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Game Design Contest For Teens

Posted by Zonk on from the the-next-tetris dept.

Via the Guardian's gameblog, a BBC "Blast" sponsored game design contest for teenagers. They're looking for new ideas from folks ages 13 - 19, and the winning design will be made into a game for the Blast site. They also have a nifty (though flash based) Game Quiz which covers not only the history of games but also game design issues as well.

31 comments

  1. Damned age limit by Xarius · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    <offtopic>
    I turn 20 in two days. Curses!
    </offtopic>

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    C17H21NO4
  2. That'd be something I'd like to see by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think it'd be entertaining to wade through people's game ideas. Get a general feel for what people find is fun, and what they want to see being played. I bet the judges suck and will pick some lame winner, but mining the data itself would be quite entertaining I think.

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    1. Re:That'd be something I'd like to see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet the judges suck and will pick some lame winner

      "Games legend Peter Molyneux is judging the entries."
      He still could pick a crap entry though.

    2. Re:That'd be something I'd like to see by CrazyJim2 · · Score: 1

      Isn't this only to make a Flash game? I'd enter, but my game ideas are to complicated for Flash. I will need true A.I. and Tekken-like FPS MMORPG action to reveal the masterful game design to the player. Being a world class game designer, I know that people only want to play games that are good. So why make a bad game? If properly marketed, a good game could make billions. I used to predict that games would be popular, back in 1983..err 1982. Who's laughing now!

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    3. Re:That'd be something I'd like to see by Meagermanx · · Score: 1

      Yes, I can tell you're an acomplished game designer from the brief sampling of ideas you have lain out before us. I mean, when you think about it, why wouldn't a multi-billion dollar company want to invest the majority of their revinue in your great ideas for games? Hell, it's not like they wouldn't make it all back with billions the game would produce, right? Boy, this industry confuses me...

  3. Nifty. by Bongo+Bill · · Score: 1

    I gotta get in on this. I could make a good game.

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    ...but is it art?
    1. Re:Nifty. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... but will it run on Linux?

    2. Re:Nifty. by Meagermanx · · Score: 1

      They will just pick the "A puzzle game... With blocks... That fall" entry. If I submit my Doom 7 ripoff design document, it wont be picked, even though it would make a better game than whatever crappy platformer or space shooter they choose. I say if you're gonna have a game design contests, agree to place millions in the manufacturing of the game! Really let the "teens" go wild and come up with some great game ideas!

  4. Quiz problems by andy753421 · · Score: 1

    There was one question where it had the same answer twice, and unless I'm mistaken studio max is used for more 3d stuff than flash. Those are just a couple things I noticed.

    1. Re:Quiz problems by RevKa · · Score: 1

      the answers were stimulation, and simulation. in reference to gran turismo. i still had to sit and wonder which one was correct though.

  5. This does not belong on a tech website by JFitzsimmons · · Score: 1, Troll

    "Your task is to come up with a great idea for an online game inspired by art, film, music, writing or dance. We're looking for a game offering about 5-10 minutes of game play. The winning game will be made using Flash. You don't need technical or illustrative skills to take part but you do need to be passionate about games."

    Wake me up when they're offering real prizes for real games made with my real skills, instead of lame teenager stereotyping.

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    1. Re:This does not belong on a tech website by cgenman · · Score: 3, Funny

      If you've got real skillz, you can win real prizes here.

      In the mean time, stop complaining that it doesn't reach Slashdot's high standards of journalistic quality and let the kids have their fun.

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    2. Re:This does not belong on a tech website by rbullo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What was wrong with "Health Concerns of CRT Monitors?" I felt that was quite enlightening.

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    3. Re:This does not belong on a tech website by AllUsernamesAreGone · · Score: 1

      I'm trying to work out whether you're being serious (which is fine) or making a very clever pun on enlightening WRT monitors...

    4. Re:This does not belong on a tech website by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm trying to work out whether you're being serious (which is fine) or making a very clever pun on enlightening WRT monitors...

      He could be doing both at the same time, and thus really earn an "Ironic" mod!

    5. Re:This does not belong on a tech website by rbullo · · Score: 1

      Woah. I didn't even think of that.

      Okay, so the punless wording: "I felt that it was very informative/insightful/funny." Well, not so much funny. The sentence just didn't seem complete without it.

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  6. Argue on the quiz. by -kertrats- · · Score: 3, Informative

    The quiz asks 'Which company has sold the most game consoles?', and answers 'Sony' rather than 'Nintendo'. does this not factor in the 110 million Game Boys? Dumb.

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    1. Re:Argue on the quiz. by Rallion · · Score: 1

      Yeah, the first two quizzes were good, if incredibly easy, but that last one was pretty problematic, with at least two debatable/wrong answers.

    2. Re:Argue on the quiz. by Doomstalk · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Indeed. Their question "Which company makes the most money?", for example, was really ambiguous? Are we talking the whole company, or just the gaming divisions? In what time period? If you can't make it clear in a single sentence, then it shouldn't be a question. Oh, and I thought their history quiz was a joke. Games like Devil May Cry are far too new for a history quiz.

    3. Re:Argue on the quiz. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also learned that Flash is a 3D development tool (not Studio Max) and only 30 people work in the games industry in all of the UK.

    4. Re:Argue on the quiz. by cgenman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It also asks "Realistic detail is added to 3-D games by:" and the listed answer is texture mapping. Which is not a bad answer, except that the equally valid answer "lighting" is also listed. Now we can get into a CG war, but vertex shading / artificial lighting generally predates texture mapping on consumer 3D games as a way of adding depth, and a lot of the more advanced bump mapping and normal mapping are lighting-based and are what really pushes games into "realistic detail." In other words, there are multiple valid answers.

      And what do you call what keeps a character from walking into a wall? At my company, it's "clipping," "collision detection," or "BSP's." The listed answer is, of course, "clash detection," which explains why my games keep clashing.

      Making 3D scenes look like a comic strip? Cell shading. Apparently not, as this is looking for "toon shading," whatever that is.

      Maybe terminology is different in England. Maybe the Umbrella Corporation really is called the Umbrella Syndicate in England. Or Guile's name is spelled with 2 l's. Maybe he picked up the other letter when "modding" lost a D.

      "In terms of good design, 3D scenes are designed to have..." A: A high polygon count, B: A low polygon count, C: A very high polygon count. The correct answer is D: exactly as many polys as a system can push without upsetting the other processes or dropping below 30 / 60 FPS.

      "Most games are developed with C++ and GL. What does GL stand for?" Apparently there is a new language sweeping England called "Graphics Library," which may or may not encompass the sound libraries, controller libraries, physics engines, animation engines, Open GL, ActiveX, etc.

      "Who comes up with the initial visual idea for a game?" Correct answer: Concept Artist, or possibly Publisher. Answer that gets you points: Developer. Of what? Apparently Developer of Concept Art.

      "Approximately how much does it cost to develop a top of the range console game?" Pounds had better be worth a lot more than dollars, because 3 million is mid range either way.

      Considering the number of development houses that EA has, calling them strictly a publisher is a bit of a misnomer.

      A "marketing manager" manages marketers. The person responsible for advertising a game is a "marketing director."

      And, of course, there is the listing of Flash instead of Studio Max as a 3D package, or that Sony sold more consoles than Nintendo, or that only 30 people work in the UK gaming industry (pretty interesting for a country that the quiz says has 400 companies.)

      I'm sure the QA engineers at my company would be annoyed by the question about people who are "paid to play games all day."

      Speaking of annoyed, "You can protect your IP by getting people to sign NDA's. What does NDA stand for?" "When making games, you need to protect your IP. What does IP stand for?" I Presume you mean copyright and trade secrets. Or It Perhaps could be regular secrets / the element of surprise.

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      The ______ Agenda
    5. Re:Argue on the quiz. by Scarblac · · Score: 2, Funny

      Or It Perhaps could be regular secrets / the element of surprise.

      And fear. And a fanatical devotion to the Pope.

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  7. Wait For It. by Threatis · · Score: 1

    now to see how many porn based games come out of this.

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    "The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars" - Johnny Cash
  8. And what a prize! by SillyHatsOnly · · Score: 2, Funny
    YOU can be the winner of a temporary and unpaid pre-internship*, where you sign away the rights to your award winning** idea. After that, you can even write your own post mortem. SWEET!

    *Pre-internship requires 60-80hr weeks.

    **Meta critic must be above 95% or you are responsible for fees associated with paying off the reviewers.

  9. Cel shading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For the love of God, CEL SHADING. ONE L! Animation cels, not cells!

    1. Re:Cel shading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry. I must have been thinking of Sony's Cell processor.

  10. Accurate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Accurate, isn't it?

    "Which of these is a 3D software tool?"

    My answer: "Studio Max" - UUURNK! INCORRECT
    The actual answer: "Flash"

    "Who comes up with the initial game designs?"
    My answer: "Concept artist" - UUURNK! INCORRECT
    The actual answer: "The developer"

    What a load of crap. I would love to make a game for those guys. Just a stick and a rag in Flash so they could play "Wash the fat lad".

  11. Minor addendum by Wraithfighter · · Score: 1
    The contest is for UK residents only.

    Which sucks.

    Oh, and by the way, if they're talking about the initial concept of the game, such as setting, genre, features, then that would likely fall under the purview of the developers, not the concept artists.

    Sure, if were're talking about designing the landscapes or the characters, then concept artists come into play, but the first steps are taken by the developers themselves.

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    Beyond the Polygons : Because 50,000 polygo
  12. I remember... by chrisbeatty · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...there was a similar competition in the early 90's to design a game.

    It ended up with the game Worms being created.

    I know the industry has changed quite a lot since then but I would like to see something similar happen if a really good idea for a game comes up!!

  13. UK by Luigi30 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Don't bother. It's UK-only like everything else on the internet.

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