Lucas Moffitt

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.

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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

Want to learn how to make your own video games for Windows PC and Xbox? Already know a little  about game development but heard that XNA can make your life a lot easier? Currently playing around with XNA and want to do something more with it? Answer yes to any of these questions and this camp is for you.

The Imagine Cup Game Dev Camp will run Friday December 18 through to Sunday December 20 2009 and will be a nonstop experience full of gaming, development, learning and fun. You’ll hear about Imagine Cup and how you can help change the world through technology, learn about XNA and how it makes development for Windows and Xbox as straightforward as possible for both 2D and 3D games.

You’ll also team up with others who are as keen to get into game development as you are, potentially forming up proper partnerships to enter Imagine Cup, the world’s biggest technology competition for students.

And, best of all, it’s free to attend. And, even better, if you’re one of the first 50 students to register by December 8, Microsoft will cover your accommodation as well – you just need to get to the event, and we’ll look after the rest! How good is that!?

Prizes, gaming, learning game dev, fun, teamwork, challenges, all rolled up into one 3 day experience. Sounds good to me!

If you’re NOT a student, please read this:
You are more than welcome to attend the Game Dev Camp if you’re not a student but please note that you will need to book your own accommodation so that we can make sure the students have an opportunity to attend. Also, there will be student-specific activities around Imagine Cup that you might not get as much value out of.

The game development sessions though – they’re all good! Come and be a part of this three day experience into the world of XNA.

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