This term we had the pleasure to welcome a whole bunch of new members, from complete beginners to more experienced game developers!
To start them off on their game making journey we began with a basic tutorial using the free and open source Godot Engine. In this activity everyone was first briefly introduced to the basic tools of the engine – creating things, moving things, adding images, etc. Then participants were given a simple template project for a platformer game to experiment with these tools. After some time and practise they had the chance to use what they have learned to attempt and create an interesting game using the level editor of the template. With an endless stream of creativity everyone was able to taking full advantage of the tools available and complete a small but unique game. These were anything from a simple, yet classic platformer to an artistic game that attempts to investigate complex human issues like depression and suicide. It was a great activity to do and good to see everyone progress their skills.
Later in the term, and due to popular demand, our amazing tutor and pixel artist Faisal organised a tutorial on creating pixel art, an increasingly popular art style for indie game developers. He taught our members the basics of every aspect of pixel art, from shapes through to palette selection and shading, and animation, and gave everyone a chance to have a go. The tutorial culminated in everyone taking everything they had learned and with the help of the tutors drawing, colouring, shading, polishing, and animating a small pixel art piece of their own.
Beyond making games, this term we had the opportunity to attend the BrumIndies Talks Night. This is a community of developers across Birmingham from professionals to students and anyone interested. There we managed to meet and socialize with other developers. We listened to talks made by both industry professionals and beginners alike and had the opportunity to learn quite a lot.
As a highlight of the term, in January we attended the 2020 Global Game Jam which is a 48 hour game jam that happens simultaneously in instances all around the world. We had the chance to network and work with people who we’ve never met before both from all around the UK and the EU. There were many professionals who were ready to help, and many hobbyists who were ready to learn from us. We are very happy to share that this year one of our teams managed to grab the first prize with their brutal player versus player game, Reckless! Congratulations to everyone involved and especially to that winning team!
On the links below you can view and play our Global Game Jam 2020 submission of the winning RECKLESS game, and the other just as amazing game made by another of our members, Gun Repair. The links are:
https://globalgamejam.org/2020/games/reckless-4
https://globalgamejam.org/2020/games/gunrepair-0
Do you want to join us on our game dev adventures? Join our Discord and Facebook now to keep track of what we’re doing. See you next term!
Ivan Tsoninski
Games Development Society
To find out more about the Games Development Society visit their website www.birmingham.ac.uk/eps/gds.
There are 39 student groups in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. To learn more about their projects and activities head to www.birmingham.ac.uk/eps-societies.