Mike Bithell is on the Game Industry Biz Top 100 list
Posted: April 5, 2017 Filed under: Alumni, Awards, Press, Uncategorized | Tags: Games Industry Biz, Mike Bithell, Thomas Was Alone, Top 100, University of South Wales, USW Computer Games Design, USW Games, USW Graduate, Volume Leave a commentA huge well done to Mike Bithell (BA Computer Games Design Graduate) for making the Games Industry Biz Top 100 Most Influential People in the British Games Industry List.
Taking up coding at a young age, Mike Bithell was destined for games. Although he worked at studios such as Blitz, it was his indie project Thomas Was Alone that made his name.
Taking inspiration from filmmakers such as Kevin Smith, Bithell focused on making impressive titles with a tight budget. Now he is an aspirational figure for many a hopeful one-man indie, but when asked for advice on how to make it in games, he reminds fellow developers that “they are not on the same journey.”
“The business changes weekly, so I try not to give too much advice,” he says.
Following huge commercial success came the chance to meet his heroes, such as Hideo Kojima, which Bithell describes as a “massive privilege.” But according to the Volume creator, it’s the audience that drives him.
“It sounds corny, but the best part of this job is meeting the people who play our stuff,” he says. “Fan art, cosplay, videos – everything that folks do with the games we make.”
Extract from http://www.gamesindustry.biz/top100/indie-leaders
Nix – Available to Download Now!
Posted: November 26, 2014 Filed under: Releases, Student Successes | Tags: Award Winner, British Library, Cryengine, Faye Allen, Fonthill Abbey, GameCity, Gothic, Jackson Rolls-Gray, newport computer games design, Newport Student Project, Nix, Oculus Rift, Off the Map 2014, Sebastian Filby, University of South Wales, USW Games Leave a commentNix is available for Download Now! – Nix is the winner of the 2014 Off the Map competition.
Nix has been created by Jackson Rolls-Gray, Sebastian Filby and Faye Allen. The team created an underwater journey through Fonthill Abbey, the once-stunning Gothic revival country house in Wiltshire, which was demolished in 1846 after the collapse of its spectacular 300-foot tower twenty years earlier. Nix challenges gamers to reconstruct theAbbey via a series of puzzles in a spooky underwater world. It uses Oculus Rift, to enable the user to virtually explore the Abbey in its original splendour. The team used original drawings, maps of the estate and sounds held in the British Library’s collections.
The Off The Map competition is a collaboration between the British Library, Crytek and GameCity. It challenges higher education students based in the UK to create games inspired by the British Library’s collections, using Crytek’s cutting edge real-time technology Ceyengine.
The 2014 Off The Map competition accompanies the British Library’s current exhibition Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination. Curators handpicked a number of items, ranging from maps, sounds, text, images, illustrations and architectural plans, to provide three Gothic themes for entrants to base their videogames on. These were author William Beckford’s home Fonthill Abbey, Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Masque of the Red Death and the seaside town of Whitby, which features in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
USW Games Design students win Off The Map 2014 with thier game Nix
Posted: November 4, 2014 Filed under: Awards, Student Successes | Tags: Beneath the Crimson Moon, British Library, Cryengine, Fonthill Abbey, GameCity, newpoer, newport computer games design, Newport Student Project, Nix, Oculus Rift, Off the Map 2014, Student Project, University of South Wales, USW, Winners 1 CommentWe are very pleased to announce that a team of students from the USW Computer Games Design course has won Off the Map 2014, a competition run by The British Library, Crytek and GameCity.
Off The Map 2014 Winners
Nix by Jackson Rolls-Gray, Sebastian Filby and Faye Allen. The team created an underwater journey through Fonthill Abbey, the once-stunning Gothic revival country house in Wiltshire, which was demolished in 1846 after the collapse of its spectacular 300-foot tower twenty years earlier. Nix challenges gamers to reconstruct theAbbey via a series of puzzles in a spooky underwater world. It uses Oculus Rift, to enable the user to virtually explore the Abbey in its original splendour. The team used original drawings, maps of the estate and sounds held in the British Library’s collections.
Once again this year we had two teams short listed in the final, the other was Beneath the Crimson Moon by Zack Finley, Sam Beale, Gary Kings, Rob Pearce, Ashley Lake and Mitchell Letherdale.
The Off The Map competition is a collaboration between the British Library, Crytek and GameCity. It challenges higher education students based in the UK to create games inspired by the British Library’s collections, using Crytek’s cutting edge real-time technology Ceyengine.
The 2014 Off The Map competition accompanies the British Library’s current exhibition Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination. Curators handpicked a number of items, ranging from maps, sounds, text, images, illustrations and architectural plans, to provide three Gothic themes for entrants to base their videogames on. These were author William Beckford’s home Fonthill Abbey, Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Masque of the Red Death and the seaside town of Whitby, which features in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
USW Games Design Students – Team Unorthobox competing at Dare to be Digital 2014
Posted: July 14, 2014 Filed under: Events, Student Successes | Tags: Aaron Moss, Adam Curtis, AIIY, computer games design, Danny Quarmby, Dare to be Digital, Jim Havard, Joey Richards, Team Unorthobox, University of South Wales, USW Leave a commentTeam Unorthobox from the USW Computer Games Design course have got themselves a place on this year’s highly acclaimed Dare to be Digital competition.
Dare to be Digital describes itself as a video games development competition for extremely talented students at Universities and Colleges of Art. For the competition, teams of five students – usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio – develop a prototype video game, receiving mentoring from industry.
Team Unorthobox created AIIY, a playable fast-paced, 2D platform video game that is entirely focused on cooperation and teamwork, where every personal goal achieved unifies the team.
Lead Designer and Computer Games Design student Joey Richards says: “We couldn’t be more excited to take part. The team has been working hard for months, so it’s so rewarding to see that work pay off. It actually feels unreal, seeing it all coming together.”
At the end of the competition, the prototypes are displayed at talent showcase event Dare ProtoPlay, where the general public and industry experts will get to play the games and vote for the winner.
To find out more and keep up with progress check out the Team Unorthobox Blog.
Team Unorthobox
Adam Curtis – Animator and designer (USW)
Aaron Moss – Level designer (USW)
Mudvark up for Develop Award
Posted: July 1, 2014 Filed under: Alumni, Awards | Tags: Dan DaRocha, Develop Awards 2014, Henry Hoffman, Micro Studio, Mortar Melon, Mudvark, Newport Alumni, newport computer games design, Newport Graduate, University of South Wales, USW Leave a commentMudvark aka Dan Da Rocha & Henry Hoffman have been nominated for the “Best Micro Studio” at the Develop Awards 2014… Good luck guys!
Check out the Mudvark 2014 show reel to see what the guys have been up to so far this year.
Thomas Was Alone is released on iPad
Posted: May 20, 2014 Filed under: Alumni, Releases | Tags: iPad, Mike Bithell, Newport Alumni, newport computer games design, Newport Graduate, Thomas Was Alone, Unity, University of South Wales, USW, Volume Leave a commentSo Mike Bithell has been pretty busy, not only has be been busily working away on his new game Volume, he’s also released Thomas Was Alone on iPad.
Mike has also been talking about the release of the iPad version in Polygon.
Cool prototype from Henry Hoffman
Posted: May 11, 2014 Filed under: Alumni | Tags: Construct 2, Henry Hoffman, Hue, Kate Killick, Mudvark, Newport Alumni, newport computer games design, Newport Graduate, University of South Wales, USW Leave a commentHenry’s been busy working a a cool little prototype called Hue, built using Construct 2. We can’t wait to see the game!
Henry Hoffman talks about developing for emerging platforms at Casual Connect
Posted: March 3, 2014 Filed under: Alumni, Events, Guest Speaker | Tags: Casual Connect Europe, Dan DaRocha, Henry Hoffman, Mortar Melon, Newport Alumni, newport computer games design, Newport Graduate, Rhys Thomas, University of South Wales, USW, Windows Phone Leave a commentHenry Hoffman from Mudvark Games recently gave a talk about developing for emerging platforms at Casual Connect Europe.
He talks about approaching emerging platforms as ‘open betas’, from which to refine design, expand scope and capitalise on platform owners eagerness for content.
Mike Bithell talking about his new game at GameCity8
Posted: March 3, 2014 Filed under: Alumni, Events | Tags: GameCity, Mike Bithell, Newport Alumni, newport computer games design, Newport Graduate, Robin Hood, Unity, University of South Wales, USW, Volume, Wales Indie Leave a commentLast year at Game City 8 Mike Bithell had an on stage discussion about his new game Volume.
Here is an edited version for you to take a look at…
Two Newport Computer Games Design graduates make the Develop 30 Under 30 list
Posted: December 13, 2013 Filed under: Alumni, Awards, Press | Tags: 30 Under 30, Bossa Studio, computer games design, Dan DaRocha, Develop, Henry Hoffman, Luke Williams, Mudvark, Newport Alumni, newport computer games design, Newport Graduate, Q.U.B.E., University of South Wales, USW Leave a commentCongratulations to Dan Da Rocha and Luke Williams who have both made it onto Develop’s 2013 30 Under 30 list.
Here are Dan and Luke’s listing from the full list…
“Daniel Da Rocha Managing Director, Mudvark (24)
Starting Toxic Games straight out of university in 2010 with investment from the US-based Indie Fund, Daniel Da Rocha project led the student game QUBE. Released in 2012 on Steam, he was able to pay back the initial funding in just four days. Following this, Da Rocha, 24, set up Mudvark that year to focus on HTML5 games for mobile and the web. Mudvark released its debut game, Mortar Melon, at the end of 2012 and has racked up over 800,000 downloads on the Windows Store alone.”
“Luke Williams Game Designer, Bossa Studios (26)
Twenty-six-year-old Luke Williams started off as a QA tester at Bossa in July 2012. In less than a year, he has worked tirelessly to become the studio’s in-house game designer. Partly mentored by Mike Bithell, Williams has gone to create Surgeon Simulator 2013, which has sold almost half a million copies. Credited as being instrumental in the game’s creation, his colleagues say he displays great design ability. Williams is now working on the studio’s latest upcoming game, Time to Live.”
Henry Hoffman also got an honourable mention!
In 2010 another of our graduates Mike Bithell made it onto the list too!
USW Games 