Posts Tagged ‘Game’

Jon Wetherall is currently Managing Director at Onteca where he has worked at the intersection of Arts, Technology and Training.

Recently Jon has run a number of projects which involve uploading and downloading mobile phone content. These include working with Kensington Vision to create a Ringtone Billing Platform for Reverse SMS and a facility for communities submitting photos from their mobile phones. Jon is also lead technologist on ‘Landlines’ a major arts research project funded by the Arts Council and Nesta which uses mobile phones to upload locations of multiple users. Jon has run a number of community lead animation projects, is a key trainer on our Wirral ESF project where he runs the HTML training and for his sins has become good at ESF paperwork.

Jon co-foundered the award winning International Centre for Digital Content where he co-developed the first Digital Games Masters programme in the UK. His experience as a senior computer game programmer at Sony taught him that the most interesting work occurs when Artists and Technologist collaborate.

Jon has a First Class B.Sc Hons degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Liverpool University.

Real-Time Strategy Game with emphasis on tactical close combat, this version in devolopment is based on early combat of the American civil war, players can choose to play as confederate or unionist, and form their own militia.

Brainbox Challenge

In The Night Garden/CBeebies

Liberatis

Skirmish – Historical Squad Tactics

Current Research

We are committed to working with new and developing technologies. Through our research working with artists and commercial developers, we have been continually pushing the boundaries of possibility for the platforms we work on. Be it pioneering 3D Graphics on early PCs or innovations on the latest mobile phones – we are determined to be there first.

ITEM

We are developing cutting edge creative tools for artists through the ITEM project, hosted at FACT , the UK’s leading organisation for the development, support and exhibition of film, video and new and emerging media. This project is funded by NESTA and the Arts Council of England and is being co-produced in association with the FACT Centre. ONTECA is working together with artist Jen Southern to explore the use of dynamic multi-user GPS as collaborative drawing tool

blu_box

Working in partnership with artist Maria N Stukoff and the Manchester Metropolitan Universities Regeneration Office (MMU) – we are pioneering a new game experience for Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones: blu_box. Taking advantage of the emergent networked city, wireless communication tools are fast becoming the preferred personal entertainment devices. The mobile phone acting as a wireless beacon to receive and collect data. ONTECA is moving beyond basic Bluetooth audio visual exchange p protocols by developing and piloting new Bluetooth applications for social game-play. The blu_box project is creating new grounds for the reality of exciting street-based gaming environments by creatively enhancing and pushing the technology of mobile phones.

HeaL8, a charity working in public health in the Toxteth area of Liverpool, approached Onteca about the possibility of the creation of an educational animation. They wanted an innovative animated film that warned about the dangers of excessive marijuana use, especially the risk of cannabis psychosis.

As Onteca’s lead video games illustrator, Pauline Wong, had experience in animation, we agreed the project. It was an interesting experiment in constructing an entertaining narrative with the purpose of involving and influencing young people. Abi Atkinson directed the piece, as well as editing it and contributing towards the script. Initially, the script was written by Michelle Richards based on the life story of Cathy Cuthbertson. This script was used to create the short film, Blowing Our Minds.

Later, a re-edit of the film introduced a new voice-over, written and voiced by Cathy Cuthbertson, the woman whose personal experience had inspired the film

Blowing Our Minds is now used by HeaL8 as part of its work in Schools throughout Merseyside.

A design for a virtual world which combined elements of cinema, video game and art installation, created through a collaboration between a group of disabled artists and Onteca, involving an extensive training element.

Occuring between 2002 and 2004, this project originated as a training programme and period of development meetings involving a group of Disabled artists and Onteca. One element was the provision of training in new media production techniques for some of the disabled artists involved. This training was in basic skills such as image manipulation and video editing, more advanced skills such as 3D modelling and video compositing.

The eventual project, as conceived by the group, was a virtual game world where insects that incarnated certain personality types (such as aggression, or calmly hardworking, or carefree) would clash in a virtual environment. This environment would be projected on the wall of a space and the game would be controlled by the audience positioning themselves within that space. Advice would be delivered by three ‘Fates’, pieces of video designed to sync with the action of the game and projected on the ceiling.

Onteca has run a series of short workshops (lasting from two days to a week) in professional media production skills, many on behalf of Media Training North West. Each of the skills are used by Onteca in the cross-platform work of the company. These courses have been pitched to meet a number of different student needs, from community groups without previous experience, to working professionals seeking to refine their skills. Examples of previous courses are:

After Effects & Premiere
Concentrating on the use of these production tools to create CGI for moving image. These editing packages can be comined with colour keys and production techniques to provide effective special effects.

Game Design& Quality Assurance
Looking at how to use a variety of design theories and industry practices to ensure a smooth and creative workflow.

Java Programming for mobiles
Applications that work across platforms, networks and phone types, drawing on Onteca’s extensive experience in this area.

World Builders
‘Modding’ existing games can be an easy way into 3D design for beginners, and a useful way to speed up production schedules for professional game designers. Increasing numbers of games that started of as ‘mods’ have become comeercial properties in their own right. Also the use of generic world builders that can be used across, games, engines and platforms.

Introduction to 3D Modelling
A beginner’s introduction to Maya. This is a complex and very powerful application that is used across the Games and CGI industry. This course provides an initial access point for personal or further study. To become good takes years, but you have to start somewhere.

Web Design Using CSS and accessible GUIs
Web design the correct way. Useful both for beginners and those web-designers who have become trapped in the habit of using tables and want to evolve their practice to fit the current industry standards.

Ring-tone Production
Creating your own ring-tones from scratch.

Games are about having fun. They are about history, maths, art and IT, as well.

This Key Stage 4 engagement project is being delivered by Onteca, a professional Video Games Design and New Media Company, so it will be about skills that are useful in industry. This is not an academic course, it is very much practical. Written skills aren’t important. Student reports can be given in the form of Video Diary.

Stage One of the course involves playing a lot of video games. Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games, that teach all sorts of interpersonal communication skills and good IT basics. Supervised and facilitated by Onteca.

Stage Two is to get the young people thinking about what makes a good video game. To learn some design skills used by industry professionals, in a fun and easy way, with lots of in-game examples. By the end of this stage a Bronze Arts Award will be achieved by all those participating.

Stage Three involves the young people actually making a game environment. Putting their own designs, idea and artwork inside a computer game. This will be accredited at NVQ Level 1 or with a Silver Arts Award.

This project would consist two days a week – Mondays and Tuesdays, at Discovery Community Learning Center. Onteca has experience of working with young people from challenging backgrounds.

Register interested young people with Lynn Struve on 0151 346 6734. Contact Max Zadow from Onteca on 0151 709 0028 or see www.onteca.com for details.

An exciting new course is being launched in the Wirral that provides training in the very latest techniques in website and New Media production.

During 2004 media commentators started talking about something called ‘Web 2.0′: a new, different Internet that is already here, already evolving in front of our eyes. Taking advantage of the fact that Broadband Internet connections allow video, images and built in games as standard for websites, a whole new generation of exciting web-sites have conquered the online world. This course gives Wirral residents the skills to take advantage of this new wave of Internet expansion.

Onteca, a professional New Media Company based in Liverpool, has been given some European Social Fund support to deliver top-of-the-range training for people in areas of the Wirral. This training is for the Pathways Areas of Wirral, which includes a large proportion of the Wirral’s residents. Check with Onteca to confirm you are eligible. Onteca are interested in all sorts of people for the course. Obviously this would suit people with an interest in computers, New Media and games, but those with an ability in art, photography or writing will also be provided with a practical outlet for their talent.

The course is free, doesn’t effect benefits and there will be a solid qualification at the end. Even those who have to leave early (for instance, for work reasons) will get credits for elements of the course taken. Some financial support for travel and childcare is also available. It will be two days a week at venues across the area and Discovery Community Learning Centre, a state-of-the-art facility on the Wirral.

As well as teaching people how to make their own websites, this course will give a condensed guide to the new ‘Rich Media’ sites, and how to achieve the same results. Elements of the course will outfit people on how to make basic video games, animations and films for the Internet, with room for further specialisation later. Onteca has a breadth of knowledge of the local media and New Media scene and can guide people towards appropriate career choices based on what they have most enjoyed in the Web Learning 2.0 course.

At time of writing (June 2007), the first intake are just approaching the end of their course. It seems likely all will get a level 3 NVQ, and some already have been offered paid work in a relevant area. We are proud of what they have achieved, and look forward to following their careers as they go from strength to stength. We are recruiting now for the next run, to be delivered both in Noctorum and Birkenhead. Contact max@onteca.com for more details.

Onteca is an independent games development studio based in Liverpool that was established in 2001. We produce innovative top-tier Casual games and applications for Nintendo Wii, iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, Android, Facebook and IPTV.

Our latest ground-breaking 3D strategy-puzzle game Monsteca Corral is now available on Nintendo WiiWare service from August 2010.

Monsteca Corral

Onteca’s rapidly expanding portfolio of iPhone games includes the massively successful Big Quiz range, which has racked up over 100,000 downloads on Apple’s App Store. With a large number of other exciting iPhone/iPod touch and iPad games in the pipeline, Onteca are surely the developer to watch out for in 2010!

Airhorn Composer	Big Football Quiz	Big Pub Quiz	Star Quiz	African Horn (Vuvuzela)
World Cup Party Pack	World Cup Quiz	3B Bumper Bot’s Box	Boing Bunny Boing	Power Tools

The company has unparalleled experience and expertise in innovative technologies and have also produced interactive content for a wide range of clients, including the BBC, AMD and Intel.

Currently developing for the next generation in television (IPTV), we are working on two of the five prototype development projects for the Vision+Media and BBC partnership initiative.