(Edmonton) University of Alberta students studying computer game design celebrated their achievements April 25 with the fourth annual Computing Science 250 Game Development Awards.
The awards competition brought together six-person teams from the CMPUT 250 course's fall and winter sessions, representing a mix of U of A faculties and study interests. Team members came from a variety of U of A programs including writing, music, design and, of course, computing science.
To develop their game submissions, the teams used a common platform supplied by BioWare, the Edmonton-based video game giant founded by U of A alumni Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk.
The team behind one award-winning game, Dramatis Personae, combined live-action video with computer animation in their project.
Dramatis Personae is set in the ego-clashing world of the theatre. Team member and producer Jesse Tucker describes the game as a story about an unlucky understudy to the lead actor who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"The animation takes the player into a dream-like state," said Tucker. "The player is then introduced to characters like Rum Tum Tugger from Cats, Stanley Kowalski from A Streetcar Named Desire and Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Dramatis Personae won the 2012 CMPUT 250 award for best writing and story.
Watch the trailer for Dramatis Personae