Fuzzy Flyer Game released

Fuzzy Flyer is a new 2D physics based arcade/puzzle game released by Dublin based indie developer Cian Kearney, with assistance from Cian McNabola (Artist) and G. Owens, Black Bag Music. Some of you might remember seeing an early build of this at a dubLUDO event earlier in the year.

In the game you must help guide Spike, a young Fuzzy Flyer who was cruelly taken from his home, and has to make his way through levels filled with danger. You can help Spike progress through these levels and hopefully find his way home.

The game contains 105 unique levels. Each level is made up of different types of walls ranging from moss and ice to bouncy walls each with its own different properties and uses. Levels also contain spikes, saws, water and chances for Spike to use his grappling hook.

Features

 105 unique levels

 Power-ups to help if you get stuck – Invincibility, Replay last move, Speed Boost

 Create your own levels with the in game level designer

 Submit levels for chance to be featured in future updates

Fuzzy Flyer is available FREE on the Apple App Store and Google Play Android Market.

The app was not found in the store. :-(

Go to store Google websearch

Download QR-Code

Fuzzy Flyer

Developer: Cian Kearney

Price: Free⁺

For more information see website or contact Cian using any of the details below:

Email: info@fuzzyflyer.com

Twitter: @FuzzyFlyerGame

Facebook: FuzzyFlyerGame

New B.Sc in Game Art & Design

It is that time of year when prospective students and parents are researching potential college courses for an application deadline in January.

We will be posting up more information on the site in the next few weeks for these readers.For now, Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) and the Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD) have been in touch to tell us about their new Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree in Game Art and Design. Below is information from their press release.This programme will run on the LIT Clonmel campus where it will compliment their current suite of digital programmes including Digital Animation Production and Creative multimedia.

The programme has been created to address the need for creative graduates who possess a unique blend of artistic and technological skills. This will support the continued growth and success of the games industry both nationally and internationally. The programme aims to develop graduates who can create high quality game content, design game levels and work with industry leading content creation tools, scripting languages and games engines.

World renowned Game Designer Brenda Romero, who recently visited LIT Clonmel for two days as part of a Fulbright Fellowship to Ireland, assisted in the design of this new programme (see image below). “A unique aspect of this Bachelor of Science programme from a national perspective is that all applicants must present a portfolio of relevant work. This will ensure that entrants to the programme have an aptitude and interest in the field of Game Art and Design”.

The new programme was approved in October and they are currently in the process of promoting the course which will see its first intake of students in September 2015.

More information on the course can be found online.

If you have any questions about the course please contact andrew.crotty@lit.ie

ShipAntics Chpt 1 now free to download

Studio Powwow

To celebrate the release of Chapter 2, creators Studio POWWOW have made Chapter 1 available for FREE worldwide n the App store now, with Chapter 2 available as a simple in-app purchase. Chapter 1 ‘ShipAntics – The Legend of the Kiki Beast’ was originally released in the summer of 2014.

Studio POWWOW was founded on the principle that young audiences’ viewing habits and behaviours have changed as the internet, mobile and tablet devices become an ever increasing part of the way people consume entertainment.

POWWOW creates entertainment brands with engaging stories and characters on multiple media platforms by bringing their experience of award-winning TV-quality animation, design and storytelling to interactive content and games.

Studio POWWOW are based in Dublin.

ShipAntics is published in association with Storytoys Entertainment Ltd., also based in Dublin.

Contact them at hello@studiopowwow.com

Squeazy: The Game released

Squeazy: The Game has just been released by a group of Irish teenagers from ManorHamilton in Co. Leitrim.

If you have heard the name before that might be because you heard about them after they won the Senior Category of the National Student Enterprise Awards and they were on various national media outlets with their game based around a science demonstration called the ‘Cartesian Diver’ which was affectionately known as the Squeazy.

Now the three, Matthew, Luke and Fergus, have made an app based on their original game and it can be downloaded for FREE on iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone and Amazon Devices.

We were a bit intrigued by the group so I sent them down a few Qs. Here are their answers.

Q: What year are you in secondary school?
A: All members of Squeazy are in leaving cert in St. Clare’s Comprehensive in Manorhamilton.

Q: What are you all hoping to do after secondary school?
A: Mathew is looking at going into marketing, Luke teaching and Fergus is interested in science.

Q Who developed the App?
A: The app was developed by a 15 year old talented app developer called Jonathan White. He runs a business called Sillan Studios and he did all the technical development of the app, whereas the other three came up with the ideas and marketing for the app.

Q:How long did the project take?
A: Development began in August 2014 and it was released on the 2nd of December.

Q: Are you still promoting and selling the physical squeazies?
A: We sell Squeazys, the toy, in Cogs the Brainshop in St. Stephens Green and also online via PayPal. Once we finish our leaving cert we plan to engage with the larger national retailers.

Q: Where are they made?
A: All their Squeazys are handmade in our local headquarters (Mathew’s garage) and are made to comply with European Safety Standards.

Take a look at their launch trailer.

It was developed using the Unity3D game engine and the students would really appreciate the game development community in Ireland to support them and download the game.

Contact them at info@squeazy.eu

Jolly Gamecraft

Last weekend saw the Jolly Gamecraft take place in Microsoft Ireland, Sandyford Industrial Estate in Dublin.

Gamecraft is a games jam event designed around building the gaming community. They allow game-makers to meet, share ideas, have fun, compete for prizes and most importantly make games! Usually they take place at weekends and are a great way to learn and improve your game making skills.

About 100 people turned up to take part in the Jolly Dec. event and they were treated to tutorials, pretty nice cookies and some nifty prizes. Of course they had to work for it. The Wrath of Kitty was the theme of the day and they had just one day to work on their game idea.

Fungus also got an outing – which explains the strange hats that some of the participants were wearing.

Don’t know what that is? It is an extension to Unity3D to help folks make story based games. It’s a great tool for learning the basics of programming and also for creating professional quality story games. Fungus is a free open source library and is fully compatible with the free version of Unity 3D. Check it out.

Well done to all the organisers. That was the 8th gamecraft of 2014.

Gd.ie popped in to snap a few photos.

Fungus table

Need Liquid in your game? Asset for Unity3D released.

Physical Liquid Software, based out in the Nova UCD Innovation park, is a game and app development company primarily focusing on android and ios devices. They are currently working on “Advergaming” projects but as part of this work they have just released an asset for the Unity3D game engine called ‘Liquid Physics 2D’ (LP2D).

Liquid Physics 2D is, as the name suggests, a 2D physics engine plugin for Unity. It is based on a version of Box2D and LiquidFun (an extension of Box2D).

It’s an easy to use tool that allows you to create advanced physics based games and simulations within the unity engine. It can simulate tens of thousands of particles in real time to create realistic fluid effects.

It can even simulate 1000’s of particles in real-time on modern mobile devices (ios and android).

Check out the android testbed app.

The asset is in continued development and is fully supported. There is a dedicated support forum for more information and asset support.

See also a recent article in the Examiner.

Check out the trailer below.

If you are interested in doing a review of the asset (and sharing it with us) drop us an email (info@gamedevelopers.ie) or PM us via twitter.

Games Fleadh, 2015.

We have just received advance notice of the date and theme for Games Fleadh 2015, Wed., March 11th!

Games Fleadh 2015 will consist of the Game Studio Endless Runner competition, Direct X Endless Runner challenge and Robocode as well as Games Pro talks by Industry veterans (including a video link to Brenda Romero for a key note talk).

The winners and runners up of the Game Studio competition will have the opportunity to present their entries to the Romero’s and the UC Santa Cruz green light committee for feedback and suggestions.

This year the event is in association with Microsoft and other partners.

More info soon but mark March 11th in your diaries.

Also keep on eye on their website.

On Now – Fused – a live adventure game

Those of you who were at the recent Prototype Play festival in the Project Theatre in Dublin will have had a chance to playtest this new game/theatre event created by Dan Bergin, who also works for SixMinute, an independent game design studio in Dublin.

FUSED is an immersive work of fiction, a live-video-game-experience channeled through theatre.

It opened on Dec 1st (8.15pm) in the Project Arts Centre and run till Dec 13th.

The show aims to bring back the excitement of playing classic point-and-click graphic adventure games like The Secret of Monkey Island series, Broken Sword, Grim Fandango or Telltale’s Walking Dead – games that have marked the youth of today’s 30-year-olds. The game is targeted at students, young professionals and people fascinated in new technologies or who are nostalgic for their first encounters with the digital world. Its ambition is to give the audience agency in developing the story.

It’s also an interesting example of a collaboration between a vibrant, thriving Dublin game scene and theatre scene. In this project, the creator of FUSED, Dan Bergin, and graphic designer Robert Semple, harness the experience they’ve gained through the years with SixMinute.

Tickets: Box Office, Monday – Saturday, 11am – 7pm

Tel: +353 1 8819 613 or box-office@projectartscentre.ie

http://projectartscentre.ie/event/fused-2/

Tickets €15.00/12.00

Redesign Update

The current iteration of the GameDevelopers.ie is a work in progress.

Since August we have completed our change in infrastructure, and are running nicely on our new server. We have ported over a lot of content and set up our twitter account.

The to do list is still quite long however. We still have an extensive archive of content to tag and bring back online. There are design and CSS issues still outstanding. We are also aware that we need to make the site more mobile friendly, and this is going to be part of phase 2.

In order to see what else our members feel that our community needs, we have been reviewing our survey results and we would like to report them here to you.

Over the summer and early Autumn we conducted a user survey. 40 people responded (thanks everyone who participated), of which 88% were male. Respondents were aged from 35 years and below.

Over half were in the games industry, while another quarter were in the ‘other category’, possibly working in other industries.

Many had been members of gd.ie for 11 years but equally some had only become users in the past one or two years. The image below shows an early design from 2003.

For respondents the home page, forums, news, features, events and jobs were the most regularly visited pages.

Company information and college information was only occasionally visited and personal profiles even less.

When it comes to contributing and getting involved people had posted on the forums and attended shindigs but there was less involvement in submitting content bar the odd job or event. Hopefully we have made it much easier to submit content with the new site, and a number of you have done so.

When asked about new features, or new channels we might start using, the most popular was twitter using a specific hashtag (now set up…@gamedev_ie).

This was followed by a Youtube Channel, an email summary mailout and finally a Facebook newsfeed. The last three are in development and will be launched as more volunteers get involved.

Other notable suggestions include (our answers included):

A section for newbies to share information on tech, tools – The new forums have this, and we take submissions!
Change the new font! – We can and as we tweak the design this may change again:)
A useful calendar with exports to Google Calendar – now available
Better UI. – We’re half way there
Make work more like a news site – we’ll publish what people send us
It should work seamlessly cross-platform on mobiles / tablets – planned in phase 2
Regular reporting of calls for submissions as part of a site digest e-mail (i.e. the following events/expos/talks are now open for submissions etc.) – Our #IrishGameDev newsletter is opening soon
Interviews and conversations with Irish industry support groups – enterprise Ireland, EU funding bodies etc. We need more people to get involved to help us to do these – they might make great college or side projects…
Highlight new faces, up and coming talent. – We are trying to do this now through our news section
Shout about new games – We are doing this through our showcase of Irish made games

Just over 40% of respondents offered to help out – and we will be in touch when we get the technical side of things settled.

We are still seeking volunteers, and we can’t get the site being what the community wants without everyone chipping in, whether it’s submitting news and updates, information about your games or feature length articles.

We could also do with a little finance every now and then too – thanks to Demonware for supporting our work for the past few years!

Thanks everyone for the feedback and the patience.

Project Funding – MEDIA programme

The European funded MEDIA sub-programme provide supporst for the following measures: the development of European audiovisual works in particular films and television works such as fiction, documentaries, children’s and animated films, as well as interactive works such as videogames and multimedia with enhanced cross-border circulation potential.

A new Call has been published for Single Project Development with deadlines of the 15th January & 16th April 2015.

See further information at this link.

Please contact Eibhlín Ní Mhunghaile, at the Creative Europe Desk in Galway, if you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss a potential application.

Creative Europe Desk, Cluain Mhuire, Monivea Road, Galway, Ireland.

T: +353 91 770728 F: +353 91 770746 E: eibhlin@creativeeuropeireland.eu W:http://www.creativeeuropeireland.eu

EyeSodic Games Wins Best Digital Game

At the recent Eircom Spider Awards EyeSodic Games won the best digital game against formidable competition. The competition was looking for ‘entries from game developers who have created an online game that is well designed, (original artwork, environmental design to be well considered, character motion to be well produced, general playability of the game must be good, user friendly controls etc.) innovative, intuitive to play, operational on multiple platforms/devices/operating systems and engaging for the user.’

Their winning game, Life after Us: Fading Light is a series of short horror games based in a universe inspired by the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft.

Fading Light, the third in a series sees you play a man who wanders away from a tour group in a cave only to fall into the depths of a long forgotten part of the caverns which are home to more than just the darkness.

The game is free but they are accepting donations – so give them what you think is fair!

You can also download it from GameJolt.

Founded in 2008, Eyesodic Games are based in Kilkenny.

Pic left to right: Jennifer Maguire (Presenter), Dan Kenny (Eyesodic Games), Don Farrell (Managing Director, Circulator, sponsor of the games award) and Bernard O’Shea, (Presenter).

Be an #Irish Game Dev interviewee?

In 2013 Geoff Newman (aka krudd) of EndLife Studios produced a number of podcasts interviewing people in #Irishgamedev including Jamie McCormick from gd.ie, Diarmuid Murphy from Microsoft, a Dare to be Digital Special with James Sadlier and Alan Boyce from NeverMind Games and Andrea Magnorsky from BatCat Games. He has a nice history of his podcasting online.

Now he is also working on video documentaries including one we recently highlighted on gamejams.

Unfortunately Geoff is no longer living in Ireland having moved across the water to the UK for an employment opportunity.

But this Christmas he will be home for two weeks and he is looking to interview companies based in Ireland who have developed games this past year. If you are interested, drop him a line

twitter: @john_geoffrey
web: johngeoffrey.com

New Game – NinjaGo released

9th Impact, a company based in Galway, has released a game on Google Play.

NinjaGo Endless Runner is a fast paced ninja adventure as you jump, slash and somersault through various terrains. It tests your ninja jumping skills as you soar from branch to branch through the trees of Kuroi Jukai and your battle skills as you use Shuriken (throwing stars) or your Katana (Samurai sword) to fight the giant killer hornets of Yamanakako.

Although the continuous motion and leaderboards based on distance achieved, put this firmly in the endless runner category, there are several unique elements to the game.

Firstly, the controls are “gamer thumbs” layout rather than “swipe” motion which make this infinitely more playable in landscape mode on phones. The jump button has 3 states – press to jump, press and hold to leap and press while in the air to somersault.

It’s one of those games that you will find yourself coming back to again and again, despite the fact that you’ve higher budget apps downloaded – proving that independent games studios can compete with the dominant players by designing engaging games.

There is clearly a lot of attention paid to the small stuff throughout, with even the marketplace and level select screens beautifully rendered. The soundtrack is composed and recorded by Keita Takahashi – the only member of the team not based in Ireland.

Download NinjaGo

Features

Beautiful 9th Impact graphics.
Original soundtrack by Keita Takanashi.
Run, leap, slash and somersault your way through treacherous terrain.
Battle the killer wasps of Yamanakako and many more enemies.
Use weapons including Shiruken (throwing stars) and Katana (samuri sword)
Access special powers from the Temple of the Dragon

Levels

Jungles of Kuroi Jukai (Black Sea of Trees)
The Ruins of Yamanakako
The Neverending Mountain …and more to come.

Record your high score on the leaderboards for each level.

Well done all.

IGDA Scholarships for GDC 2015 – call open

The IGDA Scholarship Program is a13 year old program that kick-starts careers of the best and brightest students entering the games industry. This program awards scholarships to select individuals who apply. Here’s the full list of what award winners receive:

Conference Passes: All access passes to GDC, GDCE, Gamescom, E3, TGS, and CEDEC

Mentorship: A veteran, industry mentor is assigned to scholarship recipients based on the field of their study. This mentor meets with them during the conference, helps them network, and maintains a relationship with the student throughout his or her career.

Studio tours: This year students toured DoubleFine, 3 Rings, DICE LA, Insomniac Games, and Gree.

Booth Tours: This is usually specific to E3 and Gamescom. As part of this students get to play games and meet with developers there. This year students sat down one on one with designers from Ubisoft, attended a Destiny after hours event, met with Disney, sat down with Oculus after hours and more.

Q&A Sessions: We invite them to speak to veterans in private sessions. A few of the ones from this year included Brian Fargo (Fallout, Wasteland, Wasteland 2), Don Daglow (Intellivision, Utopia, Neverwinter Nights), John Romero (Doom,Ravenwood Fair, Red Faction), and Jenova Chen (ThatGameCompany, Journey,Flow, Flower).

Applications for GDC 2015 are due the 2^nd of December! Visit: http://scholars.igda.org/how-to-apply/ to apply.

For general information visit scholars.igda.org!

And follow us on Twitter @IGDA_scholars for updates.

Early Bird Deadline extended – Irish VFX & Animation Summit

Screen Training Ireland, Animation Skillnet and Enterprise Ireland are supporting the second Irish VFX and Animation Summit, taking place in the Science Gallery on Saturday 29^th and Sunday 30^thNovember.

This event is open to students, graduates, educators and professionals working across VFX, animation and games, and will include presentations, panel discussions, demonstrations, screenings and Q&As. In addition, the local animation and VFX community will be part of the Summit, offering advice and expertise to attendees through showreel clinics and informal networking sessions.

Early bird tickets for the summit can be purchased until Saturday 8^th November. Discounted group rates for students are available.

The line-up so far includes:

KYLE McCULLOCH VFX Supervisor, Guardians of the Galaxy

EAMONN BUTLER Animation Director, Cinesite

JAMES COOPER VFX Supervisor, Penny Dreadful

DARREN O’KELLY Managing Director, The Mill

MARK HILLS Head of Systems Development, Framestore

GAVIN GRAHAM Co-Head of 3D, Double Negative – Interstellar

LAURIE BRUGGER Head of Rigging, Framestore – Paddington

PAUL YOUNG CEO, Cartoon Saloon – Song of the Sea

More speakers to be announced in the coming days.

For further info, go to http://vfxsummit.com/

For all queries, contact info@vfxsummit.com.

T.E.R.R.A. – A Massive FPS Game now on Kickstarter

Coming to PC, Mac OS and Linux in April, Irish developer Starcave Entertainment (Galway) has taken to kickstarter to increase funding for its latest project, a hybrid FPS/ RTS called T.E.R.R.A. This link will take you to the Kickstarter Page.

Also greenlit by the Steam Greenlight program, T.E.R.R.A. supports instant swapping between FPS & RTS.

T.E.R.R.A. is an FPS (First Person Shooter) competitive team-based game set in the near future of the year 2099 against the background of the Solar System. Terraforming is the key to Humanity’s survival after an deadly World War 3 decades previously and the focus of changing the Galilean moons of Jupiter to habitable zones.

This is Not a Game Challenge

November the 15th will see the launch event in Cork for the ‘This Is Not A Game Ocean Challenge’ (www.thisisnotagame.org).

‘This Is Not A Game’ allows 10 to 18 year old students to partake in the creation of video games that have far reaching results – games that have real impact on other fellow students and society. The jam kicks off with a day of keynotes, speakers from the games industry, workshops to get you started and brainstorming space for your new team.

The theme of your game this year will be about oceans, and how we can achieve sustained benefit from this valuable resource. After the launch date, you and your team can use Coder Dojos and mentors from the games industry to keep your game development going smoothly. Your games will be reviewed by a panel of experts and industry professionals and the best games will be displayed at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in January.

The best games will be displayed at the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition in Dublin during January.

See the video below for information on last year’s event.

Launch events are taking part around the country and it will come to UCC in Cork on the 15th of November, 11-2.30, in UCC’s Insight Centre.

Each event sees an industry speaker give a broad overview of the game industry and talk about some of the most successful games and what elements makes them so popular.

Launch events have already taken place in Dublin, Belfast, Derry, and Limerick and have included speakers like John and Brenda Romero (see pic below).

This event is run by the US Embassy in association with Coder Dojo and Irish educational partners.

For more information see the website www.thisisnotagame.org

Owen Harris Talks about Deep

The Guardian were at GameCity 2014 last week in Nottingham and they conducted a short interview with Owen Harris (bitSmith Games) about this new project, Deep.

Enjoy!

Rocket Rainbow & Team 17 release Hay Ewe on iOS

Another big day for #IrishGameDev, as ex-Popcap Rocket Rainbow Studios, based in Galway, have gotten their game, Hay Ewe, published via Team 17 indie publishing program (yes, those of Worms fame). You can pick up the game over at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hay-ewe/id895730729?ls=1&mt=8 and show your support for this great looking game.

Press release is below!

PRESS RELEASE

Hay Ewe out now for iOS!

16^th October 2014, UK – Independent publisher Team17 and indie dev Rocket Rainbow are excited to announce that Hay Ewe is now available to download for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch via the App Store.

Hay Ewe is a ewe-nique puzzle game developed by Rocket Rainbow, an independent games studio founded by experienced game developers who grew up in the mobile space. Rocket Rainbow staff include ex-PopCap Games team members, who have been credited with Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies and the 2012 BAFTA award winning Peggle, all games that defined smartphones as a gaming platform.

Centring on the adventures of Matilda the sheep, Hay Ewe is an endearing and unorthodox, fast-paced puzzle game set in a world full of characters and colour. Matilda is a natural born leader with the unfortunate task of rounding up the ever-mischievous lambs. Navigate challenging puzzles and avoid treacherous obstacles with your chain of lambs to deliver them to safety.

This amazing game features:

Conquer 60 fun puzzles across Adventure mode
Create your own levels and share them with friends
Challenge yourself through multiple mini-games
Collect unique items to help give you a boost on your journey
Explore an enchanting world full of characters and colour
Compete with friends on the leaderboards and beat their own puzzles!

Hay Ewe is now available to download for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch via the App Store for just £2.99, $4.99/4,49 €.

Review codes are available upon request.

Assets are available to download from:http://download.team17.com/public/HayEwe_PressPack.zip

To keep up to date with all the information on Hay Ewe please like us on Facebookand follow us on Twitter.

For more information, please contact
Bethany Aston at Team17
Email: bethany.aston@team17.com

About Hay Ewe
Hay Ewe. Developed by Rocket Rainbow Studios. © 2014. Published by Team17. Team17 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Team17 Digital Limited. All other trademarks, copyrights and logos are property of their respective owners.

About Team17 Digital Ltd
Founded in 1990, Team17 Digital Limited is a leading independent developer and digital publisher headquartered in West Yorkshire (UK). Team17 publishes games for PC, console, mobile and handheld devices and other digital platforms. Visit www.team17.com for more info.

About Rocket Rainbow Studios
Founded in 2012 Rocket Rainbow is an indie developer based in Galway. Rocket Rainbow develops games for mobiles. Visit http://www.rocketrainbow.net for more info.

The Bridge 2014 review

The Bridge programme was set up to run short training courses to address or ‘Bridge’ the skills gap evident in the Games, Animation and VFX sectors between what education currently provides and emerging trends in the corresponding industry demands. As part of the programme, participants get to work in-house on live professional projects including short films, TV pilots, trailers for pitches and video games. They receive expert knowledge from industry leaders and focused mentoring from Dublin BIC.

Since ‘The Bridge’ started last year, the programme has delivered 22 industry ready specialists with on-the-job experience and an understanding of the specific requirements of the animation, gaming and VFX industries. Results from ‘The Bridge’ 2013 have been very positive with one company formed by participants and 75% of students remaining active in the industry – whether through direct employment or continuing education.

The initiative was first conceived by Dublin BIC board member and former CEO of Havok, David O’Meara, in response to a skills shortage in the animation industry – with 44% of companies citing recruitment and staffing as their main business concern. Demand for talent is now outweighing the supply, with many companies having to hire specialists outside of Ireland to support their work.

‘The Bridge’ programme is a collaboration between Animation Skillnet, the Guinness Enterprise Centre, Dublin Business Innovation Centre (Dublin BIC) and creative industry players such as Treehouse Republic, Windmill Lane and Piranha Bar. It is funded and supported by Animation Skillnet, Dublin BIC, Screen Training Ireland and the Irish Film Board.

Below is a short video from the Dublin BIC/Animation Skillnet closing presentation by participants on ‘The Bridge 2014′ programme 2nd October 2014 in the Guinness Enterprise Centre. You will see a few familiar faces.

We will let you know here on gd.ie about future courses and the next recruitment for the Bridge.

GameJam Trailer by Endlife Studios

His new project is creating a video documentary on gamejams. Wondering what a gamejam is?

When we asked him about his new project he said:

‘With the the film I’m really just trying to capture the fun, joy, and sometimes stress of partaking in a game jam. It’s such an extremely shortened game dev cycle that it can be more changeable than a typical day in Ireland. I have been part of so many game jams and never really had a game I felt I could show off but it still was fun and enjoyable time. You go in with ideas and in the end you come out with something. I am still filming future game jams such as London GameCraft and Global Game Jam but also looking for people that made a game at a jam and went on to really flesh out the idea to build a commercial game.’

See the trailer below.

Get in touch with him –
twitter: @john_geoffrey
web: johngeoffrey.com

Check out our calendar for more gamejams and gamecraft it events.

Cross media focus group, 23rd Oct.

Sponge It has received some great input to date for their research into the digital content sector in Ireland.

They are organising a discussion evening on the Digital Content Sector in Ireland in Dublin 4, this week, on Thursday the 23rd of this month at 7pm and a few places remain.

They are bringing together CEOs, MDs and directors from some of the key players in digital across multiple sectors including; Film/Television, Animation, Games, Music and Digital Media.

Discussion will center on the current state of the industry and where thought leaders see the future going.

This event will be quite informal and food and drinks will be provided.

There will be a gift for each attendee to show their appreciation.

Attendance is by invitation only but if you are interested in attending this event, please e-mail conor.crean@gmail.com with your name, company, current position and contact details.

Rovio VP Games to speak at Animation Skillnet & Creative Europe event

“It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman” The erosion of the lines between books, apps, games and tv shows.

The lines between conventional media sectors have eroded
and the definition of a book, a game and a TV show are
no longer clear and dry. There are many different ways to
develop your story and get it out to an audience globally.

Creative Europe Media Desk Ireland in association with
Animation Skillnet, have brought together four guest
speakers, each of them international experts in their fields,
to present their take on what is happening now in this
challenging and exciting space and where things might go
in the future.

The line up includes Miika Tams VP Games at Rovio Entertainment Ltd.

Registration

This invitation is brought to you by Creative
Europe Media Desk in association with Animation Skillnet.

Please register for the event here:

See this link for more.

Tickets on Sale for Dublin Game Music Festival

We have had Games Live music events before in the city and this week tickets went on sale for the Dublin International Game Music Festival, 2-4th April, 2015.

This is a Three Day Celebration of Video Game Music Including:

Video Games Live Concert: April 4th 8:00pm
A “Red Carpet” costume contest
Multiple Round Table Composer Discussions and Lectures
A “Video Game Music Technology” Demonstration
A Vocal Contest to Appear in the Video Games Live Show
A Guitar Hero Contest
A One-of-a-Kind “Cosball”
A Traditional Irish Pub Night – With a VG Music Twist
“Club Night” Featuring New “Dance Remixes” of your Favorite VG Themes
An Expo of Irish Game Development Educational and The Irish Video Game Industry
The debut performance of Eimear Noone’s own arrangement of Themes from “The Legend of Zelda” franchise – performed as never seen before
And many more to be announced.

Headlining April 4th, 2015 Tommy Tallarico featuring the National Irish Youth Orchestra with special guests: Jason Hayes (World of WarCraft Legend), Austin Wintory (Journey and The Banner Saga), Russell Brower (World of WarCraft & Blizzard Legend), Neal Acree (StarCraft and World of WarCraft Legend) and Eimear Noone (Principal Conductor).

For more and for tickets

ONE TICKET: THREE DAYS OF EVENTS

Tier 1 €155 (€135 for the first 500)

Best Seats for Video Games Live
Priority access to all events and after parties (Go to the front of the line)
Priority access to meet and greets (Go to the front of the line)
Priority access to the CosBall (Go to the front of the line)
Two Video Games Live Downloads (Even after the first 500)

Tier 2 €125 (€105 for the first 500)

Best Seats for Video Games Live
Priority access to “After Parties” (Go to the front of the line)
General admission to all other events
General admission to “Meet and Greets”
General admission to the “CosBall”
Two Video Games Live Downloads (Even after the first 500)

Tier 3 €105 (€85 for the first 500)

General Admission, House Seats for Video Games Live
General admission to all events
General admission to “Meet and Greets”
General admission to the “CosBall”
Two Video Games Live Downloads (For the first 500)

Tier 4 €85 (€65 for the first 500)

General Admission, Back of House/ Balcony Seats for Video Games Live
General admission to all events
General admission to “Meet and Greets”
General admission to the “CosBall”
Two Video Games Live Downloads (For the first 500)

On Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/events/348521398656946/

For Video Games Live Ultimate Gamer V.I.P. Backstage Experience Package, Please Visit: http://wl.flavorus.com/event/VGL-VIP-Dublin-Ireland/270860?afflky=videogameslive

For other Video Games Live Events.

An Post issues video game icons stamp set

An Post announced the release of a brand new stamp set on the 16th of October, and Mario, Pac Man, Sonic and Space Invaders will be going around the world on snail mail letters.

You can buy the stamps (minimum purchase €5.00) at http://www.irishstamps.ie/shop/c-190-game-icons.aspx, from major post offices or if you’re around Dublin, the stamp shop from the GPO. and as they’re limited edition, use your opportunity to get them while they’re still around! Press release is below.

16/10/2014

Dublin 16/10/2014 Did you hear the one about the moustachioed superstar, the hedgehog, the yellow dot and the space invader? Well stand by, because this week An Post has issued a four-stamp set celebrating the great video game icons.

Nintendo’s Mario, SEGA’ s Sonic the Hedgehog, BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc’s PAC-MAN and Taito Corp’s Space Invaders will feature on the colourful four stamp set that looks likely to prove a huge hit with gamers of all ages. The set marks the iconic status of the games and the transition of gaming from novelty to global industry.

The stamps were designed by Zinc Design Consultants, the Dublin-based, award-winning graphic design studio. The stamps and a beautiful first day cover (FDC) are available from main post offices, at the stamp shop in Dublin’s GPO or online at www.irishstamps.ie.

The four constitute probably the most iconic images of popular culture since the 1970s and lie at the heart of a multibillion dollar global industry. Mario was created by Nintendo in 1981 and wears his distinctive red cap and blue overalls, beginning one of the biggest video game franchises of all time with Mario appearing in more than 100 video games to date with more than 307 million units sold worldwide. The distinctive blue Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared in 1991 and has been blazing a trail for SEGA ever since. Sonic lies at the heart of some 70 games and has grossed over €5 billion in sales. PAC-MAN first appeared in 1980 and saw players steering a yellow dot around levels of maze, eating Pac-Dots and fruit, and avoiding ghosts . Two years earlier in 1978 Space Invaders was born, originally manufactured and sold by Taito of Japan and one of the forerunners of modern video gaming.

In the early years, games were mostly aimed at children but very quickly became the stuff of everyday life for people of all ages and all walks of life. An Post’s new stamps will be eagerly sought by gamers past and present and by anyone with an interest in popular culture.

Highline Games – Unity Game Developer – iOS/Android (Remote Contract) [Filled]

Unity Game Developer – iOS/Android [Filled}
Type: Remote Contract Job
Highline Games – New York

Highline Games are a New York based mobile game developer best known for their hit iPad game W.E.L.D.E.R. Founded by two veterans of Rockstar New York who have worked on the Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club series, among others, they are seeking to recruit a talented Unity Game Developer from #IrishGameDev to work on an upcoming project due to commence in November.

This is a great opportunity for the right candidate to work on a commercial game, and level up their skills. We are looking for a self-starter and a problem solver who can manage their own workflow, be punctual for online meetings and calls, comfortable working remotely, quickly able to integrate with the existing team and co-ordinator (in New York) and delivering assigned tasks to defined schedules and deadlines.

They must also be able to document their code, and troubleshoot and be able to act on their feet to deal with issues that arise during development.

Job outline

We are seeking a Unity Game Developer who is a coder first and foremost. We prefer to work with people who love to code more than anything else. You will be working with an experienced developer who will work with you to architect the project, periodically review your code and provide guidance where necessary, but you will be responsible for building a solid working game.

Job responsibilities

Implement game functionality as per design document and specification
Give regular feedback to project lead as to implementation issues and possible improvements to game design
Create tools for level design and tweaking of mechanics
Provide good estimates about how long a given task will take and stick to them
Check code into GitHub daily for review
Communicate with other team members to establish pipeline and integrate media assets
Produce technical documentation
Address bugs and other technical issues identified for subsequent release
Be available to work directly with the New York (GMT -5 hours) team for at least 2 hours a day

Minimum Requirements:

Excellent knowledge of Unity C# and OOP
Experience with iOS and Android platforms, including IAP and Gamecenter implementation
Experience using the 2D features of Unity
At least 1 complete game built with Unity
At least 3 years games programming experience
A passion for games, particularly of the puzzle genre
Enthusiasm, professionalism, a high standard of work and ability to multitask
Ability to communicate with a remotely distributed team
Ability to deliver required tasks on time and not miss deadlines

Reporting: You will report to our lead developer in New York

Hours of work: This role is a full time (40 hours a week) remote job. The expected duration of the contract is between 3 and 5 months.

Renumeration: Based on experience, and negotiable with the successful candidate

How to apply: This position is now filled, and no further applications are being taken.

Interview process: Shortlisted candidates who are called to interview will need to be available for a Skype interview, and the successful candidate needs to available to start in the first or second week of November through to approximately February.

Please note: Direct applicants only. We do not accept applications referred by recruitment agencies for this role.

World Record Server Test

Abydos Entertainment is an independent game development/server tech studio. Our studio is based in Dublin at the GEC (Guinness Enterprise Centre).

Most independent developers want to create, either a world, character or mechanic that brings people together. The concepts from games span many other platforms and genres. And we love that, content breeds content, a win win situation.

But how is this relative to our goal at Abydos?

As I write this post there are hundreds if not millions of people playing online, we know that these worlds are now mostly always online.

We want to express our hope that this breakthrough in connectivity with our Nxtgen server tech will propagate new worlds. Imagine your favourite open world game, then put yourself in it with 9,999 others, all playing at the same time in the SAME SPACE, not broken up but all together interacting.

What can you do?

Team Abydos needs your help, we’ve worked on a first person shooter that tests our server tech. We need your help to push it to the limits, join in on our testing, help push technology forward for gaming and developers.

Abydos’s World Record Event will take place at the web summit in Dublin, Ireland, 4-6th of November, 2014.

Share it, play it and if you can, break it (with numbers).

Team Abydos.

Animation Skillnet courses

Animation Skillnet is an industry led training network for the animation, games and VFX sectors in Ireland.

They run subsidised, high-end training courses delivered by industry specialists and organise professional networking events and conferences for member company employees and freelancers.

The following courses may be of interest to gd.ie readers.

1) Introduction to Toonboom Harmony (10 Thursday Evenings)

2) Storyboarding with Storyboard Pro (5 Friday Evenings) –

Also, there are still some places left on these two courses:

3) Animation Business Fundamentals (5 Tuesday Evenings) –

4) 3D Animation Masterclass with renowned Animation Director Kyle Balda

The key contact person is Gareth Lee, Network Manager.

http://animationskillnet.ie/

https://twitter.com/AniSkillnet

https://www.facebook.com/animationskillnet

124 minutes of State of Play Goodness (DIT)

Hugh, Bryan and Brian from DIT have been rendering the video from the State of Play 2014 September Special that happened last month. They have kindly provided it now at this link, or you can enjoy it right here on gamedevelopers.ie tv :)

The talks were to a packed house, and Owen Harris from bitSmith Games was MC for the night. Chanel Summers started the evening with a fascinating talk about her experiences in audio across many areas of the media industry, and how it’s important to be involved from the outset of a games development project. This was followed by a talk by Brenda Romero, who discussed a wide range of areas from the world of video game developments, and her experience with making her board game Train. After the talks, a Q&A chaired by Owen between members of the audience went on and the speakers were joined by Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake legend John Romero.

Twitter has plenty of photos of the evening after, and it was a great, informative evening and well done to DIT School of Media for running it. We all look forward to State of Play 2014 in November! If you’ve comments from the night, remember to pop by the relaunched forums. Follow the organisers @seriousgamesirl, and we hope that John and Brenda have had a fantastic time touring Ireland, and see the best that #IrishGameDev has to offer :)

[17-19 Oct.] Prototype play and interaction festival

PROTOTYPE is a brand new festival in Dublin 17-19 October 2014 – “A weekend of Playful Design and Novel Interactions.” run by Make and Do in the Project Arts Centre Temple Bar, Dublin.

Talks, workshops, events and familiar faces.

Prototype is a brand new festival of play and interaction. This is your chance to experience the world from a new perspective with removable camera eyes, to jostle and joust to a Bach soundtrack whilst trying to disarm an opponent, to throw shapes as you figure out who got an invite to the silent disco, to duel with foam pool noodles, and play chase in the dark with flashlights.

A unique festival that incites new types of social interaction, involving technology and the city, Prototype is a series of performances, workshops, talks, and a Playground games that spill across the city, alongside an adult playground in the heart of Temple Bar.

Play is for life, not just for Christmas!

All Events can be booked through Project Arts Centre. Call Box Office: +353 1 8819 613 or visit www.projectartscentre.ie/

Fore more on the festival see their website for full details.

Complete a media industry survey and enter a draw to win €5,000 worth of research

spongeit, a small Cork based research company, are carrying out a piece of research into the digital content sector in Ireland and they are looking for our help here at gamedevelopers.ie to get in contact with game companies.

The research has been commissioned by Honeycomb creative works, which is a European Union INTERREG IV funded initiative. It is going to look at both those that produce digital content and those that buy digital content.

Digital does not recognise traditional geographic boundaries and neither does Honeycomb Creative Works. They are working hard between Northern Ireland and the Republic in an effort to develop a centre of excellence for all that is digital that spans across both regions. They want digital to become big and to achieve this they are working to help the little guy. When we say digital we mean games, animation, film and TV, music and interactive media.

This research will help Honeycomb to understand the needs of digital producers and also buyers of digital produce. With this information Honeycomb will be able to make more informed decisions about what help to provide in terms of technical training, business skills development, providing seed-funding or creating networks of collaboration, along with a host of other initiatives.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

We are looking for decision makers in existing digital companies to complete a really short survey where they can describe how their business fits into the digital this sector and what their needs might be. This information will paint the picture of what the digital sector looks like on our island.

The survey should take no longer than 7 minutes to complete.

If you are willing to help out the future of the digital content sector you can find the link to our survey on the first page of the research initiative’s website here; Please use reference JK007 when completing the survey at http://www.digitalresearchinstitute.eu/ so we know it’s from the community.

WHAT WE WILL DO

When our research is concluded and our findings reached we will be sharing a report with all those that completed the research. As well as that, gamedevelopers.ie will post an exclusive features which will present the headline findings of our study.

The companies that complete the research will also be in with a chance of winning a prize of €5,000 worth of quantitative market research. We will survey a nationally representative sample of consumers based in Northern Ireland and the Republic. You get to decide the questions to ask and we will find out the answers.

If you are a director or marketing manager in a company like this why don’t you join in our research project?

GameDevelopers.ie V3 Launches

Welcome to the relaunched website.

Over the past few months a team of volunteers from the games industry, academia and related areas have been working in their spare time to bring this day about.

We have had a makeover which has added a number of improvements, including audiovisual and social media capabilities. We are updating our educational courses section and we have ported over our features and other resources. We have also been looking at the survey and yes we have tried to improve the user interface experience and make it easier for people to submit content and to post on the forums.

Why do it?

We had a bit of soul searching as well. Should we do it? Is it needed?

We decided that this site provided a place to bring all the activities and information on the Irish games industry and game related activities into one place. We felt that while there are other spaces where people can communicate and meet but this site provides something different.

This site is open to all. Anyone can join and post on our forums and come to our events. We will post jobs and positions for small companies and projects based on the island of Ireland for free. It is not a closed group and we do not charge a membership fee.

We see this site as a hub in a dispersed network. It aims to keep people who are now abroad in touch with people at home. It provides a space for indies, freelancers, students and academics to share information and publicise their projects. We provide summary reports on relevant research and information on games that have been released. We commission people to do longer features on major developments.

Of course, as volunteers we can only do that if you, the users, provide us with the content. There is no team of journalists – if there is going to be content on the site we are all going to have to provide it.

So what now?

We have upgraded to WordPress and added a new forum. All existing users of our forums will receive a password reset email, as well as a newsletter. We are aware that lots of people have changed email addresses. If you are locked out, please click here to get account recovery assistance.

We now have a strong security setup, and some members have volunteered to run a security audit. The old site experienced a hack during the summer involving an SQL Mass Injection. The site was originally developed back in 2003 and with minor updates it was not strong enough to withstand current hackers. The new site means that we are up to date with the latest security protocols.

We want to showcase the local industry. So if you have news, images, and links to youtube videos, please send them through the Submit Stories section of the site.

This is still a work in progress. We are not finished. Help us out by filling in our short survey at http://jamiegdie.polldaddy.com/s/gamedevelopers-ie-2014-overhaul-survey

Finally, there is a huge amount of work still to be done to tag our database of 2000 articles. Several of you have flagged through the survey you’re interested in helping, and we’ll follow up with you shortly. If you are interested in giving a few hours to help, please contact aphra@gamedevelopers.ie

Thanks to all our volunteers who have helped with the site redesign and supported us for the past twelve years.

GameDevelopers.ie Site Statement 25th August 2014

Dear GameDevelopers.ie Users,

As you may have seen, on the 24th of July GameDevelopers.ie was down for several days. Following this several GameDevelopers.ie users begun to receive very targeted phishing emails trying to get login details for Bank of Ireland, including some sent to email accounts set up specifically for GameDevelopers.ie, and nothing else. We now believe that the site was hacked into (which broke the site) and potentially the entire database was compromised.

In line with current best practice we are taking down the current GameDevelopers.ie site with immediate effect. We only store usernames, skills profiles and the contents of private messages. Passwords were encrypted, and we have never stored any financial information.

However, if you used your username/email address and password associated with GameDevelopers.ie anywhere else we highly recommend that you change them.

Since April 2014 a team of volunteers has been working hard to redevelop the site and we are in the process of migrating the content and forums to brand new software. We had intended to launch the site in the next month or two and this is still our plan. Once we come back online with the new site you will receive an email and be asked to choose a new password.

If you can volunteer time to the GameDevelopers.ie V2 effort or want to follow our progress please follow/contact@AphraK. We are also seeking help from our more technical/hackery members to do a security audit and avoid this happening again.

We apologise for any inconvenience this has caused our members.

Sincerely,

The GameDevelopers.ie Volunteer Team

[18/10/14] 3D Animation Masterclass with Kyle Balda in association with the Dublin Animation Festival

We received an update about a 3D animation masterclass with Kyle Balda that’s happening in October. Details below!

In association with the 2014 Dublin Animation Festival, Animation Skillnet have organised a one day 3D Animation Master Class with renowned Animation Director Kyle Balda.

Kyle Balda has been working in feature character animation for over 20 year, most notably with Pixar Animation Studios and Illumination Entertainment.

His credits include: The Mask (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), Jumanji (1995), The Frightners and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013). At Pixar he animated on A Bug’s Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001) and worked as directing animator on Toy Story 2 (1999). At Illumination Entertainment he was head of layout for Despicable Me (2010), he co-directed The Lorax (2012) and he is currently co-directing Minions (2015). Kyle is also well known for his 3D animation masterclasses at renowned European and Asian film schools including Gobelins and the Animation Workshop.

For more information on the master class see: http://animationskillnet.ie/?p=537

Full details:

18.10.14 | 3D Animation Masterclass with Kyle Balda (1 Saturday) in association with the Dublin Animation Festival

This Course Will Cover:

FOUNDATIONS
Fundamental concepts in Animation and the animator’s role in the storytelling process.
A new look at the Classic Principles: the question of how computer animation has altered the way we think about the classical principles while discussing some new ones that have been discovered over the years.
The Graph Editor: From Circular Movement and arcs to overlapping action, the graph editor is the best existing tool to master your animation.

PHYSICALITY
Kinesiology and Character Set-up: this module takes a non-technical approach to character set-up and how animators should handle the controls of the model.
Physically Based Animation: Animating from the Inside Out: How to deal with weight and action based animation?
Walk Cycles: Here we take a step-by-step look at the walk cycle and begin to understand how the body moves in space.

ACTING
Thinking and Feeling: Through the examination of various clips, a deep exploration of story beats will take place to clearly communicate what characters are thinking and feeling. We will discuss the positive and negative reversals characters go through in the story telling process and how animators can show these changes to progress the story. As well, we discuss what it means for the audience to effectively be ahead or behind the story.
Subtext: The most elusive principle in acting. How does the animator elevate their performances from simply being clear to the lofty heights of entertainment?
Animating the Eyes: The eyes are the window to the soul of the character. Here we take a very detailed look at the subtle mastery of eye animation as this is where the audience is looking and connecting to our characters.
Staging: The single most vast principle of animation, in fact staging is an art form all to itself. In this module we will discuss how to lead the audience’s eye on screen and dealing with multiple characters within a shot. As well we will explore some basic cinematography that animators should know in order to maintain good character staging and silhouette.

Participant Profile:

Participants should be currently working as animators in the sector and have a good understanding of animation generally.

Tutor Info:

Kyle Balda has been working in feature character animation for over 20 year, most notably with Pixar Animation Studios and Illumination Entertainment. He began his career in the early 90’s as a student at Calarts and soon after joined the crew of Industrial Light and Magic where he animated on such films as The Mask (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996) and as supervising animator on Jumanji (1995). After animating the Grim Reaper for Peter Jackson’s The Frightners (1996) at Weta Digital in New Zealand, Kyle returned to California to work at Pixar on A Bug’s Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001) and as directing animator of Toy Story 2 (1999). Following a number of years conducting 3D animation masterclasses at renowned European and Asian film schools and directing short form animation projects, Balda returned to feature production in Paris as the head of layout for Illumination’s Despicable Me (2010) followed by co-directing The Lorax (2012). Balda has since directed a number of short films for Illumination and is presently directing Minions along side Pierre Coffin which is due for release in 2015.

Date & Times:

Saturday 18th October for 6 hours: 9am-12pm (with a lunch break from 12-2pm) and 2pm-5pm.

Venue:

The Kingstown 1 Suite, Royal Marine Hotel, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin (Map and Directions:http://www.royalmarine.ie/en/hotel-location/maps/).

Cost:

Waged: 75 Euro.

Unwaged: 50 Euro.

Application Procedure:

Those interested in the Master Class can register and pay here: http://animationskillnet.ie/event-registration/?ee=39

Please notes that there are only 25 places available on this Master Class!

Organised in association with the Dublin Animation Festival.

IT Carlow celebrates 10 years in #irishgamedev with Brenda & John Romero

As most of you know at this stage renowned game designer Brenda Romero is currently visiting many of the colleges in Ireland that have games related degrees. The visit was proposed by Bob Jackson, a lecturer at the Institute of Technology, Tralee and is funded under the Fulbright programme.

As part of Brenda Romero’s tour of Ireland’s academic institutions, she and husband John Romero spent a couple of days on the Institute of Technology Carlow campus. This conveniently coincided with their tenth anniversary of running game development courses. Well done to all involved, and here’s to another ten years!

The press release is below.

IT Carlow Welcomes Game Industry Legends John and Brenda Romero. September 2014:

Game industry legends John and Brenda Romero were in Ireland recently to meet with game industry developers, educators, and students. The Romeros visited the Institute of Technology Carlow and spoke to students who form the tenth intake for the computer games development degree class, which was the first of its kind in Ireland when launched at IT Carlow in 2004.

Games that Mr. Romero designed and programmed such as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D are credited with defining the biggest-selling game genre, generating billions of dollars in sales each year. Since the early nineties First Person Shooters have been referred to as ‘Doom clones’ such is the influence the title and its creators had on gamers worldwide.

Course Director (centre) Ross Palmer with Game Industry Legends John and Brenda Romero, celebrating 10 years of Computer Games Development at the Institute.

During his commencement address to students of games development at Institute of Technology Carlow, Course Director Ross Palmer said “you’re the future of this industry. Our alumni have worked on multi-million dollar titles that have been played by millions of gamers. This is the influence of games as a medium”. Mr. Palmer went on to say “IT Carlow was the first third level Institute in Ireland to offer Honours Degrees in Games Development and Software Engineering and since we first began accepting students a decade ago, we have continued to evolve and develop Ireland’s flagship games development course. Our graduates not only work in industry but also within IT Carlow’s GameCORE Research Centre. In 2004 the Irish games industry employed just over a 100 people and is now expected to employ in excess of 5,000 by the end of this year.”

Mr Nigel White, Head of Department of Computing at Institute of Technology Carlow welcomed Brenda Romero, game designer and author of the book ‘Breaking into the Game Industry: Advice for a Successful Career from Those Who Have Done It’. Brenda was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work with the Irish Games Industry. Introducing Brenda Romero to address students, Nigel White said “this is an important opportunity for the games industry in Ireland as we review where we’ve come from and plan towards our future.

Institute of Technology Carlow expect to be the first institution in Ireland to offer the opportunity for game developers and digital game artists to study and work side by side. We’re delighted that Brenda and John Romero could join us to celebrate this important milestone as Institute of Technology Carlow celebrates a decade of educating game developers and appreciate their guidance as we continue to develop and evolve courses to serve specialist industries such as digital games. We very much look forward to potentially welcoming digital game artists to IT Carlow in 2015”.

Games Industry Legends John and Brenda Romero celebrating 10 years of Computer Games Development at Institute of Technology Carlow this week

During her public lecture, game industry veteran and Program Director of the Master’s Program in Games & Playable Media at the University of California Santa Cruz, Brenda Romero enlightened attendees on what it takes to be successful within the game industry. She went on to detail the elements of a great portfolio, how to make contacts, and how to succeed during a job interview. Institute of Technology Carlow students gave Brenda Romero a standing ovation as they embarked on their journey to become the developers who define the next decade of video games.

ENDS:

The Institute of Technology Carlow offers Computer Games Development and Software Development courses. The degree course in games development has been available at IT Carlow since 2004 and the degree in software engineering has been available for even longer.

GameCORE is IT Carlow’s Centre for Research and Enterprise in Interactive Applications Software and Networks

Key research themes/interests:

Networks
Games Engines
Serious Games for Strategy, Sports and Health

More at: http://www.itcarlow.ie/research/research-centres/game-core.htm

StoryToys gains €110,000 funding for CLIKS

We recently got informed through the Media Desk Ireland newsletter of some good news for #IrishGameDev.

Storytoys have been awarded €110,000 for their game CLIKS under the Video Games development scheme. We want to give them a big congratulations for this achievement!

This is open to games teams in Ireland, and gives you access to EU funding. Find out more at http://www.mediadeskireland.ie/funding.php

Fulbright TechImpact Awards – Applications Now Open: Deadline 12 November 2014

For people who would like to put in an application for the Fulbright TechImpact Awards, you’ve about six weeks to get your submission in. Full details below.

What Are They?

The Fulbright TechImpact Awards are designed to respond to the potential and pace of ICT. The Fulbright Commission is interested in supporting candidates across all disciplines who are exploring how technology contributes to a larger social value. Preference will be given to candidates who have received their PhD since 2010 and candidates in the areas of education, mobile technology and digital arts, humanities, and culture.

The Fulbright Commission is partnering with the University of Notre Dame’s Center for the Study of Languages & Cultures (CSLC) to co-fund 2 Fulbright – University of Notre Dame TechImpact Scholar Awards. One Fulbright – University of Notre Dame TechImpact Scholar per semester will be resident in the CSLC to create beneficial synergies and potential collaborations with Notre Dame foreign language faculty in the use of technology for second language acquisition, technology enabled language applications and testing, and the development of other relevant research and programs being undertaken in the CSLC.

Fulbright TechImpact Awards are for

periods of two weeks to three months between July 2015 – August 2016. The possibility of repeat visits that do not aggregate to more than three months may be considered provided there is a robust justification and program of work for return visits. N.B. The Fulbright – University of Notre Dame Awards are for 3 months during the September to December 2015 or January to May 2016 periods
conducting non-commercial based research on the impact and application of ICT

Eligibility

An Irish Citizen or an E.U. citizen who has lived in the Republic of Ireland for three or more years
Preference will be for early career researchers with PhD conferred since 2010 or a professional with three to five years’ experience in relevant fields
A clear research proposal that demonstrates the pivotal importance of a Fulbright TechImpact Award at this career stage, expected outcomes / impact and an affiliation with a recognized educational institution, research institute, cultural organization, or other approved non-academic institutions
Leadership qualities and potential
A clear understanding of what it means to be a Fulbrighter
Are not a dual U.S.-Irish citizen, green card holder, or currently living in the U.S. and do not already have extensive experience of studying or living in the U.S.

How To Apply

If you meet the above criteria, please email awards@fulbright.ie stating:

Your full name
Area of study or research
Where you intend to research or study

We will then issue you the link to the online application system (known as Embark) and the guidelines:

All applications are due by November 12^th, 2014

Funding Details

Monetary grant, plus accident and emergency insurance, cultural and professional programming, and J-1 visa administration.

Anything Else You Should Know?

All successful applicants must comply with two-year home rule, which means that awardees will not be eligible for U.S. residency or a visa until the two-year home rule is completed

For more information visit:
www.fulbright.ie

Funded MSc, Games & Student Engagement, IT Carlow

* This is a re-advertisement.

***************

A funded research masters opportunity has arisen in IT Carlow’s GameCORE research centre to study ‘The Effect of Game Elements on Student Engagement’.

The scholarship, funded by the IOTI (http://www.ioti.ie/rdi) comprises a maintenance grant of €10,000 p.a., a consumables/materials budget of €2,000, and tuition fees.

The project builds on existing work in applying game elements to courses in IT Carlow that will make learning more engaging for students.

Applications are encouraged from graduates of courses in design related disciplines (such as Product/Industrial Design, Interaction Design, or Visual Communication) or from computing related disciplines (such as Computer Science or Computer Games Development).

Applications should consist of a curriculum vita and a short covering letter explaining why you would be suitable for the position.

For enquiries or to apply, contact daire.obroin@itcarlow.ie or mary.yates@itcarlow.ie

Deadline for applications is Friday 16th January, 2014.

[29/09/14] dubLUDO XV with @br

So to kick off the final week of the Romeros in Ireland dubLUDO is hosting an event upstairs in Whelans at 25 Wexford St. in Dublin and Brenda Romero will be sharing some of her wisdom and experience of Design Documentation.

This is a free to attend event and all are welcome, but I suspect it will be busy. Don’t leave it too late!

For more on the event and directions see https://www.facebook.com/events/1476425089288669

You can also follow dubLUDO game events on twitter at @DubLUDO