Recursion Mid-Semester Update

So Recursion has made significant progress since our last update. At the mid-semester expo we demonstrated the recursion component, the Mr. Freeze powerup, future level and object designs, and art to be integrated later. We now have this gameplay video that demonstrates recursion and animation:


Between now and the end of the semester we hope to have a minimap on the top screen, more powerups added, and integrated levels. We'll be working hard to reach these goals!

Empyreal: Progress Check 11/06/09

The Empyreal team has made significant strides over the month since our last update, illustrated and explained below.

Among the features illustrated in this video:

• The first thing you'll notice is a new player ship model. Though it still needs texturing work, it's much better than it was before.
• The next thing you'll notice is the afterburner shader effect. The effect is coded in HLSL, and the size of the afterburner is dependent on the throttle control of the player. You'll also notice at the end of the video, the afterburner gets utterly massive; this is the result of the "Awesome Button", which basically is an escape mechanism for the player if he gets in a hairy situation.
• You'll also notice that basic weapons functionality is in; the player fires white cube placeholder projectiles. Though there's no clear onscreen indicators yet, weapons can have finite or infinite ammo, optional ammo recharging, and differing projectiles depending on what weapon is active. Projectiles have collision detection with other nonplayer ships based on whether the owner of the weapon which fired the projectile is friendly or an enemy; i.e. as of now friendly fire has no effect.
• Every now and then, you'll see a purple box in the lower left hand side of the screen. This is for the Empyreal Event System, which is a main driver of the gameplay in Empyreal. The inspiration of one of our programmers, Nick Wasilewski, the event system is responsible for presenting challenges and story elements to the player. Events can include the appearance of new enemy ships, text messages, audio cues (for example, voice acting sound bytes to drive a story), and more. The event system is backed by a strong in-house level editing and event planning tool which allows for the creation of many varied and challenging missions.

Much still needs to be done for Empyreal, however. Notably:

• AI for Nonplayer characters is still a work-in-progress and has not yet been implemented. This should arrive shortly.
• Unfortunately, Empyreal is still sorely lacking in content in nearly every area at this point; there is some stuff in the works, however, but the game may need a second semester to flesh out the idea completely.

Though there is still much work to be done, Empyreal is making strides and should still be ready and playable at the SGD Fall 2009 End Of Semester Expo.

Fall 2009 End Of Semester Expo, Smash For Cash Announcements

The Student Game Developers' End Of Semester Expo has been scheduled for Sunday, December 6 at 2:00 PM. The Expo is currently scheduled to take place in Thornton E303. All SGD projects will be on public display at this Expo.

In addition, SGD and The University's chapter of the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) are coscheduling the Fall 2009 "Smash For Cash". The event, which is scheduled for December 5 in the basement of Olsson Hall, is a fundraiser for the Child's Play charity, and is comprised of a tournament in the blockbuster Wii video game "Super Smash Bros. Brawl". The tournament requires a $10 entry, of which all proceeds go towards Child's Play. Prizes will be awarded to top finishers!

Laser Lockdown Update

The Laser Lockdown team has been hard at work over the last few weeks attemping to bend the Ox Engine to our will. I shot a short video of what we presented at the Mid Semester Expo this week; it should give you a good picture of where we're at now in development!

SRRN Games Presentation Recap

SRRN Games is a fledgling game development corporation, founded in Spring 2009 by Tyler Carbone and Aujang Abadi, both of whom are students at the Darden School of Business at The University of Virginia, as well as Nathaniel Givens. Carbone and Abadi made a formal presentation to the SGD body on Thursday offering a partnership between the company and the club. Below is a summary of the information presented.

SRRN approaches video game design as an art form; they aspire to "change everything" about the the industry. They aspire to make games that, while not necessarily the flashiest, or the most technically advanced, or the prettiest, are at their core the most original, most inventive, and most fun available.

SRRN has a few games of their own in development. Among them is a classic 2D RPG for the iPhone titled "Ash", as well as an iPhone mad-libs game. The company also has a few other projects waiting on the backburner, and is currently staffed by around 13 employees, focused mainly in the game design and content generation disciplines.

What SRRN is offering to The Student Game Developers is opportunity. SRRN desires to work directly with SGD members in any way possible to help get the company's first few projects off of the ground, and in turn the company provides experience within and a foot in the door into a video games industry career, whether that be at SRRN or otherwise. Opportunities the company is interested in exploring include: adapting and expanding previously-completed SGD games into full-featured and viable commercial titles to be published under the SRRN label; fleshing out game ideas for future projects, SRRN-related or otherwise; and finally working experience under SRRN on one of their project ideas. While no formal internship positions are being offered at this time, the opportunity to work so closely with a video game publisher is one that certainly can boost a resumé and provide live and applicable experience in the video games development field.

SRRN is open to contact from essentially anyone with some sort of game development-related inquiry, whether it be a game proposal, offer to help the company, or otherwise. For more information on SRRN Games, please visit the company's website by clicking here.

SRRN Games Talk

On Thursday, October 22 at 6 PM in OLS 005, SGD will be hosting a presentation by SRRN Games. SRRN Games was founded by two Darden school students, Aujang Abadi and Tyler Carbone. They'll be talking about who they are, their current projects, and a potential collaboration in the Spring. Make sure you come on out to hear them this Thursday!

SGD Resumé Panel Recap

This past Thursday, the Student Game Developers hosted a resumé workshop to aid SGD members in the creation and editing of their respective resumés. Panel members included SGD President Chris Dodge, senior computer science and economics double major Steven Mond, and University of Virginia computer science professor Aaron Bloomfield.

Following is a list of important points that came out of the discussion regarding resumé construction:

• Items that are useful to include in your resumé are: your experience in the field; technical skills and qualifications; examples of projects you have completed, through academic pursuits or otherwise; what specifically differentiates you from other potential job candidates (i.e. "how are you special?"; and finally your education (referring only to your college education).
• The first line of the body text of the resumé is by far the most important. In addition, place your most pertinent achievements close to the top of the document.
• Place key terms on the left side of the document; typically resumé screeners will quickly scan the document for key terms, and putting pertinent keywords with regard to your qualifications on the left side are more likely to be seen.
• Avoid poor grammar and spelling errors at all costs. In addition, do not construct a resumé that is longer than one page, and try not to be overly verbose or flowery with your writing.
• Use action verbs. NEVER use passive voice.
• Do embellish your qualifications a bit; however, don't go too far as you can be held accountable for anything you list on your resumé during an interview.

With regard to cover letters:

• When writing the cover letter, keep in mind that the point of the letter is to interest the screener to read your resumé.
• Sell yourself! Explain why you want the job and what you offer to the company you are applying to.
• Be sincere in your cover letter, but sell yourself. Again, however, keep in mind that you will be responsible for anything you write down in the cover letter in an interview setting.
• Use jargon from the field, and, again, avoid passive voice.
• The cover letter should be all about you, all the time.

Finally, two useful websites were introduced:

• http://gamedevmap.com ; this is a map of all game development companies world-wide, with links to each company's website provided
• http://www.igda.org ; the International Game Developers Assocation