PerGames 2006

3rd International Workshop on Pervasive Gaming Applications held in Dublin, Ireland, on May 7th 2006 in conjunction with 4th Intl. Conf. on Pervasive Computing (PERVASIVE 2006.

http://www.pergames.de

PerGames 2006

The 3rd International Workshop on Pervasive Gaming Applications will be held in Dublin, Ireland, on May 7th 2006 in conjunction with 4th Intl. Conf. on Pervasive Computing (PERVASIVE 2006).
Full call for papers below.

********

In addition to printed and online proceedings, selected paper submissions will be published in the prestigious ACM Journal COMPUTERS IN ENTERTAINMENT (CIE) – www.acm.org/pubs/cie.html

The PerGames series of international workshops addresses the design and technical issues of bringing computer entertainment back to the real world
with pervasive games. Previous PerGames events were held in Vienna (2004)and Munich (2005) and attracted researchers and practitioners from all over the world.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

* Mixed reality installations

* Innovative input devices (Eye-Toys, Magic Wands etc)

* Augmented tabletop games

* The physical world as a game board

* Social experience vs technological experience

* Emerging game concepts

* Augmented reality games

* (Mis-)use of enabling technologies

* Mobile computing entertainment

* Experience design for heterogeneous devices

* Business cases for pervasive computing games

* Social implications and social protocols

* Privacy and awareness issues

* Mixing games and serious applications

Participants will be invited based on a research paper or a live demonstration submitted prior to the workshop.

Research Papers

Each research paper should be six to ten pages and should address a relevant topic for pervasive gaming applications. Participants will be chosen on the quality/ originality of their submission.

Live Demonstrations

Given the success of the live demonstrations at previous PerGames events, we now explicitly call for live demonstrations as an alternative category of contribution to the research papers. Depending on the nature of submitted live demonstrations we aim at a ratio of 3:1 between paper presentations and live demonstrations. Please contact the organizers for discussing your live demonstration proposal.

Student Participation

Graduate students are also invited to participate in the workshop. Students
are not required (but allowed) to submit a research paper. Students should,
however, submit a one-page-paper outlining their research interests and
their motivation to participate in the workshop.

Please visit the workshop site http://www.pergames.de for information about participation and submitting research papers.

Submission deadline is February 16, 2005.

Workshop Website: http://www.pergames.de

Pervasive Conference Website: http://www.pervasive2006.org

Organizers:

Carsten Magerkurth: Fraunhofer IPSI, AMBIENTE division, Darmstadt, Germany

Matthew Chalmers: Dep. of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Staffan Björk: The Interactive Institute: GAME Studio, Göteborg, Sweden

Léonie Schäfer: EUC – DG Information Society & Media, Brussels, Belgium

To contact the organizers, please send email to: 2006@pergames.de

PerGames 2006

The 3rd International Workshop on Pervasive Gaming Applications will be held in Dublin, Ireland, on May 7th 2006 in conjunction with 4th Intl. Conf. on Pervasive Computing (PERVASIVE 2006).
Full call for papers below.

********

In addition to printed and online proceedings, selected paper submissions will be published in the prestigious ACM Journal COMPUTERS IN ENTERTAINMENT (CIE) – www.acm.org/pubs/cie.html

The PerGames series of international workshops addresses the design and technical issues of bringing computer entertainment back to the real world
with pervasive games. Previous PerGames events were held in Vienna (2004)and Munich (2005) and attracted researchers and practitioners from all over the world.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to):

* Mixed reality installations

* Innovative input devices (Eye-Toys, Magic Wands etc)

* Augmented tabletop games

* The physical world as a game board

* Social experience vs technological experience

* Emerging game concepts

* Augmented reality games

* (Mis-)use of enabling technologies

* Mobile computing entertainment

* Experience design for heterogeneous devices

* Business cases for pervasive computing games

* Social implications and social protocols

* Privacy and awareness issues

* Mixing games and serious applications

Participants will be invited based on a research paper or a live demonstration submitted prior to the workshop.

Research Papers

Each research paper should be six to ten pages and should address a relevant topic for pervasive gaming applications. Participants will be chosen on the quality/ originality of their submission.

Live Demonstrations

Given the success of the live demonstrations at previous PerGames events, we now explicitly call for live demonstrations as an alternative category of contribution to the research papers. Depending on the nature of submitted live demonstrations we aim at a ratio of 3:1 between paper presentations and live demonstrations. Please contact the organizers for discussing your live demonstration proposal.

Student Participation

Graduate students are also invited to participate in the workshop. Students
are not required (but allowed) to submit a research paper. Students should,
however, submit a one-page-paper outlining their research interests and
their motivation to participate in the workshop.

Please visit the workshop site http://www.pergames.de for information about participation and submitting research papers.

Submission deadline is February 16, 2005.

Workshop Website: http://www.pergames.de

Pervasive Conference Website: http://www.pervasive2006.org

Organizers:

Carsten Magerkurth: Fraunhofer IPSI, AMBIENTE division, Darmstadt, Germany

Matthew Chalmers: Dep. of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, Scotland

Staffan Björk: The Interactive Institute: GAME Studio, Göteborg, Sweden

Léonie Schäfer: EUC – DG Information Society & Media, Brussels, Belgium

To contact the organizers, please send email to: 2006@pergames.de

Eirplay games today launched play.ie, a digital media entertainment portal. The portal features both web and mobile entertainment content for the Irish market.

Games are free to play and view and Peter Lynch, CEO of Eirplay, has offered a special discount to gd.ie readers. If you enter ‘ds’ after any order you get 50% off standard content and €2 off premium (e.g. a text order would be PLAYNOW 1001 ds )

Peter Lynch said today that “Play.ie responds to the demands in the local market for Irish themed Web and mobile content. We have new characters like Ogie, Propman and Penno; all based on Irish sports, events and news. Unlike other mobile portals, we have a strict policy of no subscriptions, registrations or clubs. This means that our visitors are only charged for what they ordered; there will be no weekly billing messages or annoying costly texts. The site will be updated each week and our aim is to provide an opportunity for Irish digital media designers, game developers and students to showcase their work.”

Play.ie was designed and developed by EirplayGames. It is hosted and maintained using the company’s proprietary mobile content portal technology.

More information:
Peter Lynch
EirplayGames
Digital Depot
Dublin 8

Web: www.eirplaygames.com & www.play.ie

Eirplay games today launched play.ie, a digital media entertainment portal. The portal features both web and mobile entertainment content for the Irish market.

Games are free to play and view and Peter Lynch, CEO of Eirplay, has offered a special discount to gd.ie readers. If you enter ‘ds’ after any order you get 50% off standard content and €2 off premium (e.g. a text order would be PLAYNOW 1001 ds )

Peter Lynch said today that “Play.ie responds to the demands in the local market for Irish themed Web and mobile content. We have new characters like Ogie, Propman and Penno; all based on Irish sports, events and news. Unlike other mobile portals, we have a strict policy of no subscriptions, registrations or clubs. This means that our visitors are only charged for what they ordered; there will be no weekly billing messages or annoying costly texts. The site will be updated each week and our aim is to provide an opportunity for Irish digital media designers, game developers and students to showcase their work.”

Play.ie was designed and developed by EirplayGames. It is hosted and maintained using the company’s proprietary mobile content portal technology.

More information:
Peter Lynch
EirplayGames
Digital Depot
Dublin 8

Web: www.eirplaygames.com & www.play.ie

A call for position papers is out for a workshop on Player Centered Game Design to take place in Montreal, Canada on the 23rd of April. Deadline for proposals is 15th of Dec. Full call below.

******

Videogame design is still commonly implemented by applying esoteric heuristics gathered over many years of professional experience. A recent review of game developers found very few consider the target audience during the design process, and instead design products
for their own amusement (Sykes and Patterson, 2004).

Even though in recent years user-centered design (UCD) processes have been taking shape within game companies such as Microsoft Game Studios, researchers are still breaking ground by finding novel ways to apply these methods to games during all phases of development. As with productivity software, UCD administered too late during game development will often illuminate problems that cannot be resolved, due to the excessive costs of applying changes late in the production phase.

Applying UCD early and often in the process is believed to yield the best results.

We therefore invite papers which explore the application of UCD to support the entire game design process, including: concept design, pre-production,
production and post-production. The workshop aims to deliver a practitioner’s guide to player-centered game
design, which:

– Identifies practical UCD techniques that support videogame design

– Shares practitioners hands-on experience of applying UCD to the game design process

The workshop will be limited to 12 participants. Participation is encouraged from a range of disciplines including Game Design, Computer Science, and User Research.

The main criterion is that the
paper should primarily address the use of UCD to support one or more stages of videogame design.

Please submit a three-page position paper (in pdf format) to jon.sykes@gcal.ac.uk.

Papers must be
received by 15th December 2005.

Participants will be notified of selection by 6th February 2006.

CO-CHAIRS

Jonathan Sykes, eMotion Lab, Glasgow Caledonian University

Melissa Federoff, Games User Research, Microsoft Game Studios

Venue: Montreal, Canada http://www.chi2006.org/
Dates: 23 April 2006

CHI 2006 Workshop: Player-Centered Game Design

Venue: Montreal, Canada http://www.chi2006.org/

Dates: 23 April 2006

A call for position papers is out for a workshop on Player Centered Game Design to take place in Montreal, Canada on the 23rd of April. Deadline for proposals is 15th of Dec. Full call below.

******

Videogame design is still commonly implemented by applying esoteric heuristics gathered over many years of professional experience. A recent review of game developers found very few consider the target audience during the design process, and instead design products
for their own amusement (Sykes and Patterson, 2004).

Even though in recent years user-centered design (UCD) processes have been taking shape within game companies such as Microsoft Game Studios, researchers are still breaking ground by finding novel ways to apply these methods to games during all phases of development. As with productivity software, UCD administered too late during game development will often illuminate problems that cannot be resolved, due to the excessive costs of applying changes late in the production phase.

Applying UCD early and often in the process is believed to yield the best results.

We therefore invite papers which explore the application of UCD to support the entire game design process, including: concept design, pre-production,
production and post-production. The workshop aims to deliver a practitioner’s guide to player-centered game
design, which:

– Identifies practical UCD techniques that support videogame design

– Shares practitioners hands-on experience of applying UCD to the game design process

The workshop will be limited to 12 participants. Participation is encouraged from a range of disciplines including Game Design, Computer Science, and User Research.

The main criterion is that the
paper should primarily address the use of UCD to support one or more stages of videogame design.

Please submit a three-page position paper (in pdf format) to jon.sykes@gcal.ac.uk.

Papers must be
received by 15th December 2005.

Participants will be notified of selection by 6th February 2006.

CO-CHAIRS

Jonathan Sykes, eMotion Lab, Glasgow Caledonian University

Melissa Federoff, Games User Research, Microsoft Game Studios

Venue: Montreal, Canada http://www.chi2006.org/
Dates: 23 April 2006

Forfás today published its report, Benchmarking Ireland’s Broadband Performance, which assesses Ireland’s competitiveness in terms of broadband availability, take-up, quality and choice.

For those of us in the south still struggling to get decent connections with decent speeds it is not surprising that comparatively Rep. of Ireland is still underperforming with regard to broadband. Availability is still a key issue.

Key Findings of the report are:

* Broadband Availability
At the end of Q2 2005, Ireland ranked 25th out of the 32 countries for broadband take-up. When the comparator group is limited to the 21 countries benchmarked in the 2004 study, Ireland’s position has actually deteriorated, from 18th out of 21 in 2004 to 19th out of 21 in 2005.

* Broadband Costs
The cost of entry-level DSL in Ireland has decreased significantly since the launch of services in 2002. Based on the amortised monthly costs for 1Mbit/s DSL, Ireland currently ranks 7th cheapest of 32 countries benchmarked.

* SME Broadband take-up
In terms of broadband take-up by SMEs, out of 20 EU countries included, Ireland ranks 17th out of 20 for take-up by companies with a workforce of between 10-49 employees and 19th out of 20 for take-up by companies employing 50-249 people.

* Broadband Availability Notwithstanding significant improvements in DSL availability in Ireland since its launch in 2002, DSL coverage in Ireland based, on population, stands at 72%, making it the second lowest of the EU-15 countries.

* Quality of Service (bandwidth capacity/choice of advanced products)
A broadband innovation index, used to measure quality of service (bandwidth capacity/choice of advanced products) performance across the benchmark countries, ranks Ireland 21st out of 30 countries on this important indictor.

Read the press release: http://www.forfas.ie/news.asp?page_id=361

Download the report: http://www.forfas.ie/publications/forfas051205/index.html

Forfás today published its report, Benchmarking Ireland’s Broadband Performance, which assesses Ireland’s competitiveness in terms of broadband availability, take-up, quality and choice.

For those of us in the south still struggling to get decent connections with decent speeds it is not surprising that comparatively Rep. of Ireland is still underperforming with regard to broadband. Availability is still a key issue.

Key Findings of the report are:

* Broadband Availability
At the end of Q2 2005, Ireland ranked 25th out of the 32 countries for broadband take-up. When the comparator group is limited to the 21 countries benchmarked in the 2004 study, Ireland’s position has actually deteriorated, from 18th out of 21 in 2004 to 19th out of 21 in 2005.

* Broadband Costs
The cost of entry-level DSL in Ireland has decreased significantly since the launch of services in 2002. Based on the amortised monthly costs for 1Mbit/s DSL, Ireland currently ranks 7th cheapest of 32 countries benchmarked.

* SME Broadband take-up
In terms of broadband take-up by SMEs, out of 20 EU countries included, Ireland ranks 17th out of 20 for take-up by companies with a workforce of between 10-49 employees and 19th out of 20 for take-up by companies employing 50-249 people.

* Broadband Availability Notwithstanding significant improvements in DSL availability in Ireland since its launch in 2002, DSL coverage in Ireland based, on population, stands at 72%, making it the second lowest of the EU-15 countries.

* Quality of Service (bandwidth capacity/choice of advanced products)
A broadband innovation index, used to measure quality of service (bandwidth capacity/choice of advanced products) performance across the benchmark countries, ranks Ireland 21st out of 30 countries on this important indictor.

Read the press release: http://www.forfas.ie/news.asp?page_id=361

Download the report: http://www.forfas.ie/publications/forfas051205/index.html

DemonWare has been selected as a finalist for the Game Developer Magazine Frontline award in the middleware category.

As far as we can see they have been both nominated and selected as a finalist..now that we know how that works!

For more see http://www.gamesindustry.biz/press_release.php?aid=13308 and http://www.demonware.net/news.html

DemonWare has been selected as a finalist for the Game Developer Magazine Frontline award in the middleware category.

As far as we can see they have been both nominated and selected as a finalist..now that we know how that works!

For more see http://www.gamesindustry.biz/press_release.php?aid=13308 and http://www.demonware.net/news.html

CGAMES’2005, the 7th International Conference on Computer Games: AI, Animation, Mobile, Educational and Serious Games will be held in Angouleme, France from the 28-30th November 2005.

To register see: www.cgames.org

The provisional programme for CGAMES’2005 the 7th International Conference on Computer Games: AI, Animation, Mobile, Educational and Serious Games forthcoming in Angouleme, France from the 28-30th November 2005 has been announced. I see there is some Irish representation in the papers to be presented on the Tues. Chris Crawford is one of the keynotes.

To register see: www.cgames.org

******

Preliminary Programme

Monday 28 November 2005

10-10 30 am Room Nemo Opening Session

10h30-11h30 Room Nemo Invited Paper

Social and Physical Interactive Paradigms for Mixed Reality Entertainment

Prof Adrian David Cheock, National Singapore University

11h30-12h45 Room Nemo Augmented Reality Games

Determining Head Orientation in Real-time Video Input
Lisa Spencer and Ratan K. Gupta, University of Central Florida, USA

A Video-Based Fast 3D Face Modeling System
Peng Lu, Yangsheng Wang, Jian Yao and Bin Ding, Institute of Automation,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Augmented Reality Board Game Using Vision techniques and PGA
Kirak Kim, Anjin Park, Kwangjin Hong and Keechul Jung
HCI Lab., School of Media, College of Information Science, Soongsil
University, Korea

Immersive AR Ping-pong Game on Hemispherical Screen
Sangkyung Lee, Dongwuk Kyoung and Keechul Jung, HCI Lab., School of Media,
College of Information Science, Soongsil University, Korea

12h45-14h15 Lunch

14h15-15h30 Room Nemo Game Architecture -1

Replication Model for Designing Multi-Player Games Interactions
Anne Gwen Bosser, University of Paris 7, France

An Easy-to-use Platform Aimed at the Development of MMORPG and Demanding
Networked Applications
Alain Becam, Trans-Reality Game Laboratory, University of Gotland, Sweden

Audio and Video Communication in Multiplayer Games through Generic Networking Middleware Maarten Wijnants and Wim Lamotte, Hasselt University, Expertise Centre for Digital Media, Belgium

14h15-15h30 Room 1 Games and Education -1

The Relationship Between the Avatar’s Behavioral Fidelity and Social Interaction in 3d Collaborative Learning-based Games Samah Mansour, Carolyn Rude-Parkins, College of Education and, Human Development, Louisville, Kentuky, USA, and Mostafa E-Said, Grand Valley State University, USA

Behavioural Changes in Students Participating in an Upper Secondary Education Program Using Unmodified Computer Games as the Primary Teaching Tool Mats Wiklund, Dept of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University,
Sweden

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Use of Commercial Games for Educational Purposes: Will Today’s Teacher Candidates Use Them In The Future? Aysegul Bakar, Yavuz Inal and Kursat Cagiltay, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

Freinet and Counter Strike: Machinima and Mod-Games in the Educational and Social Inclusion Process Roger Tavares, PUC-SP, SENAC-SP, São Paulo, Brazil

15h30-15h45 Coffee Break

15h45-17h Room Calvo Mobile Games – 1

GASP: an Open Source Gaming Service Middleware Dedicated to Multiplayer Games for J2ME Based Mobile Phones Françoise Duclos, Bouygues Telecom, Michel Simatic, INT, Romain Pellerin, Eric Gressier Soudans, CEDRIC/CNAM and Fabien Delpiano, Infraworld, Paris, France

Behavioral Assumption-Based Prediction for High-Latency Hiding in Mobile Games Giliam J.P. de Carpentier and Rafael Bidarra, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

A Game Engine for Mobile Phones
Matthew Bancroft, David Al-Dabass, Caroline Langensiepen and Richard Cant School of Computing & Informatics, Nottingham Trent University, UK

15h45-17h Room 1 Game Design -1

Driving Stories, Benefits of Properties Analysis A. Prigent, R. Champagnat and P. Estraillier L3i, University of La Rochelle, France

First Player Shooter Game Levels Analysis Framework
Rémi Cozot, IRISA, France

Game Level Design using Music Feature Extraction Martin Ogg and Henry S Fortuna, University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, UK

17h- 18h30 Formal Inauguration of the ENJMIN

18h30-20h Room Nemo Invited Paper

Chris Crawford from USA in a Video Conference

20h30- 22h Dinner at Angoulême Town Hall

Tuesday 29 November 2005

9h30-10h30 Room Nemo Invited Paper

Simulation and Advanced Gaming Environments: Exploring Their Learning Impacts
Prof David Kaufman, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

10h30-10h45 Room Nemo Coffee Break

10h45-12h Artificial Intelligence -1

Symbiotic Learning in Commercial Computer Games Sander Bakkes and Pieter Spronck, IKAT, Universiteit Maastricht, The Netherlands

Dance: A Framework for Multi-Agent Choreographic Coordination in Games Rodrigo B. V. Lima, Patrícia A. Restelli Tedesco, University Federal of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil, and Geber L. Ramalho, University Federal of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil & Université de Paris 6, France

A Flight Simulator Dogfight Agent for Real-Time Decision-Making in the Cockpit David Solinger, Patrick Ehlert and Leon Rothkrantz, Department of Media and
Knowledge Engineering, University of Delft, The Netherlands

12h45-13h Room Nemo Game Architecture -2

Towards Procedural Creation of Character behaviour in an Interactive Drama System Keisuka Tanaka and Ruck Thawonmas, Intelligent computer Entertainment Laboratory, Ristsumeikam University, Japan

The ExtReAM Library: Extensible Real-time Animations for Multiple Platforms Pieter Jorissen, Jeroen Dierckx and Wim Lamotte, IBBT, Expertise Centre for
Digital Media, Diepenbeek, Belgium

Fast Event Ordering and Perceptive Consistency in Time Sensitive Distributed Multiplayer Games Nicolas Bouillot, CEDRIC/CNAM, Paris, France

13h-14h30 Lunch

14h30-15h45 Room Calvo Game and Education 2

Socioconstructivist Framegame Design: Theoretical and Empirical Considerations Margot Kaszap, Sylvie Rail and Michael Power, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

The Enjeux-S Environment for Real-Time Online Educational Games Wilfried Probst, Université du Québec, Montréal, Canada, Louise Sauvé, Louis Villardier,, Michael Power, Télé-université / SAVIE, Québec, Canada, David Kaufman, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, and Victor Sánchez Arias, Laboratorio Nacional de Informática Avanzada, Veracruz, Mexico

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Learning Games Programming with “Dalek World”
Bryan Duggan, Hugh McAtamney and Fredrick Japhet Mtenzi, School of Computing, Dublin University, Rep. of Ireland

The Role of Computer Games in Bridging the Digital Divide
Don Anderson and Dennis Jacobi, Intellas Group, Louisville, Kentuky, USA,
and Adel Elmaghraby, University of Louisville, Kentuky, USA

14h30-15h45 Room 1 Game Design -2

Game Theory and Video Game, a New Approach of Game Theory to Analyze and Conceive Game Systems Emmanuel Guadiola, Ubisoft and CEDRIC/CNAM and Stéphane Natkin, CEDRIC/CNAM,
France

Creating Disordered Scenes
Michelle Haskard, Richard Cant and David Al-Dabass, School of Computing and Informatics, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Experimentation of a Game Design Methodology for Mobile Phones Games Viviane Gal and Alexandre Topol, CEDRIC/CNAM, France

15h45-16h Coffee Break

16h-17h15 Room Calvo Game Architecture and Computer Graphics 1

TREN: LOD and Paging of Large Height-fields by Means of BTSTs Abel M. Bernabeu, Francisco J. Gallego, Juan A. Puchol and Faraón Llorens, Departamento de Ciencia de la Computaci´on e Inteligencia Artificial,
University of Alicante, Spain

A Balanced Approach to Character Motion
Marek Mittmann, Adam Szarowicz and Jaroslaw Francik, Faculty of Computing,
Information Systems and Mathematics, Kingston University, Surrey, UK

16h 17h15 Room 1 Artificial Intelligence 2

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Dynamic Group Behaviour Through Planning for Game Agent AI
Andrew Dai, University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory, Cambridge, UK

Genetic Algorithms for Team Battle Tactics Ben Sizer, David Al-Dabass and Richard Cant, School of Computing & Informatics, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Computer Games Will Rewrite our Challenges in Artificial Intelligence. Screaming Racers F. J. Gallego, A. M. Bernabeu García and Faraón Llorens, Departamento de Ciencia de la Computación e IA, University of Alicante, Spain

Poster Presentations

Online Action Prediction for Interactive Computer Games Thomas Hartley, School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wolverhampton, UK

Towards Integrating Ogre3d with FDK
Pawan Kumar, School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wolverhampton, UK

An Architecture for Implementing BDI Agents in Virtual Environments N. P. Davies, School of Computing and Information Technology, University of
Wolverhampton, UK

17h15-17h30 Tea Break

17h30-19h Room Nemo Presentation of Winning Games and Animations
of e-Magiciens

Wednesday 30 November 2005

9h30-10h30 Room Calvo Invited Paper

Natural Interactive and Fit Entertainment Prof Yansen Wang, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

10h30-10h45 Coffee Break

10h45-12h15 Room Calvo Game Architecture and Computer Graphics-2

IIWU : IF I WERE YOU A Simple Gameplay Unmanageable by Game Engines Yann Creach and Alexandre Topol, CEDRIC/CNAM, Paris, France

QASE: an Integrated API for Imitation and General AI Research in Commercial Computer Games Bernard Gorman and Mark Humphrys, Dublin City University, Rep. of Ireland and Martin Fredriksson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Ronneby, Sweden

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Using the Crytek Game Engine in the Dublin Institute of Technology
Hugh McAtamney, Bryan Duggan and Fredrick Japhet Mtenzi, Dublin Institute of
Technology, Rep of Ireland

10h45-12h Room 1 Mobile and Ubiquitous Games

The GEOGAMES Tool: Balancing Spatio-Temporal Design Parameters in Location-Based Games Peter Kiefer and Sebastian Matyas, Laboratory for Semantic Information Processing, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Germany

A Typology of the Relationships Between Real and Virtual Worlds Stéphane Natkin CEDRIC/ CNAM, France and Chen Yan, France Telecom Recherche & Développement

Flying Cake: Augmented Game on Mobile Device Anjin Park, Jong-Yeol Yang and Keechul Jung, HCI Lab., School of Media, College, Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Has a Wireless Online Gaming Environment a Future?
Moira J.McAlister and Patrick Wilson, Department of Computing & Information Engineering, University of Ulster, N. Ireland, UK

12h15 -13h Room Calvo Winning Paper and Closing Session

13h- 14h30 Lunch

14h30-17h30 Room Calvo Cognac Tour

18h30 CGAME/FITA Cocktail

The provisional programme for CGAMES’2005 the 7th International Conference on Computer Games: AI, Animation, Mobile, Educational and Serious Games forthcoming in Angouleme, France from the 28-30th November 2005 has been announced. I see there is some Irish representation in the papers to be presented on the Tues. Chris Crawford is one of the keynotes.

To register see: www.cgames.org

******

Preliminary Programme

Monday 28 November 2005

10-10 30 am Room Nemo Opening Session

10h30-11h30 Room Nemo Invited Paper

Social and Physical Interactive Paradigms for Mixed Reality Entertainment

Prof Adrian David Cheock, National Singapore University

11h30-12h45 Room Nemo Augmented Reality Games

Determining Head Orientation in Real-time Video Input
Lisa Spencer and Ratan K. Gupta, University of Central Florida, USA

A Video-Based Fast 3D Face Modeling System
Peng Lu, Yangsheng Wang, Jian Yao and Bin Ding, Institute of Automation,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Augmented Reality Board Game Using Vision techniques and PGA
Kirak Kim, Anjin Park, Kwangjin Hong and Keechul Jung
HCI Lab., School of Media, College of Information Science, Soongsil
University, Korea

Immersive AR Ping-pong Game on Hemispherical Screen
Sangkyung Lee, Dongwuk Kyoung and Keechul Jung, HCI Lab., School of Media,
College of Information Science, Soongsil University, Korea

12h45-14h15 Lunch

14h15-15h30 Room Nemo Game Architecture -1

Replication Model for Designing Multi-Player Games Interactions
Anne Gwen Bosser, University of Paris 7, France

An Easy-to-use Platform Aimed at the Development of MMORPG and Demanding
Networked Applications
Alain Becam, Trans-Reality Game Laboratory, University of Gotland, Sweden

Audio and Video Communication in Multiplayer Games through Generic Networking Middleware Maarten Wijnants and Wim Lamotte, Hasselt University, Expertise Centre for Digital Media, Belgium

14h15-15h30 Room 1 Games and Education -1

The Relationship Between the Avatar’s Behavioral Fidelity and Social Interaction in 3d Collaborative Learning-based Games Samah Mansour, Carolyn Rude-Parkins, College of Education and, Human Development, Louisville, Kentuky, USA, and Mostafa E-Said, Grand Valley State University, USA

Behavioural Changes in Students Participating in an Upper Secondary Education Program Using Unmodified Computer Games as the Primary Teaching Tool Mats Wiklund, Dept of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University,
Sweden

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Use of Commercial Games for Educational Purposes: Will Today’s Teacher Candidates Use Them In The Future? Aysegul Bakar, Yavuz Inal and Kursat Cagiltay, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

Freinet and Counter Strike: Machinima and Mod-Games in the Educational and Social Inclusion Process Roger Tavares, PUC-SP, SENAC-SP, São Paulo, Brazil

15h30-15h45 Coffee Break

15h45-17h Room Calvo Mobile Games – 1

GASP: an Open Source Gaming Service Middleware Dedicated to Multiplayer Games for J2ME Based Mobile Phones Françoise Duclos, Bouygues Telecom, Michel Simatic, INT, Romain Pellerin, Eric Gressier Soudans, CEDRIC/CNAM and Fabien Delpiano, Infraworld, Paris, France

Behavioral Assumption-Based Prediction for High-Latency Hiding in Mobile Games Giliam J.P. de Carpentier and Rafael Bidarra, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

A Game Engine for Mobile Phones
Matthew Bancroft, David Al-Dabass, Caroline Langensiepen and Richard Cant School of Computing & Informatics, Nottingham Trent University, UK

15h45-17h Room 1 Game Design -1

Driving Stories, Benefits of Properties Analysis A. Prigent, R. Champagnat and P. Estraillier L3i, University of La Rochelle, France

First Player Shooter Game Levels Analysis Framework
Rémi Cozot, IRISA, France

Game Level Design using Music Feature Extraction Martin Ogg and Henry S Fortuna, University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland, UK

17h- 18h30 Formal Inauguration of the ENJMIN

18h30-20h Room Nemo Invited Paper

Chris Crawford from USA in a Video Conference

20h30- 22h Dinner at Angoulême Town Hall

Tuesday 29 November 2005

9h30-10h30 Room Nemo Invited Paper

Simulation and Advanced Gaming Environments: Exploring Their Learning Impacts
Prof David Kaufman, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

10h30-10h45 Room Nemo Coffee Break

10h45-12h Artificial Intelligence -1

Symbiotic Learning in Commercial Computer Games Sander Bakkes and Pieter Spronck, IKAT, Universiteit Maastricht, The Netherlands

Dance: A Framework for Multi-Agent Choreographic Coordination in Games Rodrigo B. V. Lima, Patrícia A. Restelli Tedesco, University Federal of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil, and Geber L. Ramalho, University Federal of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil & Université de Paris 6, France

A Flight Simulator Dogfight Agent for Real-Time Decision-Making in the Cockpit David Solinger, Patrick Ehlert and Leon Rothkrantz, Department of Media and
Knowledge Engineering, University of Delft, The Netherlands

12h45-13h Room Nemo Game Architecture -2

Towards Procedural Creation of Character behaviour in an Interactive Drama System Keisuka Tanaka and Ruck Thawonmas, Intelligent computer Entertainment Laboratory, Ristsumeikam University, Japan

The ExtReAM Library: Extensible Real-time Animations for Multiple Platforms Pieter Jorissen, Jeroen Dierckx and Wim Lamotte, IBBT, Expertise Centre for
Digital Media, Diepenbeek, Belgium

Fast Event Ordering and Perceptive Consistency in Time Sensitive Distributed Multiplayer Games Nicolas Bouillot, CEDRIC/CNAM, Paris, France

13h-14h30 Lunch

14h30-15h45 Room Calvo Game and Education 2

Socioconstructivist Framegame Design: Theoretical and Empirical Considerations Margot Kaszap, Sylvie Rail and Michael Power, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

The Enjeux-S Environment for Real-Time Online Educational Games Wilfried Probst, Université du Québec, Montréal, Canada, Louise Sauvé, Louis Villardier,, Michael Power, Télé-université / SAVIE, Québec, Canada, David Kaufman, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, and Victor Sánchez Arias, Laboratorio Nacional de Informática Avanzada, Veracruz, Mexico

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Learning Games Programming with “Dalek World”
Bryan Duggan, Hugh McAtamney and Fredrick Japhet Mtenzi, School of Computing, Dublin University, Rep. of Ireland

The Role of Computer Games in Bridging the Digital Divide
Don Anderson and Dennis Jacobi, Intellas Group, Louisville, Kentuky, USA,
and Adel Elmaghraby, University of Louisville, Kentuky, USA

14h30-15h45 Room 1 Game Design -2

Game Theory and Video Game, a New Approach of Game Theory to Analyze and Conceive Game Systems Emmanuel Guadiola, Ubisoft and CEDRIC/CNAM and Stéphane Natkin, CEDRIC/CNAM,
France

Creating Disordered Scenes
Michelle Haskard, Richard Cant and David Al-Dabass, School of Computing and Informatics, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Experimentation of a Game Design Methodology for Mobile Phones Games Viviane Gal and Alexandre Topol, CEDRIC/CNAM, France

15h45-16h Coffee Break

16h-17h15 Room Calvo Game Architecture and Computer Graphics 1

TREN: LOD and Paging of Large Height-fields by Means of BTSTs Abel M. Bernabeu, Francisco J. Gallego, Juan A. Puchol and Faraón Llorens, Departamento de Ciencia de la Computaci´on e Inteligencia Artificial,
University of Alicante, Spain

A Balanced Approach to Character Motion
Marek Mittmann, Adam Szarowicz and Jaroslaw Francik, Faculty of Computing,
Information Systems and Mathematics, Kingston University, Surrey, UK

16h 17h15 Room 1 Artificial Intelligence 2

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Dynamic Group Behaviour Through Planning for Game Agent AI
Andrew Dai, University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory, Cambridge, UK

Genetic Algorithms for Team Battle Tactics Ben Sizer, David Al-Dabass and Richard Cant, School of Computing & Informatics, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Computer Games Will Rewrite our Challenges in Artificial Intelligence. Screaming Racers F. J. Gallego, A. M. Bernabeu García and Faraón Llorens, Departamento de Ciencia de la Computación e IA, University of Alicante, Spain

Poster Presentations

Online Action Prediction for Interactive Computer Games Thomas Hartley, School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wolverhampton, UK

Towards Integrating Ogre3d with FDK
Pawan Kumar, School of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wolverhampton, UK

An Architecture for Implementing BDI Agents in Virtual Environments N. P. Davies, School of Computing and Information Technology, University of
Wolverhampton, UK

17h15-17h30 Tea Break

17h30-19h Room Nemo Presentation of Winning Games and Animations
of e-Magiciens

Wednesday 30 November 2005

9h30-10h30 Room Calvo Invited Paper

Natural Interactive and Fit Entertainment Prof Yansen Wang, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

10h30-10h45 Coffee Break

10h45-12h15 Room Calvo Game Architecture and Computer Graphics-2

IIWU : IF I WERE YOU A Simple Gameplay Unmanageable by Game Engines Yann Creach and Alexandre Topol, CEDRIC/CNAM, Paris, France

QASE: an Integrated API for Imitation and General AI Research in Commercial Computer Games Bernard Gorman and Mark Humphrys, Dublin City University, Rep. of Ireland and Martin Fredriksson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Ronneby, Sweden

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Using the Crytek Game Engine in the Dublin Institute of Technology
Hugh McAtamney, Bryan Duggan and Fredrick Japhet Mtenzi, Dublin Institute of
Technology, Rep of Ireland

10h45-12h Room 1 Mobile and Ubiquitous Games

The GEOGAMES Tool: Balancing Spatio-Temporal Design Parameters in Location-Based Games Peter Kiefer and Sebastian Matyas, Laboratory for Semantic Information Processing, Otto-Friedrich-University Bamberg, Germany

A Typology of the Relationships Between Real and Virtual Worlds Stéphane Natkin CEDRIC/ CNAM, France and Chen Yan, France Telecom Recherche & Développement

Flying Cake: Augmented Game on Mobile Device Anjin Park, Jong-Yeol Yang and Keechul Jung, HCI Lab., School of Media, College, Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea

Short Papers, Work in Progress and Student Papers

Has a Wireless Online Gaming Environment a Future?
Moira J.McAlister and Patrick Wilson, Department of Computing & Information Engineering, University of Ulster, N. Ireland, UK

12h15 -13h Room Calvo Winning Paper and Closing Session

13h- 14h30 Lunch

14h30-17h30 Room Calvo Cognac Tour

18h30 CGAME/FITA Cocktail

Tis the season – the IIA & CheetahMail Net Visionary Awards took place on November 17th at a Gala Black Tie Ball in the Clontarf Castle Hotel and this year UpStart Games and Barry O’Neill won an award in the ‘mobile internet application’ category. John Hurley and Michael Hallissy of Teach Net in the Digital Hub won an award in the educational category.

Nominees for these awards are from colleagues, clients and peers and the winners are voted on by industry professionals. This year over 70 nominations were received across 11 categories. The full list of winners is below.

Category Winners:

Social Contribution
John Breslin ~ Boards.ie . www.boards.ie

Technology Journalist
John Kennedy ~ siliconrepublic.com .www.siliconrepublic.com

Innovation
Eamonn & Brian Fallon ~ Daft.ie . www.daft.ie

eGovernment
Alan Kelly ~ FailteIreland – www.failteireland.ie

Internet Marketer
Conor Lynch ~ RaboDirect – www.rabodirect.ie

Web Designer
Lisa Westermann ~ Red Sky . www.redsky.ie

Web Developer
Kevin Gill ~ NewAddress.ie . www.newaddress.ie

Online Trader
Des O’Mahony ~ bookassist.com . www.bookassist.com

Educational Contribution
John Hurley and Michael Hallissy ~ Teach Net / Digital Hub . www.teachnet.ie

Internet Enterpreneur
Eamonn & Brian Fallon ~ Daft.ie . www.daft.ie

Mobile Internet Application
Barry O’Neill ~ Upstart Games . www.upstartgames.com

Tis the season – the IIA & CheetahMail Net Visionary Awards took place on November 17th at a Gala Black Tie Ball in the Clontarf Castle Hotel and this year UpStart Games and Barry O’Neill won an award in the ‘mobile internet application’ category. John Hurley and Michael Hallissy of Teach Net in the Digital Hub won an award in the educational category.

Nominees for these awards are from colleagues, clients and peers and the winners are voted on by industry professionals. This year over 70 nominations were received across 11 categories. The full list of winners is below.

Category Winners:

Social Contribution
John Breslin ~ Boards.ie . www.boards.ie

Technology Journalist
John Kennedy ~ siliconrepublic.com .www.siliconrepublic.com

Innovation
Eamonn & Brian Fallon ~ Daft.ie . www.daft.ie

eGovernment
Alan Kelly ~ FailteIreland – www.failteireland.ie

Internet Marketer
Conor Lynch ~ RaboDirect – www.rabodirect.ie

Web Designer
Lisa Westermann ~ Red Sky . www.redsky.ie

Web Developer
Kevin Gill ~ NewAddress.ie . www.newaddress.ie

Online Trader
Des O’Mahony ~ bookassist.com . www.bookassist.com

Educational Contribution
John Hurley and Michael Hallissy ~ Teach Net / Digital Hub . www.teachnet.ie

Internet Enterpreneur
Eamonn & Brian Fallon ~ Daft.ie . www.daft.ie

Mobile Internet Application
Barry O’Neill ~ Upstart Games . www.upstartgames.com

gamedevelopers.ie has been nominated for a golden spider award in the best community/charity website.

The Golden Spider awards have been running for 9 years and while focussed at the business community they also give awards to public and community websites.

The winners of each category will be announced at aa awards dinner on
Thursday, December 1st 2005 at the Burlington Hotel.

No payment is required to enter this competition although we must buy tickets if we wish to attend the awards dinner.

For more see:
http://www.goldenspiders.ie/index.html

Yes it is tonight!!

Meet outside Yamamori on South Great George’s street at 7.30pm. Moving on from there to find somewhere to eat.

Drinks after 9pm in Mahaffys pub behind Trinity College and just off Pearse Street. Has become the usual spot again.

See http://www.gamedevelopers.ie/forums/viewforum.php?f=18

Burlington hotel, Dublin.

gamedevelopers.ie has been nominated for a golden spider award in the best community/charity website.

The Golden Spider awards have been running for 9 years and while focussed at the business community they also give awards to public and community websites.

The winners of each category will be announced at aa awards dinner on
Thursday, December 1st 2005 at the Burlington Hotel.

No payment is required to enter this competition although we must buy tickets if we wish to attend the awards dinner.

For more see:
http://www.goldenspiders.ie/index.html

More info on entering and categories at http://www.digitalmedia.ie/submit.html

Speaking of awards the Irish Internet Association awards will be announced at a black tie reception at The Clontarf Castle Hotel.

There are eleven individual categories and an overall Net Visionary Award winner.

Table of 12 seats: 1800 Euro (no VAT)
Half table of 6 seats: 1000 Euro (no VAT)
Individual Tickets: 175 Euro (no VAT)

More info: http://www.netvisionary.ie/vote2005.html

“bluegfx” and “Alias” are showcasing Alias Maya 7 and Motionbuilder 7 in Belfast
and Dublin next week.

On the 2nd Nov they are in W5 @ Odyssey, 2 Queen’s Quay,Belfast.
2.30pm start

On the 3rd Nov they are in the Clarence Hotel, Temple Bar, Dublin.
2.30pm start

Registration is free but they would like to know numbers in advance.

To register, please go to:
http://www.alias.com/eng/about/events/emea_roadshow/index.shtml

Questions and queries to neilp@bluegfx.com

“bluegfx” and “Alias” are showcasing Alias Maya 7 and Motionbuilder 7 in Belfast
and Dublin next week.

On the 2nd Nov they are in W5 @ Odyssey, 2 Queen’s Quay,Belfast.
2.30pm start

On the 3rd Nov they are in the Clarence Hotel, Temple Bar, Dublin.
2.30pm start

Registration is free but they would like to know numbers in advance.

To register, please go to:
http://www.alias.com/eng/about/events/emea_roadshow/index.shtml

Questions and queries to neilp@bluegfx.com

“bluegfx” and “Alias” are bringing Alias Maya 7 and Motionbuilder to Dublin and the Clarence Hotel. 2.30pm start

To register, please go to:
http://www.alias.com/eng/about/events/emea_roadshow/index.shtml

If anyone has any questions contact
neilp@bluegfx.com

“bluegfx” and “Alias” are bringing Alias Maya 7 and Motionbuilder to Belfast, W5 @ Odyssey, 2 Queen’s Quay. 2.30pm start

To register, please go to:
http://www.alias.com/eng/about/events/emea_roadshow/index.shtml

If anyone has any questions contact
neilp@bluegfx.com

We haven’t had one now in about two months so time to put names to faces, drink and be merry.

Venue: Mahaffys pub on Pearse Street near the dart station at the back of Trinity College in Dublin.

Time: after 7.30pm

Map http://www.dublinpubscene.com/thepubs/mahaffys_map.html

StarCave Studios in Galway recently awarded 6 interns with certificates on completion of their summer internship programme. 15 interns started the programme in late June and this was whittled down to 6 in the final stages. None of the interns had previous game experience. The interns learned new skills in AI, 3D modelling, Photoshop, the Torque Game Engine and level design. The final 6 interns created a mini-game called ‘Spike’ which will be marketed for publishing in the future. The game will be available for download on the newly revamped StarCave website (www.starcave.com) very soon. The following post-mortem was provided by StarCave and the interns.

Post-mortem
The last week of June 2005 saw 15 Interns arrive at the StarCave office located in the Galway Technology Centre. The Torque Game Engine was selected as the core learning tool given the community support available.

The 15 Interns were divided into two teams and asked to develop a small demo of 4 levels. The same design document was given to both teams. The marketing manager, Niamh Breslin was available every day to help the interns & CEO / Producer, Keith Killilea held weekly meetings with the interns to help guide their progress. By the end of July the two teams had completed their demos. Team 1 came out on top with but only because Team 2 had lost a few members and had to re-double their efforts to deliver.

At the start of August the selected interns were combined into 1 team and set about finishing off the game. Different parts of each demo were merged together, new leaders in art, code & design were assigned and tight guidelines were set by CEO – Producer, Keith Killilea. Key aspects of the programme included bug testing, time management & work flow management. On the 10th of August StarCave was officially launched and the interns showed their two demos to an invited audience.

By the end of August 2005, the interns had successfully produced a small 3D action puzzle game called ‘Spike!’ The game includes 12 levels, dozens of baddies, upgrades and most importantly, fun gameplay.

The five interns: Oliver, Alan, Alan, Sebastian and Brendan, felt that the programme offered an excellent opportunity to work with game development technologies and to experience working in a game development team.

Following the internship programme StarCave offered contracts to the remaining 5 interns. The new recruits have formed a team called Golden Crest that will work on the game “European Adventure Tour, an extension of the Camelot Galway concept. The new game will use the Reality Engine and is aimed at PC and next generation consoles. It will be set in and around various countries throughout Europe, with each country representing a different time in history. Further details of this title will be released at a later date from the Star Cave Studios web site, http://www.starcave.com.

StarCave Studios in Galway recently awarded 6 interns with certificates on completion of their summer internship programme. 15 interns started the programme in late June and this was whittled down to 6 in the final stages. None of the interns had previous game experience. The interns learned new skills in AI, 3D modelling, Photoshop, the Torque Game Engine and level design. The final 6 interns created a mini-game called ‘Spike’ which will be marketed for publishing in the future. The game will be available for download on the newly revamped StarCave website (www.starcave.com) very soon. The following post-mortem was provided by StarCave and the interns.

Post-mortem
The last week of June 2005 saw 15 Interns arrive at the StarCave office located in the Galway Technology Centre. The Torque Game Engine was selected as the core learning tool given the community support available.

The 15 Interns were divided into two teams and asked to develop a small demo of 4 levels. The same design document was given to both teams. The marketing manager, Niamh Breslin was available every day to help the interns & CEO / Producer, Keith Killilea held weekly meetings with the interns to help guide their progress. By the end of July the two teams had completed their demos. Team 1 came out on top with but only because Team 2 had lost a few members and had to re-double their efforts to deliver.

At the start of August the selected interns were combined into 1 team and set about finishing off the game. Different parts of each demo were merged together, new leaders in art, code & design were assigned and tight guidelines were set by CEO – Producer, Keith Killilea. Key aspects of the programme included bug testing, time management & work flow management. On the 10th of August StarCave was officially launched and the interns showed their two demos to an invited audience.

By the end of August 2005, the interns had successfully produced a small 3D action puzzle game called ‘Spike!’ The game includes 12 levels, dozens of baddies, upgrades and most importantly, fun gameplay.

The five interns: Oliver, Alan, Alan, Sebastian and Brendan, felt that the programme offered an excellent opportunity to work with game development technologies and to experience working in a game development team.

Following the internship programme StarCave offered contracts to the remaining 5 interns. The new recruits have formed a team called Golden Crest that will work on the game “European Adventure Tour, an extension of the Camelot Galway concept. The new game will use the Reality Engine and is aimed at PC and next generation consoles. It will be set in and around various countries throughout Europe, with each country representing a different time in history. Further details of this title will be released at a later date from the Star Cave Studios web site, http://www.starcave.com.

Deadlines are fast approaching for modding and student sections of the Independent Games Festival to be held in San Jose, CA in March 2006.

IGF Mod Competition

The IGF’s new mod competition, for which the entry deadline is November 1, 2005 at 11:59pm PDT, will award the most outstanding, independently developed ‘total conversion’ modifications for four major game titles. The game titles are as follows:

* IGF Best Mod – ‘Half-Life 2’ ($2,500)
* IGF Best Mod – ‘Unreal Tournament 2004’ ($2,500)
* IGF Best Mod – ‘Neverwinter Nights’ ($2,500)
* IGF Best Mod – ‘Doom 3’ ($2,500)

IGF Student Showcase

The IGF’s Student Showcase, for which the entry deadline is November 15 , 2005 at 11:59pm PDT, will highlight a total of ten games this year:

* 8 outstanding Student Showcase finalists constructed using all original elements.
* 2 outstanding Student Showcase finalist constructed using large-scale middleware such as graphics engines.

More info on how to enter http://www.igf.com/submit.htm

Deadlines are fast approaching for modding and student sections of the Independent Games Festival to be held in San Jose, CA in March 2006.

IGF Mod Competition

The IGF’s new mod competition, for which the entry deadline is November 1, 2005 at 11:59pm PDT, will award the most outstanding, independently developed ‘total conversion’ modifications for four major game titles. The game titles are as follows:

* IGF Best Mod – ‘Half-Life 2’ ($2,500)
* IGF Best Mod – ‘Unreal Tournament 2004’ ($2,500)
* IGF Best Mod – ‘Neverwinter Nights’ ($2,500)
* IGF Best Mod – ‘Doom 3’ ($2,500)

IGF Student Showcase

The IGF’s Student Showcase, for which the entry deadline is November 15 , 2005 at 11:59pm PDT, will highlight a total of ten games this year:

* 8 outstanding Student Showcase finalists constructed using all original elements.
* 2 outstanding Student Showcase finalist constructed using large-scale middleware such as graphics engines.

More info on how to enter http://www.igf.com/submit.htm

Call for Papers: Special issue on Digital Games and Learning “Learning, Media and Technology” Guest Edited by Liam Murray (University of Limerick) and Cathlena Martin

Learning, Media and Technology is a peer-reviewed journal that provides a
forum for international debates on a diverse range of media used to support
formal and informal learning. Contexts for learning include: early years
education to higher education, as well as in the home, the community and the
workplace.

In 2006 we would like to publish a themed special issue on digital games and
learning. The use of games created in digital media can provide a powerful
means of supporting learning both formally in the context of schooling and
homework, and informally through personal interest and leisure activities.
Digital games provide opportunities for learners to experiment, explore,
collaborate, develop new skills such as strategic thinking, and engage
deeply with a wide variety of challenging scenarios, simulations and
situations. The penetration of connectivity into homes as well as schools, and increasing access to broadband, has meant that young people and learners of all ages can participate in multi-player online gaming activities. This turn can contribute to the development of new social skills through online learning communities.

We would welcome interdisciplinary contributions on any aspect of digital
games and learning, including:
· The role of edutainment in formal contexts
· Informal learning and digital games
· Young people as creators of digital games
· The impact on learning of multi-player digital games and online communities
· New pedagogies for integrating digital games within formal curricula
· Digital games and media literacy

Please send contributions by October 31st 2005 to Trish Gladdis, Institute
of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, 799 Wilmslow Road,
Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2RR UK
Tel: +44 (0) 161 247 2010
Fax: +44 (0) 161 247 6830
Or submit by Email: lmat@mmu.ac.uk

Call for Papers: Special issue on Digital Games and Learning “Learning, Media and Technology” Guest Edited by Liam Murray (University of Limerick) and Cathlena Martin

Learning, Media and Technology is a peer-reviewed journal that provides a
forum for international debates on a diverse range of media used to support
formal and informal learning. Contexts for learning include: early years
education to higher education, as well as in the home, the community and the
workplace.

In 2006 we would like to publish a themed special issue on digital games and
learning. The use of games created in digital media can provide a powerful
means of supporting learning both formally in the context of schooling and
homework, and informally through personal interest and leisure activities.
Digital games provide opportunities for learners to experiment, explore,
collaborate, develop new skills such as strategic thinking, and engage
deeply with a wide variety of challenging scenarios, simulations and
situations. The penetration of connectivity into homes as well as schools, and increasing access to broadband, has meant that young people and learners of all ages can participate in multi-player online gaming activities. This turn can contribute to the development of new social skills through online learning communities.

We would welcome interdisciplinary contributions on any aspect of digital
games and learning, including:
· The role of edutainment in formal contexts
· Informal learning and digital games
· Young people as creators of digital games
· The impact on learning of multi-player digital games and online communities
· New pedagogies for integrating digital games within formal curricula
· Digital games and media literacy

Please send contributions by October 31st 2005 to Trish Gladdis, Institute
of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, 799 Wilmslow Road,
Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2RR UK
Tel: +44 (0) 161 247 2010
Fax: +44 (0) 161 247 6830
Or submit by Email: lmat@mmu.ac.uk

A one day course on teaching game design will be held at the University of Abertay, Scotland on the 3rd of November.

Attendance is £75 before the 27th of Oct.

for bookings and further information see http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/Events/Gaming/index.shtml

Darklight takes place from the 27-28th of Oct this year.

Oct 27th sees a making movies for the small screen workshop. Cost 40 euros.

Oct 28th see a free one day symposium with talks onthe legal implications of creating and distribution you own contnent and the impact and evolution of citizen media.

for booking see www.darklight.ie

or events@darklight-filmfestival.com

Time: Wednesday, December 14th at 5pm
Venue: Computing Labs, D-Block, South Building, UU Coleraine

In association with GameTheWorld, the School of Computing and Information Engineering at Coleraine is hosting a computer games playing competition. The competition is open to all university and 16-18 school students and the winner will receive a Golden Ticket entitling the recipient to a week’s free play on any of the GameTheWorld locations.

For more details see the UUC’s computer game website.
Computer games website at UUC: games.infc.ulst.ac.uk
Computing at Coleraine portal: www.infc.ulst.ac.uk/informatics/cie
Or contact Dr Darryl Charles for further details: dk.charles@ulster.ac.uk
GameTheWorld website: www.gametheworld.com

Time: 6pm
Venue: Lecture Room TBA, Central Buildings, University of Ulster, Coleraine

Tony Kelly talk on game development and how to get started in the industry, placing particular emphasis on the local possibilities. Tony is the founder & co-ordinator of the Irish chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and a member of Digital Games Research Association (DIGRA) – as well as a member of the IGDA’s Production SIG. Tony worked for Intel for over 5 years as a Senior Producer for the IT Innovation group, where he set up and ran a Serious Games & Simulations team. He now works as a Producer for Torc Interactive, a games & middleware developer in Donegal.

Computer games website at UUC: games.infc.ulst.ac.uk
Computing at Coleraine portal: www.infc.ulst.ac.uk/informatics/cie
Or contact Dr Darryl Charles for further details: dk.charles@ulster.ac.uk

A one day course on teaching game design will be held at the University of Abertay, Scotland on the 3rd of November.

Attendance is £75 before the 27th of Oct.

for bookings and further information see http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/Events/Gaming/index.shtml

Kapooki Games closed its doors after failing to find a publisher for its title ‘Big Top’.

Founded in 2000 by Michael Griffin the company has received investment from Enterprise Ireland and Trinity Campus Companies Venture Capital Fund.

The company has released some mini games and an online pc game called ‘Lorgaine: the Black Standard’ was released in 2002 via T-mobile in Germany. Subsequently the company turned to console and PC game development.

The company had actively supported gd.ie and the local IGDA chapter.

For more details, see:

Forum link

Kapooki Games closed its doors after failing to find a publisher for its title ‘Big Top’.

Founded in 2000 by Michael Griffin the company has received investment from Enterprise Ireland and Trinity Campus Companies Venture Capital Fund.

The company has released some mini games and an online pc game called ‘Lorgaine: the Black Standard’ was released in 2002 via T-mobile in Germany. Subsequently the company turned to console and PC game development.

The company had actively supported gd.ie and the local IGDA chapter.

For more details, see:

Forum link

test 2

test 2

test 2

It has been a good week for Irish companies. First the release of Dreadnought by Torc Interactive and AMD and now we hear that Activision will be using Demonware’s State Engine Multi-Player technology for Call Of Duty 2: Big Red One.

According to Demonware’s website their ‘State Engine middleware will be used to deliver seamless, state-of-the art, 16-player, cross-platform, multiplayer online gaming to players worldwide. Developed by Treyarch/Gray Matter LLC, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One will be released this Autumn for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox® video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube™ and carries a “T” (for “Teen”) rating by the ESRB.’

“By utilizing DemonWare’s middleware, the development team is able to focus on creating great gameplay experiences while knowing that the technical aspects of the multiplayer component are managed,” said Chuck Huebner, Head of Activision’s Worldwide Studios. “When Call of Duty 2: Big Red One ships this Fall, 16 players will be able to engage in explosive Local Area Network (LAN) and Internet multi-player action on their Xbox or PlayStation 2 gaming systems, quickly and seamlessly.”

For more see http://www.demonware.net/news.html

Not only are these invisible middlemen still wearing short trousers – they’re barely two years old – but their core is as Irish as Molley Malone’s wheelbarrow. Pavel Barter asked DemonWare CEO Dylan Collins how a small start-up became the backbone of multiplayer gaming.

“DemonWare… what do they do?” The standard reaction of gamers when asked about this Dublin-born business is one which the team must surely appreciate. DemonWare’s role is to remain unseen and unheard, to enhance liaison between players and make a developer’s task less painful. Although networking technology is but a phantom for gamers, for developers and publishers it is the new physics or AI.
What do they do? DemonWare assist all the major platforms – publishers like Atari, games like Starship Troopers – and are working to deliver a multitude of titles on next generation consoles including the PSP and Xbox360. In gaming’s global village, these guys matter.

DemonWare was officially launched in mid-2003. CEO Dylan Collins explains: “Prior to that myself and [CTO] Sean Blanchfield had a wireless software company, Phorest, which we started in Trinity College. We sold the company and were exploring opportunities in the game space because it was exciting and, after all, our background was in networking. After a lot of flying around the world and talking to various studios, we recognised the opportunity for network middleware. Our bet was that the future of gaming will be multiplayer and online.”

Not that Collins and Blanchfield were exactly inventing the wheel – GameSpy was already working on networking assets such as peer-to-peer matchmaking, statistics, security, and voice chat. “They were doing a good job too,” admits Collins, “but we saw a niche for something a little deeper in the network space, a more comprehensive network layer.”

The start-up team (ex-Havok employees and Trinity grads) initially built around GameSpy, but only after publishers repeatedly approached them asking “can you do lobby services?” did they decide to take their competitors head on, securing external venture capitalist investment and moving into an office on Dublin’s Abbey Street. Mid-2003, DemonWare was officially launched.

“In that first year we attended a lot of conferences, more listening than talking to ensure that we were creating what developers wanted. We became a middleware partner with Sony and Xbox and that gave people a lot of confidence in us. We also made it a priority to respect everyone’s needs and deadlines. The most important thing for any studio is that their game is shipped on time.”

DemonWare launched their first product at the Game Developers Conference 2004. Onlookers were shocked as to how fast the company moved in such a short space of time, but theirs was an experienced team that learned from past mistakes in other companies. Furthermore, their timing was better than a Swiss wristwatch since multiplayer gaming on consoles was only just beginning to take off. According to Collins, “some studios didn’t have any experience [in networking middleware], others had bad experiences building their own and wanted to outsource.”

DemonWare touts two products. The first is State Engine, a complete networking layer which is easily dropped into a game and looks after communication between computers or consoles. The other product is Matchmaking + (famously advertised on a DemonWare t-shirt by a couple of copulating bunnies), a lobby service that gives players access to user management, stats and downloads. Want to track an online gaming session, communicate with other players, or access feedback? Matchmaking + covers it all.

“We looked at how GameSpy went about their solution and thought, we can invent something that’s easier to use,” says Collins. “To this day, the reason a lot of developers and publishers buy our tech is because it’s easy to use and assemble – they can focus on great gameplay while we look after the plumbing.”

Both products are buried in a number of AAA titles released across all console platforms in 2005; combine that with a new DemonWare office in Vancouver and it’s evident that this Irish business is still on the rise. “It’s pretty cool to see a new title rolling in every couple of weeks and think, ‘wow, I played the last game in that series!’ What was initially a small Irish company is going out there and competing on a global market stage.”

DemonWare will remain in Ireland indefinitely, although Dylan Collins recognises the irony of operating an online connectivity business in a country which has broadband penetration levels on par with the Sahara Desert. “We’re staying here,” he laughs. “The labour pool is pretty good, we’ve strong links with Trinity, and at this stage, what with Havok and ourselves, publishers know that Ireland has a great middleware scene. The disadvantages, of course, is that Ireland is definitely becoming more expensive.”

image2

Having been chased by a T-Rex on a rollercoaster with Sean Blanchfield, locked in a Santa Monica pool duel with Dylan Collins, raced through San Francisco while fed whiskey on a DemonWare tram, and nearly abducted by screaming lunatics in a DemonWare limousine, I can safely say no one does public relations quite like this company. When asked about their PR plans for GDC 2006, Collins mutters something about “military involvement”. Want to know what DemonWare do? They throw one hell of a party.

More info: http://www.demonware.net/news.html

It has been a good week for Irish companies. First the release of Dreadnought by Torc Interactive and AMD and now we hear that Activision will be using Demonware’s State Engine Multi-Player technology for Call Of Duty 2: Big Red One.

According to Demonware’s website their ‘State Engine middleware will be used to deliver seamless, state-of-the art, 16-player, cross-platform, multiplayer online gaming to players worldwide. Developed by Treyarch/Gray Matter LLC, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One will be released this Autumn for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox® video game system from Microsoft and Nintendo GameCube™ and carries a “T” (for “Teen”) rating by the ESRB.’

“By utilizing DemonWare’s middleware, the development team is able to focus on creating great gameplay experiences while knowing that the technical aspects of the multiplayer component are managed,” said Chuck Huebner, Head of Activision’s Worldwide Studios. “When Call of Duty 2: Big Red One ships this Fall, 16 players will be able to engage in explosive Local Area Network (LAN) and Internet multi-player action on their Xbox or PlayStation 2 gaming systems, quickly and seamlessly.”

For more see http://www.demonware.net/news.html

Not only are these invisible middlemen still wearing short trousers – they’re barely two years old – but their core is as Irish as Molley Malone’s wheelbarrow. Pavel Barter asked DemonWare CEO Dylan Collins how a small start-up became the backbone of multiplayer gaming.

“DemonWare… what do they do?” The standard reaction of gamers when asked about this Dublin-born business is one which the team must surely appreciate. DemonWare’s role is to remain unseen and unheard, to enhance liaison between players and make a developer’s task less painful. Although networking technology is but a phantom for gamers, for developers and publishers it is the new physics or AI.
What do they do? DemonWare assist all the major platforms – publishers like Atari, games like Starship Troopers – and are working to deliver a multitude of titles on next generation consoles including the PSP and Xbox360. In gaming’s global village, these guys matter.

DemonWare was officially launched in mid-2003. CEO Dylan Collins explains: “Prior to that myself and [CTO] Sean Blanchfield had a wireless software company, Phorest, which we started in Trinity College. We sold the company and were exploring opportunities in the game space because it was exciting and, after all, our background was in networking. After a lot of flying around the world and talking to various studios, we recognised the opportunity for network middleware. Our bet was that the future of gaming will be multiplayer and online.”

Not that Collins and Blanchfield were exactly inventing the wheel – GameSpy was already working on networking assets such as peer-to-peer matchmaking, statistics, security, and voice chat. “They were doing a good job too,” admits Collins, “but we saw a niche for something a little deeper in the network space, a more comprehensive network layer.”

The start-up team (ex-Havok employees and Trinity grads) initially built around GameSpy, but only after publishers repeatedly approached them asking “can you do lobby services?” did they decide to take their competitors head on, securing external venture capitalist investment and moving into an office on Dublin’s Abbey Street. Mid-2003, DemonWare was officially launched.

“In that first year we attended a lot of conferences, more listening than talking to ensure that we were creating what developers wanted. We became a middleware partner with Sony and Xbox and that gave people a lot of confidence in us. We also made it a priority to respect everyone’s needs and deadlines. The most important thing for any studio is that their game is shipped on time.”

DemonWare launched their first product at the Game Developers Conference 2004. Onlookers were shocked as to how fast the company moved in such a short space of time, but theirs was an experienced team that learned from past mistakes in other companies. Furthermore, their timing was better than a Swiss wristwatch since multiplayer gaming on consoles was only just beginning to take off. According to Collins, “some studios didn’t have any experience [in networking middleware], others had bad experiences building their own and wanted to outsource.”

DemonWare touts two products. The first is State Engine, a complete networking layer which is easily dropped into a game and looks after communication between computers or consoles. The other product is Matchmaking + (famously advertised on a DemonWare t-shirt by a couple of copulating bunnies), a lobby service that gives players access to user management, stats and downloads. Want to track an online gaming session, communicate with other players, or access feedback? Matchmaking + covers it all.

“We looked at how GameSpy went about their solution and thought, we can invent something that’s easier to use,” says Collins. “To this day, the reason a lot of developers and publishers buy our tech is because it’s easy to use and assemble – they can focus on great gameplay while we look after the plumbing.”

Both products are buried in a number of AAA titles released across all console platforms in 2005; combine that with a new DemonWare office in Vancouver and it’s evident that this Irish business is still on the rise. “It’s pretty cool to see a new title rolling in every couple of weeks and think, ‘wow, I played the last game in that series!’ What was initially a small Irish company is going out there and competing on a global market stage.”

DemonWare will remain in Ireland indefinitely, although Dylan Collins recognises the irony of operating an online connectivity business in a country which has broadband penetration levels on par with the Sahara Desert. “We’re staying here,” he laughs. “The labour pool is pretty good, we’ve strong links with Trinity, and at this stage, what with Havok and ourselves, publishers know that Ireland has a great middleware scene. The disadvantages, of course, is that Ireland is definitely becoming more expensive.”

image2

Having been chased by a T-Rex on a rollercoaster with Sean Blanchfield, locked in a Santa Monica pool duel with Dylan Collins, raced through San Francisco while fed whiskey on a DemonWare tram, and nearly abducted by screaming lunatics in a DemonWare limousine, I can safely say no one does public relations quite like this company. When asked about their PR plans for GDC 2006, Collins mutters something about “military involvement”. Want to know what DemonWare do? They throw one hell of a party.

More info: http://www.demonware.net/news.html

Torc Interactive Unleashes Dreadnought, a 64-bit Proof-Point Powered by AMD64 Technology

Torc Interactive, following its collaboration with AMD, today released Dreadnought – a 64-bit technology demo utilising the Instinct Engine which is designed to showcase the power of AMD64 technology-based systems.

“At first glance Dreadnought would appear to be a graphics intensive game and therefore a slave to the video hardware running it. The fact is that Dreadnought demands just as much if not more out of the processor as video hardware”, said Dermot Gallagher, CTO of Torc Interactive. “Key performance-heavy components such as physics, animations, light and shadow determination all execute on the processor, and due to the detail of the Dreadnought environment provided by the Instinct Engine, require a powerful processor like the AMD Athlon™ 64 FX to enable playable frame rates.”

“Gamers know that the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor is specifically designed for high-performance games and demos like Dreadnought, which demonstrates the power of the AMD64 technology platform,” said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, Desktop Division, AMD (NYSE:AMD). “The powerful and compelling Dreadnought demo highlights the fact that the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor continues to be a very smart investment for gamers who take their fun seriously.”

The world’s ultimate PC processor for 3D gaming, the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor, enables gamers to experience realistic physics, artificial intelligence (A.I.), character and world animations, and the advanced shadow and lighting determinations that take immersive gaming to the next level.

While Dreadnought can be played in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes, it is really in 64-bit enhanced mode that it comes into its own – taking advantage of the performance benefits of AMD64 technology by greatly extending the richness of game content and effects, including:

* uncompressed normal maps allowing for higher texture quality and greater detail
* significantly increased number of particle effects (e.g. more flames, steam, smoke, etc.)
* persistent decals (e.g. bullet holes stay on walls and don’t fade away over time as in 32-bit mode)
* post-processing effects (e.g. screen glows & specular blooms)
* more pixel shader instructions (the adrenaline vision mode is built upon and replaces the base lighting shader to produce the effect)

Torc Interactive’s Dreadnought demo allows gamers and enthusiasts to further evaluate 64-bit gaming through a series of structured benchmarks that demonstrates the capability of Torc Interactive’s Instinct Engine and AMD64 technology-based systems.

To download the demo visit: http://www.amd.com/dreadnought/

For more info visit http://www.torcinteractive.com

About Torc Interactive
Torc Interactive are a games and middleware developer situated in the north west of Ireland, and the developers of the forthcoming middleware suite – Instinct Engine. Their most recent title is Dreadnought – the world’s first native 64-bit game developed in conjunction with AMD

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Torc Interactive Unleashes Dreadnought, a 64-bit Proof-Point Powered by AMD64 Technology

Torc Interactive, following its collaboration with AMD, today released Dreadnought – a 64-bit technology demo utilising the Instinct Engine which is designed to showcase the power of AMD64 technology-based systems.

“At first glance Dreadnought would appear to be a graphics intensive game and therefore a slave to the video hardware running it. The fact is that Dreadnought demands just as much if not more out of the processor as video hardware”, said Dermot Gallagher, CTO of Torc Interactive. “Key performance-heavy components such as physics, animations, light and shadow determination all execute on the processor, and due to the detail of the Dreadnought environment provided by the Instinct Engine, require a powerful processor like the AMD Athlon™ 64 FX to enable playable frame rates.”

“Gamers know that the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor is specifically designed for high-performance games and demos like Dreadnought, which demonstrates the power of the AMD64 technology platform,” said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, Desktop Division, AMD (NYSE:AMD). “The powerful and compelling Dreadnought demo highlights the fact that the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor continues to be a very smart investment for gamers who take their fun seriously.”

The world’s ultimate PC processor for 3D gaming, the AMD Athlon 64 FX processor, enables gamers to experience realistic physics, artificial intelligence (A.I.), character and world animations, and the advanced shadow and lighting determinations that take immersive gaming to the next level.

While Dreadnought can be played in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes, it is really in 64-bit enhanced mode that it comes into its own – taking advantage of the performance benefits of AMD64 technology by greatly extending the richness of game content and effects, including:

* uncompressed normal maps allowing for higher texture quality and greater detail
* significantly increased number of particle effects (e.g. more flames, steam, smoke, etc.)
* persistent decals (e.g. bullet holes stay on walls and don’t fade away over time as in 32-bit mode)
* post-processing effects (e.g. screen glows & specular blooms)
* more pixel shader instructions (the adrenaline vision mode is built upon and replaces the base lighting shader to produce the effect)

Torc Interactive’s Dreadnought demo allows gamers and enthusiasts to further evaluate 64-bit gaming through a series of structured benchmarks that demonstrates the capability of Torc Interactive’s Instinct Engine and AMD64 technology-based systems.

To download the demo visit: http://www.amd.com/dreadnought/

For more info visit http://www.torcinteractive.com

About Torc Interactive
Torc Interactive are a games and middleware developer situated in the north west of Ireland, and the developers of the forthcoming middleware suite – Instinct Engine. Their most recent title is Dreadnought – the world’s first native 64-bit game developed in conjunction with AMD

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Athlon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.