USC Games’ Demo Day 2017 featured on Polygon!

Every year, USC Games comes together with students from across the campus to develop ADVANCED GAMES PROJECTS, or AGP. After a rigorous pitch process during the Spring Semester, wherein small teams pitch projects that are either original, or developed out of the other USC Games curriculum, our selection committee (comprised of faculty from across the campus, as well as industry veterans) chooses the 5-7 games that will advance.

Tracy Fullerton: “The games showcased at this year’s Demo Day: Class of 2017 festival are perfect examples of the creativity, skill, and artistry of video game design our students show every year. These games are a message to the video game industry and public that innovation, teamwork, and the next generation of great video game makers are here at USC Games.”

Click the icons below to find out more about each 2017 Advanced Game Project!

Second Nature

From Light

A Slime In Time

Chataclysm

Quiet of the Leaves

Smooth Criminals

Skyshot

The Demo Day: Class of 2017 list of games includes:

A Slime In Time: A HoloLens augmented reality (AR) game, allowing for multiple players to interact with holograms and create a battlefield out of their real living room. Send armies of slimes to conquer your opponents villages, throw fireballs to burn their hordes to a crisp, and pinch their individual slimes into nothingness. Game director: Ian Glow

Chatacylsm:  A game that pits a Twitch streamer against their audience. The Commander played by the streamer tries to protect their city from an attack by a giant monster controlled by the Twitch chat.  Game director: Chris Mooney

From Light:  2D puzzle platformer that uses photography-inspired mechanics to light-paint your own platforms and rescue your lost penpal. Exhibited at PAX 10 in 2015. Game Directors: Steven Li & Alejandro Grossman

Second Nature: Co-op only game – every aspect and interaction is designed for two players. No single person can be good at the game; it requires a cohesive team of two to be successful. Explore the lush environments of Lura, conquer obstacles as a team, and master asymmetric co-op mechanics. Game director: Aaron Cheney

Skyshot: A multiplayer sport that combines parkour movement with grappling hooks. Players swing around the arena to pursue the ball, outmaneuver opponents, and score.  Game director: Eu-Ann Liu

Smooth Criminals: Action adventure stealth game where you can switch at anytime between four characters that have completely different abilities: fighting, shootings, driving, and platforming. Steal art back from an egocentric villain’s private museum without getting caught! Game director: Kyle Vaidyanathan

The Quiet of the Leaves: An introspective 2D adventure game about a father-daughter bonding trip gone awry as they become separated in the deep remote wilderness of the North American Ozarks. Their objective is to find their way back together, physically and emotionally.  Game director: (removed on request)

Demo Day is an exhibition where students have the opportunity to premiere their newest and most innovative games from the 2016-2017 academic year. It is a collaborative effort between the School of Cinematic Arts’ Interactive Media & Games Division and the Viterbi School of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science with participating students from SCA’s Animation, Writing, MA+P, Cinema & Media Studies and Production divisions and from across the USC Campus.

ABOUT THE USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS

The University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts is one of the leading media schools in the world. Founded in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1929 over 87 years ago, the USC School of Cinematic Arts has fueled and mirrored the growth of entertainment as an industry and an art form. The School offers comprehensive programs in directing, producing, writing, cinema and media studies, animation and digital arts, production, interactive media and games, all backed by a broad liberal arts education and taught by leading practitioners in each field. Its more than 13,000 alumni are among the world’s most distinguished animators, scholars, teachers, writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, sound experts, video game designers, and industry executives. Since 1973 not a year has passed without an alumnus or alumna being nominated for an Academy Award or an Emmy. https://cinema.usc.edu/