2008 Winners

From SwinGame

First Place - Adrian Tsai

Game - Next War
School - Melbourne High

Prize $3000

Next War Review

Next War is a brilliant game with fantastic gameplay and complexity. Adrian's achievements included not only the implementation of of a game, but an entire game engine, making it easy for further developments to this project in the future. The game uses a very interesting line based graphics system and it is obvious when playing the amount professional polish that has been successfully implemented as well as Adrian's pride in the game itself. Next War shows a truly intimidating level technical and creative skills with great application and understanding of maths and physics including zooming effects and vector based in-game drawing. We at SwinGame all look forward to Adrian's future exploits!

Next War Menu Preparing for attack in Next War Under attack in Next War

Adrian accepting his trophy from the Dean of the Faculty of ICT Professor Chris Pilgrim on Open Day Adrian presented with his prize money at school assembly Adrian presented with his prize money at school assembly

Download and Play Next War - requires .net framework

Second Place - Jake Edwards

Game - Knock Out
School - St Helena Secondary College

Prize $2000

Knock Out Review

Of all the entries Knock Out best used the SDK for what it was designed for, a 2D arcade style game software development kit. The game features everything you need for a fun full featured arcade game including excellent graphics and sounds, engaging gameplay and playability. The game features great repeatability though the use of upgrades and even an edit mode where you can make play and share your own levels. Players can also use the "Jukebox" feature to change the music or even add their own to the library. The game also shows an exceptional understanding of fundamental maths and physics concepts that are so important in a game of this type. Jake shows great understanding of the purpose and spirit of SwinGame and we congratulate him for a great achievement.

Knock Out how to play instructions showing game bonuses Knock Out gameplay Level editor in Knock Out

Jake accepting his trophy from the Dean of the Faculty of ICT Professor Chris Pilgrim on Open Day Jake presented with his prize money at school assembly Jake talking about his achievements at school assembly

Download and Play Knock Out - requires .net framework

Third Place - Team Ecko

Team Ecko members (Will Rayner, Nick Cannizzo, Tim Coombs)

School - Wesley College, Glen Waverley

Game - Planet Wars

Prize $1000

Planet Wars Review

Planet wars is fundamentally a modern real time strategy game. It includes all the basic components of a large game including menus, graphics, mouse control, units and interactivity of units. SwinGame is designed for 2D arcade style games however Planet Wars presents a very 3D visual experience in this large world style environment. The network play component is quite an achievement especially seeing this is not a supported feature in the the SwinGame SDK. The game shows a good understanding of game mechanics, shooting, ships, environment and graphics. Although Planet wars was not fully functioning when it was received as an entry into SwinGame 08, it really was an exceptional effort from Team Ecko that could not be overlooked.

Planet Wars Menu Planet Wars network log in screen Game play in Planet Wars

Team Ecko accepting their trophy from the Dean of the Faculty of ICT Professor Chris Pilgrim on Open Day Team Ecko presented with their prize money at school assembly Team Ecko admiring their novelty cheque