Game industry hopefuls are being invited to show off their wares and mix with professionals at an event being hosted by Northumbria University in Newcastle.
The evening is the latest initiative by Game Kettle, a network for developers and wannabe games professionals in the north east of England. Organisers hope it will give new coders a chance to build contacts, get feedback and improve their industry knowledge.
Sponsors Havok will be there to showcase their newly released engine, Project Anarchy, as part of a charm offensive to woo coders who may be more familiar with market leader Unity. Though Havok’s head of product management Andrew Bowell believes such events are more than mere marketing exercises.
Andrew Bowell, Havok
He says: “Meeting developers has been a real eye-opener. When we launched there was a buzz. We saw the numbers spike and naturally it starts to fall down to a plateau. It’s only through going to hackathons and getting out to events like this that we are really able to spread the word. That’s what Unity do very well.
“We are really committed to supporting these event. The people we have out there are great as well. People learn a lot from chatting with those guys.”
The boots on the ground in Newcastle will include those of Stu Johnson. His enviable job title ‘anarchist’ refers to a role evangelising Havok’s new engin. But he is an experienced technical mind on hand to offer insight to coders looking to go indie or get a job in games. Stu’s CV includes a spell as technical lead at PopCap’s Dublin studio where he worked on Android hit Plants vs Zombies.
The night will also feature a talk from Atomhawk Design’s Ron Ashtiani, who will be discussing his Kickstarter experiences and other funding opportunities. “This is the first proper event for Game Kettle where we have shared our knowledge rather than worked within the network. That’s the great thing about it,” he says.
Northumbria academic Dr Julie Horton adds: “Holding this Game Kettle event is a great opportunity for students to hear from professionals about what is going on in the industry as well as a chance to meet and network with prospective employers.
“This event is also a great for students thinking about creating their own studios and considering funding routes and engine technologies.”
Project Anarchy’s current state seems rather organised.
Havok’s Project Anarchy has just come out of a summer of beta testing. Primarily aimed at mobile development, it will also receive a PC exporter upgrade in early 2014 priced at $499. The free download currently supports Android, iOs and Tizen development.
“Unity were there first,” explains Bowell. “But there are a bunch of other guys such as Marmalade who have this model where they have an indie free version and they seed the community with their technology. It seems like a good thing to do, hence Project Anarchy was born. You get your hands on the full pipeline with all the fancy features, fancy animation, AI and physics all wrapped up in a nice engine. “
Havok also added Autodesk Scaleform support, giving developers with access to Flash tools the capability to create ambitious user interfaces.
“We support Lua so you don’t have to touch C++ out of the box. And Lua is a really nice language to learn. It’s quite well adopted in the industry. On the other hand, if you are a programmer and you want to cut your teeth Project Anarchy is a full C++ engine. And if you are trying to get a job in a studio that is what they will look for. So to cut your teeth in that is pretty solid.”
Game Kettle’s event is taking place from 6pm on Thursday, November 21 at Northumbria University. Tickets cost £5 and include a drink.
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