If I had been a political candidate, I would most certainly have been happy with the massive turnout. But to have so many people lined up for an interview – three teams of three to five members each – presents its logistical problems.
That said, the three winning teams of the GameDev Challenge 4 organised by the St Martin’s Institute of Higher Education turn out to be a great bunch. In fact, it is hard to believe that these three teams competed against one another, as it feels like I’m speaking to one large team of individuals who all want the same thing – to see game development get more exposure and to encourage anyone who is as driven as them to follow their dream.
The more success local game development companies have, the better, as there needs to be more opportunity and demand
But what is the GameDev Challenge? Students and anyone interested in game development team up and enter a five-month journey which involves sleepless nights, endless coffees and all the hard work that’s involved in creating a video game. They are guided by industry veteran Gareth Lewis together with St Martin’s lecturers. There are monetary prizes to be won, but the ultimate prize for all the contestants is an opportunity to create a game, the challenge and the thrill of experiencing it first-hand, and getting exposed to industry specialists.
The fourth edition of the GameDev Challenge was sponsored by Heritage Malta, which inspired the theme for the games – that of building a fun game to enhance the experience and educational aspects of Maltese culture.
Out of six teams competing in the challenge, four reached the final. The eventual winners were The Basement Studios with No Photos Please!. The team, made up of Andreas John Grech, Richard Schembri and Cameron Saliba, also bagged the award for Best Art. Josef Farrugia, Kris Camilleri and Jeremy Vassallo, who form the team HexDev, were runners-up and winners of best audio with their game Bombit. Second runners-up were AD Astra Game Studios, consisting of Mark Bugeja, Sean Savona, Nicky Theuma, Miriana Schembri and Malcolm Tanti, with their game Relic Busters. The fourth finalists were Kenneth and Nigel Camilleri from Team Delta with The Historian.
While this competition was a first for some of the participants, there were others who have participated in similar competitions before and have designed other games in the past. The Basement Studios had already created another game called Typocalypse 3D.
When asked whether they plan to participate in the next GameDev Challenge, all teams said that they’re now planning a next step ahead of GameDev, although some said they might consider it depending on the circumstances at the time. But would they recommend the challenge to others? All nodded in agreement and said that it was an enriching experience as you get a real taste of what game development involves.
Despite this being a competition, all teams get on very well with one another. The reason is that, as they explain, when it comes to game development, unless you’re working for one of the big companies, you need to support each other. If one succeeds the other is happy for them. In their eyes, the more success local game development companies have, the better, as there needs to be more opportunity and demand.
They all agree that one thing that’s lacking locally is funding and support for start-ups in this type of industry. In fact, their main difficulty when working on their projects for the GameDev Challenge was finding sponsors and help. Promotion and exposure was close to non-existent. In just five months they had to script and develop a game so they couldn’t afford to market it themselves. At least Unity, the game engine they used, was free.
Still, as these young pioneers of game development in Malta would put it, if you love game development then go for it – create opportunities.
To play the GameDev Challenge 4 games visit http://gamedev.stmartins.edu/ .
• Christina Goggi is a web marketing content specialist and a regular blogger on various tech websites.