The team took part at Dare to be Digital 2016 over the weekend – one of Scotland’s most notable game-design competitions.
The team demonstrated their work at the event’s Dare Protoplay Festival, in Dundee. The festival was attended by members of the public, professional game developers, publishers and academics.
At the end of the festival, a number of awards were given out, including three nominations for a BAFTA Ones to Watch Award, which a team of GCU students just missed out on earlier this year.
The concept game devised by this year’s GCU team is called Rebound, an eight-player free-for-all based on the game of dodgeball.
Brian McDonald, Programme Leader and Lecturer in Games Software Development for the School of Engineering and Built Environment, said: “Dare to be Digital really is the premier games event in Scotland, so it is a fantastic showcase for our students’ ability.
“The Dare to be Digital Protoplay is a public event, so the game was played by people of all ages, from all walks of life. For them to be nominated for a BAFTA shows that both their idea and execution was great.”
The BAFTA-nominated team is comprised of second and third-year students from the Games Design, Games Software Development and Games Art & Animation programmes. The students involved are: Kieran Gallagher, Alex Macdiarmid, Mark Tempini, Andrew Graham, Isaac Pringle, Craig Russell and Alexandra Donaldson.
Andrew Graham from Team Rebound said: “We were just happy to be one of the finalist teams at Dare to be Digital. We genuinely didn’t expect to get the One to Watch nomination. I’m excited for the future now.”
The event is organised at Abertay University.
Professor Gregor White, Head of Abertay’s School of Arts, Media and Computer Games, said: “The standard of the entries to Dare to be Digital this year was outstanding, giving the judges a particularly hard task in choosing the three winners.
“However, Among the Stones, Pentagrab and Rebound are excellent games and deserve their nominations for the BAFTA Ones to Watch Award.
“Dare to be Digital is an internationally renowned competition and this year’s competitors have come to Dundee from all around the globe; that all three winning games are from Scotland is testament to the high standard of games design education at our universities.
“We expect that all of this year’s Dare to be Digital contestants, wherever they have joined us in Dundee from, will go on to make even more creative, captivating and inspiring games as they take their first steps into the industry.”
The BAFTA Ones to Watch winners will be announced at the British Academy Games Awards early in 2017.
Links