Gaming

Over 2,000 students, instructors, industry insiders and gaming fans will crowd the Design Exchange for the seventh annual Level Up Showcase on Wednesday, an event that has become known for uncovering new creative talent.

Steve Engels, an associate professor, teaching stream in U of T's department of computer science, co-founded the event with Emma Westecott, an assistant professor at OCAD University, seven years ago.

“This event brings together game design students and gaming enthusiasts from all over Ontario, showcasing Ontario’s young talent to industry, media and the world,” says Engels.

“To see this event grow from its humble beginnings to what it is today is truly inspiring. It really shows how the field continues to grow and expand into all sorts of exciting new directions, and we’re looking forward to seeing all the things our students come up with this year.”

Read more about Level Up Showcase

U of T's Nina Haikara talked with Engels about game design at U of T and trends to watch at this year’s Level Up Showcase.

U of T's Steve Engels and OCAD U's Emma Westecott co-founded Level Up Showcase (photo by Nina Haikara)

How popular is your course on video game design?

We first offered the course in 2007 as a capstone course. At the time, many of our students had enrolled in computer science out of a love for playing and making games so the course was designed with them in mind. We never imagined that it would expand the way it did, doubling in size, and then spawning off a second section last year focused on the design of mobile games.

How does mobile game design differ?

Mobile games is one of the fastest growing markets over the past several years as consumers spend more time on their mobile devices. The games appeal to a more general audience, and instead of offering the epic experiences of traditional console and PC games, mobile games can come with you anywhere and can fit into all the little spaces of a person’s day.

U of T, OCAD U and Centennial students showcasing at Level Up received feedback on their collaborative game designs from Ubisoft employees. How does the gaming industry’s feedback influence their final work?

Games are meant to be fun, but students soon learn that it’s hard to simply make fun happen when and how you want it to. One of the secrets to doing that is showing it to people and learning what people love about your game so that you can move it in the direction that people seem to enjoy.

That’s what makes these “playtesting” sessions with Ubisoft, with our first-year learning community, and with the game design and development club so valuable – the chance to have people who play and love games tell you what they love about playing your game.

Will we see examples of virtual reality games at Level Up?

Virtual reality has always been a part of the Level Up showcase but never more than this year. VR has been making inroads in so many areas of technology and entertainment, and it’s something you’ll see in a big way at our event.

Do you expect to see more augmented reality games after the popularity of Pokémon GO?

Augmented reality has always offered a new set of challenges over VR, in that AR games place a virtual world over top of the real world.

Players’ actions in the real world are then reflected in the virtual video game world, like in Pokémon Go, players find Pokémon by exploring the real world around them. While we have a lot of VR games in this year’s Level Up event, AR games are harder to show in a crazy busy environment like Level Up. We’ll find out soon if any of the teams are up to the challenge, but with 2,000 people coming through Level Up every year, attendees will be too busy watching where they’re going to hunt down the elusive Pokémon!

Pitfall Planet, which won best game at the Level Up contest in 2015, was later released by Steam. Do many students go on to sell their game after the showcase?

The main thing that keeps students from releasing their games is the lure of the real world. Pitfall Planet got released on Steam because the students involved were so committed to seeing their game work. They turned down offers from Google in order to see it to completion. All of our games are great examples of how creative and accomplished our students can be, and the hope is that we’ll see more success stories like Pitfall Planet.

I hear you’re pursuing a PhD part-time at OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education). Can you explain how game design education fits into your research?

I do game design education as my job, but for my research, I'm looking at educational game design.

Both of these topics live in the intersection between game design and education. My research in the past has been on how to teach these classes more effectively. My research in the future is looking at how to use games in an interactive and engaging way, to teach topics in science, math and technology.

I'm about halfway through my PhD work right now so if anyone wants to get involved in making educational games, let me know!

Level Up: what video games will U of T and OCAD U students unveil this year?

geoff.vendeville — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 20:34:44 +0000

Level Up: what video games will U of T and OCAD U students unveil this year?

geoff.vendeville Fri, 03/31/2017 - 16:34

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Four of the standout games designed by U of T and OCADU students for the Level Up Showcase, a conference of video game designers: top row, Auroras (left), Pickup Artist (right); bottom row, Neon Ascension (left), Sizis (right)

Geoffrey Vendeville

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Geoffrey Vendeville

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Students pair up to design video games for the 7th annual showcase on April 5

Designing the next Angry Birds isn't all fun and games.

“There are a million reasons why a game can fail, compared to the few reasons that make it succeed,” says Steve Engels, an associate professor, teaching stream in the University of Toronto's department of computer science. “Typically, success can only come after encountering and regrouping from failure.”

His students teamed up with OCAD University students to develop games for the Level Up Showcase, a conference for budding programmers from 15 universities and colleges. Now in its seventh year, the showcase attracts over 2,000 guests, including many in the industry who will be rating and critiquing the 75 games on display.

Remember Pitfall Planet? That game was first unveiled at Level Up in 2015. Since U of T began offering the half-semester course in video game design 10 years ago, enrolment has tripled.

Read about last year's showcase in The Toronto Star

Since 2011, the class has been co-taught with Emma Westecott, an assistant professor in OCAD U's Faculty of Design.

“The benefit for the students is that they're put together with people with different literacies and skills, and they get to make something together,” she said. “It's as close as you can get to the real experience” of designing a game.

The brains behind the video game Auroras. From left to right, Daniil Kouznetsov, Leora Rogovein, Christine Murad, Jasmin Lantos and Linden Li (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

If any of the students' projects is half as entertaining or addictive as Angry Birds, it will probably get an “A.” Its creators may also get jobs out of it. Ubisoft and Google have hired past stars of Level Up, Engels said.

The U of T-OCAD U games this year run the gamut from a Doctor Who-inspired “puzzler” to a stealth game in which the goal is to steal stuff from a house party without getting caught. Here are the highlights:

Auroras

Team members: From U of T, Emily Han, Daniil Kouznetsov, Jasmin Lantos, Christine Murad and Leora Rogovein, and from OCAD U, Linden Li and Jacqueline Lee

Number of players: Two

Type of game: First-person co-op puzzler

Inspired by Slavic mythology and an episode of Doctor Who with a cult following, Auroras is set in a castle in which a “Doomsday beast” has been set loose. The players take the roles of twin sisters, the evening and morning stars.

“We wanted to start with a message or underlying theme,” said Lantos. “We decided to go with identity because it resonated with a lot of us.”

The sisters have to solve puzzles while avoiding deadly statues that only move and attack when the players are looking away or closing their eyes.

Neon Ascension

Team members: From U of T, Grace Zhu, Philip Bilodeau, Jeffrey Deng, Catherine Wang and Daniel Son, and from OCAD U, Sam Rasmussen and Matt Crans

Number of players: Two

Type of game: Arcade

“Neon Ascension is a competitive endless climber game, where two players compete for survival on a wall of infinite height,” said Zhu, who is in her last year of a computer science major.

“The game is fast-paced, action-packed and features retro-futuristic design in dazzling neon colors. Players stay alive by rearranging adjacent blocks on the wall, giving them plenty of opportunity to save themselves or sabotage their opponents.”

Pickup Artist

Team members: From U of T, Bo Yuan Zheng, Isabelle Chan, Chang Cheng Zhang, Wayne Zhang and Juan Camilo Osario, and from OCAD U, Bailey Stanutz and Angelo Flores

Number of players: Up to 11, but currently best played with two to four

Type of game: Casual/indie/stealth

You're the worst guests at a house party, trying to make off with as much of the hosts' furniture without attracting attention. The laws of physics don't seem to apply here – fridges and couches bounce around, adding an element of silliness.

“Quickly steal small objects yourself, work together to steal bigger objects, and win by being the person who steals the most,” said Zhang.

Don't try this at anyone’s home.

Sizis

Team members: From U of T, Ben Hu, Anthony Chernyak, Kelley Tai, John Lacuna, Olusola Nylander and Daniel Murphy, and from OCAD U, Colin Brannon and Melissa Gaa

Number of players: One

Type of game: Exploration and puzzle

The player is set loose in a cartoonish fantasy world with floating islands where they can choose a path to go on different adventures. The goal is to collect special rocks along the way, but to do that one must grow or shrink objects using magical powers.

“During testing, we saw that people would get stuck and would have to wrap their heads around how to solve the puzzle,” said Hu, a fourth-year computer science student. “Once they did, they felt great.”

At the end of the game, the player gets to flex their powers in a “sandbox area” where there are no limits to their ability to enlarge or shrink things. (A demo of Sizis for OSX and Windows can be downloaded here)

Pikachu sightings, rumours of Jigglypuff: Pokémon GO at the University of Toronto

lanthierj — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 17:19:16 +0000

Pikachu sightings, rumours of Jigglypuff: Pokémon GO at the University of Toronto

lanthierj Wed, 07/20/2016 - 13:19

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(photos and Storify by Romi Levine)

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Faculty of Arts & Science

Geography and Planning

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Red, Blue or Yellow team? Come for class, stay to hunt pocket monsters

It’s hard to avoid getting caught up in Pokémon GO mania – whether you jumped on the bandwagon after (or even before) the app’s official Canadian launch on Sunday, or passed by countless groups of people glued to their phones, flicking at strange cartoon monsters on their screen.

“It’s kind of like Fitbit for geeks,” says Vicky McArthur, assistant professor at University of Toronto Mississauga Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology.

“It gets you out the door to try to find new Pokémon and gets you exploring your own neighbourhood in ways you wouldn’t otherwise have done.”

She says the longstanding Pokémon brand is what gets people to download the game, but the clever augmented reality interface is what keeps people hooked.

Don Boyes, associate professor, teaching stream, in U of T's department of geography and planning, is an expert on geographic information systems (GIS). Boyes tweeted: “PokemonGo is a great example of a #GPS-based location service – I'll be covering this in my fall #GIS classes!”

The game has been a huge success for app maker Niantic Inc., and for part-owner Nintendo – whose stock has gone through the roof since its debut. And this month, Nintendo is set to bring in even more cash with the release of Pokémon GO Plus – a $35 device that makes it easier to catch those pesky Pokémon.

Level Up: U of T and OCAD have created the largest student gaming showcase in Ontario

lanthierj — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 17:36:40 +0000

Level Up: U of T and OCAD have created the largest student gaming showcase in Ontario lanthierj Fri, 04/08/2016 - 13:36

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(all photos by Nina Haikara)

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These Toronto students could be the next big video game designers

Television screens, game consoles, motion sensors and virtual reality (VR) goggles took over the Design Exchange in downtown Toronto for the 6th Annual Level Up showcase.

What began as a small academic collaboration between the University of Toronto’s department of computer science and OCAD University, has grown into the largest showcase for student game design in Ontario.

Three of this year’s must see games – Plunder, Shadow Tag, and Chrominance – were designed by U of T and OCAD U teams.

Read the Toronto Star

Fourteen participating colleges and universities demonstrated more than 50 projects, showing industry leaders and gaming fans of all ages what students can create in within an academic term.

For U of T and OCAD U students, by the time their teams were formed and concepts approved, they had only seven weeks to complete to deliver in time for Level Up.

Members of Pitfall Planet, last year’s Level Up winner – Emma Burkeitt (OCAD), Adam Robinson-Yu (computer science) and David Czarnowski (OCAD) – returned to the showcase after being shortlisted in the best student game category at the Independent Games Festival in San Francisco. Their game is being released by Steam later this year.

See the CBC News coverage

This year, Plunder, where players must navigate pirate ships through sea-monster-filled waters, by U of T and OCAD, took home the People’s Choice Award.

See a photo gallery from the event

Gaming

Taking video games to the next level: U of T’s Steve Engels on this year’s student game design showcase

Read more about Level Up Showcase

Level Up: what video games will U of T and OCAD U students unveil this year?

Read about last year's showcase in The Toronto Star

Auroras

Neon Ascension

Pickup Artist

Sizis

Pikachu sightings, rumours of Jigglypuff: Pokémon GO at the University of Toronto

Read more about the game

Level Up: U of T and OCAD have created the largest student gaming showcase in Ontario

See the CBC News coverage