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

[Dan Lynch]

That's it, keep those pesky kids in line Jo, hehe :)

On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 1:48 PM, Joanne Roberts <jo at thatgirl.co.uk> wrote:

> 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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>
>
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