Final 4 Announced for Epic Games Make Something Unreal Live

[keithlewis]

The Big Four - Finalists Announced for Epic Games Make Something Unreal Live 2013


Epic Games, Inc., creators of award-winning games and game technology, has announced the four finalist teams who will compete in the grand finale of Make Something Unreal Live (MSUL) 2013, the European student game development competition.

The 12 teams shortlisted in the competition presented their work in progress live to a panel of judges at the Wellcome Trust. This year’s MSUL theme is ‘Mendelian Inheritance: genetics and genomics,’ which is supported by the Wellcome Trust, and each of the 12 shortlisted games has been developed according to a creative interpretation of this topic.

The teams were ranked on a range of criteria including scientific implementation, concept originality and presentation quality. The judging panel comprised Jo Twist, CEO of UKIE, Stephen Gaffney, CEO of Fireteam, Tim Edwards, editor of PCGamesN, and senior personnel from Epic Games and the Wellcome Trust.


The four successful teams are:

Team University Game title

Dead Shark Triplepunch Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden Loch Ness

Kairos Games Staffordshire University Polymorph

Static Games Bournemouth University Mendel’s Farm

Team Summit University of Abertay Dundee Beings


“We were hugely impressed by the quality of all 12 shortlisted entries to this year’s competition,” commented Mike Gamble, European Territory Manager at Epic Games and a member of the judging panel. “We have some real talent among the teams and it was a difficult decision to pick just four from the original 12 games.”

Dr. Darren Logan, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and a member of the judging panel, said, “Interestingly, all four finalists tackled different characteristics of the theme, cleverly representing important, and often misunderstood, aspects of Mendelian Inheritance. The constraints of the theme have challenged the teams to think more creatively and they have demonstrated the potential to really enhance the game through the science itself. ”

The finalist teams have four months between now and the start of Gadget Show Live, which opens on April 2, 2013, to work on their games using Epic’s Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 (UE3). In addition, software provider Allegorithmic is providing all finalists with full licences of its Substance Designer texturing solution, which enhances productivity and streamlines workflow together with UDK. Teams will be mentored by selected games development studios throughout the process and will also be able to call on scientific support from the Wellcome Trust.

At the Gadget Show Live finalists will rapidly iterate upon their games live on the show floor in front of MSUL judges and visitors to the show. On the final day of the exhibition, the overall winning team will be announced, and awarded with a commercial Unreal Engine 4 licence for PC digital distribution.

MSUL 2013 is also supported by Staffordshire University, Epic’s educational partner for the programme, and UKIE, the games industry trade association. Head of UKIE Jo Twist said: "I was so impressed by the quality and diversity of the teams and their presentations. This is a perfect example of how our industry can work more closely with the education community to help nurture the very best talent. The support from industry mentors and real world pitching experience is so vital for the next generation of developers which will feed and sustain our fantastic industry."

To follow the progress of MSUL 2013, visit www.facebook.com/MakeSomethingUnreal. Video footage from the presentation day will also be available on the Unreal Engine channel on YouTube.

Over the past decade Epic’s Make Something Unreal game development competitions have awarded millions of dollars’ worth of cash and prizes, enabled the release of numerous commercially successful computer and video games and jumpstarted many careers.