Students from the 51视频 have won a national award for a video game they designed from scratch in a race against the clock.
Students (left to right) Jen Ward, Jordan Nelmes, Jamie Whittenbury and Faysal Maaroufi
The third year Game Art students were taking part in the Ukie Student Game Jam, going head-to-head with teams from universities and colleges across the UK.
Jordan Nelmes, Jamie Whittenbury, Faysal Maaroufi and Jen Ward won the Technical Achievement category, one of only three awards presented.
“It felt amazing to win,” said Jordan. “Only three university teams won across the whole of the UK so that was huge. It’s the biggest achievement in the early stages of my career.”
The Ukie Student Game Jam is run by Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment), the leading trade body for the UK games and interactive entertainment industry. It challenged Ukie’s student members to create an original video game based on the theme of symmetry.
The University’s winning team had just 32 hours to make the game a working reality, competing against more than 30 other teams across the UK.
Set in a science testing facility, the game challenges players to complete a series of puzzle-based tasks, progressing through different rooms as they solve each one. The twist is that every challenge uses mirrors as part of the problem-solving.
Jordan and Jamie principally concentrated on the concept and bringing the game to life in 3D, while Faysal and Jen focused on the artwork and creating the visual world of the game.
Most of the work was done remotely and the team communicated via a 32-hour long online call. They were mentored by an industry professional.
“I spent 10 hours trying to solve one problem,” said Jamie. “I got to 10 hours and thought, ‘let’s do this a different way’. It was a good lesson in optimising time and sometimes finding a different way that might not be the most efficient but actually works.”
Faysal added: “I was exposed to the reality of the industry, of scrapping ideas that you’ve grown attached to and moving on, but it worked really well in the end.”
All four want to work in the games industry and said that the contest had given them insights into such a career and the pressure of tight deadlines.
Faysal said: “It motivates you to feel like you can take on other competitions and challenges and put your work out there as an artist and say, ‘this is my style and these are the ideas I’ve come up with’. It’s given me a lot of confidence.”
“We have received a lot of compliments on the game, on the aesthetics and art style,” said Jordan. “It’s easy to underestimate yourself, but when the mentor replies to say, ‘that’s amazing’ it was another huge boost in my confidence.”
He added: “We had to be professional. You’re working to a deadline and having to work with other people whose ideas you don’t always agree with but finding a middle ground. The games industry is known for having short deadlines, so if we can do something in 32 hours we can meet such demands.”
Jacqui Edwards, Course Leader for Game Art at the University, said: “We are very proud of the students’ achievement and what they created under pressure. Our students become student members of Ukie as soon as they arrive on the course. This offers them regular opportunities to connect with industry professionals through events like the student conference and the Game Jam, which is vital for their sense of belonging to their future industry and their employability. The course has seen growth in the number of students entering the Game Jam in recent years, which is a testament to their growing confidence and skills in creative and collaborative practice.”