Dare to be Digital Ireland

Incidentally, the exact same story was run in the December Issue of Business and Finance Magazine.

Dave

‘Brightspark to enlighten Abertay’s start-ups’ – article on gamesindustry.biz related to Dare to be Digital

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=3006

Wasn’t that always the case?
Was my impression anyway, seeing as the brought the Malysian team over last year.

Damian.

Confusion…
The team is spending 10 weeks in Abertay and not just the 10th week?

That’d be cool.

Aye. Means the Irish team can pick up the same prizes as the other teams now (they couldnt before).

Dave

Thats cool.
And just to let you know, uni res, where you’d be given accomodation isn’t bad. I stayed there during Dare last year.

D.

Tick tock…twill be interesting to see how many teams enter overall. Think I know of 4, though not all are complete.

Dave

Loads of time yet!
Think we got our application in the morning of the deadline last year :)
Bloody computer people, always leave things til the last minute :)

Would really like to get an idea of the kind of ideas that are going in….guess no-one is going to be willing to divulge that info though :(

Recent graduate = if you graduated in the last year. If you graduated last summer, you are eligible, but you can only have 3 members like that i think

evaluation criteria ??
You’re going to be evaluated on what you are asked on in the form….I don’t know what more to say…
Description of product….a clear and suucint product idea. The viability/marketability/creativity of said product
Schedule – can you produce a realisitic schedule…showing some kind of knowledge of work in this area.
Team – prove you have a team that is capable of proforming the task at hand.

Although, in regards to evaluation criteria, thats just my interpretation of what it would be judged on.
You submit the form as if you are submitting a game spec to a publisher. You put in the relevant bits and avoid waffle. Be descriptive and to the point. With no art submission, you’ve got to get the point across with words, which is exactly what you have to do with a publisher.

There is no definitive evaluation criteria as far as I know….its the submissions that really stick out for one reason or another that will make it through.

A few Ballyfermot students are still looking for programmers to complete teams. The programmers need to be available as individuals or pairs — I don’t think there are any groups of game design students needing three programmers. That said, if there are any groups of programmers who need one or two artists to complete teams, there are animators interested in working on this as well. Post here for either group and I’ll pass on the info.

Shane

For those of you who manage to get through the initial application stage, you’ll then have to do a presentation pitch of your product. I’ve just received an email indirectly with information about this.
I’m assuming the Scottish Dare presentations will be the same as the Irish one and the following will apply :-

——
In terms of past pitches, you and your team are being assessed on:
– the market potential of the product
– the all-round skill base of your team
– the innovation and creativity of the product
– your 10 week project plan- is it doable/realistic?

People do bring concept art work etc with them (story boards)- generally the more visual the presentation, the better you can convey the message. You will only have maximum of 40 minutes.
——

I guess whats going to be assessed will be the same in the initial stage, but with the presentation, you get to show visuals and show a gelled team and enthusiasm for the product. Quiet scary, but looking back on it….kinda fun too. :)

Yikes! Kinda late to be looking for another team member? Isn’t the deadline monday?

Dave

I’ve been mailed by an aspiring Dare entrant from Dundee about advise for presentations and such. I figured seeing as some of you will soon be in the same boat, if anyone has any questions about this, you can feel free to contact me and I can try to advise you as someone who’s gone through the process.
If there is enough interest, I could even write up some kind of info advise page for people?

damian

Yeah, we have just been notified, got selected for interview! Hurrah! However since only seven teams entered, i think they will all get a shout for interview.

They said 6 will originally be chosen, but it would seem a little unfair to exclude 1 team, unless of course there idea or team was completely wacky or something!

Best of Luck to everyone involved!

May the best team win!

Paul

HHHmmm… nerves

(as long as we are the best team that is…)

Dave

There was an article that may be of interest to you on GameIndustry.biz.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=3324

Irish students take the Digital Dare
More Celts join the hunt for upcoming game development talent
Representatives of the Scottish games and technology industries are travelling to Dublin this week to choose Irish representatives for the Dare to be Digital talent contest – the first time that students outside Scotland have been able to enter the competition.

“Identifying and nurturing intellectual capital is increasingly important in today’s technology environment,” he continued, “and Dare sets out to do just that.”

The interviews for Dare Ireland are taking place this afternoon in the Digital Hub and I think we will know the winner by about 6.30 pm ish…best of luck to all the teams participating..

Aphra. [/quote:832a968e6a]

Then off the the pub to celebrate\drown sorrows !

Good luck to all the teams.

Thats quick!
They made us wait a week last year I think.

7.15 and no sign of who the winner is yet….the tension

Official announcement will be monday. Time for press releases and all that.

Dave

never been so nervous!

Wish they could just get it over with?

How did everyone feel they got on?

Monday.. :( toooo long!

Monday???

Bah, get into work on a saturday like the rest of us ;)

Aaaah, the glamour of the games biz; weekends

A team from DCU won apparently.

Dave

Hard luck there guys!

Chin up though eh! – Keep on trucking!

Good luck to the winners and hard luck to the non-winners.
I’m sure you all learned a hell of a lot out of this experience anway.

I hope to see the winners in Dundee next summer. Chances are I won’t be here full time, but I hope to make a trip up two up to check things out.

Yeah cause Damo has more important things – hes leaving Dundee…some lame excuse about ‘a job’ and ‘wanting money’ or something equally ridiculous.

Pah! next he’ll be wanting ‘weekends’ and ‘holidays’ off from work

Pah I say!

(Oh and congrats to the teams again)

wahoo….leaving Dundee :)

hey you never know, I heard Vis are looking for people now.

Guys,

Best of luck to all of you. As mentioned already you’ve probably already learnt a lot so its all been worth it so far. Just keep at it and you could be the next Damian Furlong. ;) :p

I heard Vis are looking for people now. [/quote:ca81d7ab43]

*shudder* hehehehehe

Originally posted by Ronny
Just keep at it and you could be the next Damian Furlong.[/quote:3d45126caf]

*shudder*

The winning concept sounds really cool!

The winning game is a third-person puzzle/adventure set in 1950s America. The game is in the style of an old B-Movie with the game’s main character being a college student who has been turned into a monkey by an undercover Russian scientist posing as a college professor (always an issue in academia!). The student must go through a series of challenges on a college campus in order to return to his human state. Apparently the character is able to change its simian form to undergo these challenges i.e. turn into a spider monkey to go through air vents, transform into a silver-back gorilla to undertake physical challenges.[/quote:b8a4d0a419]

My type of game – Mystical Ninja Staring Goemon meets Ape escape meets Project Eden :)

Apparently they dont know how to put the 3d models with the programming…

Hmmm…
Could be problems there…

Ha, wait til they have to deal with 3D Studio Max to X-file exporters! Thats where the fun lies.

The winning concept sounds really cool!

My type of game – Mystical Ninja Staring Goemon meets Ape escape meets Project Eden :) [/quote:4d566ac026]

Ah, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. Aside from Mario 64 possibly the best game of the last generation. For me anyway.

Ah, Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon. Aside from Mario 64 possibly the best game of the last generation. For me anyway. [/quote:bb5824201c]

You also really like Tempest 2000 don’t you?

Man, you have great taste too :)

:p Yeah that will be fun.

Are the guys that won members of this fourm?

Are they building there own game engine or are they using 3rd party one …..

It would make sense if they were members of this forum, but I don’t think they are.

Something like the torque engine would make sense…since this is a meant to be a commercial product.

Its good, scalable and cheap.

Team More Than Games website will be up shortly :) Will have all the various bits and pieces we did for the competition, and some stuff we are still working on :)

Dave

You also really like Tempest 2000 don’t you?

Man, you have great taste too :) [/quote:ce9fe5cf7e]

Thanks mate.;)

I would love to see the winning guys participate here. Hopefully they will get some respect for winning the compo and get helpful suggestions instead of criticism.

Team More Than Games website will be up shortly :) Will have all the various bits and pieces we did for the competition, and some stuff we are still working on :)

Dave [/quote:e7b000aca1]

Cool Skyclad, I’d love to see the work you guys did :thumbsup:

Cheers for the best wishes lads,

Oh, and any advice/hints will be greatly appreciated :)

Andy
Red Ruckus

Hi Andy,

Are you chaps creating an engine from scratch?

Guys,
I’m pretty busy at the moment….long story…. but I’ll send you a long email giving you advice from what I gleamed from just reading your interview. And just some general Dare advice.
Will be back in Scotland from today for a while so I’ll see what I can do….

Damian,

Cheers that’d be great.

Andy

I could show my face @ the ceromonies – I suppose visual science wil be invited.

I’ll be contacting someone there on a different matter tomorrow. so I’ll ask how things are going. Gonna see if I can make an appearance at some point too.

Awards ceremony was a invite only affair. Assume Vis Sci will get an invite although i don’t remember meeting any VisSci people there last year.

ooooh thats fine. They are too good for me. oh I see. fine. Hope they dont ask for favours from me again.Fire me, the bastards, I made the BBC!

I’ll see closer to the date if vissci is going.

Not sure if VisSci had much of a visible appearance with Dare last year…although at the time I was constantly getting mixed up between VisSci and Vis. Now I know they are VERY different :p

Hey
I will be heading up on the 16th of July with the a few others from EA

Red Ruckus If you have any questions you’d like addressed while I am up there drop me a line

Just got asked if I wanted to attend the awards ceremony :)

Just got asked if I wanted to attend the awards ceremony :) [/quote:40d3540a32]

Wow!, they are desperate ;)

More like they are just making sure I don’t turn up before then :p

LOL
They spelt Kev’s name wrong :)

He told me he was heading up there…didn’t think they were making a big deal of it ….then again, it is EA

Its funny, I always wanted to come back to Northern Ireland in the summers while at Abertay so as lucrative as Dare seems to be I was never overly gutted about not entering.

Until yesterday when some Daring (former) class mates informed me Steve was bringing EA demos, hopefully Burnout3.

And that was the only time I was heartbroken about not entering Dare to be Digital.

has Ian Marshall left as head of the School of Computing in Abertay does anyone know?[/quote:27bf79a69e]

Yeah he has. I’m surprised they haven’t replaced him yet, they’ve known he was leaving or some time, I can’t remember where I was told he was going but it was for more of the same in a bigger institution down south, I think.

He seemed nice enough, I only ever saw him when some important investor types would be receiving tours and he’d have to pretend that he knew what we were doing in depth :p

The Game Tech division also lost one of their core three lectures this year, by all accounts they had someone lined up from Vis (I think it was Vis) but last I heard they still had no one confirmed.

Yup, Ian is gone….think he went to Hull or somewhere like that…again, not sure. Ian was good…never had him as a lecturer, but Dare To Be Ditigal was his creation, so a lot of kudos goes to him.
I thought Louis Natanson was getting promoted to his position…that was the rumour anyway.
Hadn’t heard that the lecturer position was filled…Louis told me a while back they were talking to a couple of people, good to see they have the position filled…hope they get someone as good as they had.

Just found out they’re actually keeping a blog-like thingy on the daretobedigital.ie website. And it seems like they’ve been at it for awhile. See here. Amazing job at hiding it in plain view, really. :)

anyone know the results of the Dare competition….?

Aphra. [/quote:3fa3178986]

Yeah, I’ve just been messaged to say that the marketable prize was cancelled :confused: but that ‘Just add water’ won the technical prize.

Just add water were comprised of 2 third year (I think) Computer Artists from Abertay and three of my fellow fourth years from Computer Game Tech, their concept seemed cool and they wrote their own engine from scratch in DirectX.

Their website is here (although it was never really updated but there is some early stuff):
Just Add Water

Couldn’t have happened to some nicer folk, well done guys.

I’ve been speaking to two of the guys off the Just Add Water team who told me a little more:

The marketable prize was removed to make way for a second creativity prize. So the award for creativity went to a Pixie Dust and a flash game won the innovation prize.

Just add water won a technical excellence award which was a new prize donated by Rareware who seem to have been quite involved this year.

Rareware ??

Rareware ?? [/quote:d3c921d3b8]

Is there an echo in here, ;)

Yeah Rareware, Rare, Goldeneye :) I think Microsoft were affiliated with the event this year and I was told that Rare were up during the event. It was one of the winning team that told me they were responsible for the prize, so don’t shoot the messenger, but they seem to have been actively recruiting too.

Rareware = Rare
Didn’t know that.

Eoin O’Flynn started there a short while back, you probably know him.

Another one of these ‘in the middle of nowhere’ companies.