Lucas Moffitt

Is that a Zombie!? I FRIKKIN LOVE ZOMBIES!

Thanks to the bright sparks at Microsoft we now have another Student competition for us to sink our teeth into.

“We want you to make a short film. If you’ve got a favourite style or genre, we want you to embrace it! If you want to be a writer, director, actor, cinematographer or even sound engineer, then rise to your ambitions.
In support of young Australian talent, Microsoft wants to give students the opportunity to gain industry exposure and go head to head, film to film, against University, College and TAFE students Australia wide – with some pretty awesome prizes in the mix. “

Go now and check it out, while you’re at it have a look at the awesome prizes and tell your friends.

I sent this around after the final round of judging before Poland but I needed to get the ok to post it public, Here it is for reference in the Imagine Cup 2011 Game Design Category.

—-

Going through the mass amounts of entrants to the Game Design category of the Imagine Cup its clear there are several problems amongst students who compete.

Allow me to vent / detail some of the problems found during the recent culling of entrants.

Read the guidelines

What is asked in the specifications is what is expected. If you don’t include a video, you’re gone. If you don’t include Instructions, or if it’s not in English, you’re gone.

The specifications for an entry to the imagine cup game design is explicit and can be found here: http://imaginecup.com/Downloads/DownloadableDocuments/GD/Imagine_Cup_2010_Game_Design_Rules_and_Regulations.pdf

Common problems encountered were:

· Videos missing in action

· No Documentation

· Non playable demo’s

· Non English documentation

I can’t understand how someone who’s gone to great effort to create a game for the imagine cup would fail to read and understand the expectations!

Your game may be the next halo, but we’re not going to even see it if those criteria aren’t met.

Answer the question

As a lot of lecturers or teachers will tell anyone walking into an exam, make sure you answer the question being asked. And for many of the entrants I witness this was simply not the case.

There was one entrant who submitted a basic todolist application built in C#. wtf? Upload accident or miss interpretation of the guidelines… We’ll never know.

The Guidelines are very specific in regards to what needs to be achieved / demonstrated in the game. You’re only wasting everyone’s time if you fail to read, understand and embrace the expectations.

Video Encoding

Again, as stated in the rulebook: “Include a video screen capture of your game in action. The video should be no more than 15 minutes long”.

That doesn’t mean it also has to be 300mb. Encode wisely! There’s nothing worse than getting your hopes up about a potentially awesome game that’s over 300mb big, if when we look inside the zip file the video is 295mb and the game is only 5mb. It’s not a huge thing, but it can be disheartening for the Judge…

Also, how many YouTube videos have you seen that are 295mb? If they can do it in <30mb so can you! Your game has to include a video, but you can have it hosted on YouTube! This is a fantastic idea as it creates exposure to your game that you wouldn’t have had before. Even if you don’t win the imagine cup, chances are Microsoft groups such as @ImagineCupUS and @MSAU may even promote your game to their legion of followers (It happened this year). That’s exposure a budding game developer can really use.

Multi-Function

As stated in the rules and guidelines: “The game must be designed for the Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming system, or Microsoft Windows Operating Systems (Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7) and playable on a Windows PC, as specified in the XNA Game Studio Toolkit, for the purposes of judging. Include controls to use both an xbox controller and a keyboard”

So… why were there several interesting games with high potential that caused frustration when it wasn’t possible to actually use them with a keyboard? It’s only a few lines of code extra! Why would any game developer in this situation limit their application to one console anyway? We’ve all seen the video demonstration from Teched, with the one game working on Windows, Xbox and Phone 7. It’s the future of gaming; why not get in on it now?

It’s all been done before, but!

So many people stick with the whole “Halo Wars” or “Age of Empires” approach, but it’s all been done before. This is not to say that you’re any less deserved of winning the imagine cup but it’s all been done before! The Imagine Cup is about inspiring the imagination and creating masterpieces of art and gaming revolutions. Don’t play it easy, think abstract. Some of the ones that were awarded the highest marks in Stage 1 are the most abstract concepts conceivable, but you’ll see them all eventually.

Microsoft does not want to steal your ideas!

I’ve witnessed several people go off on tangents as to why they didn’t enter because of Intellectual Property. Long story short, you’re wrong.

It’s your software Microsoft is just helping you get recognized. The terms and conditions are just a formality to allow your videos to be used / promoted by Microsoft. Microsoft has nil interest in stealing or infringing on your intellectual property, your designs, games, thoughts, whatever possible excuse you have.

So just No. Ok?

I feel better now!

Lucas.

Hey Guys

This weekend I attended the XNA game camp in Wollongong with Elise, it was a great event and turned out to be quite disappointing to find out that a further 10 people from Newcastle University were registered but didn’t show.

You guys missed out on some fantastic opportunities to meet with the most highly skilled XNA developers in Australia and win a whole heap of fantastic prizes just for rocking up!

Pictures for the event can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=131819&id=563877919&l=439509ea85

While I’m here, the MSP program is still open to applications, if you’re interested head over to www.student-partners.com and have a look.

Lucas

Thanks to Luke i don’t have to go too far for this blog post.

Interested in becoming part of the team?

We are now accepting applications for Microsoft Student Partners for 2010.

More info on the program can be found at http://www.student-partners.com/ along with the application form (Click Apply on the front page).

The program is an awesome learning experience where you get to network with heaps of other great students and industry leaders to share your love of technology.

We are really looking to expand the number of MSPs out there so if you have a love of technology, and love to share it, go to the website and apply now!

Lucas

Hey Guys!

First up let me thank everyone for coming out today, at last count we had 48 attendees which is awesome for a first event!

Gratz to all those people that won prizes and those of you who took some information away from the event today.

Like to take a second to thank the people that were involved in setting today up as well as my helpers on the day.

• Uni Staff: Brian, Christine and Jenny
• Friends and Family: Elise and Josh, my girlfriend Natasha and my little brother Jason.
• As well as all the guys at MS, Karo and Andy.

If you guys have other feedback or question about the event feel free to post them here and I’ll reply as soon as humanly possible. I’ll put up pictures and other stuff on here and my facebook I’ll launch another post in a second for those who are interested in attending the XBOX event in Sydney, please keep in mind i can only take 1 female and 1 male. as well as having to provide your own accommodation / transport after / before the event.

Thanks again guys.

Lucas.

Those who attend the first MSP event as the University of Newcastle next Monday will be in for a treat. In addition to the prizes listed in the blog post before this, there will be an extra added prize for two lucky winners. 

The details are top secret at the moment and will only explained enough so people can decide if they want to put in for it or not.

Hope to see you all there!

When: Monday 19th October 2009
Where: Callaghan Campus, ICT Building room 3-34

tldnr: Just read the freaking post.

Lucas.

That’s right, the first of many to come MSP events will be held on Monday the 19th of October in the ICT Building, Room 3 – 34. From 1pm till 2pm!

I’ll be going over how you guys as students can access all the free stuff, and also talk about some upcoming goodies from Microsoft, as well as hand out some prizes and Microsoft swag. The list of topics includes:

• Dreamspark
• It’s not cheating
• Imagine Cup
• MSDN Academic Alliance
• Windows 7 Launch
• Windows Mobile 6.5 Launch
• The MSP Program
• Xbox 360
• Student Training and Development

The prize list is as follows

1 lucky winner will take home the Microsoft Wireless notebook presenter mouse 8000

Another winner will take home a free copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate

and the last major prize being a Microsoft Mobile Mouse 6000

There will be other things such as stickers, windows 7 mouse mats etc for attendance (but they’re at a limited number!)

You can download a copy of the handout below if you so wish!

You can also register on facbook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?invites&eid=174892697072 but it’s not compulsory.

Hope to see you all there!

Lucas.

Edit: Emails sent to B.IT and B.Education students, Will be posted on University Newsletter tomorrow!

Edit: Prize List!

tldnr: First MSP event – Monday 19th of October, in room ICT 3-34

Do you honestly have any clue as to how big a book is at 1040 pages? Well MS Press does because they’ve printed it. The Self Paced Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – Asp.net Application Development Training Kit is a behemoth of a book. I mean this thing is huge.

But that doesn’t mean it has to be read all at once. Like a lecturer once told me, “How do you eat an elephant?… A little bit at a time”, While it’s probably the lamest thing you’ll ever hear it is true. While it’s a huge book, everything is broken down into tiny bite sized pieces which are small enough for everyone to grasp. This is especially good for people on the go who  can’t afford to spend 2 hours reading or more than about half an hour. This way you can read a part. give it a go, then walk away and continue later.

Each chapter has a handy review for you at the end and a summary allowing you to go back and complete study notes!

The training kit is exactly that, it’ trains you for the Exam. Everything you’ll need to know for the exam is within this book, so it’ll still be useful even after you pass your exam as a handy reference guide.

And don’t be worried about the exam. The handy CD attached allows you do complete practice tests and includes all the sourcecode for the lessons.

The Resource CD also contains an eBook version of the book so you can take it with you when carting it around becomes an issue.

All in all this book is just about the exam, it just tells you everything you need for the exam. If you’re after a comprehensive breakdown of all the asp.net features then perhaps further books are required. If you just want to pass your exam, This is for you.

I highly recommend it and the others in the Training Kit Series as i head towards my MCTS exam during the University holidays!

Head over to www.mspress.com.au and pick yourself up a copy now.

tldnr: Go buy this book! www.mspress.com.au

Edit!

Thanks to my friends at MS Press i now have another copy of this book to give away!

Put a comment with your name here and attend my Event on Campus (Information to come) and I’ll random it off to one of those people on the day of the event!

Happy Posting!

Over the past few days I’ve noticed a DRAMATIC increase in visits and bandwidth usage, perhaps it’s time i start looking for a new host to meet demand, but anyways welcome!

This is the place to keep an eye on for future events at the uni, software and book give aways, other information on different products and just random bits and pieces from my life and current projects.

Over the next week or so i hope to be in a position to start handing out some love to Students so make sure you keep checking back every now and again, and passing this page onto your friends.

You can sign up on this page, my RSS, my twitter, my facebook or add me on msn (LucasMoffitt@Gmail.com)

See you guys soon!

Lucas.

tldnr: Welcome! Keep checking back for free stuff!

Yes, that’s right. Microsoft is STILL offering it’s Office 2007 ultimate for $75(AUD) to Uni, Tafe and some high school students.

The package includes:

Access 2007

• Outlook 2007
• Excel 2007  
• PowerPoint 2007
• Groove 2007
• Publisher 2007
• InfoPath 2007
• Word 2007
• OneNote 2007

It’s not bad considering if it was anyone but you the cost would be in the hundreds.

All you have to do is have a valid .edu.au address which you can check here

BUT WHY? you might ask.

Well besides from cost, ease of use, interoperability with other applications, business grade software. there is…

Referencing!

I firmly believe in students taking the transition from 2000 / 2003 if for no other reason than referencing…

Everyone hates it, everyone has to do it. and with the confusion and problems faced when using third party software packages why waste the time?

Word 2007 offers specific capabilities for creating a bank of references that can be used at any given time. this ensures that your assignment will always be ready on time.

Click here to see for yourself…