Celtic Games Show 2017
- Shaun
- Sep 25, 2017
- 4 min read
On 19th September we caught up with Celtic Games for their 2017 show to check out some of Wales most exciting upcoming games developers. We met some lovely people there; their passion and drive for their projects was great to see, and of course getting a chance to try out their trailblazing creations was the icing on the cake. Mmm, cake...
Celtic Games outline their aims as such:
to champion Wales as a place to make games.
to champion the games industry in general.
to grow the Welsh games industry.
to represent the industry’s interests, and act as an advocate on behalf of the Welsh industry.
Being based in Cardiff ourselves we wholeheartedly support the development of the Welsh games industry. There is a vast amount of creativity in Wales and a few educational institutions leading the way – with the right nurturing there is massive potential to transform Wales into a game development powerhouse. And it was through this purpose that the Celtic Games show, now into its 6th annual show, was born.
We didn’t have time to chat to all the exhibitioners there unfortunately (maybe next year?..), but continue reading for a little about those we did and what they were showcasing.
I had such a blast playing Jeff’s Tower – also it was my first experience with VR. And what an experience it was! My oh my!
The player takes their place in game atop a tower, and using the controllers they shoot ice, fire or lightning from their hands at oncoming orcs, who, we assume, are not there to welcome you to the neighbourhood.
I was not ready for how immersive the experience would be, and if the photos of me grinning like a fool the whole play through show anything, it is that I thoroughly enjoyed the game. The tracking was perfect: my real life movements were paralleled with precision in game – I was able to shoot with one hand to my right whilst looking around, spotting more enemies coming from the left and then shoot at them with my other hand and checking back and forth between targets to make sure I was staying on target.
The game lasted around 5 mins, and my final score got Fanagram midway on the high-score board. Not bad for my first VR romp, I’d say. The reluctant climb back out of the rabbit hole and into real reality was softened by a chance to discuss the game with the devs.
In their own words, they are a “team of students from University of South Wales who are thirsty to bring something fresh to the VR gaming industry, currently developing a virtual reality game with the HTC Vive using Unreal Engine 4.”
They are working from their shared house to create amazing material like Jeff’s Tower. We were all impressed by their work and look forward to hearing more from them. I can’t wait to try out their fully released games.
We met up with Chris Payne (Managing Director of Quantum Soup Studios, Programmer, and self-titled ‘Crayon-faced Murder Monkey’), and had go on QSS’ upcoming game – Tale Singer.
Tale Singer is a narrative driven, non-combat, RPG set in Iron Age Wales that revolves around the Roman push into Wales and the struggle of Welsh culture to survive during this tumultuous era.
The player takes on the role of a bard who must unite the Celtic tribes against the bellicose Romans. Instead of fighting fire with fire, you must use songs and stories to “ inspire, persuade, or shame chieftains into action. Combine three different branches of magic; Bardic performance, Vate oratory and Druidic spiritualism. Talk with spirits, walk in myth, and fuel the legendary fire of the Celts.”
The section of the game available to play had you walking through a lush forest reminiscent of North Wales landscapes and collecting herbs, bark and plants ready for crafting. The graphics, running in the Unity3 engine, looked stunning. It is great to see such fine work coming from a relatively small indie studio.
But perhaps the most standout aspect of this game is not in the way it looks, but in the way it sounds. Moreover, in the languages used: it is a bilingual game with all dialogue to be in Welsh and English. This ties in well with a growth in the number of Welsh speakers, particularly in the south of the country, and will surely sit well with this developing demographic.
It’s also refreshing to play a game where violence not only takes a back seat, but is left behind altogether. But don’t take this game as a simple walk in the park – Chris explained that there would be a great deal of conflict and contention in Tale Singer, just don’t expect to be able to shoot, punch or kick your way through as is seen in so many other games. Nice!
We caught up with Finn and Courtney from Dark Planet Studios (we didn’t ask where the other 60% of the team were at the time..) and had a last minute go with Stellermania. And by last minute I mean they were about to turn everything off and pack up their stuff to head back after a long day. If I knew this I would probably have let them get off and spoken to someone else as we were all pretty tired by this point. But I didn’t, and they were so incredibly lovely and let Gareth and I go head to head in their quick to play RTS space battle game Stellermania. Thank you very much.
We didn’t get much chance to chat with them but the game went well (for me at least – right Gaz?). At the start of the game you spend points buying ships and arming them – some are big and slow, some small and fast and then you line up the opposing fleets and fight strategically and cleverly in fast paced battles in space.
I took a mix of ships, balancing ranges, manoeuvrability and firepower and aimed to play against the weaknesses of my opponent. Gareth took the cheapest ship and bought as many of them as he could afford. Some people just want to see the universe burn. Short story cut shorter – I was another glorious victory Shaun as the evil Gareth was mercifully destroyed. Huzzah!
Fun was had all round and I look forward to seeing where this easy to pick up game goes.
Some more pictures from the day...
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