Abertay creatives involved in Dundee Design Festival

A game that starts on paper and ends in virtual reality will be part of Abertay University’s creative contribution to Dundee Design Festival this month.

Running from May 25-29, the festival at West Ward Works is packed full of workshops, talks, exhibitions and tours, all with a focus on design.

Doodle Targets is a virtual reality mini-game experience that sees players design monsters or other characters on paper before they are scanned to become virtual reality shooting targets in just a few seconds.

Abertay student team Pocket Sized Hands created the game in just 40 hours at the Moray Game Jam in Elgin earlier this year and will now show it during a festival slot on Monday May 29.

The team is also behind the acclaimed Honeypot Espionage, an online VR multiplayer shooter focused on stealth combat, which came third at the prestigious Microsoft’s Imagine Cup UK 2017.

Team member Gary McCartan said: “It’s great to be a part of Dundee Design Festival and to feel part of the city’s wider creative and design-based community.

“We are looking forward to showing off our game and to catching a look at the work of other designers and makers.”

Also taking part in the festival will be Abertay lecturer Lynn Parker of the Division of Games and Arts, who will co-deliver a Game Play workshop as part of a build-up event on Wednesday May 24.

The full day interactive session will explore the intersections between games and performance, with participants building narrative structures, character suggestions, and game parameters to produce interactive ‘game-like’ experiences in real space.

The prototype experience created during the Game Play workshop will be showcased at Dundee Rep on Sunday May 28.

People of all ages are invited to the free viewing session between 1pm and 3pm.

Professor Joseph DeLappe, who arrived at Abertay in January as a Games Research academic, will be part of a PechaKucha evening at West Ward Works on Thursday May 25.

Abertay photographer Jaimini Jethwa will also take part, talking about her upcoming play The Last Queen of Scotland, focused around the actions of notorious dictator Idi Amin.

The PechaKucha night gives a dozen speakers 20 images and 20 seconds per image to talk about whatever they want.

For more information on Dundee Design Festival and to book for events visit http://2017.dundeedesignfestival.com/