While at Stoke CON Trent 2018 we met with the amazingly talented artist, Lee Sullivan, who has worked on such established and popular franchises as Doctor Who, Transformers and Judge Dredd.
He's also dabbled a bit with some of Gerry Anderson's creations. In this video, Lee takes on the task of drawing a character from the 1964 TV series, Stingray...
Stoke CON Trent is Staffordshire’s Biggest TV, Film, Comic and Memorabilia Convention. Neil and Tom took a video camera along to the event to see what it had to offer!
Further details of the event courtesy of the Stoke CON Trent website:
Many people come to Stoke CON Trent for a variety of reasons. It could be to meet the fantastic line up of guests we have, have a quick chat with them while they sign their autograph for you.
Others to see the attractions, examples at previous events have included various Doctor Who, Terminator, Gerry Anderson and Star Wars Props. We usually have a selection of Classic Cars including replicas of The Back to the Future Delorean, KITT , Del Boy’s Reliant Robin and Capri, A Star Wars X-Wing, The Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, Starsky & Hutch’s Ford Gran Tourino and the A-Team Van. Cosplay – a high percentage of visitors come to Stoke CON Trent dressed as their heroes from TV & Film.
Most enter the wonderful Cosplay Competition. Lots of people visit the various comic traders, artists and exhibitors, the event is the biggest specialist traders congregation of all things comic book, television and film held in Staffordshire on a bi-annual basis.
More info here: http://stokecontrent.co.uk/about/
Mike was particularly keen – I think he was nearly at the ‘are we there yet’ stage as we drove down for our allotted meeting. So it was with great excitement that I and Mike approached the freshly revealed new attraction. Its protective hoardings had only been removed the night before.
So after the warm welcome from Ben and his team of VR helpers we were given a guided tour of the booths and choice of the entertainments within. Honestly we felt like we had entered the Crystal Maze. But before we could begin we had to fill in some light paperwork and watch the health and safely video before moving onto the initial experience.
First up was Space Flight… (The full title is a little bit of a spoiler so I’ll stop right there). In this you are the passenger of an aircraft that achieves low Earth orbit. Now I’d best explain that you’re wearing; the glasses are HTC Vive business edition, meaning that you can’t buy these in the shops/online etc., and depending on the games then other equipment will be utilised (subpac rumble backpacks for example). For Space Flight you’re sitting in VR designed rumble chair - we'll find the name for this! Despite knowing that you’ve going nowhere the feeling of actual take off comes across as being very real and the views are exceptional. And as I implied earlier when I mentioned the title; I can’t tell you what happens…
Life of Us was next on the agenda and this is unusual. Not in a bad way but this needs some careful explaining. Essentially in this experience you evolve from a ‘blob’ (yeah it will have a scientific name but let’s just go with ‘blob’) that goes through various incarnations as it evolves. Unlike Space Flight this is multiplayer so I could ‘see’ Mike next to me as we progressed through different geological periods. Our forms changed with each new time period and we learned as we went along what we could do with our new found bodies. The end was unusual - Let’s just say that it feature’s music by Pharrell Williams.
And so onto Eagle Strike; now I have no hesitation is saying that this was my favourite. This game allowed for various combinations of player vs player action but found 2 vs 2 to be the best.
In it one team are eagles whilst the other are falcons and we’re using some very snazzy Xbox controllers to interact with the game; with the exception for the direction of flight which was controlled by the turning of your head. Essentially you were tasked into bring food back to your eyrie. Once your bunny snack was acquired you were vulnerable, the opposing team now trying to snatch the animal carcass from you. Think of it as a feathery game of capture the flag. I must mention the landscape in this title. You are flying over and through a desolate and decaying Paris. The boulevards and alleyways present you with cover and the occasional speed boosts. It was a considerable joy using these as cover trying hard not to clip any of the scenery.
From being covered in feathers our next game gets you encased in metal as we played Archangel. This is a story driven mech simulator/shooter where you operate a 6-story walking robot. Story and path through the environments were predetermined but by using the Vive haptic feedback controllers you operated the robots arms; which of course mean you are controlling its collection of ordinance. In game selections allow you to change the loadout and there’s a choice of narrative experiences depending on the difficulty you wish to experience.
For the next game it was the moment that Captain Kenny of the United Federation of Planets to makes his mark because we played Star Trek: Bridge Crew “Rescue at Perseph”!
(OK the actual title doesn’t include!)
This is ideally designed for 4 players so just having the two of us made it a little taxing. That doesn’t mean you have more work to do; other players are replaced by bots but I feel that having people you know in all the positions would make following updates easier. I took the role of the Captain of our Federation vessel and Mike was designated as Tactical, the other possible roles being Helm and Engineering.
Being set in the reboot film universe, or Kelvin timeline the look of the bridge matches that seen in the JJ Abrams/Bad Robot films so has a modern take on the original series look.
Since only the Captain can see all the mission objectives, this is a game of communication. So the Captain has to instruct the crew taking care that their actions don’t overlap since some commands will have a direct impact on the ability of others to achieve their orders. So a certain amount of judgement and oversight is needed. We managed to rescue 5 people during our session and this is certainly an interesting game that deserves a lot of exploration and play. Talking to the staff they’ve managed to rescue 25 people so unlike the Kobayashi Maru this isn’t a no-win scenario (Star trek II reference there folks).
From Star Trek we moved onto Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine. Now I’d played this last year at Star Wars Celebration Europe on the LMxLAB stand so I was eager to give a better showing this second time around. In this mini adventure you’re tasked with meeting a certain smuggler and you will get ‘a bad feeling about this’ as trouble obviously breaks out. Again I’ve no wish to spoil things so I can’t really tell you what will certainly be the main selling point. However when I played this before this was the first time I appreciated what VR could now achieve; the sense of being part of the action was overwhelming.
And finally we played Raw Data. We were recommended to play this last. The reason being that by then we would have become familiar with the VR technology plus this title is a lot more physically demanding than the others.
In essence is a first person sci-fi themed shooter. Three character classes exist with the game which also affected the load out to be carried. I found the easiest was the character with the handgun(s), the katana wielder and the shotgun user requiring more skill to play but in balance provide more flexible firepower. This title used the haptic controller to move you around the play environment. This was achieved using what appeared to be a grenade ark showing where you’d instantly move to. This worked very well allowed you to appear behind your target before teleporting out.
I could tell that this was Mike’s favourite and he seriously liked the shotgun…
We spent the afternoon enjoying the experiences that IMAX VR could provide so many thanks to Liam and his VR hosts of the IMAX VR Manchester Trafford Park for their time, trouble and patience. We look forward to a return visit and also seeing future titles and when they appear.
IMAX VR will be opening it's doors or is that virtual space? for you to explore and immersive yourself in on Friday 24th at the Trafford Centre in Manchester. On-line bookings will be taken through it's website but we'll give you updated as more information lands come launch day.
A little snippit from Mike;
IMAX VR is truly unlike any other VR experience that I've come across. Start to finish, this is how you showcase and explore the world of VR
It's all he talks about!
Two days ago, in a small theatre located in Winsford I took my seat to watch the first ever public performance of ‘A Joke’ and would serve as the first of two previews before heading north where it will form part of the Edinburgh Fringe this year.
This is a new play by Dan Freeman; the creator/writer of ‘The Minister of Chance’, ‘The Light of September’ and the main constituent of Mundo Jazz.
Now this isn’t a review but my thoughts of the evening and confession time; I’m not a totally impartial observer since I had sponsored the play (well page 2 at least). This neatly introduces the fact this play is crowdfunded and various perks are on offer to help keep this show quite literally on the road. I’ll put enough links to make Jacob Marley blush at the end.
Now to the play itself… A tricky one this since I’m not going to spoil it but I have to write something and I think it is fair to at least give you an idea of what to expect.
The play is a three hander with each of our performers appearing onstage with knowledge of the world in general but nothing of themselves. As it progresses our three Joketeers(?!) go on a ‘Fools Journey’ navigating themselves through the structure of a joke and as a consequence life – after all what happens to a joke once it’s told?
To reveal more would be unfair but personally I saw within the performances various interpretations of the Fool, glimpses of Harry H Corbett and even homages to Flanagan and Allen. This may just be my imagination however but these thoughts crossed my mind as I watched.
Up to now I’ve not mentioned the cast. Our unnamed journeymen are played by Richard Oliver, Sylvester McCoy and Robert Picardo. Each provide a different perspective on their situation and are different characters despite being identically dressed (all costumes can be bought – I told you it was crowdfunded).
Now I said that this isn’t a review but it was a marvellous night with laughs a plenty.
The logo may be a chicken but it isn’t by any means a turkey.
A little late in posting the video here, but here's our summary of Chester's very own Pokemon Go event.
Founder/Video Mastermind
Mike is our main go-to-guy for videos. Former 4Kings member and one of the original founders of BlastProcess.com, Mike has been here since the beginning.
The main driving force of the website, Mike loves indie games and apps. So get in touch if you want your game/app featured here!
Christmas in July for those who are not aware is a trade show (or shows) that allow retailers or manufacturers the opportunity to present their Christmas selections to the media far in advance of the big day.
From a single event, this has bloomed into a season with individual retailers having their own shows and on 20th July (2017) at the former Billingsgate Fish Market, Amazon took their turn.
Once inside the venue was open plan with different zones representing various parts of the Amazon organisation. Active demonstrations were everywhere whilst samples of Amazon Food were being circulated*.
Of interest to our regular readers was the gaming area found on the upper floor. A small delegation from Microsoft were taking people through the features of the forthcoming Xbox One X whilst a rolling video was demonstrating the visual enhancements of the new hardware; an example of which was on a table. I actually got to hold the new machine, well the casing for it, and it is fair to say that visually it is a black version of the Xbox One S. Thus maintaining the new smaller profile but what did strike me from a tactile point of view was the surface knurling which gave it a more rugged feel, that’s not to say it was pronounced just more apparent to the touch. Still no confirmation on the internal hard drive size but Gamescom is just around the corner and that might be the venue for final SCU details.
Literally next door to the Xbox display was the Oculus VR demonstration area. Here you could try from a selection of demos. For those that don’t know the Occulus Rift is a head mounted 3D display that is driven by a PC. In order to allow you to interact with the 3D environment they were using a pair of Touch controllers. These resemble a small moulded pistol grips inside a halo like hoops. Fitted with safety straps these hung from the wrists until required and soon became a natural extension of your hands. The pads, triggers and buttons were exactly where you’d want them and gave you far more control than that offered by a conventional controller. Although initially available separately these controllers are now part of a time limited bundle pack.
The next person to experience it was my trusty compatriot Brian (Doyle) who chose the demo where you’re inside a building with a lot of interactive items. At this point I’ll hand over to Brian;
My previous exposure to VR gaming is minimal. At Celebration Europe last year, I did try "Trials on Tattooine", the ILMxLAB's own "proof of concept" experimental VR, which required every person trying it to have their own private room and a minder. As it involved a lot of turning around and lightsabre combat I can only imagine what we looked like to the minders, but I hope it kept them amused. (I will confess that when I tried to deflect Stormtrooper blaster fire back at them, eventually I think some of the troopers just gave up and left out of boredom)
So this was my first go at proper commercially targeted VR, and I wasn't sure how it would compare.
The person ahead of me for the Oculus Rift, was REALLY getting into the Fruit Ninja-like game, to the extent that there was a deal of jumping around which was really putting the length of the flex to it's limits.
Being far more sedate, I tried the "Robo Recall" demo, which involved interacting with a cute and friendly little floating robot in a cluttered room as it provides you with a range of little toys for you "3d print" and interact with, from toy bottle rockets, to a free floating target practice range.
The illusion is incredible, at a basic level you KNEW you were still in a large open-plan display area, but the game area walls crowding in around you convince you otherwise (as does the remarkable sound design). Even not having a physical presence in the game beyond a pair of disembodied hands (which can interact with things but can't register touch), isn't enough to spoil it (When it really should). As someone who needs varifocal glasses there wasn't even a loss in focus when the depth of field changed, which surprised me more than I expected.
Of course, the effectiveness of the illusion is one reason I would probably be very limited in my playing. Since I was "in" a crowded area, I had an overwhelming urge to constantly check what was behind me, and for the Robo Recall game that was fine as all there was a blank wall with a door (Which you couldn't open). How exactly I would react to any remotely creepy or menacing game, with jump scares and worse yet, having to check behind me for shambling things, I'm honestly not sure how I'd react, but I'm not sure I could actually enjoy it.
Thanks Brian, now to my thoughts or call it a second viewpoint which seems very appropriate for a stereoscopic device…
Once I was kitted up and had the unit configured to my eyesight (just a slider) I then went through a tutorial on the way you interact inside the virtual environment. Here I must mention that unlike my previous experience of VR the Touch controllers mean that you don’t just see the tool being used but your actual hand and thanks to the gesture input you see the position of your fingers too.
Once the tutorial was over I was able to make a selection from the choice of demos. Since you were able to ‘see’ what the wearer was experiencing on a screen and the choice that Brian had made seemed to be a lot of fun I selected the same one.
I then found myself in some sort of worn out building behind a counter. The décor had a strong 80s office vibe. The sense of place was palpable and without spoiling the demo it used a device to create items to interact with; the first being a robot buddy. The 3D was convincing and the Touch controllers gave me the required tools to interact with the environment and I was genuinely disappointed when the demonstration came to an end and I had to return to the real world.
Sadly, my time at the Amazon event was limited as we were a late arrival so the coverage now draws to a close but I must give grateful thanks to Amazon for their hospitality.
*I must confess that the lemon drizzle cake was the best I’ve ever tasted and incredibly moist. The carrot cake was pretty nice also…
- Neil Kenny and Brian Doyle
It's that time of the year again, a date thats always bookmarked in the Blast Process diary. EGX is the UK's biggest gaming event that's held at Birmingham within the NEC.
So what did we get up too? Here's a few of our Interviews that we carried out with some upcoming indie developers!
Snake Pass is our clear winner going into our YouTube viewership but we'll be checking out the games come closer to release and let you know our verdict on them.
Founder/Video Mastermind
Mike is our main go-to-guy for videos. Former 4Kings member and one of the original founders of BlastProcess.com, Mike has been here since the beginning.
The main driving force of the website, Mike loves indie games and apps. So get in touch if you want your game/app featured here!
We headed to Alpha 55 in North Wales for an action backed full day of Airsoft. Most of us were new to playing Airsoft, so with full training and gear from Alpha 55 we were all set for a fun day for Blast Processors Dave's Stag Do!
At Alpha 55 we provide an Airsoft site that is owned and managed by PLAYERS themselves, offering a wealth of knowledge and experience of all things Airsoft.
The woodland site in Halkyn, North Wales, has varied terrain including both in and outside play. During play you will come across minefields, Various bases, abandoned vehicles, buildings and all manner of defences; which all add to the gaming experience.
All of your Airsoft adventures at Alpha 55 are supervised by our experienced marshals who will endeavour to give you multiple objectives and various game types which will throw you head first into the action. Every time you come to Alpha 55 you will have a completely DIFFERENT gaming experience. No matter your age, skill or experience we guarantee you a great day.
Founder/Video Mastermind
Mike is our main go-to-guy for videos. Former 4Kings member and one of the original founders of BlastProcess.com, Mike has been here since the beginning.
The main driving force of the website, Mike loves indie games and apps. So get in touch if you want your game/app featured here!
This years Gadget Show Live has been and gone but theres always next year!
While we did have a browse around at all the latest offerings within the gadget world, along with getting stuck inside a Tesla Model S.
We've always been drawn to the indie games section, as it has been each year. Why? because the teams behind these games are making the games of tomorrow, plus they can't help but talk about their game!
Have a look at some of the games we talked about below with most you'll see coming to Steam, consoles and even you're local bar!
Button Frenzy is a fast-paced score-attack game that will challenge your memory and reflexes.
Line Wobbler is a one-dimensional dungeon crawler game with a unique wobble controller made out of a door-stopper spring and a several meter long ultrabright LED strip display.
Founder/Video Mastermind
Mike is our main go-to-guy for videos. Former 4Kings member and one of the original founders of BlastProcess.com, Mike has been here since the beginning.
The main driving force of the website, Mike loves indie games and apps. So get in touch if you want your game/app featured here!
Blast Process will be at this years Play Expo event held at Event City in Manchester, and it starts today! While we were very late is sorting our tickets, we will be at the event this Sunday.
Play Expo is unlike any other event held in the UK. The event caters for different type's of gamers with the expo split up into five areas. Re Play. Now Play, Pro Play, Cos Play and new to this years event is Screen Play. If you enjoy retro gaming and arcades or dressing up as your favourite charater to playing the latest games, Play Expo will have something for you.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fiTYmZu10?rel=0&w=560&h=315]
Stop the press! No more hours on the road to find the comiccon of your dreams, gazing out the window at miles of the motorway and squashed packed lunches- Comiccon is coming to you!'Stoke Con Trent' has crashed into the North West like an explosion of Comic book and movie joy to please the masses. This is only it's first year but is sporting legends such as Colin Baker (Doctor Who), Chris Rankin (Harry Potter) and James Cosmo (Game Of Thrones). Hosted at Stafforshire University, get ready for Cosplay competitions, exhibitions and a mountain of comic and memorabilia stalls to sink your teeth into. As a seasoned comiccon goer, I honestly cannot wait! I've traveled all over the UK to visit my favourite stars, squeal with excitement at the Q&A sessions and have the best time any comiccon veteran can go. The 28th September cannot come soon enough - get your tickets from the website here: http://stokecontrent.co.uk/about/ Don't miss out!
Over and out! Mel
The Blast Process team are currently at the Birmingham NEC for the Gadget Show Live! Follow our adventure around the show floor by heading to our Twitter feed (twitter.com/blastprocess). We've already played a number of fantastic indie games which we shall talk about in more detail in the next few days!
The show opens to the public tomorrow (9th April). Tickets are still available online.
For now though head over to @BlastProcess!
We are back On Tour and heading to Razzed 2014! EGX Rezzed is a gaming event held at the NEC in Birmingham. See the latest PC, Indie and video games in action and join in and watch developer sessions that are held by some of the leading designers on todays biggest games.
Sound's like fun? You can check out the full details and where to find tickets for this three day event, right here.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter for updates surrounding the day and keep an eye out for our videos going up on Monday!
