickleodeon and even the BBC.

The team isn’t completely blinkered tobranded entertainment though, and has anambitious project of its own underway.FunGoPlay combines real world activity with asport-themed virtual world, anddemonstrates a motivated approach to new

gaming forms that could serveTheREDspace well.

“We work in a high growth industry. Ianticipate that we will continue to grow at arapid rate,” says division manager Wes Gould,later adding: “While the economy was in adownturn we were still recruiting and rapidlygrowing. I think it is safe to say that as long aswe continue providing the high quality workthat has made us attractive in the past, wewill continue to receive more projects and willorganically require times of rapid expansion.”www.theredspace.com

THEREDSPACEFounded: 2000Headcount: 65Previous games: Projects for Nickleodeon, MTV, IBM and othersCurrently working on: FunGoPlay

INITIALLY FOUNDED by Gérard Guillemot –brother of Ubisoft CEO Yves – in Québec,Longtail set up a Nova Scotia studio in 2009.

Making games exclusively for Ubisoft, thecompany currently employs 30, but has anenormous working space ready to welcomemany more.

“We’re expecting around 60 in the next twoor three years, which means more people,with families and more visibility as well,”states Estelle Jaquemard, general manager ofthe Halifax-based office.

“The video game industry needs highlyskilled people, and those people can attract

others. Like every industry, I guess, the moreyou are, the more you can attract.”

The Nova Scotia location compliments notonly the Québec outfit, but Longtail bases inboth New York and Canada’s Prince EdwardIsland. Clearly, Nova Scotia’s attributes rivalsome prime locations.

The studio’s Wii game Dance on Broadwaymet with great success in the UK in particular,and laid the groundwork for more hits to landon retailers’ shelves.

For now Longtail remains tight-lippedabout its current project.www.longtailstudios.com

LONGTAIL STUDIOSFounded: 2009 (2005 in Québec)Headcount: 30 (in Nova Scotia)Previous games: Dance on BroadwayCurrently working on: Unannounced projects


KEY RELEASE:Xaitment’s

new AI tools p68

TRAINING:Aquiris’

Unity 3 guidep72

HEARD ABOUT:F1 2010’s

‘real’ audiop73

THE LATEST TOOLS NEWS, TECH UPDATES & TUTORIALS

“Through tunnels carved intoskyscrapers, traffic soaring high.”

Dead End Thrills, p74

Start your engines

EPIC DIARIES: Inxile’s dungeon crawler The Hunted, p70

Stonetrip talks about the newversion of Shiva, p66

65 Dev111_final 3/11/10 10:20 Page 1

66 | NOVEMBER 2010

What makes the release of Shiva 1.9 moresignificant than a simple update?For us 1.9 represents a Shiva that is dedicated to developers. With this version wewanted to break the rules, and to helpexperienced studios develop greatapplications using Shiva.

The main differences are the access tonative code, the ability to extend the engineabilities using plug-ins, the power to simplifyand accelerate the development process, andfinally, to allow final publishing through areally robust process.

If you were to choose one new feature thatis the most important addition to 1.9,what would it be?1.9’s plugin features are the most important.It completely changes the way that thecustomers can develop using Shiva.

So what does that mean for the day-to-day work of a developer using 1.9?Now there is no constraint. We free theconstraints of development completely, sousers can imagine everything they want, anduse the plug-ins to achieve it. They can also

integrate all the tools and middleware theywant, so that they are free. The approach ofShiva is now that it is not just a good cross-platform tool; it is now also a completenative development kit.

The business model for Shiva is quitedistinct from its contemporaries. Why didyou create the system you have in place?The business model is very simple. If youhave the free version of 1.9 you will be ableto test any export you want. Shiva Basic –

previously called Shiva Unlimited – allowsyou to export everything you want withoutany watermarks and without any limitations,and create as many titles as you want for asmany platforms as you want.

The Advanced version, which is €1,500, isdedicated to the studios wanting all theservices and tools for team development.Features such as performance reports letstudios be really productive and create reallycommercial applications.

With Shiva, we follow the business modelof the internet. We are absolutely not doing itthe same way as any of our competitors’engines. They always charge royalties perplatform and per title.

For developers that is complex andexpensive. Stonetrip lets you buy the tools,buy the software, and use it as you want,without any limitation.

You mentioned your competitors, of whichUnity and Epic are the most obviousexamples. Where does Stonetrip fit? Isthere space for you?For us it is pretty easy. We work in a differentmarket. Unreal, for example, works with high-

Stonetrip’s CEO and co-founder Philip Belhasensays there is a space inthe market for Shiva

With Shiva, wefollow the business

model of the internet. Weare not doing it the sameway as any of ourcompetitors’ gameengines.

Philip Belhasen, Stonetrip

Like its namesake the Shiva engine thrives in the act of creation. Will Freeman sat down with Stonetrip co-founderPhilip Belhasen to find out what the company’s recent 1.9 update means for those using the tech…

BUILDER OF WORLDS

BUILD | ENGINES

Shiva hopes to one dayreplace Flash

NOVEMBER 2010 | 67

profile studios, and is dedicated to triple-Agames. Even though they talk a lot aboutcasual gaming using Unreal engine, it is notreally possible.

For our other competitors like Unity, all thecustomers we have that used Unity have said‘this platform is not really efficient. Youcannot do everything you want’. They arelimited because of the quality of the softwareand the robustness.

Of course, Unity is a strong competitor – areally strong one. But we think that we arenot on that level of software. We propose ourinnovations and difference of businessmodel. We think that we are closer to theinternet, so we have a different approachfrom them.

The entire games industry is changing.Why is Stonetrip’s offering relevant andimportant now?Because inside our technology is all thesystems, all the services and all of the tools tobuild the future, and to build for newbusiness models, new distribution processesand a new kind of publishing. We are trulycross-platform and we provide the ubiquityof the user experience. This is why we feel weare at the right place at the right moment.We think that people like to start a game onPC and continue on mobile and finish

wherever they are. This is what we provide,and that is the future. We are always addingnew platforms.

What would you say to people who wouldsuggest being on so many platforms canbe a weakness for and engine?We have built an innovative technology togenerate the perfect pipeline, for eachplatform, for each OS, and for each driver.

We can get the maximum of performancequality from not only every platform, butfrom every device. The difference with Shivais that we don’t provide for the minimum. Weoffer the best on all devices.

How does Stonetrip plan to moveforward? What do you hope to achieve?For us, and for me, it is very simple. We wantto replace Flash. Flash is used everywhere,and it is a great technology. But, there is a lotof stuff missing such as complex behaviourand physics capabilities. The future is to havea new experience on the web.

A lot of people talk about a new web 2.0,or things like ‘semantic web’. We think thatwhat is next is ‘web 3D’ – a completely 3Dexperience on the web. This is what we wantto provide for. There are a community of amillion developers, and we want them to useour tools.

The future of the web is on mobile and TV.In the next couple of years there will be moreconnected smartphones than connecteddesktops. This means that more people willsee the web through mobile. A connected-user 3D experience is the future of the web.

Free-to-play will be important too. It hasbecome a standard business model in Korea,and I think Europe will follow. If you arebuilding free-to-play, you cannot use anengine that charges royalties.www.stonetrip.com

Above: Stonetrip’s techdemo The Hunt, and(top) Shiva 1.9’s newDevice Input Simulatorin action

It is very simple. Wewant to replace

Flash, which is usedeverywhere, and is a greattechnology – buthas a lot of stuffmissing.

Philip Belhasen, Stonetrip

ENGINES | BUILD

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

COMPANY: StonetripSPECIALITY: EngineKEY PRODUCTS: Shiva 1.9CONTACT: Via webWEB: www.stonetrip.com

Bridging the gap betweenmobile and PC is a corefocus for Stonetrip

68 | NOVEMBER 2010

BUILD | SOFTWARE

XaitMap

Long andWinding RoadXaitment CEO Andreas Gerber is lookingforward to a time when gamer focus movesaway from an obsession with photorealismin graphics and on to smarter NPC interaction.

“With intelligent NPCs that learn fromexperience and inference, gamers will havea unique experience every time they play agame. This gives a new game not only adecided advantage over traditional gamesbut also ensures a longer lifespan for thegame, generating more revenue,” he says.

“The thing that gets most players excitedis the thought of a more challenging andinteractive game. Players are just waitingfor the day when NPCs become insightfuland start predicting the behavior of humanplayers. We’re seeing a large amount ofinterest in our XaitThink and XaitKnow toolsthat provide this functionality.

“When a game studio wants to do somereally new and cool game concepts, whenthey want to be innovative and creative andnot just do the same type of game over andover again, then high-level AI is a must.xaitment stands for new ideas andinnovation, with easy-to-integrate, easy-to-use tools and the best support available.

“We’re building the next generation ofgame AI – making it possible for NPCs tolearn, think and interact with theirenvironment just like humans do.”

Good AI – the really good AI –is usually one of the lastthings a seasoned gamer will

consider when declaring the reasonsfor a game being something special.

It is the mark of superior tech that,when facing off against a horde ofwell-armed and ugly antagonists inan otherworldly environment, agamer will be forced into consistentand evolving plans of action by hisfoes. When they flank him, push himback, draw him in and attempt tocorner him by every method at theirdisposal, there is no time for JoePublic to consider how clever the badguys are, he spends his preciousseconds just trying to survive.

Since 2004, German firm Xaitmenthas developed a suite of AI gametools with exactly that kind ofseamless AI in mind. Founded byDoctors Andreas Gerber, CEO, andThorsten Maier, CTO and MD,Xaitment now sells top-flight toolsfor nav mesh and pathfinding(XaitMap), game logic and visualdebugging (XaitControl); knowledgebases (XaitKnow), NPC behavior

(XaitThink) and the movement andcrowd simulation tech XaitMove2.

Last month the firm updatedXaitMap, ensuring that it maintains acontinually relevant product in a verycrowded market.

“We worked hard on a highlysophisticated algorithm forgenerating nav meshes that beat thepants of other middleware solutionsin speed, quality and memoryconsumption.

“The new method speeds up thecalculation process up to 10 times,”Gerber explains. “We alsotremendously reduced the memoryconsumption during the nav meshgeneration process, so generatingand updating nav meshes duringruntime is not a problem,” he adds.

The evolution of XaitMap is gearedto the development community itserves. Moreover, there is a passion forthe product evident in the level ofdetail with which Gerber describesthe effort behind the update.

“In the past, developers had tobuild their own AI solutions because

there were no other options,” he says.“Then AI middleware like Xaitmentcame along and changed all that.Developers can use our AI tools likethey would use standard tools andengines for GFX or sound. Top teamsdon’t think about doing these thingson their own anymore because itcould risk their entire game projectand company.

“Years ago, everyone implementedtheir own home-brewed AI solution,but that was always a huge risk.Projects have completely failedbecause of weak AI. Now teamsrealise that with AI middleware theysave a lot of money and time whileincreasing quality. This has justbecome common sense for a largenumber of developers.”

And Gerber is in no doubt as towhy XaitMap is the pathfinding kitdevelopers should use.

“XaitMap provides customers withfast and robust pathfinding andautomatic navigation meshgeneration that can be used straightout of the box.

“This means that you don’t needany prior knowledge about pathgeneration, you justplug in our library into your game,load the level geometry and that’s it.

“Your team will save a lot of timeand can go on to do the things thatare more fun.”

Above: XaitMap promisesto deliver a fast androbust pathfinding

KEYRELEASEPRODUCT: XaitMapCOMPANY: XaitmentPRICE: On contactCONTACT: +49 6897 600 800www.xaitment.com

You don’tneed any priorknowledge

about pathgeneration, you justplug ourlibrary intoyour game.

Andreas Gerber

German firm Xaitment has a host of AI products dedicated to giving gamers a fightto remember. Stuart Richardson met with the firm’s CEO Andreas Gerber to discussthe latest iteration of its XaitMap pathfinding tech…

To discuss anything raised in this column or general licensing opportunitiesfor Epic Games’ Unreal engine, contact: [email protected]

FOR RECRUITMENT OPPORTUNITIES PLEASE VISIT:www.epicgames.com/epic_jobs.html

The lead creatives behind some of themost popular classic dungeon crawlrole-playing games of all time –

including Baldur’s Gate, Fallout and IcewindDale – are updating the genre for today’smore action-oriented gamers.

InXile entertainment licensed UnrealEngine 3 technology to bring their new PC,Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 creation, Hunted:The Demon’s Forge, to life. The RPG, whichBethesda Softworks is publishing, focuses oncooperative exploration both above groundand in the depths of dungeons.

Brian Fargo, CEO of inXile, loved the heydayof dungeon crawl games in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

He said the goal going into Hunted was toanswer the question,’What would that kind ofgameplay look like with today’s technology,using the Unreal Engine, PlayStation 3, Xbox360, and a really high-end PC?’

“We’ve been using UE3 for about fiveyears,” says Maxx Kaufman, game director atinXile. “We love the tools, and the engine hasimproved tremendously, especially as itrelates to PS3. Epic opening up its PS3 toolswas hugely helpful for making this gameacross all three platforms.”

SAGE ADVICEThe team has relied heavily on Epic’s UnrealDeveloper Network (UDN), the support hubfor Unreal Engine licensees. Having used theservice for years, Kaufman says that postingan issue online would always receivebrilliantly helpful feedback.

“It’s a huge help when developing a game,”he explains, comparing it to having an entirenetwork of experts at your fingertips.

“We used the majority of the features inUnreal Engine 3 to create this game,” saysKaufman. “All of our cut scenes utilisedMatinee. Some of the scripted events withinthe world also used Matinee.

He adds: “The story is very important in thisgame. We used Kismet and we also have ourown scripting language that we created towork with Unreal.”

In addition to using Epic’s UE3 technology,inXile also drew inspiration from what the

studio has done with its Gears of War gamesin the co-op department. In addition tooffering two-player online gameplay, thesingle-player experience keeps bothprotagonists in the heat of the action.

InXile Entertainment President MatthewFindley acknowledges Gears was also aninspiration for Hunted’s cover combat system.The team designed the action to mirror theleapfrogging and flanking gameplay thatestablished the Gears franchise as aninnovator in the shooter genre. Findley saysthe controls for Hunted match nicely withGears, as well, which will make it easy forconsole gamers to jump right into the game.

PAST MASTERSAt the end of the day, inXile CEO Fargo hopesthat Hunted introduces a new generation ofgamers to the genre that he fell in love within his youth.

“When I used to play all those old games, Iwould lose myself in them,” says Fargo. “I likethe action games but I also like the break inthe action when you’re hearing creepysounds in the distance and you want to moveforward and find out what lies further downthat corridor.”

Unreal Engine 3 is the perfect choice tohelp inXile bring back the feel of thedungeon crawler to old school gamers, whilepushing it in new directions with Hunted: TheDemon’s Forge.www.epicgames.com

UNREAL ENGINE 3 HELPS INXILERESCUE THE DUNGEON CRAWLER

upcoming epicattended events:IGDA Leadership ForumSan Francisco, CANovember 4th – 5th, 2010

Montreal International Game Summit Montreal, CanadaNovember 8th – 9th, 2010

Game Connection Lyon, FranceNovember 16th -18th, 2010

Dubai World Game Expo Dubai, UAENovember 29th - December 1st, 2010

Please email: [email protected] for appointments.

70 | NOVEMBER 2010

BUILD | GAME ENGINES

InXile’s Hunted: TheDemon’s Forge breateslife into the dungeoncrawler genre

Canadian-born Mark Rein is vice president and co-founder of Epic Gamesbased in Cary, North Carolina. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 has won GameDeveloper magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award four times along withentry into the Hall of Fame. UE3 has won three consecutive Develop IndustryExcellence Awards. Epic is the creator of the mega-hit Unreal series of gamesand the blockbuster Gears of War franchise. Follow @MarkRein on Twitter.

EPICDIARIES

UNITYFOCUS

Pay a visit to the demos gallery at theUnity 3 website, and you’ll be greetedby an impressive interactive showcase

of the engine’s new power.A military helicopter cuts its way though

sun-kissed clouds before touching down in awar torn jungle. On landing, a sincerelyimpressive third-person modern combatshooter unfolds. Tinker with the variousgraphics menus available, and you’ll witnesssomething quite spectacular within in theincreasingly capable realm of the browsergame. Welcome to Bootcamp.

“We wanted to do something unique, thatsimulates a real game situation both for theplayer and for the developers who look into it;something beautiful,” states Maurício Longoni,technology and development director atAquiris, the Brazilian creator of Bootcamp.

Creating the game demo, which featuresinterior and exterior scenes, destructiblescenery, varied gameplay objectives and anarray of ambitious environmental effects,allowed Longoni and his team to familiarise themselves with many of Unity 3’skey features.

“The Bootcamp demo explores a lot withthe Beast Lightmapping tool,” he confirms.

Thanks to Unity 3’s new lightmappingfunctionality, Aquiris were able to apply agood quality lightning bake and takeadvantage of high-end blends with therealtime shadowing.

“Unity 3’s lightmapping tool is absolutelyamazing,” adds Longoni. “It saves time as you

don’t need to bake the light in the 3Dapplication such as 3DS Max. Since it’s insideUnity Editor, you don’t need to worry aboutgrouping objects together in 3DS Max tooptimise the atlasing of the light textures; itmakes it automatically. It also reads the UVfrom your 3D app with your own organisationfor the light textures, or it can unwrap theobjects automatically if you want.”

Longoni and his colleagues were also ableto get the occlusion culling system workingimmediately out of the box, boosting theirperformance with minimum effort. “Justintegrating the occlusion culling in one of ourgames brought the draw calls number downfrom 400 to 50, with no effort,” explains theclearly smitten developer, adding: “Theocclusion culling system is essential when wetalk about big and detailed levels, such as inBootcamp’s industrial scene, where we have

tons of small objects, dummy enemies, thebuildings and so on. A lot of things areoccluded by the buildings and don’t have tobe rendered.

Occlusion culling makes it possible; it storesa file with the information of each visibleobject from each cell where the camera canbe, so it doesn’t render what is not seen bythat camera.”

What’s more, Bootcamp allowed Aquiris touse Unity as a level editor.

“It’s powerful,” confirms Longoni. “It hassmart snapping and takes care of the bunchof individual objects via static batching. Wehave also developed our own Decal system –via Unity’s Extensible Editor tools – todecorate the levels and add the bullet marks.

To play the Bootcamp demo visitwww.unity3d.com/gallery/live-demos.

Booting up a new eraBrazilian developer Aquiris has created a special demo showcasing the potential of Unity 3 in the form of Bootcamp.Studio co-founder Maurício Longoni tells Will Freeman how he and his team designed the impressive browser game...

72 | NOVEMBER 2010

BUILD | GAME ENGINES

Above: The Bootcampdemo offers some ofthe most impressiveUnity 3-created contentyet seen

Aquiris KnowledgeEstablished in 2006, Aquiris initiallyspecialised in virtual reality projects for theaviation and architecture markets. At thestart of 2008, the Brazilian outfit moved intothe games space, and has currently created13 titles, crafting branded games for the likesof Gillette, Chevrolet and Unilever.

The company was formed by art directorAmilton Diesel, creative director IsraelMendes and Maurício Longoni, who serves astechnology and development director.www.aquiris.com

Unity 3’slightmapping tool is

amazing. It saves time asyou don’t need to bake thelight in a 3Dapplication such as3DS Max.

Maurício Longoni, Aquiris

NOVEMBER 2010 | 73

BUILD | AUDIO

Relatively few privileged sounddesigners ever get up close andpersonal with a Formula 1 racing car.

Even fewer get to satisfy their ownparticular quest for the holy grail ofmotorsport audio – a decent onboard F1engine recording. Having worked on GeoffCrammonds’ Grand Prix sims back in the day,this month’s feature proved something of anostalgia trip revealing that whilst therecording challenges I faced then haven’teased, the technology to manipulate F1audio in production and at run-time hasblossomed beautifully.

“You can never have enough access butopportunities are few,” says Codemastersaudio director Stephen Root. “The Force Indiateam let us record their Mercedes engine andMcLaren gearbox combination duringshakedown testing at Silverstone before the2010 season start.

“Later, Brawn GP – subsequently MercedesGP – provided us another outing duringtesting in Jerez, Spain. Both were reallyhelpful working with us the night before toposition DPA lavs on the chassis before thecar was put together – even building uscustom suspension mounts to augment thebespoke cradles and windjammers we’dalready created.”

Nothing, however, could have preparedRoot and his team for the astonishing heatand vibration generated as the car fliesaround the track at up to 200mph. Most ofthe solid state recorders tried were shaken tobits, but surprisingly the relatively cheap andcheerful Zoom H4 got the job done.The team also recorded in test cells at FerrariHQ in Maranello, Italy where engines on testbeds are computer-operated within acontrolled environment – although theyfound their otherwise flawless recordings

were somewhat marred by inherent roomreverberation, impossible to totally eradicatedespite portable acoustic damping.

MAKING TRACKSWhilst useful, the onboard recordings werefar from a ready-made solution. They had tobe painstakingly stitched into a patchwork ofrecorded assets including audio capturedtrackside on both corners and straights – allat different RPMs and physical perspectives.

“We use a fundamentally granularapproach, analysing the constant pitchchange of a rev sweep, and depending on

how many cylinders in the engine work outhow many cycles there are – with a cycle beingan individual ‘grain’,” explains Codemasters leadaudio designer Mark Knight. “If you need toplay the sweep faster, you’re cutting outcylinders and if slower, you’re adding them.

“Plus, we have a system to deal withtimbral shift – a bit like those plugins that canshift a formant without changing the pitch andshift the pitch without changing the format.It’s a mixture of tech all in one package.”

Meanwhile, the audio for further AI-controlled cars employs the same system but‘quite cut down’ due to the CPU challenges.

“Using newly created technology, wecarefully marked every part of every trackwith ‘reflection markers’ to get the correctecho and reverb from all parts of thescenery,” adds Root. “Then it really started tosound like F1.”

Crackling and backfire for those ferociousF1 sonics created as the car brakes heavilyinto tough corners is then added. Knightexpalins: “I recorded these on a nasty cornerat Jerez, having tried a different section oftrack where I was accused of spying by oneteam convinced I’d been hired by acompetitor to record their launch control.”

Though working from a solid, maturecode-base, F1 2010 nevertheless entailedtech extensions to cope with a car that idlesat 5k and revs to 18k. Throughout the project real life F1 test driver AnthonyDavidson consulted to the team on carhandling with the audio team tweaking thesound accordingly.

“When you see behind the scenes ofFormula 1 and appreciate the engineeringprowess for yourself you’re hooked,” admitsKnight. “For a petrolhead like me to buildrecording systems into F1 cars – to have myarms stuck up nosecones and all sorts was amassive thrill.

“I feel we’ve produced the best soundingF1 game so far - and we have everything inplace to improve and improve and improveas we move forward with the franchise.”

F1 2010

John Broomhall is an independent audio director,consultant and content [email protected]

Above: Codemaster’smade full use of a rarechance to get audioequipment onboard aFormula 1 car

HEARDABOUT

The Force Indiateam let us record

their Mercedes engine andMcLaren gearboxcombination duringshakedown testing atSilverstone before the2010 season start.

Stephen Root, Codemasters

DEVELOPER:Codemasters

PLATFORM:PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

John Broomhall talks to Codies’ Mark Knight and Stephen Root about working in the secretive Formula 1 pit lane…

74 | NOVEMBER 2010

BUILD | GAME ART

DEAD END THRILLS


Duncan Harris turns his attention to a BioWare epic as he continues his ongoingseries looking at the best of game art via specially-captured in-game images...

Developer: BioWarePublisher: EAReleased: 2010Capture format: PC

GAME ART | BUILD

Mass Effect 2: Lair Of The Shadow BrokerBefore you reach the lair of the galaxy’s mostnefarious facilitator in this latest episode of MassEffect 2, you have to chase his deadliest agentthrough the bustling urban canyons of Illium,the game’s dazzling metropolis.

This quick sequence, inspired to no smalldegree by Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones, provesthat nothing is too small or short to receive theBioWare’s team’s most dedicated andpainstaking efforts.

Through tunnels carved into skyscrapers,jack-knifing juggernauts, and lanes of trafficsoaring high above any actual roads, thisgrandstanding departure from the usual

detective work sets the bar remarkably high forDLC everywhere.

Tools and tricks for this specially capturedscreenshot include modified .ini files to restoreUnreal Engine screenshot and debug functions, use of free camera, and an HUDcarefully removed.

Dead End Thrills is a website and resourcededicated to the art of video games. Its galleriesfeature over 5,500 lovingly taken, watermark-freescreenshots which are free to download and use.Elsewhere, it features interviews with today’sleading artists and designers.www.deadendthrills.com


PEOPLE: Dietz becomesnew Pitbull art

directorp78

TOOLS: Capcom chooses

UE3 for Asura’sWrath

p80

SERVICES: Cubic Motion’snew animation

servicep83

The world’s premier listing of games development studios, tools, outsourcing specialists, services and courses…

KEY CONTACTS

STUDIOSEpic Games +1 919 870 1516

Dilute 01483 306 834

Ian Livingstone +44 (0) 1483 421 491

Stainless Games [email protected]

TOOLSAudio Kinetic www.audiokinetic.co.uk

bluegfx +44 (0) 1483 467 200

Blitz Games Studios +44 (0) 1926 880 000

Fork Particle 1(925) 417 1785

Havok +1 415 543 4620

Stonetrip www.stonetrip.com

SERVICESElitest 0121 706 0463

Matinee 01189 584 934

Partnertrans +44 (0) 1273 229030

Testronic Labs +44 (0) 1753 653 722

Universally Speaking +44 (0) 1480 210 621

COURSESBrunel University www.gmaesatbrunel.com

University of Hull +44 (0) 1482 465 951

RATES1/4 page: £450 (or £200/month if bookedfor a minimum of six months)

[email protected]

T: 01992 535 647

studios

78 | November 2010

Epic +1-919-870-1516 www.epicgames.comStudio NewsThis month: Pitbull Studio, Just Add Water, Sumo Digital,Disney Interactive Media and Kalypso

Start-up studio Pitbull, the group formed following the collapse ofMidway Newcastle, has hired the experienced Steve Dietz as itsnew art director.

Dietz, who also worked at Midway Newcastle before the studioclosed down, has worked in the industry for over 16 years – nine ofwhich have been in a managerial role.

He joins Pitbull following a brief stint at Lightning Fish Games.Some of his previous projects include The Wheelman, LA Rush, TestDrive and Pete Sampras Tennis.

“I’m excited to be with such a close-knit team, and looking forward to keeping verymuch hands on, while growing the art team further,” said Dietz.www.pitbullstudio.co.uk

UK studio Just Add Water has added two new seniormembers to its tech team.

Steve Caslin and Paul Carter, former freelancers atthe studio, joined full-time at the start of October andNovember respectively. Both men now hold thepositions of technical leads on various, yet-to-be-revealed projects.

The hires are part of ongoing recruitment as workincreases on the studio’s upcoming Oddworld projects.

“Working with JAW over the past year or so has been a fun, now seeing the changesdue to the Oddworld projects mean it’s now the perfect time to be part of the coreteam here at JAW,” Caslin said.

“It’s not often you get a chance to work on one of the most recognised franchises ingaming history.”

JAW MD Stewart Gilray welcomed the new arrivals, saying: “Having Steve and Pauljoin us now is perfect. We’re currently completing work on the first of the Oddworldprojects, and in the New Year we will start pre-production on the next project.

“As this project will be from the ground up we wanted to get key personal ready tojump on it from the start, and to continue expanding the team with otherprogrammers and environmental artists.”www.jawltd.com

Sean Millard has been promoted from creative evangelist tocreative director at the Sheffield-based Sumo Digital studio.

Millard will now serve as a liaison between the differentcreative groups in the studio and the management. He will beworking as a member of the management team, and beresponsible for managing designers and corresponding withpublishing partners.

Millard has been at Sumo since 2003, and was most recentlyone of the key names associated with the popular Doctor Who:The Adventure Games developed for the BBC. He said of his new role that he new howto sell creative ideas to management.

“I understand the psychology of designers, and how to be able to interact around aboard table with upper management,” he said.www.sumo-digital.com

The Walt Disney Company has made Playdom CEO John Pleasantsthe new co-president of its Disney Interactive Media division,sharing the role with former Yahoo head man James Pitaro.

The two men will be replacing Steve Wadsworth.Disney CEO Bob Iger told Bloomerg that the new appointments

were a continuation of an expansion into casual games.DIM has lost $130m so far in 2010, making it the only

unprofitable division of Disney.“We see this as a growth area and we need people experienced in how to best

operate in it,” Iger said.He went on to state his intentions to allow the new co-presidents freedom to run

their respective new commitments, which for Pleasants include Playdom, Disney’s ClubPenguin and Tapulous. Pitaro will oversee Disney.com, Family.com and DigiSynd.corporate.disney.go.com/wdig/index.html

brought to you by…

Dilute 01483 306 834 www.diluterecordings.com

WWW.DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET November 2010 | 79

studios

Stainless Games [email protected] www.stainlessgames.com

SpotlightStudio

Big Head Games was founded by theformer directors of the now defunctmobile games studio 8bit Games. The latter produced over 30 titles in thefive years between its founding back in2003 and eventual closure in 2008,including big franchise titles like ColinMcRae Rally 04 and Teenage MutantNinja Turtles. In 2004 it was nominatedfor the best handheld studio award atthe Develop Industry ExcellenceAwards in Brighton.

The transition from 8bit to Big HeadGames was straddled by developmenton the physics-based PSN puzzlerElefunk. The title was built entirely fromproprietary technology and presentedBig Head Games to a considerablywider audience overnight.

The momentum that came off theback of that release was a boon, and in2009 Big Head Games started work ona massive licence in the DSi version ofthe Grease music game published by505 Games. During the same year, thestudio began launching iPhone gamesof the likes of Retro Cave Flyer, and alsobecame licenced developers for theNintendo consoles.

On into 2010, BHG began launchingtitles for the PSP and PS3 Minis,including International Snooker and yetanother impressive licence acquisitionin The Terminator.

Big Head Games’ multiplatformagenda spurs from a published missionstatement in which it declares itsintention to develop thebest possible games,and to ensure that theyare each tailored toindividual platforms.

The companymanagement team todayconsists of Dave Vout, thebusiness developmentdirector, whose establishedcareer has seen him work

on titles as variedas the Tony HawksPro Skater seriesand Batman: DarkTomorrow. Stefan Hopper, the technicaldirector, has previously served as aprogrammer and senior programmer atProbe Entertainment and HotgenStudios. Finally, creative director AdamTween holds credits including theMedal of Honor series, and at studios ofthe likes of Rage Software and Hotgen.

Under this team, Big Head Games isactively seeking to take its existingiPhone IP to the console market, as wellas maintaining several other projects tobe specified at a future date.

Ever active in multiple sector fields,Big Head Games is likely to be a namethat keeps on cropping up across thedevelopment spectrum for a long timeto come.

CONTACT:Studio 2, Burnham StudiosBurnham Street,Kingston-Upon-ThamesSurrey KT2 6QRUK

P: 020 8547 3532E: [email protected]: www.bigheadgames.co.uk

BIG HEAD GAMES

Ian Livingstone +44 (0)1483 421 491 www.ianlivingstone.net

80 | November 2010

tools

In a move that highlights ongoing development culturechanges in Japan, Capcom is building the upcomingaction game Asura’s Wrath using Unreal Engine 3.

Asura’s Wrath, in development at Japanese studioCyberConnect2, is a high-profile project that hopes tobuck these trends.

“Unreal Engine 3 was a huge factor in making Asura’sWrath a visually stunning and exciting game,” saidCapcom producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya.

“The engine’s integrated development environmenthelped us ramp up production speed and create a clear vision for the game at theinitial development stage.”

And Seiji Shimoda, project director at CyberConnect2, enumerated reasons whyUnreal Engine 3 helped improve the development process.

“At CyberConnect2, we have our own development process and know-how gainedfrom years of development. But this time we decided to reconsider our process toachieve higher quality and efficiency. We tried a lot of different options anddetermined that Unreal Engine 3 was a perfect solution.”www.capcom.com

Sensio Technologies has confirmed a deal with Ubisoftthat sees its 3D technology included for use in ShaunWhite Skateboarding.

3D has been included in both the Xbox 360 andPlayStation 3 versions of the game, released October 24in North America and October 28th in Europe.

“We know from past collaboration that Sensio’s 3Dformat delivers the highest-quality images, as well ashigh reliability, ease of integration, and interoperability with leading consoles,” saidUbisoft executive producer Patrick Naud.

Sensio EVP Richard LaBerge was enthusiastic about the deal.“Ubisoft is a recognised leader in developing and distributing popular video games,

and we’re pleased to be working again with the company as it releases Shaun WhiteSkateboarding,” he said.

“We’ve already seen that stereoscopic 3D brings added value to game titles. Byproviding exceptional image quality consistently across both Microsoft and Sonyplatforms, Sensio 3D makes high-quality Stereoscopic 3D gaming accessible to a verybroad market segment.”www.sensio.tv

Audiokinetic has launched Wwise 2010.2 –the latest version of its award-winning audiopipeline tool.

The newest edition of Wwise includes neweffects, as well as an optional, separately sold library of Impulse Responses audio files.

“This new version offers more advanced DSP options,” said Audiokinetic productstrategy VP Simon Ashby.

“This is an important step forward for game developers and the audio professionalcommunity. Our goal is to enable audio creators to give players the best experiencepossible. With a growing variety of optimised add-ons available for Wwise, it’s simplefor the audio department to be able to articulate and realise the full potential of theirartistic vision.”www.audiokinetic.com

Trinigy has opened a new sales and supportoffice in Korea, in an action the firm states hasoccurred in order to meet growing demandfor the Vision Engine in Asia.

“Given our history of supporting PC and console games, the Vision Engine is ideallysuited to meet the needs of MMO developers in Asia, and more specifically Korea,” saidTrinigy GM Felix Roeken.

“So to better service our growing customer base in that region, we have opened adedicated sales and support office in Seoul. We are extremely grateful to the KoreanGames Conference for giving us the opportunity to showcase our technology.”

Seung Hun Lee, chief organiser of the Korean Games Conference, was keen toimpress his pleasure with his recent involvement with Trinigy.

“For the last several months, Trinigy has been gaining steam in our market, and nowI understand why – the company and its Vision Engine really impressed the organisersand attendees. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership withTrinigy in Korea,” he said.www.trinigy.net

Audio Kinetic www.audiokinetic.com

This month: Capcom and UE3, Sensioand Ubisoft, Wwise 2010.2 and Trinigy’sKorean expansion

Tools News

Develop Magazine 01992 535647 www.develop-online.net

GREAT ADVERTISINGOPPORTUNITIES

CONTACT: [email protected]

Tel: 01992 535647

WWW.DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

tools

November 2010 | 81

Blitz Games Studios 01926 880000 www.BlitzGamesStudios.com

bluegfx 01483 467200 www.bluegfx.com

Fork Particle 1(925) 417 1785 www.forkparticle.com

82 | November 2010

tools

SpotlightTool

FORK PARTICLE

Founded by current CEO Noor Khawaja,who brought 15 years of softwaredevelopment experience to his newcompany from studios like EA, Konamiand Acclaim Entertainment, ForkParticle develops state-of-the-artparticle effects simulation middlewarefor the video games industry.

Overseen by Noor Khawaja inCalifornia and VP of operations TajwarKhawaja in the offshore branch in Asia,the company supplies its tools tostudios working across the fullspectrum of multi-platform gamestitles in development centres acrossthe globe.

The two central products that theFork Particle business has been builton, the Fork Runtime SDK and ForkParticle Studio, allow users to authorspecial effects in the Fork authoringtool and use Fork’s runtime componentto simulate them in their products. Thecentral technology within thecompany’s Fork products, ParticleSystems, has become a feature ofgraphics technology used in themajority of video games and graphicssoftware today.

The stated goal of Fork Particle hasbeen to allow developers to streamlinetheir production pipeline for particlesystems and create special effects withreduced time and effort. The firm hasaimed it services at catering for amarket in which it sees high-qualitygraphics as a key affecting factor in thetotal sales of games. It has stated thatby taking the specialised route ofseeking to improve graphics by way ofreal-time particle system special effects,it hopes to sate the demand for top-flight effects across the duration ofgrowing game content.

Fork Runtime SDK, a cross platformparticle effects engine for consoles andPC, features integration Fork Particlesays can be generally applied withinthe space of a week, applied to in-house graphics and third partymiddleware and updated live by way ofthe Fork Live Tuner.

Fork Particle Studio particle effectsauthoring tool offers a wealth offeatures including 3D geometryparticles, surface particle birth,keyframe animation, parametermodelling and Ageia PhysX support.

Over the past few years, ForkParticle’s tech has featured in work asvaried as Twisted Pixel’s XBLA hit‘Splosion Man and the recently releasedPC sequel Sid Meier’s Civilisation V.Whatever work lays over the horizonfor the company, it will likely span thegamut of what is on offer in the sectorof tomorrow.

CONTACT:Fork Particle, Inc.2743 Trevor Parkway,Pleasanton, CA 94588USA

P: 001 925 417 1785

E: [email protected]

W: www.forkparticle.com

TOOL TYPE: PARTICLE EFFECTS SIMULATION

Stonetrip www.stonetrip.com

Havok +1 415 543 4620 www.havok.com


services

Services NewsUK animation outsourcing company Cubic Motionhas started a new, rapid-turnaround facial animationservice that is available for use at all stages of agame’s development.

The service allows studios, having registered rigswith Cubic Motion, to send them audio files fromwhich the outsourcing firm will create facial animationcurves for $600 per minute ‘or less’.

Cubic Motion has stated that it will seek to returndata in less than 24 hours. Users will be able to accessthe service on a pay-as-you-go basis withoutcontractual commitments.

“Facial animation is often treated as something toocomplex or too expensiveto produce to a highstandard through all stagesof development. This meansthat early tests often havelittle or no facial animationof good quality – it’ssomething people usuallyaddress much further intoproduction,” said Cubic Motion chief executive DrGareth Edwards.

“We want developers to know that outsourcedfacial animation doesn’t have to involve complexcontractual arrangements or changes to existingworkflows. Cubic Motion is here to stand alongsideyour team at all stages of development, offering easyaccess to expert resources for important and time-critical animation.”www.cubicmotion.com

Elitest 0121 706 0463 www.elitest.co.uk

Partnertrans +44 (0) 1273 229030 www.partnertrans.comMatinee 01189 584 934 www.matinee.co.uk

This month: Cubic Motion’s newanimations service

services

84 | November 2010

Testronic Labs +44 (0) 1753 653 722 www.testronic labs.com

Specialist Games ServicesLocalisation

» Global network of games specialised linguists » Translators to cover all genres of games

» All languages covered» In game, scripts, paper parts and marketing translations

Quality Assurance» All platforms (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, PC and Mobile)

» Localisation QA» Compliance checks for TRC, TCR and LOT approval

» Functionality QA

Audio» Voice overs across all languages

» Full casting service» Pre and post production including lip synching

» Highly experienced voice directors and engineers

Universally SpeakingPriory Chambers, Priory Lane, St Neots, Cambs., PE19 2BH, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1480 210621 [email protected] www.usspeaking.com

Universally Speaking 01480 210621 www.usspeaking.com

SpotlightServices

Universally Speaking MD Vickie Peggslaunched her services firm afterbreaking away from Partnertrans backin 2008. Covering a wide range ofservices for the video games and digitalentertainment industries, the UK-basedcompany boasts a continuing businessexperience of over twenty-five years.

US deals with localisation, qualityassurance and audio work on a vastnumber of development industryprojects by way of a free FTP servicethrough which it seeks to keep thecompany at the fingertips of itsinternational clients. From its studios inReading it supplies a network ofinternational linguists specialised ingames work, as well as translatorscover all generes of games andlanguage translations. With these

capabilities it boasts the ability tosupply any localisation work that astudio may require.

In terms of quality assurance,Universally Speaking works on allcurrent games platforms, including allSony, Microsoft and Nintendo consoles,as well as the PC and mobile platforms.In can also cover localisation QArequirements, as well as compliancechecks for TRC, TCR and LOT approvaland functionality QA.

The company’s audio servicesinvolve a casting service that caninclude any world language, pre andpost production services including lipsyncing and voice directors andengineers to aid in the sound recordingprocess at any stage of development.

Working with clients like SonyComputer Entertainment, SEGA,Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Capcom,Bethesda and THQ, the company hasgarned a large amount of acclaim forindustry institution, gatheringaccolades like nominations for BestGames Service Provider at the MEAwards 2008, as well as at the DevelopIndustry Excellence Awards in 2008,2009 and 2010.

The company has stated its desire tomeet and exceed customerexpectations in its service delivery,working to deadlines and a competitivepricing structure that it hopes will aid itin building strong relations with everystudio on its books. In an age ofincreasing platforms vying for thewandering attention of gamerseverywhere, Universally Speaking hasalso branched out successfully into themobile sector, previously working withclients like I-Play, EA Mobile, Glu, PlayerX and Vivendi Mobile.

Whatever the tasks the industry mayyet present it, Universally Speaking willbe a company that many people cometo rely on in the exciting developmentera ahead.

CONTACT:Priory Chambers, Priory Lane, St Neots, Cambridgeshire, PE19 2BH, UK

P: 01480 210621

E: [email protected]

W: www.usspeaking.com

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING


courses

Training News

De Montfort University opened a new,£250,000 state-of-the-art developmentstudio opened for use in late September.

DMU vice chancellor Professor DominicShellard will hosted the opening ceremonyfor the facility, which can accommodate upto 60 students and will be used to teachthose on the BSc and MSc courses incomputer games programming.

The studio comprises three labscontaining a ‘Real D’ Passive Stereo 3Dsystem, utilising 2 HD projectors and a four-meter polarised projection screen.

Students will also have the use of AcerPredators, Dell XPSs and Alienware Area 51ALXs; games consoles and portable gamesdevices, including Xbox 360s, PlayStation 3s,Wiis and PSPs.

“It’s exciting that students will be able tosee their work in 3D. The labs are fitted with some of the most powerful gamescomputers available, allowing students to use their creativity to the full,” said head ofDe Montfort’s department of informantics Professor Robert John.www.dmu.ac.uk

The University of London’sGoldsmiths’ College has committedresources to a new motion-captureresearch project.

Under the leadership of Dr MarcoGillies, the project seeks tosignificantly improve the quality ofmotion capture in all forms ofinteractive media.

The project will create a library ofbehavioural algorithms based on theperformance of several actors, whichcan then be stored, shared and built upon for individual games. Goldsmiths have saidthat this will make computer game characters’ various body movements moreconsistent and realistic.

“In traditional computer games, characters are running, jumping and fighting, veryphysical actions, and you don’t have a lot of social interaction,” said Dr Gillies.

“Part of the problem is that a lot of body language and behaviour is subconsciousso it’s quite hard to design an algorithm for it.”

“It’s a really interesting project because it’s combining computer science withdrama and performing,” Dr Gillies said.

The research is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Council.www.gold.ac.uk

Creative media training body Skillsethopes to do its part in tackling theso-called gender inequality in theUK games industry.

Independent data recentlyshowed that the number of womenworking in UK games industry fellfrom 12 per cent in 2006 to four per cent last year.

Skillset has in response signed up to the UKRC – a government-led organisation forchallenging the under-representation of women in the science, engineering andtechnology sectors (SET).

The educational group said signing to the UKRC is “a visible commitment toincrease the participation and progression of women across the creative industries”.

A UKRC employer consultant praised Skillset for “recently campaigning on behalf ofwomen in TV” after studies revealed a recent decline of female workers in the industry.

Skillset CEO Dinah Caine there’s “a number of challenges ahead to improve genderequality in the creative industries, definitely the case for women in IT andtechnological roles.

“Skillset is delighted to demonstrate our commitment to this tackling these issuesby signing the UKRC’s Charter. We hope our commitment to tackling gender inequalitywill be taken up by more and more employers across the industries we represent. Wewould encourage as many of them as possible to sign up to the Charter.”www.skillset.org

This month: De Montfort University,London Goldsmiths, Palm OS trainingand Skillset’s equality plans

The University of Hull +44(0) 1482 465951 www.mscgames.com

Brunel University [email protected] www.gamesatbrunel.com

86 | NOVEMBER 2010

Britain’s brightest studios last monthbattled it out to prove which had themost awe inspiring brainpower…

Last month the cream of the UK’s developmentcrop gathered at London’s Sway Bar to lock hornsover who boasted the most impressive intellect.On the night Blitz Game Studios emerged aschampions, racking up points in rounds like ‘EvilCorporations’, ‘Obscure Screenshots’ and ‘GameQuotes’. Second place was decided by a tensetiebreaker, where Lunch beat Peppermint in aclash of awful Mario impressions.

The final scores were as follows:1. Blitz Game Studios - 492. Lunch PR - 47 3. Peppermint PR - 474. Sheridans - 465. Splash Damage - 436. Aardvark Swift - 427. Maverick - 418. Premier PR - 419. Firefly Studios - 4010. Hotgen - 40

11. Jagex (Team 2) - 3912. Big Head Games - 3913. Playfire - 3614. UKIE - 3615. Jagex (Team 1) - 3516. Vertical Slice - 3217. Centroid - 3118. Rocksteady Studios - 3019. Spov – 29

2nd: Lunch PR

Winner: Blitz Game Studios

3rd: Peppermint PR

4th: Sheridans 5th: Splash Damage

6th: Aardvark Swift 7th: Maverick

9th: Firefly8th: Premier PR 10th: Hotgen

12th: Big Head Games11th: Jagex (team 2) 13th: Playfire

15th: Jagex (team 1)14th: UKIE 16th: Vertical Slice

18th: Rocksteady Studios17th: Centroid 19th: Spov

CODA

NOVEMBER 2010 | 87

Develop Football Challenge 2010

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

CODA

In the same month that the UK developmentsector demonstrated its mental agility at theDevelop Quiz, the nation’s studios also provedtheir physical prowess at the inaugural DevelopFootball Challenge.

Gathering at the Barnet Powerleague innorth London, 13 teams did battle in a 5-asidetournament that was hard fought by all. Someincredible goals were scored, a few playersearned well-needed attention from the StJohns Ambulance sweethearts, and despite theodd boisterous confrontation, a great time washad by all.

The mighty Testology squad emerged aschampions, taking home the main cup, alongwith Player of the Tournament and Top Scorertrophies.

Big thanks to the event sponsorsSuperMassive Games and UKIE, who made theDevelop Football Challenge possible.

THE TEAMS:Big Match Bucks (SuperMassive Games)Black Rock Bright LightThe Creative AssemblyCrytek UKDevelop United (Develop and UKIE) Jagex Games StudioRapidsourceSports InteractiveSumo DigitalTestologyTestronic United X2 Football (Exient)

develop

Top Scorer:Ronnie Adjekwei, Testology

Player of the Tournament:Nana Penemo, Testology

Cup runners-up:Rapidsource

Cup winners:Testology

Plate winners:Jagex Games Studio

Plate runners-up:X2 Football (Exient)

Event Partner

Headline Sponsor

88 | NOVEMBER 2010

Legendary steel wheelerTiësto dons his ‘estateagent on some R&R time’outfit for a DJ Hero 2press snap. From thesuburban show homedecor to thedisinterested grin, thisshot screams Ikeacatalogue. In fact, itdoesn’t scream, itwimpers. If you’remaking an edgy gamewith grass rootsconnections to adecadent subculture,just remember howmuch a marketing teamcan undermine yourefforts to serrate thecutting edge.

The Big Picture

CODAA sideways look at the games industry

A look back at a time when things were simpler for developers

Atari stakes a claim to thefirst 64-bit console in releasingthe Jaguar. However, it’s themachine’s 17-button controllerthat raises eyebrows – andweakens the thumbs

Sega’sAM2-developedarcade gameVirtua Fightergoes public,establishinga landmarkfor 3Dgaming.

Doom by Id Software is released,in what many recognise as a seminalmoment for the FPS. It’s hard toremember there really was a timewhen the genre felt pioneering.

RewindA year in video games: 1993

NOVEMBER 2010 | 89

Stats can be misleading. Forward-project the trends from November’snumbers and the results show a misguided vision of the future December 2010 /January 2011

Regional Focus: London StudiosProfiles of all the studios at the cutting edge of the Englishcaptial’s bustling development scene.

Event:GDC China – December 5th to 7th, 2010

February 2011Recruitment SpecialOur annual look at the jobs market includes: Advice for CVs,portfolios and interviews; per-discipline guidance on getting apromotion; the education sector; our salary survey; 30 Under30 – the rising stars of games development; and much more.

Regional Focus: CambridgeA look at current developments and new stories from thehistoric University Town.

Events:Casual Connect – February 8th to 10th, 2011DICE – February 9th to 11th, 2011

March 2011QA & LocalisationThe final phase of a game’s production can be its most crucialstep to global success – we talk to leading experts in testing,compliance and translation.

Regional Focus: West Coast USA From Seattle to San Diego via Los Angeles and San Francisco,we examine Western game development’s heartland.

Events:GDC – February 28th to March 4th, 2011Game Connection – March 1st to 3rd, 2011

April 2011Mocap & Facial Animation Every facet of character animation examined, from limbanimation to lip-synching.

Regional Focus: Oxford We examine the studios and technology companies in this keyUK cluster.

May 2011With Develop 100 InsertionAudioA fresh look at the music and audio for the games sector,including in-house teams through to outsourcers.

Regional Focus: ScotlandStudios from start-ups to commercial powerhouses profiled.

June 2011MiddlewareTrends and new releases in third party tech, tools and engines.

Regional Focus: Nordic We look at games development across Scandinavia (Norway,Sweden, Denmark), Iceland and Finland

Event:E3 – June 7th to 9th, 2011

Wrong NumbersThis month: Minecraft vs Apple

In 2004, Steve Jobs was worth $2.4billion. Back then we can only guesswhat Persson was worth – the sumcash value of all the average humanmale body parts to medicine is$300,000. In November 2010, withJobs worth $6.1billion, Persson isbanking $350,000 a day throughMinecraft sales. At that rate, by2024, Persson will be the new Jobs.It’s maths, so it must be a fact*.

DEVELOP-ONLINE.NET

*Disclaimer: Develop realises that none of these statistics are based on reasonable maths

EDITORIAL enquiries should go through [email protected], or call him on 01992 535646

To discuss ADVERTISING [email protected], or call her on 01992 535647

F O R W A R D P L A N N E R

GamificationGam.if.ic.a.tion // adj

DEVIPEDIA

The Amiga CD32, 3DOand Mega CD all launch.It’s the year for consolehardware format flops.

The original Pentiummicroprocessor hitsdesktops when the P5ships, and one of themost unlikely householdnames is established.

Take-Two Interactive isformed. It would go on topublish the GTA, Manhunt,Midnight Club and SeriousSam series, the 2K Sportstitles and BioShock.

$100bn

$10bn

$1bn

$10m

$1m

02000 2010 2020 2030

2003$300K

2010$9m

2024$80.1bn

2004$2.4bn

2010$6.1bn

2024$69.31bn

Dissecting the hyperbole of games development

What ‘they’ think it means:A ‘revolution in interactive design’.The act of taking the mechanics ofvideo games and applying them tonon-gaming consumer applicationsso as to take advantage of the‘psychological predisposition toengage in gaming’. The approach is a‘modality of computational problem-solving’ that ‘demonstrates the powerand potential of game design’. Pricks.

What it really means:Next to nothing. While gamificationin its fundamental form is a reasonableand worthy approach to interactivedesign, more often than not it’s usedby financial service website designerstrying to sound edgy, studios short onideas good enough to be games intheir own right and ill-informed agencyPR execs who think it means turningfilm IP into a holiday season game.

CODA

90 | NOVEMBER 2010

Above: Ray Muzyka(left) and Greg Zeschuk(right) set up BioWareback in 1995

What do you do?Ray Muzyka: I’m co-founder of Bioware withGreg, and I’m general manager of theBioware group. I work with great teamseveryday, and really it’s to help bring worldsto life. It’s a great job.Greg Zeschuk: And I’m the creative officer.It’s fun too. A big part of my job is working onthe products. While I don’t make them myselfI’m very involved, and I always give feedbackand help our teams.

What are you working on right now?Muzyka: We have four studios in our group.They’re all doing different things, working ondifferent projects, but as part of our groupvision, which is about making the mostemotionally engaging gaming experiences inthe world. It’s a pretty bold vision, so we tryto pursue it in many different ways.Zeschuk: There’s a lot of diversity across thegroup, and there’s 800 of us at work here.Everyday is a new adventure for us.

What was the first game you worked on inthe industry?Zeschuk: The first game for me was workingon Shattered Steel. In fact we both worked onit. Together we wrote all of that.Muzyka: Yeah. We did it all; the programming,writing, everything. But I’m not sure how muchof mine ended up being in the final game.Zeschuk: Didn’t we write lots of the missiondescriptions? We had written some incrediblylong-winded stuff, like five-minute levelintroductions. I mean, what the fuck were we

thinking? We even did about 90 per cent ofthe animation. We did a lot of the designwork. Really, I’m not sure how much of what Idid worked [laughs].Muzyka: We were at work on Baldur’s Gate atthat time too. I was more focused on that.

What was the first game you ever played?Muzyka: Scott Adams’ Pirate Cove was agame on cassette tape, maybe in 1980, onthe Apple II plus. It took three minutes toload, and you had to do it three times. Iremember my science teacher introduced meto it, and that was the moment. I was smittenwith video games for the rest of my life. Afterthat I spent all day in the computer lablearning to program from that point on.Zeschuk: Mine was the home Pong system,literally in the mid-70s. I’d have to travel fivehours to my cousin’s house to play, and as akid I always wanted to make that journey.Muzyka: Actually, I might have played aColeco electronic game before Pirate Cove.

What was the last game you played? Didyou enjoy it?Muzyka: I played Borderlands a few days agofor a few hours. I really like that game. I’vebeen playing Battlefield: Bad Company too,because I recently got my copy.Zeschuk: I played Army of Two: The 40th Daymost recently.

What is your favourite game ever, and forwhat reason?Zeschuk: I really like Wasteland, which was aprecursor to the Fallout stuff. It was one of thefirst open-world RPGs, and one of the first ofthat type, so I was just blown away by that. Ithink it was the game that opened my eyes towhat you would eventually be able to do. Itlet me see the possibilities.Muzyka: Mine was probably the originalSystem Shock. It was awesome. I think Ifinished that game four times in ten years. Iloved the way it was the first true 3Dadventure. The shooter mechanic in 3Dmeant it was very hard to control in a way,but the richness of the world was amazing.Our IT guys hate us for it, but we use a fanwebsite with patches to make sure SystemShock will work on our current gen laptops.

What disappoints you about the gamesindustry today?Muzyka: There’s too many games releasedtoday. It interesting, because it’s very, verybusy, it makes it very hard as a player to keepup. The releases clump up – even though thatis changing a little bit.

For us, we have to play our games, playcompetitor’s games, play other relevantgames, and play the handful of games we justreally want to play more of and finish. I tryand play two-or three hours a night, butthat’s hard and it’s not enough.

What do you enjoy about the industry?Muzyka: All the great games.Zeschuk: And it’s the people. There’s all thegreat teams, and the quality across the board.There are so many good games to play, andso many people doing so many differentthings. There’s not really too much repetition;there’s just a lot of really good experiences.It’s amazing.

There’s too manygames released

today. Because it’s very,very busy, it makes it veryhard as a player tokeep up.

Ray Muzyka, BioWare

THE FAQ PAGE: Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk

Tel: 01992 535646 Fax: 01992 535648 Web:www.develop-online.net

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Develop - Issue 111 - November 2010

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