Play here: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/480006
Play here: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/480006
Randy Pausch co-founded the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon. He was a friend to IMD.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/last-lecture-pr.html
The music is coming out of his phone (hooked up to a loud speaker). Notice that he has a special sensor in his right hand. When he strums it across the phone guitar music comes out. He is timing his strums to make the music sound cool. He demo'd drums by shaking the phone like a drum stick. Evidently Taito is making a library of songs. Friends will be able to download different instrument tracks to the same song and have a group jam session. It's not clear to me how different tracks will sync together in a group.
]]>Submission requirements, details, and the application form are all available in PDF via http://www.interactive.org
The deadline for submission is May 15.
Thanks to all the students who participated in this intensely competitive process. Congrats again to this year's winners.
]]>The five finalists in random order are:
1) Reflection – Keith Co
2) Minor Battle – Andre Clark
3) Runesinger – Ethan Kennerly
4) SpliceMeister – Joseph Spradley
5) Bloodlines – RJ Layton
Note that these finalists will present in person to the selection committee on April 30. Three winning projects will be greenlighted for production.
Students bring their individual talents as designers, programmers, artists, writers, composers, producers, etc. together in cross-disciplinary teams. Mentors from industry and the faculty are integrated into the process from the start. Art assets are produced (as much as possible) for the 491 teams by separate students from the CSCI 281 Pipelines for Games class.
Completed student work will be promoted via coordinated effort by the university.
The goal is simple: USC strives to create the best student games in the world.
Projects developed Fall 2008 and polished Spring 2009 (as part of class)
In Fall 2008 the full student teams will begin work. All teams will participate in the USC Demo Day in December 2008.
Professors
Chris Swain
USC School of Cinematic Arts
Interactive Media Division
cswain at cinema dot usc dot edu
Mike Zyda
USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Computer Science Department
zyda at usc dot edu
The Details
Pre-reqs
Team Members
• To enroll in CTIN/CSCI 491 as a team member a student must have completed CTIN 488 by the end of Spring 2008 or receive special permission from the instructor.
Team Leaders
• To be eligible to be a team leader a student must have completed the intermediate game class CTIN 484 by the end of Spring 2008. Note that grad students are exempt this requirement.
Note: CTIN/CSCI 491 can be taken for credit more than once. This means a student may take 491 once as a team member and then again the next year as a team leader.
Creating Your Proposal
Those wishing to pitch a project should come up with an innovative game concept and create a proposal. At minimum this proposal must include:
• Written description of the gameplay & controls (~3-4 pages)
• Explanation of game innovation (~1-2 pages)
• Proposed team leader(s), as well as any other team members you have recruited. These may be tentative commitments. Team members may be listed in more than one pitch presentation. (~1 page)
Additionally, the proposal may include:
• Concept art
• Interface sketches and/or walkthrough
• Story, characters descriptions
• Playable Prototype
• Etc.
How Proposals will be Evaluated
The selection of projects and project leads will be made by a selection committee made up of faculty, industry professionals, and prior student team leaders.
Proposals will be evaluated by the selection committee and finalists will be asked to pitch their ideas in person. Final pitches will be evaluated on the strength of their ideas as well as their leadership and proposed teams.
Proposal Process and Schedule
Wednesday
March 26, 2008
6 pm General Information Meeting
- for prospective team leads, members, anyone interested in finding out more about the process
- students my email Chris Swain prior to this meeting with questions
EA Game Innovation Lab (RZC 203) 3131 S. Figueroa Street
Friday
April 18, 2008
6 pm Proposals due via email
- Proposals must be submitted via email to Chris Swain and Mike Zyda
- Please use YouSendIt.com to submit proposals larger than 5 mb.
Wednesday
April 23, 2008
6 pm
Finalists Announced via email
- All proposals will be reviewed by the selection committee
Wednesday April 30, 2008
1 pm Pitch Day
- Finalists present to the selection committee in person
EA Game Innovation Lab (RZC 203) 3131 S. Figueroa Street
Wednesday
May 7, 2008 Winners Announced via email
Thursday May 8 thru Friday August 21, 2008
Recruiting
- Winners are encouraged to recruit team members and get them to enroll in CTIN / CSCI 491
- Best results come from early involvement of engineers, artists, composers, etc.
Monday May 14 thru Monday August 25, 2008
Summer pre-production
- Mentors from faculty and industry will be available to assist over the summer.
- Historically teams who prototype over the summer are far more successful
Tuesday
August 26, 2008 Fall Semester Begins – Project Start Date
USC Gamepipe Lab (RTH 321)
Class Specifics
Students are encouraged but not required to take both the A and B semesters of 491. The A component will always be offered in the Fall and the B component always in the Spring.
This course is analogous to the School of Cinematic Art’s renowned advanced film course CTPR 480 in that it will require a high level of commitment from all participants and the output will (hopefully) be world-class student work. The end product of the 491ab cycle is intended to be a complete, polished advanced game project that is innovative in both its aesthetic and technical aspects. To this end, the teams will draw on teaching and student resources from a number of areas from the University, with the goal of integrating team members from various disciplines into a tightly-knit collaborative group.
CTIN / CSCI 491A - Fall Semester 2008 (4 units)
Thursdays 3 – 6:20 pm
During the first semester, projects will go through an extensive prototyping and design process, moving into production only when core game mechanics are solid. The focus in this first semester is on discovering unique and innovative gameplay and creating a “Level X” that is a proof of concept of the game concept and play effectively. The final milestone for this semester is a polished playable level demonstrating the key features and play mechanics.
CTIN / CSCI 491 B – Spring Semester 2008 (2 units)
Tuesdays 2 – 3:50 pm
During the second semester, level design, usability, “professionalization” and distribution of the project will be the focus of the class. Students are not required to take this second part of the cycle, however, they are greatly encouraged to do so. It has been found during the production of previous advanced projects (such as Dyadin, Cloud, and Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom) that debugging, polishing, extra level design, packaging, etc. can make the difference between a good student game and an award-winning one.
I was interviewed by the good folks at WhyTuesday.org the other day. WhyTuesday is an activist organization that seeks election reform - especially any measure that would increase voter turnout by moving Election Day from a Tuesday (e.g. a workday) to the weekend or holiday (hence their name).
WhyTuesday has a relationship with YouTube wherein their videos are featured on YouTube's homepage on the day they are released. This video was on the homepage on August 10 and received lots of views.
]]>Since then, USC students have received invaluable on-the-job training and several students have turned their part time roles into full-time employment while working on both projects. As Young closes, "USC students have a great deal of talent." If the Spielberg magic continues, that local talent might just help re-launch Spielberg's signature passion for gaming.
Full article here
]]>
Well known game designer and industry thought leader, Doug Church will be speaking in CTIN 488 on Tuesday evening, 11/7. All in the IMD community are welcome.
The class starts at 7 pm. More about Doug and his work here
]]>This article from the LA Times explains that broadband television programs (like the ones mentioned above) will be able to compete for Emmys directly against primetime and cable television shows starting next year.
Hi All. David Jaffe couldn't make his planned visit last Tuesday because of illness. He's recovered now and will be here Tuesday night 4/18 at 7 pm. He's speaking in CTIN 488. As I mentioned last week Jaffe is the creator/director of God of War and other hit titles. God of War was named 2005 Game of the Year by IGN, Gamespot, Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, Game Daily and others. Jaffe is a USC alum. All are welcome.
WHEN
Tuesday April 18, 7 pm
WHERE
Interactive Media Lab - Lucas G142
Hi All. David Jaffe couldn't make his planned visit last Tuesday because of the stomach flu. He's recovered now and will be here Tuesday night at 7 pm. He's speaking in CTIN 488. As I mentioned last time Jaffe is the creator/director of God of War and other hit titles. God of War was named 2005 Game of the Year by IGN, Gamespot, Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, Game Daily and others. Jaffe is a USC alum. All are welcome.
WHEN
Tuesday April 18, 7 pm
WHERE
Interactive Media Lab - Lucas G142