Dare to be Digital Do-ers FAQ
Applications for Do-ers will be live by 2nd February 2009
The following FAQ list should provide some pretty comprehensive answers to any questions you have about Dare for Do-ers
- What is Dare to be Digital?
- Where will Dare be held this year?
- When is the closing date for applications?
- Who can apply to Dare 2009?
- Who will pay for the travel costs?
- What support will the teams get?
- Who are the mentors?
- What changes will be made to Dare this year?
- Who will supply the game ideas?
- Can we submit our own idea?
- What is a Dreamer?
- What is a Do-er?
- How will the teams get picked this year if we aren’t submitting our own idea?
- Where do I select a game idea from to submit with my application form?
- Where will the selection days be held?
- What will happen at the selection day?
- Will all my team members have to attend the selection day?
- Who will judge the selection days?
- Which idea will our team work on if we are chosen to enter Dare 2009?
- Can we choose an idea that other team has already chosen?
- Do I have to work with the originator of the idea?
- If we are working on other people’s idea, will we have enough time to prepare?
- How will our game prototype be judged in the end?
- Will our team still own the copy-right of the game?
- Key Dare 2009 dates
Dare to be Digital is the UK’s premier video games design competition, running annually in summer for 10 years. Promoted by Abertay University with wide support from the games industry, UK government and the public, Dare to be Digital is reputable as the golden standard for project based competitive team work and by far the best preparation for entering the games industry.
Where will Dare be held this year?
Dare 2009 will be held at the University of Abertay Dundee, Scotland from 8 June to 13 August 2009. The teams will then showcase their game to the public at Dare ProtoPlay in Edinburgh on 14-16 August 2009.
When is the closing date for applications?
15 March 2009 midnight.
Dare 2009 is having one big central host centre in Dundee. But any team from any university can apply. If your application goes through, you will be invited to one of the selection venues in different UK region to pitch to a panel of judges.
Who will pay for the travel costs?
If your team is chosen to come to an interview, your team will need to make your way to the region closest to you. After finally being chosen to enter Dare 2009, Dare will cover the transportation cost for your team to come to Dundee and accommodation will be provided throughout the whole competition.
What support will the teams get?
Each Dare 2009 contestant will get £1,700 as their stipend, plus accommodation, hardware, software and mentoring from the games industry professional to finish your game prototype.
Mentors come from the games industry across the UK who take part in our Developer Accord.
What changes will be made to Dare this year?
This year visitors to the Dare website will submit a game idea. The best ones will be developed into game prototypes by the teams taking part in Dare 09
Who will supply the game ideas?
Any member of the public (called a dreamer) can submit a game idea to the Dare web-site. These ideas will be voted on by visitors to the site.
To make sure that all the Dreamers get the best opportunity possible so we plan to let Do-ers (the Dare teams) choose from all the ideas submitted by the Dreamers. Teams will need to make a sound judgement for their choice of idea based on the comments and voting. The voting and comments will serve as a guideline for popularity and market potential. The do-ers' choice of idea will be considered by the judges as whether it's competitive enough to enter Dare.
Yes anyone can submit an idea, including visitors to the site, industry professionals, students, children etc.
Anyone who has a game idea and completes the form and submits it to the Dare website.
A Do-er is a university student (artist or programmer) who make up the team of 5 applying to take part in Dare 2009.
How will the teams get picked this year if we aren’t submitting our own idea?
The Do-ers (the Dare teams) can choose from all the ideas submitted by the Dreamers. Teams will need to make a sound judgement for their choice of idea based on the comments and voting. The voting and comments will serve as a guideline for popularity and market potential. The do-ers' choice of idea will be considered by the judges as whether it's competitive enough to enter Dare. Your judgement of the game idea, your skills of adapting that popular idea to an appealing game, your team combination - all will be taken into consideration.
Where do I select a game idea from to submit with my application form?
When applying as a DO-er, your team can choose any of the game ideas to apply. You will NOT have to submit any artwork for this game but use the idea to demonstrate how you would work through the competition.
Where will the selection days be held?
There will be 5 selection days held throughout the UK and Ireland. They will be held in London, Dublin, etc etc.
What will happen at the selection day?
Your team will be required to prepare a presentation. More details coming soon.
Will all my team members have to attend the selection day?
As many of the team members as possible have to attend the selection day with a minimum of 3.
Who will judge the selection day?
The judges will continue to come from the video games industry.
Which idea will our team work on if we are chosen to enter Dare 2009?
You can work on the game that you have chosen to enter Dare based on the judges' recommendation.
Can we choose an idea that other team has already chosen?
Yes. This is the real test of your own creativity and imagination to develop different interpretations of the same idea.
Do I have to work with the originator of the idea?
We encourage you to establish an open communication. The person who submits the idea may or may not know the development process. It may be helpful to let him/her know your progress. But your team have the total freedom of expression in interpreting the idea.
If we are working on other people's idea, will we have enough time to prepare?
The selection events will be finished before Easter and the competition will not start until early June. So you will have plenty of time to get prepared.
How will our game prototype be judged in the end?
The 3 main Dare criteria of Creativity, Market Potential & Best Use of Technology remain the same. You will still be judged by how creatively you can turn the public voted idea into a functional, exciting game and with market potential.
Will our team still own the copy-right of the game?
You cannot copy-right a game idea, but yes you can copyright the expression of the idea. As in previous years Dare will retain the copyright during the competition. If, following Dare the team comes to an agreement about taking the game forward then the IP will be returned to the team.
- From mid-Jan: game ideas online submission (on-going)
- 2 Feb - 15 Mar: team online application using the online ideas
- 15 March - closing date for applications and for game ideas
- 25 Mar: inform teams to come to interview
- 27 Mar – 15 Apr: selection events
- By end Apr: results announced
- 8 Jun: competition starts