Swingame 08 Game Design Competition

SwinGame09 now open!

'''SwinGame 08 - Click Here for the Winners Page

'''Use your creativity ... and WIN!'''

SwinGame 08 is a game development competition for Australian year 11 and 12 students. Use your creativity and computing skills to create your own game and enter for a chance to ... WIN! The Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies at Swinburne invites all Year 11 and 12 students in Australia to participate in the SwinGame 08 Competition.

Here’s your chance to win great prizes, gain real-world experience in software and games development and work on a fun creative project with your friends!

What is the SwinGame Competition?
The SwinGame competition is an exciting opportunity for students in Years 11 and 12 to showcase their technical and design skills by creating a 2D game using the SwinGame game development kit. Games can range from arcade, adventure through to sporting themes!

Who can enter?
The competition is open to all Year 11 and 12 students from Secondary Schools in Australia. Entries can be individual or in teams of up to three members (all members must be from the same school). Students enrolled in at least one Year 11 or 12 subject are eligible to enter Swingame 08. For example, students in Year 10 undertaking accelerated Year 11 or 12 subjects can enter.



Not in Year 11 or 12? You can still participate!
Only Year 11 & 12 students that submit entires to SwinGame08 are eligible to win the major prizes. However, we want to encourage all school students to participate! If you are interested in learning more about software development please feel free to submit an entry into the competition. All non Year 11 & 12 submissions will be judged accordingly, and students who submit entries of high quality will receive a certificate of excellence from the judging panel.

The creators of SwinGame 08 would like to encourage all students not in Year 11 & 12 to participate, in preparation for formal entries to SwinGame in the years ahead!

What prizes are on offer?

 * 1st prize is
 * $3,000 cash for the team or individual student
 * SwinGame 08 Trophy for the winning school
 * 2nd prize is
 * $2,000 cash for the team or individual student
 * 3rd prize is
 * $1,000 cash for the team or individual student

Certificates of achievement will be awarded for all high quality submissions

How do I enter the competition?
To enter the competition you need to do the following:
 * 1)  Register your team by downloading the registration form.
 * 2)  Design and Develop your game.
 * 3)  Submit the deliverable documents and  your game by 5.30pm on Monday  11 August, 2008.

What needs to be delivered?
Entries need to include the following:
 * 1) A short document outlining your vision for the game. This document will provide a high level outline of your game, and will be used by the judging panel to understand what you want to achieve. This must be no longer than one page, and is expected to be only one or two paragraphs.
 * 2) A design document showing the structure of your game’s source code. You should include an overview of the solution as well as diagrams or text to describe its structure and the naming conventions used. The judging panel will use this document when assessing the structure of your solution. This document is expected to be around five pages in length, though no strict page limit is defined.
 * 3) A short user manual indicating how to play the game. This must provide enough detail to enable to judging panel to install and play your game. Keep this document as short as possible, though no strict page limit is defined.
 * 4) A working copy of your game, compiled to run on either Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.
 * 5) The source code for your game, and all related material needed to compile your program.
 * 6) A short document listing any copyrighted images, music, and sound effects used.

What is the format of these deliverables?
Please submit the vision statement and design document as PDF documents. Free PDF writers such as cutepdf allow you to print documents to PDF format.

The user manual can be submitted either as a PDF, or as a set of web pages (HTML). Other creative formats will also be accepted but need to be cleared first, see contact details below.

The game must be submitted as an executable application. Ensure that the game can be executed and that it has all of the resources it needs to run.

The source code should be submitted with all associated files needed to open and compile your game. The exact files will depend upon the programming language and tools being used. The following list provides ex-amples:


 * A Delphi solution would include:
 * The Pascal source code (.pas or similar files)
 * The project file (.dpr)
 * All resources (images, sounds, etc)
 * A Pascal solution would include:
 * The Pascal source code (.pas or similar files)
 * Scripts to compile the program
 * All resources (images, sounds, etc)
 * A Visual C# solution using Visual C# Express or Visual Studio would include:
 * The C# source code (.cs files)
 * The project and solution files (.csproj and .sln)
 * All resources (images, sounds, etc)
 * A Visual Basic .NET solution using Visual Basic Express or Visual Studio would include:
 * The Visual Basic source code (.vb files)
 * The project and solution files (.vbproj and .sln)
 * All resources (images, sounds, etc)
 * A Visual Basic 6 solution would include:
 * The Visual Basic source code (.frm and .bas files)
 * The Visual Basic Project (.vbp file)
 * Scripts to copy game resources
 * All resources (images, sounds, etc)

If you use one of the getting started packs these will provide you with an easy to use structure for your solution, and will ensure that the judging panel is able to easily assess your solution. See the Downloads page for the starter packs.



How are these deliverables submitted?
You can submit the deliverables in one of two ways:
 * 1) Use http://www.yousendit.com to send a zip compressed file containing all of the required deliverables. Send the email to swingame@swin.edu.au, ensure that the subject contains SwinGame Competition, and the body of the email contains your team name.
 * 2) Send a CD or DVD containing your deliverables to the address below. Ensure that you accompany your submission with a letter that contains your team name.

SwinGame Competition Faculty of ICT, Mail H39 Swinburne University of Technology PO Box 218 Hawthorn, VIC, 3122

All entries must be received by the 11th of August 2008.

How will it be judged?
A panel of industry and academic staff has been appointed to judge the competition. Your game will be judged on:
 * Functionality
 * General impression of the game execution and
 * use of images, music and sound to create an immersive experience.
 * Software implementation that makes appropriate use of programming constructs.
 * Project documentation.

When is the winner announced?
The winning teams or individuals will be announced at Swinburne’s Open Day on Sunday 17 August 2008.

Contact us
If you have any questions about the SwinGame Competition or developing games with the SwinGame API please email or use the discussion forums.

Email: swingame@swin.edu.au

Download the [[Media:Final SwinGame08 Terms and Conditions.pdf|full terms and conditions]], then get your team together and register for an experience of a lifetime.