EPIC GAMES’ MAKE SOMETHING UNREAL LIVE 2013 REACHES GRAND FINALE AT GADGET SHOW LIVE
Four game development teams compete live on stage throughout the show to win commercial Unreal Engine 4 licence
CARY, N.C. – This year’s Make Something Unreal Live, run by Epic Games, Inc., reaches its climax at Gadget Show Live this week. The competition invites the most talented videogame developers amongst Europe’s students to create games using Epic’s Unreal Development Kit toolset. Of the 21 teams that originally entered the competition six months ago, four now remain to contest the final showdown over the next six days.
The four finalist teams must work to complete their games on the show floor, starting today, Tuesday April 2nd and finishing on the last day of the show, Sunday April 7th. Twice a day, each team must present progress on the game so far to the judging panel, to a selection of hand-picked industry gurus and to visitors to the show. The industry gurus include Peter Molyneux, Sports Interactive’s Miles Jacobson, Jon Hare of Sensible Soccer fame, and former DMA and RealTime Worlds founder Dave Jones.
All the games in the competition have been created according to the theme ‘Mendelian inheritance: genetics and genomics’ which was set for Make Something Unreal Live 2013 by the Wellcome Trust, which has also supported the contest and provided scientific mentors to the teams.
The finalists are:
Static Games, from Bournemouth University, seven students who take the player on a tour of “Mendel’s Farm”. In its day, Mendel’s Farm was a thriving and popular business which bred the best livestock and grew the best plants. However, over time the farm has deteriorated and Mendel is struggling to manage the farm by himself, and the player’s task is to restore it to its former glory.
Team Summit, from University of Abertay, with four members and a puzzle platform game, “Beings”, aimed at younger players. The central character in “Beings” is a mythical creature facing a series of challenges such as fire, ice, or snow. These obstacles can be overcome through selective breeding with a creature with the right genes - fire-retardant skin, for example.
Kairos Games, which comes from Staffordshire University and numbers nine students. Its title “Polymorph” is a third-person platform game in which a brave amorphous character and its ever-changing offspring evolve and adapt to take on the world around them, taking key evolutionary traits from other species.
Finally, Dead Shark Triplepunch is a team of 10 students from the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden. Its game, “Epigenesis”, is a fast-paced ball game played on rooftops with gravity cannons and supportive plants that spread across the playfield.
The teams will be judged by a panel which comprises Mike Gamble, European Territory Manager at Epic Games; Dr. Jo Twist, Chair of UKIE; Phil Wright, Head of Content Management at NVIDIA; Iain Dodgeon, Broadcast and Games Manager at the Wellcome Trust; and Matt Hill, Deputy Editor of T3 magazine.
Visitors to the show will also get a chance to have their say by voting for their favourite games of the four, using forms available on Epic Games’ stand at the show.
On the final day of the exhibition, the overall winning team will be announced and awarded with a commercial Unreal Engine 4 licence for PC digital distribution.
“The stage is set for an exciting and closely fought climax to this year’s competition,” says Mike Gamble. “We’ve seen incredibly high-quality work already in the competition and it will be fascinating to see how these four games develop further over the course of the show. “The students have all demonstrated an astonishing commitment to the contest and we at Epic are very proud of what they have managed to achieve with the Unreal Development Kit so far.” Iain Dodgeon from the Wellcome Trust, and also a member of the judging panel, said, “The finalists all promise to produce entertaining and compelling games, so choosing one winner will be a challenge. An important factor will be to see how the teams have integrated the science behind the theme, into the gameplay. Best of luck to all the teams in this crucial last stage of the competition!”
To follow the progress of MSUL 2013, visit http://www.facebook.com/MakeSomethingUnreal/. Video footage from the presentation day is available on the Unreal Engine channel on YouTube.
Over the past decade Epic’s Make Something Unreal game development competitions have awarded millions of dollars’ worth of cash and prizes, enabled the release of numerous commercially successful computer and video games and jumpstarted many careers.
About Unreal Engine
Developed by Epic Games, the award-winning Unreal Engine is known for its cutting-edge graphics, best-of-breed toolset and scalability across major platforms. Operating on nine platforms, including PC, consoles and mobile devices, Unreal Engine 3 is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for creating high-quality games, applications, training simulations, 3D visualizations, digital films and animated entertainment. Powering hundreds of games and integrated with two dozen leading middleware technologies, Unreal Engine 3 holds more than 20 technology awards, including seven Game Developer Front Line Awards and five Develop Industry Excellence Awards. The Unreal Engine also holds a seat in the Front Line Awards Hall of Fame. Epic recently revealed Unreal Engine 4, winner of multiple Best of E3 2012 awards, which offers unprecedented workflow improvements and graphical capabilities that provide unparalleled accessibility for developers building the next generation of games and applications. For additional information, please visit http://www.unrealengine.com.
About Epic Games
Established in 1991, Epic Games, Inc. develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company is responsible for the bestselling “Unreal” series of games, the blockbuster “Gears of War” franchise and the groundbreaking “Infinity Blade” line of mobile games. Epic’s award-winning Unreal Engine technology has won dozens of awards and is available for licensing. Epic is continually recruiting top talent for its studios located in North Carolina, Washington, Utah, Maryland, Poland, Korea and Japan. Additional information about Epic can be obtained at http://www.epicgames.com.
About Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust’s breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/
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