I'm not sure how far I'd be able to help with actual technical stuff, but I can certainly come along and help with crowd control and actually put to use some of those teaching skills I'm supposed to have lol.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/4/16 Adrian McEwen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:adrian@mcqn.net">adrian@mcqn.net</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Morning,<br>
<br>
I was down at FACT yesterday, and met Jeff Crouse, who's over from<br>
Eyebeam in New York to do a residency here. As part of that they want<br>
to get some of the local kids involved with things and are going to get<br>
them to build their own computer games and then repurpose an old PC into<br>
a MAME-style arcade cabinet to run them. However, Jeff is concerned<br>
that there'll be too many kids for him to deal with all at once, and is<br>
looking for some volunteers to help out. That's when I thought maybe<br>
some LivLUG members might be able to assist...<br>
<br>
It's short notice, I know, but if anyone can spare some time between 1pm<br>
and 4pm tomorrow afternoon at FACT in the centre of Liverpool then I<br>
know Jeff would be most appreciative and we might get a whole set of<br>
kids interested in building games rather than just playing them.<br>
<br>
There's some more info from Jeff below, and it's probably easiest to<br>
reply straight to him (<a href="mailto:jeff@eyebeam.org">jeff@eyebeam.org</a>) as I'm about to disappear into<br>
a meeting for the morning.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
Adrian.<br>
<br>
<br>
Here is the description of what we are doing:<br>
<br>
"Friday, Gallery 1 - As part of Climate for Change, Eyebeam Senior<br>
Fellow and FACT's current artist residence, Jeff Crouse, will work with<br>
students and staff of The Academy of St Francis of Assisi (a school that<br>
specializes in the environment and is committed to sustainable ways of<br>
living) to design and produce PC games around the theme of<br>
sustainability in Liverpool. Using free game-making software called<br>
Game Maker, the students will learn basic programming principles while<br>
using the language of video games to communicate a message about issues<br>
that are important to them. The final products will be installed in an<br>
arcade-style cabinet, which will then be customized with the help of<br>
SLamJam. The games will remain on display and available to play in the<br>
gallery during the students' residency on the 5th- 7th of May. This<br>
event is open to the public, but in order to participate in the<br>
game-making, you must bring your own Windows computer."<br>
<br>
What I need are geeky types to help the kids brainstorm and then build<br>
the games. The software we are using is called Game Maker<br>
(<a href="http://www.yoyogames.com/make" target="_blank">http://www.yoyogames.com/make</a>). I chose it because 1) it will run on<br>
the crappy PCs that we took off the school 2) the authoring environment<br>
ramps up in complexity, so you can engage with it on several levels<br>
depending on your skill, and 3) it's free, so if they want to continue<br>
working on their games after the workshop, they can.<br>
<br>
I am not expecting anyone to have experience with that particular<br>
program. I had never used this software before Monday, and I am half<br>
way through my example game, so it is easy to pick up quickly. I'd just<br>
like to add a few more savvy people into the mix who can help the kids<br>
plan and figure things out.<br>
<br>
We are just about done with the mini MAME cabinet. It looks great. The<br>
other thing I might need help with is creating a skeleton application<br>
that will allow people to choose which game (basic .exes) they want to<br>
play. If you know any Windows hackers who might be able to implement<br>
something like that and would be available some time before Monday,<br>
please let me know.<br>
<br>
Thanks so much for your help!<br>
<br>
-Jeff<br>
<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br>