TouchTomorrow at WPI: June 10, 2017 – Worcester, MA
Join us at TouchTomorrow: A Festival of Science, Technology & Robots at WPI. SIP17 teams will be on hand in the Sports & Rec Center demoing their games.
NCSSS Student Research Conference – Mass. Academy at WPI: June 8, 2017 – Worcester, MA
Join us as our SIP17 teams take part in the annual NCSSS Student Research Conference being held this year at Mass. Academy at WPI.
Early days, early development – 6/2/17
Early days, early development
By Amber Skarjune, Wellesley College ’19 and Veneta Cholakova, Mt. Holyoke College ’19
Coming straight from the end of finals at our respective schools, the students selected as interns in MassDiGI’s Summer Innovation Program (SIP) found themselves settling into the facilities at Becker College. Step by step we started getting ready for three months of dedicated entrepreneurship and game production.
For the first week of SIP17 we spent time getting oriented. MassDiGI managing director Monty Sharma introduced us to the program. Along with help from executive director Tim Loew and producer Walt Yarbrough, he covered each aspect of the program and made sure all of us knew our responsibilities. During orientation we all got to know each other throughout various group tasks. We got accustomed to the surroundings and even had some “off-site” team building exercises, such as board game evenings and group meals.
Veneta Cholakova (L) and Amber Skarjune
At the beginning of the second week we game jammed to build a simple AR application. This was simultaneously an interesting and challenging task that facilitated the transition to the actual start of the work. Then on that Tuesday, the 28 of us were split into five teams (ed. note – more on the 5 teams coming soon) to begin their development process. Each team had a combination of artists, designers and programmers, along with one lovely music producer, Lisa Jeong from Berklee College of Music.
Once the five teams were formed, we started discussing, conceptualizing and designing a fun core mechanic to build off of. To make sure the starting point was engaging and entertaining each team presented their game idea to the producers. The feedback we received was crucial to our further progress.
After exploring the core mechanics chosen, each team began building a demo version of their game. All teams were working hard towards their common goal – to present their core game ideas to each other, SIP mentors and visitors. Meanwhile, each team’s artists began working on conceptualizing ideas to suit the specific mechanic the team had begun to build.
Forrest Dowling
We also had our first industry mentor come by the studio, Forrest Dowling from The Molasses Flood of The Flame in the Flood fame – and a former designer on Bioshock Infinite. The questions asked during his talk helped the teams to better understand early stage game development. After the talk Dowling tested each team’s demo game and provided his feedback. He emphasized the importance of the presence of a clear idea where a game is going. His suggestions on how the games should progress were particularly useful for us to shape our short and long term goals.
While each team is progressing at a different pace, our end goals all converged when demoing of what we’ve built so far. And, while we’ve all got a long way to go before we have a finished product, we are really excited to see what we’ve created so far and how we’ll progress into the future!
GAME LAUNCH: Surf’s up for Cat Tsunami – 4/27/17
Surf’s up for Cat Tsunami
By Timothy Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
Cat Tsunami, a free and fun endless surfer where you play as Kai the Cat surfing on waves of other cats, is now available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The mobile game was originally created during the 2014 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by then students Ryan Canuel from Becker College, Paige Coblentz from RISD, Renzo Heredia from Berklee College of Music, Aislynn Kilgore from Hampshire College, Matt Metzger from UMass Lowell and Lili Sun from MIT.
Working over that summer, the team produced a prototype of the game – watch the much-beloved trailer here. From there, we brought the game into our LiveStudio semester-based program at Becker from fall 2014 through spring 2017. Through LiveStudio, many more students across a range of disciplines had key roles in rebuilding the game, polishing it and getting it ready to launch. For a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Cat Tsunami today for iOS and Android.
“Insight into the casino gaming world” by Floyd Barroga, MGC – Franklin M. Loew Lecture Series at Becker College: April 18, 2017 – Worcester, MA
Insight into the casino gaming world
When: Tuesday, April 18, 2017, 5:30 p.m.
Where: Becker College, Health Science Building 306/309, 51 Sever St., Worcester, MA
Floyd Barroga is currently responsible for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) Gaming Technology Test Lab, Network Operations Center & Technical Regulations (Electronic Gaming Devices). Previously he was the Manager of Jurisdictional Engineering & Program Requirements at Scientific Games (SG Interactive), one of the largest casino gaming companies in the world. With 10+ years’ casino gaming experience, in software/hardware development, online gaming, test engineering & technical compliance.
The Franklin M. Loew Lecture Series at Becker College is free and open to the community. This lecture is sponsored by MassDiGI. RSVP to lectures(at)becker.edu. Seating is limited.
SIP17 team selected – 4/14/17
SIP17 team selected
By Tim Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
Applications to our annual Summer Innovation Program (SIP) have grown year over year in terms of quality, quantity, geographic reach and diversity. This year we received applications from 242 undergraduate and graduate students representing 50 colleges and universities from around the world – making it our most competitive year yet.
Choosing only 25 as interns (we added one spot this year) was very challenging. After much discussion, the committee selected a talented group – including a Fulbright Scholar. This summer’s SIP17 team will be made up of interns from 14 institutions including Becker College, Berklee College of Music, Letterkenny Institute of Technology (Ireland), MIT, Mt. Holyoke College, Northeastern University, Pratt Institute, RPI, RISD, RIT, Swarthmore College, Tufts University, Wellesley College and WPI.
SIP17 begins on May 16 and concludes on August 13. Over those 12+ weeks, with guidance from professional staff and industry mentors, SIP17 teams will be responsible for all the work necessary to successfully launch their games. There is no internship program like it on the planet.
As in previous years, SIP17 students 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. Yes, it may be a lot of work – but it’s also a lot of fun. We can’t wait to get started.
Worcester Game Demo Night! – Worcester, MA: April 13, 2017
Join us along with WPI, Becker College and the Woo! Game Pile for a night of fun and games in downtown Worcester. The evening begins at 5:30p in Bancroft of the Grid across from Worcester City Hall. For more information and to register please click here.
EAUC Annual Conference: March 26-28, 2017 – Washington, DC
Join us at the Educational Association of University Centers (EAUC) Annual Conference in Washington, DC.
Ophidia goes green(light) – 3/17/17
The game, which launched in 2016, has been downloaded over 130,000 times. It is also available on the App Store, Google Play and Itch.io.
Update 3/30/17: Ophidia has been greenlit!
GAME LAUNCH Colosseum Coach: The fight is on – 3/10/17
Colosseum Coach: The fight is on
By Timothy Loew, executive director, MassDiGI
Colosseum Coach, a free, fun, action strategy game where you control a team of gladiators and lead them to victory against the arena’s monstrosities is now available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play. The mobile game was created during the 2016 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Grace Barrett-Snyder from Smith College, PJ Keenan and Athony Popp from Becker, Catherine Litvatis from RPI, Sofia Miren Syjuco from Carnegie Mellon, Mariel Rodriguez from RISD and Joe Marchuk 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 ’16 and spring ’17 semesters. Through LiveStudio, more students across a range of disciplines 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. Colosseum Coach was launched at PAX East. You can download Colosseum Coach today for iOS and Android.
