Games Design Challenge: A Creative Avenue!

The KDU-AMD Games Design Challenge 2011 was an event to be remembered. Organized by the Information Technology Department of KDU’s School of Engineering, Science & Technology and proudly sponsored by AMD Malaysia, the challenge aims to educate and create awareness on the prospects and opportunities within the games design industry to push across the message that it's not all about fun, but it's rewarding as well.

The event kicked off with a total of 90 students from 11 schools lining up at the registration counter. Excited students were flocking all over the place with their Games Design Challenge t-shirt, posing and taking photos of each other. By 9am, students moved from the KDU foyer to the Lecture Theatre where they were briefed on what the challenge was all about. Students were seen listening intensively and writing down notes as to what they were going to do for the day itself. These students mean business - they weren't here only for fun, but also to educate themselves and to win the grand prize of RM500. This was clearly seen as several teams were even seen bringing their own games accessories to beef up their chances of winning the competition. 

The students were then divided into 3 groups and then shifted into the respective labs, where the students have to undergo a short workshop, led by KDU College Penang's Computer club which consists of IT lecturers and students, on basic game design concepts and finally, on how to use the GameMaker 8, which is a beginner level game creation tool.

By 12pm, the students started to brainstorm on the storyline of their game and there were certainly a lot of friendly gamesmanship going on among the teams. The judges were wow-ed at every single stop they made in the labs. It was a tough decision to make for the judges although there were a few outstanding projects that stood out from the crowd.

After their presentation, students were then ushered to the Lecture Theatre again where they sat down eagerly waiting for the results to be announced. The whole place was filled with anxiety and excitement as the emcee took out the envelope with the name of the winners. SMJK Hua Lian emerged as the big winner for KDU-AMD Games Design Challenge 2011 as two of their teams nabbed Champion’s title (Quest: Chuah Kee Yang & Lim How Yang) and 1st Runner-up (Classified: Ng Ter Jing & Shu Ivan) together with prize money of RM500 and RM300 respectively while Penang Free School took the 2nd Runner-up placing with the prize of RM200. On hand to present the prizes was also Mr. C.C Leong, AMD’s Manager for Community Relations Communication and Public Relations. He was clearly impressed with the contestants’ work and performance as he also said “It’s fantastic to see such creative work coming from the young minds of today’s generation. We are proud to be a part of this competition together with KDU and our support towards this activity represents our continued commitment towards community related projects which helps to develop the young minds of today’s Gen. Zs.”

The KDU-AMD Games Design Challenge 2011 concluded in the afternoon and not only did it give the students a chance to creatively apply their new knowledge on creating a game, but also developed their communication and team working skills and in this light, everyone went home a champion.

For KDU College Penang, call 04-2266368 / email best@kdupg.edu.my, or log on to www.kdupg.edu.my.

These boys mean business! Our big winners posing with their prize from the KDU-AMD Games Design Challenge 2011.
(L-R) Ms Amy Leow Saw Imm (Business Development Manager from KDU College (Pg) Sdn Bhd), 1st Runner Up – Classified from SMJK Hua Lian (Ng Ter Jing & Shu Ivan), Mr CC Leong (Manager – Community Relations from AMD), Champion – Quest from SMJK Hua Lian (Chuah Kee Yang & Lim How Yang), Dr Chong Beng Keok (Principal of KDU College (Pg) Sdn Bhd) and 2nd Runner Up – Wired Maesrio from Penang Free School (Benjamin Lim Ching Haw & Tan Soon Jin)