I know how excited one would be to have a submission & expecting some result. But, obviously, the program was introduced in such a short time frame with no real procedure to handle all the submissions. And I don’t believe most realize that. I can certainly understand wanting some sort of response & the frustration from just not knowing what’s going on.
I don’t think it was intended or obviously setup to handle that need. I’d have to agree that a simple spreadsheet or doc updated every month or less, with the info on whether submissions were received, in the review process or whatever information they would like to release would be appropriate to some degree. Not sure, showing the end results of a review would be to’s liking though or whether that should even be revealed.
Although it is a , I think some get confused with what type of , I don’t think it was ever meant to be setup like a College with it’s system of responses etc.
I guess in time some sort of info such as submissions having been received etc. will be setup, easing some of the stress participants are having.
With Epic making such an attempt at helping the gaming dev community & especially the Indie community, I find that I become defensive very easily and hope I don’t come off wrong. I could only imagine the frustration of not knowing what has become of a submission. I just hope the can continue for a long time to come because of the future implications, and if nothing else but from the hope it gives us all.
ps: like your blog etc. & nice to see someone using Blender to such a degree, was very enlightening although I wish it was more in depth, interesting methods you are using.
To the ones that didn’t applied yet, or are working on the update application suggested by there is an article about how to prepare pitchs to funding released by indie fund recently on their blog, while they are another funding source I think most tips could apply.
I don’t think any of that applies to this because I don’t think there’s any condition that the game has to make money.
It’s a complete mystery if you should ask for a specific amount of money or how the amount given is determined.
Why would a game get say $50,000 vs $5000?
Say, how many people have submitted their game so far? I want to know if i have a change to get something.
the awards are between 5,000 to 50,000 dollars.
Let’s say each developer get’s 20,000 dollars.
It will be sum of 250 developers.
This is very puzzling to me. There’s no other program like it. Lots of money given no strings.
Yet it’s like a ghost town in here. It’s very strange I have to say.
Nope! No condition that anything has to perform in any way. As far as asking for amounts - we’re letting applicants choose how they present themselves in their submission. Some do and some don’t. Having said that, asking for a certain amount doesn’t always mean that’s what you’ll receive if you were to win a .
There have been a lot of submissions. It’s so cool to see all the different ways that people are using Unreal Engine. As far as having a to win - the program is going to be around for quite some time. If you’re working on something amazing, submit!
Sorry for the delay in some response here mike950, I hope that I’ve cleared up anything you might have had a question about. Also don’t forget to check the FAQs section that might give you some more insight into the program.
As far as responses go - we’ll only be getting in contact if we plan on moving ahead or are looking for more information. If you haven’t heard back from us, it’s been a while, and your project has made significant progress, you’re always welcome to submit again!
Excellent! Ok I’ve been wondering about if you should ask for an amount since it started and also wondering why people weren’t asking that.
Like I was out of the loop or something. It seems like an important thing to know when asking.
Well I guess this is more internal but how do you determine what amount projects get? Like what factors go into it?
Also since you do look at every submission do you determine the state of it before moving to the next one to look at?
For example: Do you decide right away that it’s a no go and try again when there’s more? And when you do determine the state
can you just send a quick email saying it didn’t qualify yet? That way we know what’s going on.
And an example why this is important. You’re working on the project. You submit it.
You then start working on other projects that you need to do.
Meanwhile waiting to hear back. If you get a message saying not accepted yet you jump back to submitted project because that’s now higher priority.
Without feedback we never know when to start working on submitted project.
It’s a very easy and minimal time consuming courtesy towards the developer.
I’m not sure what you’re saying here. Most of the projects Epic is rewarding were months in the making and the bar seems quite high in terms of quality, not the kind of production that you put on hold to see if you’re getting an award.
I’m trying to understand the reasoning behind not signaling the developer when they determine the status.
They are looking at each submission anyway right?
And realize that most developers aren’t going to get anything. Do you really want to leave all those developers
wondering whether or not their project was even looked at yet? I can’t believe I’m the only one that doesn’t think that’s right for
unreal and the developer.
My understanding is that they simply didn’t expect so many applications and don’t have a scalable process to do it. That’s pretty much what they’ve been saying here.
I’d love to get updates just as much as you - I applied for UDG after all
What I’m saying is that no one plans to get an UDG reward. Your were arguing that developers would wait for the results from UDG to keep working on the game or not, and I don’t really see this a a realistic scenario. You make a great game, you apply, and maybe you get something because your game is amazing, but at this point you are already going to publish it no matter what.
That only makes sense if they weren’t looking at every submission that comes in
because they are already looking at the project now it’s simply sending an email saying we’ve looked at it. They really don’t even
have to say anything other than that because you would automatically know they didn’t accept it yet.
But maybe that’s not the reason…actually I don’t think they gave a specific reason.
Well I’m thinking that you submit in the middle or early on because you need funds to continue. So in the meantime you have to work on other projects to get money.
So then you find out you’re getting the funds and can now continue the project.
So basically how this work is we have to ALMOST fully finish a game, just to apply for a ? Can someone please explain this to me thoroughly. Including specifically, what they mean by “prototype”? Do they want a demo to download and try, a fairly long video showing off a test level, or what? … Because if you ask me it sounds more of a “reward” than anything… I’ll only be applying because moneys VERY difficult right now and i’m going to have to buy a new PC rig (and if that’s not allowed… then i cant continue the project) so i’ll be able to design and test the “levels” with high enough fps, as well as purchase a couple “assets” in the Marketplace to give me a head start.
Well I’m purely speculating here, but they specifically ask for playable demos, and they’re obviously rewarding projects with decent graphics. The development stage Epic seems to be looking for is something like “playable demo that you’ve been working on for six months”.
That’s perfectly allowed, they said you can do whatever you want with the money, no strings attached. But your submission will only be reviewed months later if the current pace is maintained and there is a lot of competition.
But doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose? A to help you develop a game BUT the game has to be about half a year in development to begin with + a playable demo.
Actually that part of the program is amazing. They can select your project at any stage.
However it’s the selection process itself and amount given that is a mystery and there’s no
feedback unless you happen to be the one chosen. Or unless there are other conditions that must be met and it’s more like a pre screening. It’s hard to say because it’s very secretive.
Maybe it’s just my interpretation here. Like I said, that’s only my impression. Maybe Epic just wanted to go big for the first winning projects, because of the coverage they got. Maybe the next batch will feature less advanced, maybe less professional projects. I have no idea.
