We previously reported about the Seven Day Game Challenge. On the 9th November, teams gathered in the Lincoln School Of Computer Science Computer Labs and each of them presented their submission. Fifteen teams registered, however only eight teams have managed to survive endurance of the week-long game developing rush.To be eligible to enter the competition, teams had to develop and present a game which includes the themes of Vegetation and Space. As we were quite dazzled by the range, quality and originality of the presented games, we decided to make the submissions available for download:

	#7DGC Main Winner AD-JAM (Contact) Alex Saye Jamie Bloor Mike Thompson Adam Cane David Ridout Download
	#7DGC Honorary Mention Team Nigel: Sapphire (Contact) Kieran Hicks Download
	Team OxyOxSpring (Contact) Sean Oxspring Download
	Team Nigel: Ruby (Contact) Martin Smith Nathan Darling Daniel Frost Download
	Team Juicy (Contact) Courtney Benjamin Nick Bull Download
	Gecko Mafia (Contact) Ashley Black-Hood Geejoy Jumba Matthew Moore James Taylor Joss Packman Download
	Super Hypothetical Imaginarium (Contact) Brett Knights Matthew Housley Bryan Malcom Jack Broughton Nathalia Sgroot Download
	Team Thomas (Contact) Thomas Fisher Download

“it was a triumph, I’m making a note here, huge success!” – McLain

The Seven Day Game Challenge (7DGC), as organised by the Lincoln School Of Computer Science and Sean Oxspring has had a most successful conclusion. To recap, the 7DGC is a week-long short marathon style Game Jam event opened for anyone willing to develop a video-game, either on their own, or in small teams. 7DGC provided a strong, motivating and friendly atmosphere in which developing, presenting and discussing video-games development is fun. The event started on the 2nd November at 04:30PM and finished on the 9th November at 04:30PM. Throughout the week, course related units, workshops and seminars were reorganised to provide 7DGC competitors enough time to work on their submission and to allow them to contact staff members for support and critique.

Over fifteen teams have registered their interest to partake in the event, however, only eight teams have managed to survive the endurance of a week-long game developing rush. On the 9th November, teams gathered in the Lincoln School Of Computer Science Computer Labs and each of them presented their submission. To be eligible to enter the competition, teams had to develop and present a game which includes the themes of Vegetation and Space. During the presentations, a panel of judges evaluated the games on their fun-factor, their juiciness, their originality, and their use of the theme.

The judges were quite dazzled by the range, quality and originality of the presented games. Clearly participants deeply thought about incorporating the themes in varied and fun ways. There were games about bees conquering flower fields in an RTS style, mutant vegetables trying to help the moon landing in the 60’s, Space travelling jump and runs, farming simulators, carrot and cabbage collecting shooters, ant sized scientists trying to escape to the moon through resource gathering, multiplayer co-op space potatoes collecting shooters and mind controlled mash potato exploring games. Furthermore, event-organiser Sean Oxspring presented his submission, which he classified as an arts-ish experience, a parody of what is believed to be an overly pretentious ludo-logical experience.

It was most arduous labour for the judges to decide on a winner as all submissions were most astonishing considering the short amount of time that students had to develop their titles. However, after some intense debates two submissions were chosen. Many congratulations go to:

7DGC Main Winner:
Team AD-JAM – Alex Saye, Mike Thompson, Jamie Bloor, Adam Cane, Dave Ridout – for “Buzz Kill”.

7DGC Honorary Mention:
Team Nigel Sapphire – Kieran Hicks –  for SHKAMFSVATG.

All the submissions were collected and will be made available for download. In the meanwhile, have a look at the presentation stream or the few pictures that were taken:

Once again, congratulations to all the participants. Keep tuned for more Game Jam related news!

A few days have passed since the launch event of the Seven Day Game Challenge, and participating teams have been working most diligently on their submission. The CompLabs are buzzing with activity as teams can be seen to scramble around, expediting the process of short time game development as much as possible. There is quite some activity on the #7DGC Twitter – teams are showing off their work, discussing what to do with the remaining time, and thinking about the juiciness factor. We recommend to have a look at the feed – feel free to contribute to it as well. Furthermore, Mark Doughty has added a 7DGC timer onto the LSoCs lobby screen which shows the twitter feed and the remaining time left to fulfil the challenge.

Teams on  the #7DGC twitter feed are teasing about their recent game development.

In other news, we have asked participants of the game challenge to share their current progress, in either screenshot format or videos. A handful of screenshots were submitted, which shows quite some interesting advances:

However though, keep in mind that this is only a very small subset of what is to come during the game judging session this Friday. Some teams suggested that they prefer to keep their game ideas private until the presentations. We are already most excited to see the results on Friday.

Rock on guys, you are doing great stuff!

“The Seven Day Game Challenge”, organised by Sean Oxspring, has officially started today at 04:30PM. It is a week-long Game Developing Challenge for any students and staff in the Lincoln School Of Computer Science to take part in! Everyone is welcome, regardless of background, knowledge, experience or ability. As long as they are willing to develop a video-game, either on their own, or in small teams. Over the course of seven days, “The Seven Day Game Challenge” aims to provide a strong, motivating and friendly atmosphere in which developing, presenting and discussing video-games development is fun.

We announced that two of the themes from a voting poll will be used for the challenge. The themes that emerged from the polls are:

Space

Vegetation

We are hoping that you’ll be able to come up with some awesome and innovative ideas based on the themes we’re giving you. If you are finding it hard to come up with an idea – relax. You have a whole week and plenty of time to plan your game before you implement it! Please recall that both themes must be used in your game to be eligible to enter the competition.

Over 15 teams have registered their interests for the Game Challenge! Well done guys, we are really looking onwards to see your games! Feel free to chat about your game development towards the game challenge on facebook, blogs and twitter! We even got our own hashtag: #7DGC .

Terms and agreement of the Game Challenge can be found here. Feel free to contact Sean Oxspring for any enquiries! Note: We will contact Team Leaders over the course of next week.

Sign up sheets are now available! Feel free to fill it out with your team details and bring the form to registration event on the 2nd November at 4 PM, Complab B!

Note: If you do not have a team, no worries, we will help you to get into a team at the introduction event!

Voting for the Seven Day Game Challenge is now closed

We are delighted to announce that Sean Oxspring is organising an event called “The Seven Day Game Challenge”. It is a week-long Game Jam for any students and staff in the Lincoln School Of Computer Science to take part in! Everyone is welcome, regardless of background, knowledge, experience or ability. As long as they are willing to develop a video-game, either on their own, or in small teams. Over the course of seven days, “The Seven Day Game Challenge” aims to provide a strong, motivating and friendly atmosphere in which developing, presenting and discussing video-games development is fun.

What is a Game Jam?
Wikipedia’s definition: “A game jam is a gathering of developers, artists, and other creatives over a short time during which a collective effort is made to make one or more games around a given team.” Game jams are excellent, popular ways of getting game ideas down and learning to work quickly and dynamically in a group on a video-games. The games made during jams also contribute to a really nice looking portfolio!

When is it?
This game jam will be spread over seven days. It will be starting on Friday, 2nd of November and end on Friday, 9th November. Teams are welcome to work either in the LSoCS labs or from home. An Introduction to this event will be run at the University of Lincoln, MHT Building, 3rd Floor, Computer Lab B on the 2nd November at 4 PM. This introductory event will explain in detail the terms and conditions of the Game Jam and will allow the registration of teams. Sign up sheets are available here. Feel free to fill it out and to bring it to the registration event. If you do not have a team, no worries, we will help you to find team members at the introduction event. The terms and conditions of the Game Challenge are available here. Additionally, the Game Jam themes will be announced at the event. 

Who should I work with?
Teams can range in size from 1 to 5 people. You can work alone, but it might not be as fun.

What do I get from this?
Every submitted game will be judged by representatives from academia and student body. Judging criteria will be announced at the event. The members of the winning team will each receive a Raspberry Pi! Additionally, your game will look most impressive as a portfolio piece.

Is there anything else I need to do?
The game jam needs a theme! Budding participants can vote for the theme on a poll, which is now closed. Two of the themes from this poll will be used for the jam, so every vote counts! Note: Votes can be done once a day and for up to five themes can be chosen per voting session.

I have some more questions…
Feel free to email or contact Sean Oxspring! Furthermore, you may ask questions in the comment section of this post!

It should be an awesome event – we hope to see you on 2nd November at 4 PM, Complab B!

<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6605682/”>7 Week Challenge Poll</a>