Pleasant surprises
By Kate Olguin, WPI ’20
So, we’re halfway through SIP. 7 whole weeks. You’d think we’d be old hat at the whole SIP thing at this point. If this internship were a class we’d be at midterms already. But, like the one unexpected question on your U.S. history midterm, MassDiGI’s Summer Innovation Program is still full of surprises. Thankfully, these SIP surprises are a lot more pleasant and welcome than frantically trying to remember the five major causes of the Great Depression.
One of the bigger surprises for me has been playtesting. Before coming to SIP, I had always heard that playtesting was important, but I still rarely put my games in front of people. Now, I better understand the value of showing your hard-fought efforts to the general public and watching them pick apart your game with casual callousness. We’ve been testing our base game and its mechanics for a long time. During early testing sessions, we ended up getting a lot of the same feedback. As a result, we figured that playtesting would eventually be mostly unnecessary. After entering production, we went without playtesting for a while. When a Becker College STEAM camp rolled in, we prepared ourselves for the same back-and-forth we’d had with previous playtesters. The game had changed, but not by an especially large margin–part of production was throwing away our build we had been showing off, and recreating it mostly from scratch. Since the game was roughly the same, we expected the feedback to be the same. Surprisingly, this was not the case. We got some brand new data, brand new comments, and brand new suggestions. The feedback we got helped us steer our next decisions, and we might have made a lot of needless mistakes without it. That surprise potentially saved us a lot of work.
The next surprise comes from my teammates. At this point, we’ve settled into a rhythm. We all know what we’re supposed to do, and how to communicate with each other about what needs doing. However, even though we’ve been working together for quite a while now, all of my teammates have managed to exceed my expectations multiple times–whether it’s producing a great art asset, fixing a difficult bug, coming up with a great design idea, scripting a new enemy attack pattern, or adding that one extra bit of UI polish that takes hours, but makes the game feel so much better. It seems like every day someone does something that really amazes me, and considering that I’m a bit of a perfectionist, that’s impressive.
The final and most pleasant surprise from SIP is that none of this has become boring. You might think that after working for hours at a time on a single short animation or sifting through yet another article on mobile game monetization, you’d be getting a bit tired. But I’ve never come close to wishing I was somewhere else, doing anything else. Making games is a great time, and I don’t want to stop anytime soon. So, it’s a good thing that we’ve got the whole rest of the summer. Hopefully, I’ll keep being surprised.
Oh, and one of the causes of the Great Depression was the stock market crash of 1929.
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SIPX: What it’s all about
By Paul Calande, Hampshire College ‘19
Greetings! My name is Paul Calande, and I am an engineer who is part of MassDiGI’s Summer Innovation Program Extension, or SIPX for short. Here at the scenic Becker College campus, week 6 is winding down as numerous game developers are moving away from creating new features and towards polishing their work to make their games feel nice and juicy. (Translator’s note: “juicy” means visually pleasing, flashy, and attractive to the eyes!)
As the name suggests, SIPX is an extension program closely related to the MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP). We work alongside SIP in the same building and we get to attend the same lectures, meetings, and playtest sessions that SIP does. The primary difference lies in who exactly we’re working for. SIP teams work amongst themselves on their own projects and have their own producers, while SIPX teams are working for and directed by industry professionals. There are two SIPX teams which each work for a different company: Dejobaan Games and The Deep End Games. Of course, like the SIP teams, both SIPX teams are also mentored by and offered the assistance of the all-powerful dynamic duo, Monty Sharma and Walt Yarbrough. SIPX is a relatively new program (ed. note: it began last summer), but it has so far been successful in helping video game companies raise their games off of the ground. The wage and living arrangements are the same as the ones offered by SIP, so members of both programs can live their summer lives alongside each other.
Thanks to all of the common ground between SIP and SIPX, I can experience SIP vicariously through seeing SIP students do their work. Being in the same space is certainly nice and cultivates a tight-knit community of developers.
SIP and SIPX have both debated about who was allowed to make fun of who. Results were inconclusive. Regardless, we all get great experience, great industry connections, and great additions to our resumes!
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Working together
By Eva Khoury, Pratt Institute ’19
It’s week 5 already here at SIP, and we’ve recently begun building the framework of our final game.
Every day has been a learning process in many ways; taking on new tasks, solving new problems, learning about new disciplines, etc. No one knows everything, but they can learn!
What I’ve realized is that working together as a team has been more important- and more of a process- than I could have imagined. I’m extremely lucky to be in great company; everyone here is very skilled at what they do, and passionate about making a great game. However, we quickly realized that those are not the only ingredients necessary to work well, make something great, and get it in on time.
For one, it’s important for everyone on a team to be able to safely voice their opinions, ideas, and needs. When someone isn’t heard and respected, it can easily snowball into the sort of frustration that kills your mood and motivation. Of course, avoiding this is easier said than done.
At first, my team’s discussions were like a bit of a wild free-for-all. Some people overran conversations while others didn’t speak at all, and at times it was tense. It was then that my teammate Tori Rossini suggested a simple method; we won’t interrupt anyone while speaking, instead raising two fingers to indicate that we want to respond, or raising a hand to start a new topic. Everyone shares the responsibility of upholding and moderating this system, and it worked better than I could have expected. We were all given the chance to be heard without having to resort to decibel warfare.
It’s also become clear that we all have different perspectives, backgrounds, and communication styles. It can be easy to jump to the wrong conclusion. I’ve learned that asking simple questions often is the way to go.. For example: “What do you mean when you say ‘xyz’? Here is what I understood…” Very often, I’m surprised by the answer. It’s always better to spend an extra moment making sure we’re on the same page than realizing too late after an unnecessary disagreement or time spent working in the wrong direction.
These seem like simple fixes – and they can be! But we only arrived at them after a period of spinning our wheels. Establishing healthy group norms has allowed us to go on pretty happily and efficiently now. It will always be a work in progress, but we’ve already come a long way. I’m excited to see where we’ll go next!
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First impressions
By Nick Carbonara, NYU ’19
Hey there! I’m Nick Carbonara, an associate production and programming intern at the Summer Innovation Program (SIP). For anyone interested in joining the program in the future, here are a few things that strike me about my first few weeks in SIP:
1. SIP is focused on professional techniques and goals. Our task is to design tablet-based iOS games for release next year that get high download and retention rates. To produce these games, we’re taught project management techniques such as the Kanban method, and use tools like Reflection.io to do market research. These are just a few examples of the many “real-world” considerations that we’re taught to consider in SIP.
2. The development process in SIP is different than what one might have encountered in game design courses in school. Having spent the first few weeks researching to find game genres that would be profitable and feasible to make, my five teammates and I settled on creating a side-scrolling endless runner. At this stage we’re not building the game, but rather playtesting a handful of “whitebox demos” showcasing different possible game features to determine which ones will be the most fun. If all goes well, next week we’ll know which of these we’ll be expanding into a full game.
3. This may seem daunting, but you have support! Monty Sharma and Walt Yarbrough, the Managing Director of MassDiGI and the Producer of SIP respectively, are there to help you. When I deviated from the system Walt required us to use for project planning, he took the time to help me understand why we use his method instead. And last week Monty sat down with every member of SIP individually to discuss how they were handling SIP so far. On top of that, they encourage everyone to take time to rest after hard work. In short, they want to see you do well, and they believe that you can get the job done.
4. Every intern here is awesome. All 30ish of us live together in Becker College’s Merrill Hall, and we’ve had little trouble bonding. We find camaraderie talking about work, our overstuffed communal fridge, Forged in Fire (a show about people who make swords, win cash prizes, and quench their blades too early), and our interests and passions. Overall, I’m thankful to have colleagues who are as kind and friendly as they are excellent game developers.
In the limited time I’ve spent here so far SIP has presented me with challenges, but it has also given me the support to face them. With any luck, the rest of the summer will be successful for myself and all of my fellow SIP interns.
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Get a groove on with Raise the Bass
Raise the Bass, a free, fun music-themed arcade game where you defend your turntable from corrupted sound waves is available for download now at the Apple App Store and Google Play. The mobile game was created during the 2017 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Amber Skarjune from Wellesley, Emily Ryan from Becker, Ty Enos from Tufts, Veneta Cholakova from Mt. Holyoke, Wenley Shen from RISD, Paul DeSimone from RIT and Lisa Jeong from Berklee College of Music.
Working over the summer, the team produced a beta/near-release version of the game – watch the trailer here. From there, we brought the game into our LiveStudio program at Becker during the fall ’17 and spring ’18 semesters. Through LiveStudio, more students across a range of disciplines, including business students, had roles in polishing the game and getting it ready to launch. For a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Raise the Bass today for iOS and Android.
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Fight robots, save the world in Hyper Thunder Run 198X
Hyper Thunder Run 198x, a free, fun, endless runner where only the most radical hero can win, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The mobile game was created during the 2017 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Natasha Kononenko from WPI, Joey Pagano from Pratt Institute, Josh LaFrance from Becker, Ryan Higgins from Swarthmore, Yijia Chen from RPI and NYU, Amanda Stockman from Becker and Lisa Jeong from Berklee College of Music.
Working over the summer, the team produced a beta/near-release version of the and from there, we brought the game into our LiveStudio program at Becker during the fall ’17 and spring ’18 semesters. Through LiveStudio, more students across a range of disciplines, including business students, had roles in polishing the game and getting it ready to launch. Watch the trailer here and for a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Hyper Thunder Run 198x today for iOS and Android.
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Little Grimm, big fun
Little Grimm, a free, fun, cute and spooky take on the classic game Snake, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The mobile game was created during the 2017 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Ellen Chen from RIT, Emmanuel Mallea from Becker, Emily Ramirez from MIT, Dean Faulkner from LYIT (Ireland), Tung Vu from Becker, Jenny Sun from RISD and Lisa Jeong from Berklee College of Music.
Working over the summer, the team produced a beta/near-release version of the game – watch the trailer here. From there, we brought the game into our LiveStudio program at Becker during the fall ’17 and spring ’18 semesters. Through LiveStudio, more students across a range of disciplines, including business students, had roles in polishing the game and getting it ready to launch. For a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Little Grimm today for iOS and Android.
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Join us at TouchTomorrow: A Festival of Science, Technology & Robots at WPI. SIP18 teams will be on hand in the Sports & Rec Center demoing their games!
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SIP18 team selected
By Tim Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
Since 2012, applications to our annual Summer Innovation Program (SIP) have grown year over year in terms of quality, quantity, geographic reach, major, and diversity. This year we received applications from a record 305 undergraduate and graduate students representing an astounding 79 colleges and universities from around the world – making it our most competitive year yet.
Choosing only 25 as interns was very challenging. After many long hours of discussion, the committee selected a really talented group. This summer’s SIP18 team will be made up of interns from 17 institutions including Becker College, Berklee College of Music, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Colby College, Letterkenny Institute of Technology (Ireland), Mt. Holyoke College, New York University, Northeastern University, Pratt Institute, RISD, RIT, Swarthmore College, University of Massachusetts Boston, University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College and WPI.
SIP18 begins on May 15 and concludes on August 12. Over those 12 weeks or so, with guidance from staff and industry mentors, SIP18 teams will be responsible for all the work necessary to prepare a game for launch. Simply put, there is no internship program like it in the world.
As in prior years, SIP18 interns will receive housing courtesy of Becker College as well as a modest stipend. Most importantly they will all receive the greatest game development experience of their lives. Sure, it may be a lot of work but it’s also a lot of fun – we can’t wait to get started.
UPDATE – In addition to the SIP18 interns, we’re also please to welcome 7 more to SIP18 Extension (SIP18X). These 7 come from CMU, Pratt, Hampshire College, RISD, RIT, University of Massachusetts Amherst and WPI.
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Jump to it with Leap A Head
Leap A Head, a free, fun, puzzle-platform game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The mobile game was created during the 2017 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Abdealaziz Ben Yahia from WPI, Ryan Maloney from Northeastern, Tiffany Chiu from RISD, Kuan-Chi Chen from Mt. Holyoke, Ashley Hyre from Becker, Joseph Kane from LYIT (Ireland) and Lisa Jeong from Berklee College of Music.
Working over the summer, the team produced a beta/near-release version of the game – watch the trailer here. From there, we brought the game into our LiveStudio program at Becker during the fall ’17 and spring ’18 semesters. Through LiveStudio, more students across a range of disciplines, including business students, had roles in polishing the game and getting it ready to launch. For a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Leap A Head today for iOS and Android.
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