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Dare to be Digital 2010

Andreas
polycounter lvl 11
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Andreas polycounter lvl 11
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m0fJ2mINDc[/ame]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dare_to_be_Digital
http://daretobedigital.com/

I did this last year and it is a fantastic oppurtunity for anybody trying to get into the industry. The catch is I think at least three of the five on the team has to be still in third level education (I wasn't), and you have to have less than six months experience in the games industry. The team has to be a mix of artists and programmers (obviously). I had an amazing time and met lots of great people there and am actually heading back to Dundee for a little reunion later this month with some of the teams. You get a good bit of money for your ten weeks work (tax free), you get free accomodation (they pile everybody into one big building so the parties are great! :D) and Dundee is quite a cool little city really.
Teams came from all over the world last year (Norway, Canada, India, as far away as China even) so everyone is eligible irrespective of where they live.

So if you have a few artist/programmer mates and a great innovative idea for a game, I suggest you apply :) Even if you don't, check the dare message board to see if anyone is looking for someone with your skills (or post yourself). I only met the people in my team during preparations for the comp, so it can be done that way too. Personally I can't reccomend the competition enough, it really is a brilliant scheme.

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  • pior
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    pior grand marshal polycounter
    Sounds cool!

    But where are the youtubes of the games
    Thats the first thing they should show!!
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    Fair point!

    Here's some of the games from last year:

    Break a Leg
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZinGHFwJU7k[/ame]

    Radiant Jade
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujlhNPLA5I4[/ame]

    Pollen
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjQeAvf_sIE[/ame]

    Quick as Thieves
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48I8eMgQyUs[/ame]

    Shrunk!
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU_nhQpyaJE[/ame]

    Tom's Odd Dreamworld

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXmk1b45m4U[/ame]

    Ballistic
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfCSJp8OnZo[/ame]

    Soar (This was actually played with the wiimote and balance board, great fun)
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIl-WpLR_dQ&feature=related[/ame]

    And these were made in ten weeks start to finish! Very playable games, and some great art.
  • IEatApples
    Yea its a nice competition, I go to abertay which is a big part of Dare to be digital. Its usually 3rd and 4th year students that enter. Applied last year and didnt get through which was a shame but ill try again. Have to remember that the teams are chosen based on their game idea and not based on the level of skill of the people taking part.

    As for Dundee being a cool city... errr... its ok lol.
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    IEatApples wrote: »
    Have to remember that the teams are chosen based on their game idea and not based on the level of skill of the people taking part.

    This is key. Innovative ideas are better than normal mapped phong shaded FPS that don't push the gameplay envelope...those kind of games won't get into the comp. Having said that, every Abertay team also had a massive amount of artistic skill.

    As for Dundee, for the amount of time you'll be able to spend outside of working hours in the town, it's pretty cool :) It's got everything you need, and the best steak in the world in Papa Joes! :D Can't wait to be back there at the end of the month.
  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    I did this in 2005, was a great oportunity.. the edinburgh games show was scary stuff.. we didnt win any of the dare prises but we did get most promising concept award at edinburgh. (we fluffed the marketing in our final presentation)

    do they still do the random foreign team member? We got a random chinese team member assigned to us, some sort of international relations thing.
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    No it's kind of the other way around now...the chinese, Indian and Canadian team got an 'ambassador' on their team (I think they were Abertay students) just to help them along really, with making the game and just living in Dundee/Europe in general. They were games artists of course.
  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    yeah that sounds better. we found it threw off some of the team dynamics, and there was a huge variation in how motivated or skilled the random members were
  • IEatApples
    Yea wasn't saying that as a bad thing. Wouldn't be very cool with boring games!

    Papa Joes is good, live right next to it, but unfortunately being a student its a rare occasion thing... lol. Worth checking out Laings (sp??) beer garden too, great bar.

    Also worth noting is that you get to go to the BBC center in Glasgow for interviews, very awesome building.
  • ima
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    ima polycounter lvl 8
    Ahh that's an awesome initiative!

    Pixel Pirates (colour coded) looked pretty cute also ^^
  • Rick Stirling
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    Rick Stirling polycounter lvl 18
    I think Dare to be Digital is a fantastic programme, and the work that the students do in those 10 weeks is astounding.

    For the last couple of years we've thrown a party for all the students at the end with 20 or so us there to talk to them about anything they needed to know.

    (One thing that I think would help along the way would be MORE interaction with industry professionals - different disciplines meeting with them a few times a week to answer questions)
  • MoP
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    MoP polycounter lvl 18
    A bunch of my friends and classmates did this in 2006/2007, they had good fun and learned a lot about game development (I went to Abertay but never did Dare myself), so it's definitely something worth participating in if you have the chance.
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    Ah yes, I forgot to mention the R* party! :D Free bar! Although we only racked up 4 large this year, last year I heard they got 6 on the tab. I have a feeling that was because the party ended earlier...it was brilliant though. Everytime I'd go up to the bar I'd ask for a jack and coke and the barman would say 'Is that a double?'. And I would say 'Yes, my good man, yes it is.' :D:D

    More industry folk visits would have been welcome, but there was a fair amount. Pity we only got to see the Rockstar guys once. Someone from Rare came up 3 times I, Sega twice I think, Realtime worlds a bunch of times cause they were 10 minutes away. All depends on how busy studios are at the time I guess.
  • ManxViking
    Tried to enter this last year but our uni doesn't support it and there's not much choice of game programmers in Staffs. We probably would have made something quite nice to look at but would have been lost on making it a functioning game. :poly116:
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    You can put together teams however you like, they don't have to be in the same college. Not all of your team even have to be in college.

    Anyone know where I can get a deep-fried mars bar in Dundee? Or are they a myth (or a Glasgow thing lol). I searched all summer and failed to acquire one.
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