Stories about the developers: Russian Brainy Studio, the winner of the Imagine Cup
If you are a novice developer or are interested in various activities in the field of development, then you probably should not explain what the Imagine Cup is . For those who are still not up to date - this is Microsoft’s global technology competition for college and university students, which has contributed to the release of many applications, services and technology products.
One of the winners of last year's Imagine Cup 2014, a competition that lasted a year and attracted 33,000 students from around the world, was the Russian Brainy Studio team with its project - a game on the social theme TurnOn . We decided to take a small interview with them, and today we share in our post.
The game is a free, but at the same time quite developed (both graphically and plot) platformer. The user must manage some reasonable charge of energy (a reasonable spark, if you will) called Turnon, in order to restore the power supply in the city. It is important not to miss a single lamppost, signboard or electrical device.
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It is noteworthy that on the day of the announcement of the winner in the category "Games" at the Imagine Cup 2014, the guys from Brain Studio received another award - AppCampus Award .
Now the team from Russia, which includes our guests today, Evgeny Romin and Dmitry Ogorodnikov, is working not only on new levels for the game, but also on translating new big ideas.
What has changed for your studio after winning the Microsoft Imagine Cup?
Eugene : The victory in this competition was for us a very inspiring event, we began to believe in ourselves more.
Dmitry : after winning the competition, we registered our own company and opened our own office. These two awards, I mean the Imagine Cup and AppCampus, really became a powerful motivator for us to complete the work we started and release the game.
Tell us more about your team.
Eugene : There are only five people in it. I develop strategy, video production and all that concerns animation. Since we still have a small team, then each of us has quite a lot of responsibilities and responsibilities. Alexander Frolov is engaged in game logic, and Anton Baranov is our main programmer. The initiator of the idea of ​​our game — the winner was Ilya Antonov, our artist.
Dmitry : I, in turn, am responsible for marketing and communications.
Rescuing a city that has fallen into blackout chaos - why did you get such an idea for the game?
Eugene : It happened in Perm that electricity was cut off in several areas. We even jokingly called such moments an ecological action “Earth Hour” in Perm.
And, although, electricity cuts off no more than an hour - but you have to do not only do without communication, for example, without the Internet, but also feel the hard way about what it means to live in total darkness. In this game, we just wanted to convey this state. More precisely, on the contrary - through this state to show what is the joy of electricity.
Dmitry : We wanted to develop a game in which there will be no blood and violence. With TurnOn, we hope the world will be a little kinder and better.
Has the development of this game taught anything new?
Yevgeny : The most difficult thing is to finish the job. We wanted to bring a high-quality product to the market and, first of all, we had to learn how to work in a team and how to redistribute responsibility.
Our friends from social networks helped us with the introduction of the Unity 3D engine. Of course, we knew a lot ourselves, but their help was really irreplaceable. We can say that during the development process we even managed to build a small community around the game.
What innovations and improvements should be expected from you in the future?
Eugene : We want to add new exciting levels and add game content. Also, plans - holiday updates, for example, for Halloween or the New Year. Thanks to user feedback, we also had a whole list of tasks to improve the gameplay.
Dmitry : Now we are working on the idea of ​​thematic levels - some of them will be devoted to the “Earth Hour” in various cities of our planet. Imagine, for example, Turn On in the streets of London or New York.
Why did you decide to start developing games?
Eugene : We dreamed of creating games since our first computers appeared. But I received a powerful impetus during my studies at PNRPU . There I became a member of the Microsoft student program, and she taught me to think a little differently. Plus, I got a lot of features and free software from the evangelists of Microsoft Russia.
In 2012, I had the opportunity to reach the international final of the Imagine Cup in Australia. Later, I set up my own studio with my friends and, as you see, together with it we became the winners of this competition.
What do you think of the Windows Phone platform as application developers?
Dmitry : The platform still has great potential and it only gets better with the appearance of new products and services from Microsoft.
This is a great place to start your career as a developer, since no other platform will provide so many tools and opportunities to start.
What problems stand in the way of a developer?
Eugene : I, for example, are terribly outraged by any unpleasant surprises and bugs that surface in the development process
Then this question: the best time in the process of developing a game application
Eugene : The moment when your application is loaded into the app store. Or even, the moment when you get a big feedback from users.
What do you recommend to novice application developers?
Eugene: It's great if you start with some simple and small things in order to develop your skills and move on. Even if your applications do not turn out the way you conceived them, continue to work further. Never give up.
The most important thing you get from application development is an invaluable experience that helps you move on and a portfolio that becomes your face as a developer.
What are your hobbies besides application development?
Yevgeny : I am writing my Ph.D. in application interface problems using virtual reality at the Perm National Research Polytechnic University. Well, more precisely, I wrote - now I had to drop it a bit, since all my free time is spent on developing the project.
Dmitry : I try to spend all my free time with my wife. This is my idea of ​​fun :)
Read the story of participation in the Imagine Cup from the first person in this post on Habré .
One of the winners of last year's Imagine Cup 2014, a competition that lasted a year and attracted 33,000 students from around the world, was the Russian Brainy Studio team with its project - a game on the social theme TurnOn . We decided to take a small interview with them, and today we share in our post.
The game is a free, but at the same time quite developed (both graphically and plot) platformer. The user must manage some reasonable charge of energy (a reasonable spark, if you will) called Turnon, in order to restore the power supply in the city. It is important not to miss a single lamppost, signboard or electrical device.
')
It is noteworthy that on the day of the announcement of the winner in the category "Games" at the Imagine Cup 2014, the guys from Brain Studio received another award - AppCampus Award .
Now the team from Russia, which includes our guests today, Evgeny Romin and Dmitry Ogorodnikov, is working not only on new levels for the game, but also on translating new big ideas.
What has changed for your studio after winning the Microsoft Imagine Cup?
Eugene : The victory in this competition was for us a very inspiring event, we began to believe in ourselves more.
Dmitry : after winning the competition, we registered our own company and opened our own office. These two awards, I mean the Imagine Cup and AppCampus, really became a powerful motivator for us to complete the work we started and release the game.
Tell us more about your team.
Eugene : There are only five people in it. I develop strategy, video production and all that concerns animation. Since we still have a small team, then each of us has quite a lot of responsibilities and responsibilities. Alexander Frolov is engaged in game logic, and Anton Baranov is our main programmer. The initiator of the idea of ​​our game — the winner was Ilya Antonov, our artist.
Dmitry : I, in turn, am responsible for marketing and communications.
Rescuing a city that has fallen into blackout chaos - why did you get such an idea for the game?
Eugene : It happened in Perm that electricity was cut off in several areas. We even jokingly called such moments an ecological action “Earth Hour” in Perm.
And, although, electricity cuts off no more than an hour - but you have to do not only do without communication, for example, without the Internet, but also feel the hard way about what it means to live in total darkness. In this game, we just wanted to convey this state. More precisely, on the contrary - through this state to show what is the joy of electricity.
Dmitry : We wanted to develop a game in which there will be no blood and violence. With TurnOn, we hope the world will be a little kinder and better.
Has the development of this game taught anything new?
Yevgeny : The most difficult thing is to finish the job. We wanted to bring a high-quality product to the market and, first of all, we had to learn how to work in a team and how to redistribute responsibility.
Our friends from social networks helped us with the introduction of the Unity 3D engine. Of course, we knew a lot ourselves, but their help was really irreplaceable. We can say that during the development process we even managed to build a small community around the game.
What innovations and improvements should be expected from you in the future?
Eugene : We want to add new exciting levels and add game content. Also, plans - holiday updates, for example, for Halloween or the New Year. Thanks to user feedback, we also had a whole list of tasks to improve the gameplay.
Dmitry : Now we are working on the idea of ​​thematic levels - some of them will be devoted to the “Earth Hour” in various cities of our planet. Imagine, for example, Turn On in the streets of London or New York.
Why did you decide to start developing games?
Eugene : We dreamed of creating games since our first computers appeared. But I received a powerful impetus during my studies at PNRPU . There I became a member of the Microsoft student program, and she taught me to think a little differently. Plus, I got a lot of features and free software from the evangelists of Microsoft Russia.
In 2012, I had the opportunity to reach the international final of the Imagine Cup in Australia. Later, I set up my own studio with my friends and, as you see, together with it we became the winners of this competition.
What do you think of the Windows Phone platform as application developers?
Dmitry : The platform still has great potential and it only gets better with the appearance of new products and services from Microsoft.
This is a great place to start your career as a developer, since no other platform will provide so many tools and opportunities to start.
What problems stand in the way of a developer?
Eugene : I, for example, are terribly outraged by any unpleasant surprises and bugs that surface in the development process
Then this question: the best time in the process of developing a game application
Eugene : The moment when your application is loaded into the app store. Or even, the moment when you get a big feedback from users.
What do you recommend to novice application developers?
Eugene: It's great if you start with some simple and small things in order to develop your skills and move on. Even if your applications do not turn out the way you conceived them, continue to work further. Never give up.
The most important thing you get from application development is an invaluable experience that helps you move on and a portfolio that becomes your face as a developer.
What are your hobbies besides application development?
Yevgeny : I am writing my Ph.D. in application interface problems using virtual reality at the Perm National Research Polytechnic University. Well, more precisely, I wrote - now I had to drop it a bit, since all my free time is spent on developing the project.
Dmitry : I try to spend all my free time with my wife. This is my idea of ​​fun :)
Read the story of participation in the Imagine Cup from the first person in this post on Habré .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/255501/
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