The Apple University Consortium is pleased to announce it is offering up to 40 partially funded Scholarships to the AUC’s Unity Workshop to be held at the Clifton Training Centres in Melbourne and Brisbane in May 2010.
What is Unity?
Ever wanted to learn how games like Counter Strike and Quake worked behind the scenes? Ever wanted to learn how to take your own idea for a game and implement it? Ever wanted to learn how to write great games for platforms like the Mac, iPhone and even Windows? Well this workshop is for you.
This workshop will introduce participants to the fundamentals of game development using modern development tools. In this workshop students will develop an appreciation for the tools and techniques that make a great game. Some of the key game concepts that will be covered include Physics, 3D graphics, animation and audio.
While the focus of this workshop in on Game Development students will get hands on experience with a real game development platform known as Unity. Unity provides a modern integrated development environment (IDE) for 3D content development on the Mac OS X desktop platform. It allows developers to assemble 3D games and simulations using a flexible drag-and-drop environment, and a fully integrated scripting environment, based on the JavaScript, Python and C# languages. Users develop on the OS X platform, and can deploy native applications to all OS X platforms, Microsoft Windows, the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii.
If you are interested in developing great games, this workshop is an absolute MUST.
Who should attend?
The workshop is aimed specifically at students who study computing science, computer engineering, information technology, mathematics, creative arts/design or related disciplines and/or have an interest in understanding game development and/ or developing games for the Mac/ iPhone/iPod Touch platforms. Staff from member Universities are also welcome to attend.
It is expected that those who attend will have some basic experience programming in languages such as C++, C, Java, JavaScript and Python. Participants do not necessarily need a comprehensive understanding of game development but it will be considered advantageous.
What will I learn at the Workshop?
The workshop will develop in participants a broad understanding of game design and implementation concepts such as game play and design, physics, sound and 3D graphics.
In addition to developing a strong understanding of the concepts of which games are based upon participants will get hands on experience with a multi platform game development known as Unity. The tool will enable participants to develop games for Mac and iPhone easily..
A summary of topics covered in the workshop is as follows:
Day One- Introduction to 3D principles: translates, transforms and scaling.
- Introduction to Unity.
- Uses for Unity: games, scientific visualisation, multimedia.
- Comparison to other solutions.
- Manipulating in 3D in Unity.
- Introduction to Scripting.
- Lights, cameras, and particles.
- Sound and the asset workflow.
- Assembling a game-world.
Day Two- The use of “prefabs” (a Unity construct to make creating complex behavior simpler)
- Connecting behavior to the game-world.
- Sounds, input and cross-platform considerations.
- Terrain and “first-person” control.
- Simulating physics in Unity.
- Movement and game play.
Day Three- Bringing it all together: making a game.
- Creating scenes.
- Making a user interface.
- Animation.
- Introduction to networking and multiplayer.
- Deployment and publishing.
Dates & Venue
The AUC’s Unity Workshop for Mac and iPhone will be held at Clifton’s training centres as follows:
Each day of the workshop will commence at 9:00am and will conclude at 5:00pm.
AUC Subsidy
The AUC will be offering a subsidised places at the Unity Workshop to AUC students/staff at member Universities on a competitive basis. Participants are required to pay a small registration fee ($50 for students/$100 for staff). The AUC will send attendees a Tax Invoice once participants are confirmed in the program.
Accommodation & Travel
The workshops will run over three days. Attendee’s not from the Brisbane or Melbourne metropolitan area are entitled to 2 nights subsidized accommodation. Participants from the Northern Territory (NT), Western Australia (WA) or South Australia (SA) are entitled to an additional nights accommodation i.e. 3 nights in total.
Participants will need to organise their own flights and accommodation to attend the event if required. The AUC nor Apple can assist with organizing flights or accommodation.
Subsidy Inclusions
The AUC subsidy provides participants with funding for two nights accomodation up to $300 (inc-GST, room and taxes only), three nights (up to $450) if participants are coming in from WA, NT or SA.
Return economy airfare (base airfare and mandatory taxes only) if required based on discounted rates. Please use the cheapest airfare available, use WebJet to compare fares.
Also included is morning and afternoon teas, lunch each day and a copy of the training materials.
Airfare and accommodation costs are claimable AFTER the course from the AUC by filling in the AUC Claims form. The registration fee is NOT claimable.
Application Process
To take advantage of the AUC Unity Workshop you must complete the application form on the AUC web site by the 5pm (Sydney time) on 31 March 2010. You will be advised of the outcome of your application within 2 weeks of the closing date.
Unity Workshop Application Form
Selection Criteria
Scholarships to the AUC’s Unity Workshop will be allocated on a competitive basis using the following criteria:
a) the candidates experiences in developing software for Mac OS X and/ or the iPhone.
b) the candidates level of interest in developing games for the above platforms.
c) the candidates ability to clearly articulate how such a program will help in achieving their specific goals.
d) the candidates eagerness to share outcomes of this program with others.
