This is a call out to all South Africans regardless of skill level. Last night, while contemplating life; the universe; and everything else, I thought about how much talent we actually have in South Africa. Then it dawned on me, why don’t we all get together and collaborate on a community driven project that will showcase the talent we have here.
The idea here is to have a steering committee to guide the overall project, but the project will be open to all South Africans and any contribution will be accepted and credit given. Whether the committee decides to release the game commercially and put the proceeds in a fund to help other South African Indie Devs or whether it releases it free is entirely up to them and the members.
The core idea here is to get South African Developers contribution, collaborating, interacting, and making an “Awesomely Epic” game that show cases what we can do. Thanks to Epic, we now have the tools to do it … all we need are the people.
So where do we go from here?
Well lets see if there is any interest and take it from there.
How long will this take?
Well the idea is to release a game in a fairly short time period and should hopefully not take more than 6 months.
I don’t have much time?
That is fine, we will split the development in to small sprints and this will help to make the goals achievable in fairly short bursts.
Who will be on the committee?
That is entirely up to the members who decide to join. Just because I am coming up with the idea does not mean I am automatically on the committee.
What type of game will we make?
Once again this is up to the committee and the members. We should probably stick to a game that is achievable in the time frame and can possibly be ported to different platforms.
I can’t do Game Development/Design/Art?
That is okay. A game requires more than just development, design, and art. It requires back-end services, websites, social media awareness, copy writers, testers, etc. But who knows, maybe you join and do some web design for us and then decide to try your hand at level design and are good at it. The object is to contribute what you can and learn from those.
I am not very good, I might let you down?
No you wont. The idea is to learn from those who are good and mentor those that need it. We will work together, help each other, and learn from each other. This is what the aim is.
You are naive, this will never work?
Maybe it wont, maybe it will. Time will tell, but if this even manages to get some members collaborating on their own project because this doesn’t work … then that is a win as well.
Is this officially supported by Epic?
Although we would very much like to have it supported by Epic, it is not. This is a community driven initiative that I feel is a way to showcase the South Africa Game Development Community … we just happen to be using Unreal Engine.
Right … so I have my anti-flame undies on and I have got my helmet on for all the trout slaps … lets hear it. 8-}