[Liverpool] Any geeks available to help some schoolkids build computer games at FACT?

[Joanne Roberts]

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.

2009/4/16 Adrian McEwen <adrian at mcqn.net>

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