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Anyone know whats happening this year…has it started yet? Didn’t it start early this year actually cos its going to be finished before EIGF (or wahtever its called these days). Anyone heard from the people over there?
And whats the story with the EA division this year…pesky blighters. -
I’ve been up to Belfast twice so far this summer to offer advice to the two Irish teams who are based up there for the 9 weeks.
I have to say I’ve been really impressed by the abilities and attitudes of both teams.
Anyone interested in seeing how the various teams are getting on can track their progress here:
http://www.daretobedigital.com/flash_media_player/index.php -
Channel 4 ideas factory had video diarys up from both teams.
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Wow some impressive work going on there. They have only been at it for five weeks? Bit odd mixing the different teams videos together though …. I get easily confused.
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Yeah…5 weeks is a relative term in Dare these days :(
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Hi Omen, again I get easily confused …..
Yeah…5 weeks is a relative term in Dare these days[/quote:9b06727d14]
Are they getting more external/sponsor help than before. Were they allowed bring in code they did before the on site section began or do the teams have many graduates this time? Or are you referring to quantum mechanics and the relativity of time in general. :wink:
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When we did it, we came in with an engine that we’re written for uni, but zero game code, just like someone paying for the use of an engine had an engine but no game code. By the sounds of it, its gone much further these days and people are applying with large chunks of game code already written…maybe I’m wrong, but thats how it sounds :(
Its got to be a lot harder to judge projects that don’t have the relative same starting point…and i’m a purest… -
people are applying with large chunks of game code already written…maybe I’m wrong, but thats how it sounds [/quote:bae47564cd]
That is exactly as it is. Apparently you are not allowed to do it but I know teams that are in it this year that had stuff prepared well in advance.
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Ooooh Controversy. I like it.
I thought about entering dare years back but would not have brought in code – mainly cos I would not have thought it possible to pull a fast one with experienced industry professionals keeping an eye on progress. But wait can’t you do art work for a pitch to get into competition, art work that could then be used in game, perhaps similarly you should be allowed declare code you want to use at pitch stage. Complicates judging I know.
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More competition. Dare is to be expanded to Wales next year.
"A selection committee will be in place in Cardiff by February 2008 to identify the teams who should go forward"
http://www.developmag.com/news/28123/Channel-4-backs-Dare-to-be-Digital -
well both teams from ballyer this year , had full porotype demos up and running for our ideas, that was for the interview stage a few months back , neither team made it to dare. But we both had running games that where fairly playable ,
this was because we wanted to show off our ideas as a working game , as we felt all the writting in the world would not work if the judges can see what your trying to do. I guess it did not work since we did not make it , and i heard the team that made it just had a game design document . But both teams knew if they had made it they would have to start all over again building the game for start,
but the time we spent before hand working on a porotype of our games would save alot of time. As we would all have a firm idea of what we needed to do and had already tackled alot of early problems with the games. -
had full porotype demos up and running for our ideas, that was for the interview stage a few months back , neither team made it to dare… I guess it did not work since we did not make it , and i heard the team that made it just had a game design document [/quote:2ec48b38de]
Its not about what you have done at the interview stage. Its about your idea and how clearly you can convey it and proving your team has the ability and know how to make it happen, and that you have the knowledge that this game is something that is actually marketable, not something that appeals to you alone. If you can need to show a prototype to convey your idea, thats not great really, means you don’t think your paper-work is up to scratch to me. A good document is more important as you have something to stick too. (personal opinion)
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Hey guys,
I’m on team zero.one representing the Republic in Dare this year.
I havent been on the forums in a while (70+ hours working week :( )
and i just saw this thread so i thought i’d let ya’ll know how were getting on.We have just finished our final week of coding/testing and everything is going great. We have a fully working game with one level, along with menus & our own soundtrack. We also have a level editor that is working really well so we hope to have people at Protoplay making and playing their own levels. I won’t bore you all with the details of the game, it is called "Heaven2Ocean", it is a 2D puzzle/platformer aimed at the casual market, and if anyone would like to play it, e-mail me at
and i will send you all the info you need to download it.
In response to your discussion about pre-prepared code etc. , I hope i can shed some light on the matter. As far as i know there are no rules against coming to the competition with some code already prepared. The general consensus seems to be that code/art/sound means pretty much zilch to the judges, all they are concerned with is a great, fun game idea that has been brought to fruition over the 10 odd weeks in Dare. Look at it this way, our team has wrote a game & level editor in the last 8 weeks, while other teams have chosen to use an existing engine. Surely our team having a little bit of groundwork to start from isn’t cheating or trying to "pull the wool" eh? I also know that other teams in the past have brought near fully working games to the competition, so I’ll sleep soundly!! Keep im mind also that we have been putting in a huge amount of hours working on the game, so our quick progress is attributed to that rather than work done before the competition.
We also have had great help from our mentors during the competition.
We had Tony K. in the first week, and dillon has been up a few times, as well as countless others (thanks guys!!).We are going to Scotland next Saturday and we hope to do you all proud and hopefully bring home some gold. Ill keep you posted…
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Surely our team having a little bit of groundwork to start from isn’t cheating or trying to "pull the wool" eh?[/quote:566e787dd8]
Hey murphy,
Remember, I was there and I know what its like. My feeling is that its not a level competition when every team enters from a different starting point, some starting from no code, just a bought in engine they’ve never used before and others coming in with an entire game and spend 10 weeks polishing…Anyways, good luck with everything. Enjoy the judging :)
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Guys, I watched all the Belfast podcasts the other night. Quality :)
Watched a couple of the Guildford / Dundee ones, they were so boring compared to yours :)
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linky?
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Surely our team having a little bit of groundwork to start from isn’t cheating or trying to "pull the wool" eh?[/quote:d6e5325487]
Hey murphy,
Remember, I was there and I know what its like. My feeling is that its not a level competition when every team enters from a different starting point, some starting from no code, just a bought in engine they’ve never used before and others coming in with an entire game and spend 10 weeks polishing…Anyways, good luck with everything. Enjoy the judging :)[/quote:d6e5325487]
Surely thats the teams fault if they dont prepare. If the rules allow you bring in stuff then its the teams lack of prep for not bring in stuff like others did.
Surely the aim is to find the best game developers out there for future employers. Not a competition of who can make a game in 10 weeks or quicker. If you want to win, my advice would be usr everything or loop whole to your advantage. Its life..
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Sigh…its not a matter or who prepares…you can in theory prepare for a year. The point is, how can you fairly judge teams that have such completely different starting points.
The original concept of the competition was that you spend 10 weeks creating something…not 10 weeks plus 12 months preparation coding and creating art. I feel its against the proper ethos of the competition :(
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Best of luck to the Irish Teams in Scotland!
I was on the Northern Irish in Dare last year. It’s a tough ten weeks, but the stress around the judging was full on. I remember like it was yesterday…
Nacho
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Hey guys,
SO…we got into the last six!!! The elimination process was realy tough to go through but thankfully we were one of the lucky few teams. The pitching process was earlier this morning and i’m happy to say it went really well. Believe it or not, we spent the last week working on our pitch, the game was already finished. That HAS to be a Dare first eh?
Thanks for you kind words about the videos, we tried had to entertain. If this games thing doesn’t work out, maybe a career in acting could be on the cards. Also, look out for that drunken goon in the pub in one of the videos (hangs head in shame) !!!!
Peter, were I not in such a delicate position, I would say that you are bang on the money… but of course I won’t say that!!!
Awards are tomorrow, I can’t wait. I’m going out to a comedy club now. The Fringe is on in Edinburgh and the atmosphere is electric, or should I say, ta an craic is ninetey.
On a side note (read shameless plug) , you can download our game at http://www.heaven2ocean.com. Enjoy.
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Well done, had a quick look at the video looks like a good game…..will give it a proper go when I’ve got more time!Good luck tomorrow!
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Fair play to ye Adrian, I can’t say I’m too surprised though
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Good luck lads! The game looks v.good. When is it out on the DS? :)
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Ya that game is very good. Addictive..
A few of the lads here have been playing it. It’s like a cross between Loco Roco and Mercury. One of our guys here worked on both Mercury games and he was impressed with ye’res, so good complement.. :)
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Hard Luck lads, but still a good game.
I played (and finished) your it yesterday. It’s quite good and well polished. Did you do it all in C++ or was it built on an engine?
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Hey lads,
Thanks for all your kind words about the game. Although it is a cliche, seeing people play and enjoy the game makes it all worth it. Of course, myself and the team were gutted at the awards, but hey, once all the ceremony and drama was over, we were still left with a kickass game!!
The whole Dare experience has been great and I wouldn’t change anything.Nacho Libre,
the entire game and level editor was written from scratch using C++. We used openGL for graphics , fmod for sound, and SDL for texture loading. As well as that, all sounds and music made by our three exceptionally talented artists.peter_b,
We have had comparisions made with both loco roco and mercury, but we were expecting that. That said, they are both very good games, and I think we add something new to the equation, so i’m definately gonna take that as a compliement. Just don’t mention Dewy’s Adventure
(kicks himself for lack of knowledge of upcoming Wii games)kyotokid,
Miyamoto owes me a fiver, so they’re getting nothing!!! :DBrendan,
We learnt from the best ( cue Brendan & zero.one training montage )
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