Two games are currently in development: Turtle Odyssey and Chef's Last Stand (image)
London:
A new video game project co-founded by an Indian student studying at a university in the north of England is donating 100% of its profits to UK charities as part of its mission to make games for society.
Aamir Ali, a computer science student at the University of Sheffield, is the co-founder of Project Pixel, a project that creates 2D mobile games that will soon be available on Apple's App Store and Google Play. It's planned.
In less than a year, the project has grown from an idea between two friends to one of the largest student-led video games initiatives at a UK university.
“As the project began to unfold, it quickly became apparent that many students studying on various degree programmes across the University of Sheffield were passionate about gaming and wanted to work in the industry, but didn't know where or how to get started,” Ali said.
“Project Pixel has given us all the opportunity to learn about game development together and take our first steps in the industry. At the same time, we want to do something good for society. At Project Pixel, we want to inspire students at other universities and turn this into a global movement, no matter what degree you're studying or whether you know anything about game development. “If you have the passion and the desire to learn, there are opportunities,” he said.
More than 25 students from a variety of degree programs in arts, humanities, engineering, science, and social sciences participated in this effort. They formed multiple teams representing all areas of game development, from programming, sound production, and graphic design to story writing, character creation, and marketing.
“We started Project Pixel because we wanted to make a positive impact on the world through gaming. We know that gaming is a part of so many people's lives, whether they play casually on their phone or more competitively, and we wanted to use this to raise funds for charity,” said Najaz Nabhan, a student from Sri Lanka and one of the founders of Project Pixel.
“The gaming industry is huge, bigger than the music and film industries combined, but from what we've seen, a lot of charities are based on sponsored games. We wanted to do something different so we thought, why not make our own game and donate money? All our profits will go to charity. There are lots of students making video games and it's a common field, but I've never seen a team of this size at any university making a game for charity,” he said.
According to the University of Sheffield, none of the students taking part have any prior experience of video game production, but they are using their passion for games, their desire to work in the industry and the skills they have gained from their degrees to learn how to develop games.
“The team has already created two games, Color Dash and Flight Frenzy, both of which are endless runner-style games where the player must constantly move, avoid obstacles, and survive as long as possible.” the university said.
In Color Dash, an evil sorcerer has drained the Colorful Realm of all color, leaving the landscape dead and gloomy. Players embark on an adventure to collect colorful orbs and bring color back to the world, reminding us of the strength of hope and the triumph of light over darkness.
In Flight Frenzy, players will take on the action-packed adventure of a skilled pilot, battling changing weather conditions while also taking on challenges such as avoiding obstacles like birds and skyscrapers, and collecting ammunition to shoot down birds and fuel to soar higher.
'Color Dash' is available for download now, while 'Flight Frenzy' will be published later this year, with students being able to purchase the publication, funded by the Sheffield School of Engineering Extra-Curricular Activities Fund. Google App Store License.
Two more games, Turtle Odyssey and Chef's Last Stand, are currently in development, with students leading the effort alongside their studies. To get Project Pixel off the ground, the students sought advice from Sumo Digital, an award-winning video game developer based in Sheffield. The students met with Jake Habgood, Sumo's Director of Education Partnerships and Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield, who gave them advice on how to approach effective game development.
“It's fantastic to see such a diverse range of students working on games development at the University of Sheffield – the games industry needs diverse skillsets and ideas to successfully engage new audiences and create innovative new products. This is a fantastic initiative and we hope the students are all successful,” said Habgood.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
