Up close with the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2010 winners
Written by: Jane Uymatiao
Publication: Philippine Online Chronicles
Date published: July 20, 2013
Last July 8, the Philippines got another feather in its technology cap when five boys from prestigious Philippine universities edged out Belgium and France to get top honors in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2010 (Game Design category) in Warsaw, Poland.
Philip Cheang, Rodrick Tan and Wilhansen Li of Ateneo de Manila University; Levi Tan-Ong of UP Diliman; and the team's mentor, Kenneth Yu of De La Salle University came away as the champions, winning US$ 25,000 plus a trophy each. They will also be getting the Windows Phone 7 when it is commercially available. The boys share a very close bond. They are not only teammates; they have been close friends since their high school days at Xavier School.
Microsoft Imagine Cup, on its 8th year, is the world's premier student technology competition, according to Jon Perera, Microsoft's general manager of education strategy. Microsoft believes in encouraging the brightest students to use information technology to solve the world's pressing problems.
The 2010 theme: "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems" challenged the participants to address the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in five categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Design, Digital Media and IT Challenge.
This was a tough competition. Over 325,000 students from over 120 countries participated. Only 400 students made it to Poland. Eventually, the number was whittled down to 6 teams per category in the semifinals then eventually to 3 teams per category in the finals.
Philip related that when they saw some entries posted on YouTube, they realized how good their competitors were as many were thematically and technically very good. Everyone who went to Poland was considered the cream of the technical crop.
'Wildfire'
The boys' winning entry in the Game Design category, Wildfire, is a video game about saving the world through social interaction and volunteerism.
Watch this video of Wildfire.
[Video: N/A.]
Andrew Parsons, the Game Design Captain, had this to say about Wildfire's impact on the judges in his own blog:
"By Implication impressed the judging panel at every turn throughout the entire competition. Whether it was the clean, crisp, ultra-minimalist style of their game, their solid premise and reason for creating it in the first place, or the clear ties to the theme and the Millennium Development Goals specifically, every part of Wildfire combined to make a package that was definitely at the front of the pack."
I had the chance to talk to three of the five boys up close. Here are excerpts from the interview.
=====
Who of you have competed before and who is competing for the first time?
A: Wilhansen, Rodrick, and Philip have competed before. This is the first time for Levi and Kenneth, as a competitor and mentor, respectively.
How did you first get involved with Microsoft Imagine Cup?
A: In their first year of college, Wilhansen and Rodrick placed second in the national finals of the Imagine Cup's Software Design category. In the years that followed, they placed first nationally and advanced to the international finals in France and Egypt. Philip joined their team in the 3rd year to Egypt.
You are Mac users. Why Microsoft?
A: Our choices are pragmatic, really. Apple makes good all-around laptop hardware (which can also run Windows/Linux well), and Microsoft provides a good game development platform. Apple doesn't run a similar competition.
Who thought of the team name "By Implication?"
A: Some of us were a little unhappy with our previous name (Nohako Studios). We threw around a lot of names (one of the weirder ones: "Fractal Panini"), and arrived at By Implication, after the square implied by the open and closed brackets.
Why did you choose the Game Design category?
A: We've competed in the Software Design category before, but could never really place in the top twelve when we'd reach the international level. Last year, we were inspired to join Game Design after seeing some of the entries on display. We really enjoy playing games (who doesn't?), and we thought that we should take a shot at developing our own. We've actually always leaned towards game development anyway, with our early attempts tracing back to high school.
What roles did each of you play as Team By Implication?
A: Wilhansen is the programmer, who pretty much implemented everything—behaviors, pathfinding, rendering—the whole engine.
Philip and Levi are the designers, who developed the art direction and style, and produced all the assets (icons, textures, videos, etc.)
Rodrick did the majority of the writing for the information panels, and did the game mechanics and balancing (the interaction between the various systems in the game).
Kenneth provided us with his invaluable insight and support, and took the role of a project manager.
What inspired Wildfire?
A: The basis for Wildfire's gameplay message is the massive outpouring of volunteer support that emerged from the wake of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) last year. We believe that volunteerism is an effective way of tackling big problems, and we wanted to encourage this through our game.
What software/platforms were used to develop Wildfire?
A: The engine was written in C#/C++ in Visual Studio, and built on the XNA 3.1 game toolkit and the .NET 3.5 framework. We also used the Farseer Physics and TweetSharp libraries.
3D assets were modeled in Luxology Modo and animated in Autodesk MotionBuilder. 2D assets were created in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
The Music and Sound effects were done with GarageBand and a Yamaha synthesizer.
How do you integrate Twitter feeds into it?
A: Social networking played a big role in the organization of volunteer movements after Ondoy, and we thought that it's integration would make a wonderful addition to Wildfire.
The game tracks the Twitter feeds of people who talk about the MDGs (including that of the United Nations), and looks for tweets that are related to the MDGs (via hashtags or plain text).
You can also link Wildfire to your Twitter account, so that if you see (a tweet) that you like, you can favorite them within the game. This allows you to peruse items of interest later within your browser.
How long did it take you to develop Wildfire?
A: Including all the conceptualization and planning, it took us a year, all in all. The actual development though, took more or less five months, on top of all our academic requirements.
What will you all do with your $25K winnings?
A: Game and software design is something we want to do seriously, and the money will be used in the pursuit of that goal.
Do you plan to bring Wildfire to market?
A: Right now, we intend to release the Imagine Cup finals version, as is, for free.
If/when we make further improvements to the game, we will consider a commercial release.
Also, if schools and organizations are interested in using it as an educational tool, we might create additional modules that they can license.
=====
Geek Moments
The team's memorable moments were not limited only to the competition. The geek in them was blown away when they realized that the hotel where they were staying in had a Microsoft Surface, the table-like revolutionary computer that responds to natural hand gestures and actual objects, which was purposely flown in for the event by Microsoft.
And yes, they were also secretly hoping that Microsoft would bring in the Kinect prototype for the Xbox 360 (formerly Project Natal) -- which is similar to playing with a Wii except that YOU are the controller. Maybe next year, Microsoft?
What Next?
According to the Imagine Cup rules, Team By Implication can no longer compete in the Game Design category as they have already won the top spot but it does not stop them from participating in the other categories. The team also indicated their eagerness to try their hand at the International Games Festival (IGF), a competition aimed at encouraging innovation in games development among independent game developers.
Nuggets of Wisdom for IT Students
The team had some words of wisdom for students who, like them, may be looking to joining the Imagine Cup or some other technology competition.
Philip's most important advice was to NEVER GIVE UP. Some of the team members had joined the Imagine Cup in previous years without placing even in the top 12 or top 6 and it was through perseverance and knowing exactly what they wanted to do that brought them to where they are now.
Kenneth directed his advice to those wanting to go into game design. For him, contrary to old school thinking, game design is a great way to deliver a message & get the story across. He noticed that many times, in the way games are designed, the core idea of a game comes from a real-life experience that a developer felt, whether good or bad. He thinks game design will become a bigger and bigger industry and is a good future for anyone who wants to communicate his story through games.
Wilhansen emphasized that "one man can't do everything". He cited his role as the main programmer in the team because this was where he was good at while the other members took care of the other areas of the game. His advice: find good friends, work with them and share the experiences with others because it makes game development a worthwhile process.
Yes, We Can!
If there's one thing that Team By Implication did by clinching the Game Design award of the Imagine Cup, they brought the Philippines into the peripheral view of the technology world and showed that indeed, there are very good IT people (including game developers) here. Their outstanding performance in the face of equally gifted international IT teams stands as a model and inspiration for students who wonder if the Philippines can really reach world-class status in information technology. Yes, we can!
Philip Cheang, Rodrick Tan and Wilhansen Li of Ateneo de Manila University; Levi Tan-Ong of UP Diliman; and the team's mentor, Kenneth Yu of De La Salle University came away as the champions, winning US$ 25,000 plus a trophy each. They will also be getting the Windows Phone 7 when it is commercially available. The boys share a very close bond. They are not only teammates; they have been close friends since their high school days at Xavier School.
Microsoft Imagine Cup, on its 8th year, is the world's premier student technology competition, according to Jon Perera, Microsoft's general manager of education strategy. Microsoft believes in encouraging the brightest students to use information technology to solve the world's pressing problems.
The 2010 theme: "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems" challenged the participants to address the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in five categories: Software Design, Embedded Development, Game Design, Digital Media and IT Challenge.
This was a tough competition. Over 325,000 students from over 120 countries participated. Only 400 students made it to Poland. Eventually, the number was whittled down to 6 teams per category in the semifinals then eventually to 3 teams per category in the finals.
Philip related that when they saw some entries posted on YouTube, they realized how good their competitors were as many were thematically and technically very good. Everyone who went to Poland was considered the cream of the technical crop.
'Wildfire'
The boys' winning entry in the Game Design category, Wildfire, is a video game about saving the world through social interaction and volunteerism.
Watch this video of Wildfire.
[Video: N/A.]
Andrew Parsons, the Game Design Captain, had this to say about Wildfire's impact on the judges in his own blog:
"By Implication impressed the judging panel at every turn throughout the entire competition. Whether it was the clean, crisp, ultra-minimalist style of their game, their solid premise and reason for creating it in the first place, or the clear ties to the theme and the Millennium Development Goals specifically, every part of Wildfire combined to make a package that was definitely at the front of the pack."
I had the chance to talk to three of the five boys up close. Here are excerpts from the interview.
=====
Who of you have competed before and who is competing for the first time?
A: Wilhansen, Rodrick, and Philip have competed before. This is the first time for Levi and Kenneth, as a competitor and mentor, respectively.
How did you first get involved with Microsoft Imagine Cup?
A: In their first year of college, Wilhansen and Rodrick placed second in the national finals of the Imagine Cup's Software Design category. In the years that followed, they placed first nationally and advanced to the international finals in France and Egypt. Philip joined their team in the 3rd year to Egypt.
You are Mac users. Why Microsoft?
A: Our choices are pragmatic, really. Apple makes good all-around laptop hardware (which can also run Windows/Linux well), and Microsoft provides a good game development platform. Apple doesn't run a similar competition.
Who thought of the team name "By Implication?"
A: Some of us were a little unhappy with our previous name (Nohako Studios). We threw around a lot of names (one of the weirder ones: "Fractal Panini"), and arrived at By Implication, after the square implied by the open and closed brackets.
Why did you choose the Game Design category?
A: We've competed in the Software Design category before, but could never really place in the top twelve when we'd reach the international level. Last year, we were inspired to join Game Design after seeing some of the entries on display. We really enjoy playing games (who doesn't?), and we thought that we should take a shot at developing our own. We've actually always leaned towards game development anyway, with our early attempts tracing back to high school.
What roles did each of you play as Team By Implication?
A: Wilhansen is the programmer, who pretty much implemented everything—behaviors, pathfinding, rendering—the whole engine.
Philip and Levi are the designers, who developed the art direction and style, and produced all the assets (icons, textures, videos, etc.)
Rodrick did the majority of the writing for the information panels, and did the game mechanics and balancing (the interaction between the various systems in the game).
Kenneth provided us with his invaluable insight and support, and took the role of a project manager.
What inspired Wildfire?
A: The basis for Wildfire's gameplay message is the massive outpouring of volunteer support that emerged from the wake of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) last year. We believe that volunteerism is an effective way of tackling big problems, and we wanted to encourage this through our game.
What software/platforms were used to develop Wildfire?
A: The engine was written in C#/C++ in Visual Studio, and built on the XNA 3.1 game toolkit and the .NET 3.5 framework. We also used the Farseer Physics and TweetSharp libraries.
3D assets were modeled in Luxology Modo and animated in Autodesk MotionBuilder. 2D assets were created in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
The Music and Sound effects were done with GarageBand and a Yamaha synthesizer.
How do you integrate Twitter feeds into it?
A: Social networking played a big role in the organization of volunteer movements after Ondoy, and we thought that it's integration would make a wonderful addition to Wildfire.
The game tracks the Twitter feeds of people who talk about the MDGs (including that of the United Nations), and looks for tweets that are related to the MDGs (via hashtags or plain text).
You can also link Wildfire to your Twitter account, so that if you see (a tweet) that you like, you can favorite them within the game. This allows you to peruse items of interest later within your browser.
How long did it take you to develop Wildfire?
A: Including all the conceptualization and planning, it took us a year, all in all. The actual development though, took more or less five months, on top of all our academic requirements.
What will you all do with your $25K winnings?
A: Game and software design is something we want to do seriously, and the money will be used in the pursuit of that goal.
Do you plan to bring Wildfire to market?
A: Right now, we intend to release the Imagine Cup finals version, as is, for free.
If/when we make further improvements to the game, we will consider a commercial release.
Also, if schools and organizations are interested in using it as an educational tool, we might create additional modules that they can license.
=====
Geek Moments
The team's memorable moments were not limited only to the competition. The geek in them was blown away when they realized that the hotel where they were staying in had a Microsoft Surface, the table-like revolutionary computer that responds to natural hand gestures and actual objects, which was purposely flown in for the event by Microsoft.
And yes, they were also secretly hoping that Microsoft would bring in the Kinect prototype for the Xbox 360 (formerly Project Natal) -- which is similar to playing with a Wii except that YOU are the controller. Maybe next year, Microsoft?
What Next?
According to the Imagine Cup rules, Team By Implication can no longer compete in the Game Design category as they have already won the top spot but it does not stop them from participating in the other categories. The team also indicated their eagerness to try their hand at the International Games Festival (IGF), a competition aimed at encouraging innovation in games development among independent game developers.
Nuggets of Wisdom for IT Students
The team had some words of wisdom for students who, like them, may be looking to joining the Imagine Cup or some other technology competition.
Philip's most important advice was to NEVER GIVE UP. Some of the team members had joined the Imagine Cup in previous years without placing even in the top 12 or top 6 and it was through perseverance and knowing exactly what they wanted to do that brought them to where they are now.
Kenneth directed his advice to those wanting to go into game design. For him, contrary to old school thinking, game design is a great way to deliver a message & get the story across. He noticed that many times, in the way games are designed, the core idea of a game comes from a real-life experience that a developer felt, whether good or bad. He thinks game design will become a bigger and bigger industry and is a good future for anyone who wants to communicate his story through games.
Wilhansen emphasized that "one man can't do everything". He cited his role as the main programmer in the team because this was where he was good at while the other members took care of the other areas of the game. His advice: find good friends, work with them and share the experiences with others because it makes game development a worthwhile process.
Yes, We Can!
If there's one thing that Team By Implication did by clinching the Game Design award of the Imagine Cup, they brought the Philippines into the peripheral view of the technology world and showed that indeed, there are very good IT people (including game developers) here. Their outstanding performance in the face of equally gifted international IT teams stands as a model and inspiration for students who wonder if the Philippines can really reach world-class status in information technology. Yes, we can!