Chaos Created :: New Media Solutions :: News and Blog

The Last Drive - CD/DVD Now Released

2008-06-23T02:34:00.001-07:00

Last year, Chaos Created/Befour filmed and edited a music concert for DVD release for The Last Drive, a reformed rock/punk band who are massive in Greece and big in other European regions. The DVD has now been officially released as part of a Live CD/DVD pack entitled Time Is Not Important.

The footage we edited from was recorded in Athens last year.

From Wikipedia:

The Last Drive is a Greek garage revival rock group which formed in 1983 and broke up in 1995. They are regarded by many as the most important Greek rock group of the 80's and one of the most important and influential groups of Greek rock history.

In early 2007, the band announced on their official website their reunion for some gigs. They performed live in Athens on May 11th, 12th and 13th -all three dates being sold out- in Thessaloniki on the 19th and in Larissa on June 2nd.

Their first record ("Midnite Hop") is re-released by Greek DIY label Blind Bastard Records. They also played at the "Open Air Festival" in Athens on July 6. Finally, they were the headliners on the first day of the "Indie Rocket Festival 2007" (along with the Devastations, Acid Cobra and the Cesarians) that took place in Pescara, Italy on June 22nd . In May 2008 the band did another Greek tour while a live CD-DVD covering their reunion shows in Athens was just released Blind Bastard Records. The band is currently active composing and performing new songs.

More information here
Band's web site is here
Buy it here

Climate Change Project Final Version Released

2008-05-21T00:34:00.001-07:00

Our "Colin CO2" software has now been released.

The project, developed in Flash by Electronic Blackboard for MWNet, The West Midlands Regional Broadband Consortium, features two games developed by Chaos Created designed to increase environmental awareness in young children. It also features a story which introduced "Colin" (CO2) as a character and explains the effect CO2 has on the planet.

The project features three games in total, providing a final outcome of a printable certificate. This encourages children to make the best decisions and learn the basics about being environmentally friendly.

Electricity
Children learn how devices use electricity, and how switching off unused devices will save energy around the home, producing less "Colins".

Temperature
Children learn how putting on an extra layer of clothing, instead of turning up the heat, is better for the environment. Children could also insulate the loft, leading to further discussions on how making changes around the home can save energy.

Transport
Children learn about environmentally friendly forms of transportation, such as walking and cycling, and also how public transport is better than other vehicles.

The software is now available to schools in the area through the internal network, but you can view the software on their public web site here.

Bug Fixing, Updating, and BDO

2008-05-12T00:21:00.001-07:00

Spending the week producing a final version of the Climate Change software, updating activities for a refresh of the i-board Numeracy project and producing a new activity for the Big Day Out project, which should be off to our artist Stuart later today (this one's a lot of fun).

Two New "Games" From Chaos Created

2008-05-08T02:22:00.001-07:00

More of a heads up than a grand announcement, but we're cracking on with two new products at the moment of our own. The first is Melloweh which has been in stasis for a little while and in some form of development since 2004.

Melloweh actually won a runner up prize for multimedia, awarded by HP, back in 2005 for its demo. The original demo was built using the Creatures Evolution Engine, developed by Creature Labs/Gameware and combined an artificial life game with a narrative and level based play. I'll get around to posting the development diaries for the demo in good time, but one of the most interesting aspects was that we actually built the models for the world (constructed by Carla, who is now working as a set designer on film and television) in which the creatures, a bug species, lived. We then photographed them and combined them with some CG elements (including the creatures themselves). The idea was interesting, and worked well. Steve Grand and Ian Saunter did the same for the original Creatures game, for anybody here that played those games.

Since then, up until early 2008, the project was pretty much on hold (aside from the occasional dabble) as we've been busy working on other things, but we've got going again on the project recently (and made contact with those responsible for the original demo).

The second game (which may actually arrive slightly earlier than Melloweh, and is actually less of a game) will be a spin off, using the same technology, but aimed at a different audience and I'll post more on this soon.

We're using a different "engine" this time around (which is more flexible for us, and also extends the capabilities as to what we can do), so there's been a bit of a "from scratch" element to it, but it's coming along nicely, and we'll be ready for a release later this year on both products.

The idea being that the development for both products will be treated as one product for the next few months, and then they will spin off in different directions once the framework and AI is complete as both projects are very closely linked.

But for those that are interested, there is still an AL (artificial life) element to it. In fact, the last few months have been spent working on the 'brain' and the results are pretty impressive so far. And we've started knocking about some of the internet aspects of the game too.

The art will come later on. At the minute, the graphics are all placeholders (in fact, for the most part, we're using the original model photographs and graphics from the demo as those placeholders).

Anyway, there will be more information to follow. Obviously, there's not much to give away at the moment as most of the work, to date, has been on the back-end stuff, but I'll blog about the "brain" and the guts of the games shortly.

The best thank you present ever??

2008-04-27T10:02:00.001-07:00

Sam came down last week and dropped off a batch of her infamous brownies as a thank you for maintaining her web site.

A swear these are the best tasting brownies I have ever had. The batch only lasted around 7 hours with my housemates around.

Further verification of their tastiness - the last time Sam made me some, I was in London cutting the 5:13 trailer. Whilst we were editing, a squirrel came through the window and took one straight from the cooling tray. Lucky thing.

Mutant Cows (This is why we have artists)...

2008-04-16T04:23:00.001-07:00

When working on i-board and Big Day Out activities, the process is that the programmer normally does most of the work before the activity goes across to the artist, and then it comes back for final tweaking. So I normally mock up some 'cheap' graphics whilst I'm programming to work with until Stuart or Jack work their magic. Sometimes, I'll grab some placeholders from Google, and sometimes I'll just draw some stick men... Anything else just looks demented, as is the case of my mutant cows for a farm simulation I'm working on...

They're almost scary. Thankfully, they look a whole heap better when they come back from the artists....

Numeracy by i-board Enters Beta

2008-04-03T10:10:00.001-07:00

Numeracy by i-board, a web based education product, has shipped into beta.

The product, developed by Electronic Blackboard LTD, with activities created by Chaos Created, features over 250 activities covering almost every item on the curriculum for Reception, year 1 and year 2 and includes games and teaching tools for use on interactive whiteboards, and desktop computers.

The product, commissioned by London Grid For Learning, will be rolled out to all schools on the grid later this year.

For more information, see the product page and the London Grid For Learning web site.

New Movie Details...

2008-04-03T04:52:00.001-07:00

A few details have been released via a cast advert for the first of the two feature films that Chaos Created will be editing this year.

Perantauan Pictures and Befour Media UK, the team behind S'kali are now casting for their new feature-length horror/drama, written by Arivind Abraham and Keith Leong and to be directed by the former.

The film now has a name, 5:13, and I received an almost-final draft of the script last week and I think it's going to turn out to be a great film. It has a far more universal appeal than S'kali and horror/thriller films from smaller film companies seem to be doing rather well as of late.

The film begins shooting on 5th May.

Welcome

2008-04-03T03:13:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the new Chaos Created blog, with background information, development diaries and more.

The intention is to keep a running diary of some of our more interesting work, and gather opinions on some of our forthcoming projects.

We'll also, from time to time, no doubt get distracted by some of the things on the web.

For the daily kicks, check out our microblog over in our labs - that's the day to day thoughts and updates, powered by Twitter. This blog will be for news announcements, and longer, more detailed posts about the projects we are working on.

5:13 Announced

2008-03-28T03:51:00.000-07:00

Chaos Created has been commissioned to edit 5:13, a horror film for Perantauan Pictures.

The film, which is scheduled for a May 2008 shoot in Malaysia, is set for release later this year.

The film is the second collaboration between Befour (made up of Chaos Created's Alastair Maggs, Luke Yerbury and Perantauan's Arivind Abraham) and Perantauan Pictures, the first being 2006 film S'kali.

Visit the project page

Climate Change Project

2008-02-15T02:50:00.000-08:00

Chaos is working for Electronic Blackboard on a project exploring the effects of climate change.

The project, developed for primary school children, features three games, as well as a narrated story. The games explore how children can have an effect on our planet and explores the effects of transportation and the use of electricity. Chaos has developed one of the three games for use within the project.

In one game, developed by Chaos, children can decide by simple drag-and-drop how a street of children travel to school and how much fuel they can save by doing things such as car sharing, or cycling.

This project, developed for Electronic Blackboard Ltd has been commissioned for use within primary schools in the UK and is due for completion in February 2008.

View the project page here.

Two New Films Enter Preproduction

2008-02-01T02:48:00.001-08:00

Chaos Created will be editing on two films in early 2008.
The films are being shot back to back by Perantauan Pictures in Malaysia and the material will be edited in the UK by Chaos Created/Befour.

More details will follow shortly, but we've already cut the teaser trailer for one of these films.

Keep an eye on the blog for up to the minute information.

About Chaos Created
Chaos Created is an all-in-one media group creating software for the PC market along with cutting edge web sites and film. Chaos was the runner up in the HP Award for Media Design in 2005 for its Melloweh demonstration and, since late 2005, Alastair Maggs of Chaos has been working for Electronic Blackboard Ltd developing an educational subscription service providing interactive applications for its i-board product.

About Perantauan
Perantauan Pictures are responsible for S'kali, released in 2006, which looked at relationships between the different class and racial mixes in Malaysia. The film received a theatrical release in Malaysia, with limited international screenings. Perantauan Pictures have two films green-lit for 2008.

EJ Rocks Launches

2008-02-01T02:48:00.000-08:00

Chaos Created is happy to announce to launch of EJ Rocks, a website created for a fashion designer and store (Rhoda Rocks) based out of Clifton Village, Bristol.

The website is one of a few new websites created by Chaos which are due for launch in February, 2008, and features rich flash design coupled with an online store.
For details of our packages, please visit our web section.

Chaos publishes i-board's Magic School for the home market

2007-10-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

Chaos Created is pleased to announce that it is publishing The Magic School, an i-board educational product which is already successful in the education sector and that it is now available for home users through its digital store at http://www.chaoscreated.com.

The Magic School is a remarkable new series for the home market, already a success in schools, nurseries and preschools, that places your child at the heart of the action using digital images making it a truly child-centred learning experience. Combining open-ended activities and interactive adventures the Magic School is rooted in Early Years’ good practice.

We are announcing, today, the commercial availability of the Starter Room for home users, with two more rooms to follow before Christmas - the Sand and Water Room and The Music Room. These rooms add on to the Starter room - to visit the new rooms, you simply click on the map!

In The Starter Room, you can:

Superimpose your own face onto the characters so you can take part. Make cartoon friends to play with.

Play the driving activity – design a road map so that you and your friends can drive a car around it – don't crash!

Decorate the room using the easel – when you finish your pattern or picture you can frame it on the wall.

Choose books from the bookshelf – listen and read along to a favourite rhyme – then make your own version.

Construct buildings and vehicles using the building block activity – what colours and shapes are you going to use?

Look after the class plant – how many flowers can you grow?

About i-board and Electronic Blackboard Ltd.
Electronic Blackboard produces focused cross-curricular interactive activities for teacher-led whiteboard teaching and for guided pupil use. Featuring a range of products targeted at pupils from a nursery school age, up to year 2, i-board is a critically acclaimed product found in schools throughout the UK.

Schools and nurseries should contact Electronic Blackboard through their web site at http://www.iboard.co.uk for site licenses and educational licenses.

About Chaos Created
Chaos Created is a media production group creating software for the PC market along with cutting edge web sites and film. Chaos was the runner up in the HP Award for Media Design in 2005 for its Melloweh demonstration and, since late 2005, Alastair Maggs of Chaos has been working for Electronic Blackboard Ltd developing an educational subscription service providing interactive applications for its i-board product.

Visit product page here

The Magic School is now available from our download store at http://www.chaoscreated.com/shop

Chaos Created - Created

2007-10-01T03:44:00.000-07:00

Chaos Created has arrived.

Over the past few years, Chaos has been operating under several brands which are now coming together under the Chaos Created banner.

Chaos has become an all-in-one media house, offering web and online solutions, software design, film editing and graphic design, all under one roof, utilising the talent base in the South West of England.

We are also pleased to announce that we are publishing The Magic School range of software in our online store.

More news to follow shortly, along with some special offers!

Free Web Hosting Offer

2007-10-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

Chaos Created is pleased to announce that as part of its relaunch as Chaos Created, we are offering a year's free web hosting (worth up to £150) for all new customers. Existing customers will be receiving news of some special offers for them shortly.
Chaos Created has been designing several websites over the past few years under the ChaosW3 and Chaos Development brand, and has relaunched as Chaos Created to incorporate all the aspects of the media that Chaos has been working in over the past few years.

For details of our packages, please visit our web section.