Replacement books

I have yet to start my third game but will do shortly but I wanted to post because I was really surprised at the email response I got requesting new books as mine had gotten chocolate milk spilt on them. I was assuming I would get a sorry we can't replace your books or it would be an extra charge but I got a lovely email back from the tutors saying they had send my request to the right department to send me new ones out, and to try to be careful with the new ones hehe. I am really chuffed as I really don't want to be using chocolate milk covered books :)

Space Shooter (second game)

After I played around with my first game a little, adding an extra clown head etc I decided I was happy to continue onto my next game (next part of the book/DVD) I will admin one thing, it wasn't until I started my second game I remembered I was meant to be using the DVD to so I put my booklet down and opened my DVD, I got myself to the second game and continued with both.

I made a mistake with my second game because instead of editing my clown game to make the next one, I made it from fresh, partly because I had edited my clown game and wasn't sure I had my original copy still or I have saved over it and also I assumed it would make it easier than deleting and re-adding things.. I was wrong.

I followed the book but instead of deleting this and adding this, I just added the new stuff and the majority of it was right, but because I didn't have the original coding I struggled getting it to move correctly and bounce off the walls etc After a lot of extra time and effort I managed to get it pretty much the same as the example so although I wish I had started using my clown game, I feel like I got a chance to fiddle with some of the buttons to get it working.

Luckily, it did say we would be starting the rest from scratch so I won't be making that mistake again.

The second game, Space shooter is also very basic but very different to Catch the Clown. only the side walls are blocked off but with lightning this time and instead of a clown you have a space ship, the enemy. The book said to add 5 which I did but after playing the game I would of probably have gone for three because its to easy with five.

You also have a space ship which you control with right and left keys and shoot with the space bar. The spaceships are moving from right to left and like the Clown game, you get 10 points for each correct hit and after you hit the spaceship another one appears randomly, slightly faster than the last.

I will add a screen shot and the link for my uploaded game as before.

I have not received the information from my person tutor yet but I can imagine that takes longer as my course was not meant to start for another month. I will wait until next week and send the card provided if I am still yet to receive it.

Yesterday I found that someone in my house has split chocolate milk inside my course case and a  few of my books, study guide etc so although I am pretty sure it will be a no, I have mailed the tutors to see if I can get any replacement copy’s, will let you know when I get a reply.

My next game is a helicopter game which I will do tomorrow. I will update you on that shortly

The link to download is - http://jumbofiles.com/23pz1kl2apvg

My first game.

So I started my course last night after I got back from Nottingham. I worked my way through 36 pages so far, 99% of which I understood without having to reread. It showed me the process of making a very basic game in which you follow a clown around the screen while clicking it when you can. Each time you click the clown you get 10 points and he goes faster. It really is very basic but I am really proud that I did it. I will post a screen shot and a link to my game.


I really like the instructions so far, nothing to scary and I am proud of my little game, even if everyone on this course has made one. I am now deciding if you play around with this one, adding a few things etc or to start on my next game which is set in space apparently. I will let you know when I do, it will either be later tonight or tomorrow.


I got a response to my webmail to my tutor asking for the code for Game Maker and received it. I now have the full version and the cool part is I can make the game work without gamemaker so you can have a little play with it yourself :)

And the link to the game is here, I packed in, in Winrar so download, unzip and double click.
http://jumbofiles.com/sfj7fp9q2st7


Will write again soon.

It begins

So today I received the login information and the go ahead to start my course. This is exactly ten days from me signing the contract, which is a lot less than the 4-6 weeks I was told. My payments do not start until March which to me seems good, I can get a real feel for the course/website and T2G in general before actually paying any money.


I have logged into my account and added my Email, contact infomation etc for my tutor.
When I logged into 'student world' I was presented with a message telling me to contact my tutor and request the code to upgrade my first lot of software, which I have done.


I will also be asking about my NUS card because I am a little unsure about how all that works... I presume it has a photo so how would will all that work, I guess we will see. Will let you know more when I do.


For now I am just looking around the website and getting a feel of things because I am currently with family and have not had a chance yet to go into the books etc properly, but then maybe my curiosity will take over :)

Part 2

So, after discussing it with my boyfriend and a few family members I hit Google. Most of what I found was people asking the same questions but I dug a little deeper and found people had posted anything from how great the course is, to people currently working in the field thanks to T2G and then people saying its a scam and you do not get a recognised qualification out of it, which is what made me want to write this blog. No bullshit, the truth, every step of the way.

I have decided to do the course with monthly payments of around £135 a month for two years (I would suspect if they were trying to scam me, they would want the money upfront.) For the first time in a long time I feel like this could be the start of something great, sick of being in dead end jobs doing the same mindless shit.

I paid a £100 deposit, which I was expecting, since I had read on the Internet someone had paid a deposit too, so I was not surprised about that. He explained the payment plan, my money will be Monthly DD which doesn't even start for another two months. He answered any further questions I had and even had my first course with him, along with an introduction dvd and booklet about the course which came in a brief case and everything, I also took a pen :)

One of the questions I did want to know was would I get a student NUS card and was really happy to be told that yes, which to me says a lot, do not know scams that are able to get NUS cards.. but we will see if that will come.

At the moment I am waiting for the information in the post of who my personal tutor will be. He is available for my calls 9am -9pm which is pretty cool. I am also waiting for my log in details for the site.

After reading so much on the Internet I am  unsure if I am walking into a trap but even the people calling it a scam are saying the course exists, its just that the qualification after the two year course is pointless. It's endorsed by Tiga who are the gaming board for most games and is the equivalent of two years at university without the cost.

I decided to go for it for several reasons. Let's say the negative stuff is not true, we do this course and are placed into work at the end of the course which T2G do and we all live happily ever after, or at least be able to afford the gas bill. But I really want to do this, I am excited about the course itself, making your own computer game is one project which is amazing and all the software and tutors available sounds great. So I am going into this open minded, because even if at the end the qualification is not as great as they say it is, having done the course shows commitment and at least two years hard study and experience which is always going to help in selling yourself to future employers.

One thing I wanted to mention, I read a few posts of people saying their rep was rude, pushy etc however mine was not, maybe because I wanted what he was offering and although he repeated himself a little it did show how well he knew his script :) He was lovely to me.

My next post will be when I have chance to read through the paperwork and booklets I have been given to give you my gossip on that.

Hope you enjoy my blog so far, please feel free to comment, add my Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/Natalee.Van.De.Vis.Watsonator or email me at nwjwatson@gmail.com

Welcome to my blog

My name is Natalee and I have just signed up with Train2game to study to become a Computer Game Designer. I am writing this blog for one reason, to give a real, clear and honest idea of what Train2game is all about from my personal experience.

I signed up for Train2game about a week ago. This is my story so far, (how cheesy), I have been online gaming for about eight years now, since I was in a bad relationship and needed something to do, to get my head away from the stress. I started with GTA MMO Role play. Love it, I eventually became an admin, a mob boss and I had some real friends, I met my boyfriend thanks to one of them.

Over time, and MMOs I played several games, some that are less known and some such as RoseOnline, World of Warcraft and currently Rift. Not sure what it is about MMOs but I love the questing and I love the social side of things, as bad as it might sound to some, I have some good friends through online gaming. I have been through some bad times in my life and gaming was always the way to get through it, even when I was a 24 hour player, sleeping for a few hours every couple of days playing was an escape from everything and everyone.

So that is a little about my gaming history, onto now. I found Train2game on Facebook, I am usually very sceptical of social networking adverts, but for some reason, this one caught my eye. I reluctantly pushed the button expecting 'add credit card details here' but no, I simply had to give my contact details and I would get a call.

To be fair, I pretty much forgot about it after that but a few days later I got a call from a lady at Train2game. It was a weird conversation because I did not know if this was some woman scamming me or if it was a type of interview so I did not really know how to act, I think that may have helped me as I am a very nervous interviewee. Anyway, she asked me a lot of questions about my gaming history, what interested me etc and seemed to know what she was talking about. After maybe 30 minutes she said she was happy to send someone out to speak to me in person, get an idea of who I am and for me to get an idea of who Train2game are. This did ease my mind a little.

A few days later two Train2game employees arrived to do my interview, a girl to write everything down and a man to do the charming. He explained in detail about Train2game, about the benefits of the course and actually asked a lot of personal stuff about myself (I told you I was a nervous interviewee) and we decided that the design course would be good for me, which had some of the game tester involved which I also feel would be right up my alley.

Now was time to talk about the price, let me just mention that before the interview I thought it was a ten week type of thing but it's a two year course, from home, 8-10 hours a week, I can do more if I want to. I was a little surprised when I was told the course would cost me £5.000 but my boyfriend, who they actually suggested I have there to help me, was expecting £10.000 and I had heard from one of my guildies, (guild members from Rift), that there was something like that for £5.000 in Ireland (where he lives) too.

He then left me to discuss with my boyfriend. I will continue my next post.