DailySocial was back in Jogja, this time to see Jogja Game Expo (JGE)’s series of event that presented Mobile Game Developer War. The event was held at Grha Sabha Pramana – Gadjah Mada University (UGM), on 19 April 2011.

Like Game Developer War held in Bandung previously, the hall was magically transformed into ‘war zone’, equipped with presentation stage, and booth at the back side for finalists to introduce their mobile game to visitors.

After attending workshop, presenting 29 registered game applications, there was a selection process and 10 participants were chosen as finalists. They then have to present and show their work at this Mobile Game Developer War. 3 winners would be chosen for live coding and at the end of the event there will 1st winner and other favorites winners. The top 10 were:

1. Gatotkaca and The Endless Sky (Sebelumnya – Alfi Hanif Noor & Shalahuddin Kartika Chandra)
2. Warung Ekspress (EnlightGamesStudio – Jeffrey Hermanto H. & Alexander Rahardjo)
3. Bhineka Tunggal Ika (DongskarPedongi – Raka Mahesa & Timotius Nugroho C)
4. Nusantara Music Box (Selanjutnya – Jati Hiliamsyah Husen & Irwinda P)
5. Cocobi Untuk Candi – Cocobi for Temples (ChoChoBi – Buchori Wahyu Hidayat)
6. Nakula Sadewa in The Labyrinth (Omah Games – Firdaus Ismail S. & Irkham Huda)
7. Run Piggy Run  (MDG – Tezza Lantika R. & Chairul Ichsan)
8. Too Much Satay (Sate – Gelar Isnu Satria A. & Wisnu Raditya)
9. Arjuna Sang Pemanah – Arjuna The Archer (OMG – Rifauddin Tsalitsy & Muh. Lathif Pambudi)
10. Congklak – Indonesian traditional game (Epic – Ahmad Priatama Dwi K. W. & Lidya Ramadinda)

Just like Game Developer War in other cities, the ten finalists had to present their mobile game to the judges. The judges this time were Fachry Bafadal from Bancakan, Edo Pamungkas from Merah Putih, Narenda Wicaksono from Nokia Indonesia, Eric Kurniawan from N.Ice and Sigit Priyatna from UGM.

The Top 3 mobile game developers chosen were Warung Ekspress (Team EnlightGamesStudio – Jeffrey Hermanto H. & Alexander Rahardjo) – game of serving customers with Indonesian style menu, Too Much Satay (Team Sate – Gelar Isnu Satria A. & Wisnu Raditya) – game to make satay based on certain menus completed with satay seller unique outfit, and Arjuna Sang Pemanah – Arjuna The Archer (Team OMG – Rifauddin Tsalitsy & Muh. Lathif Pambudi) – an adventure game with Arjuna as main character who arches to kill certain enemies. The Top 3 got some inputs from the judges for each their mobile game applications, and they spent one hour to do live coding to implement the inputs.

After second presentation with some improvements applied (based on target or inputs from the judges), the winners were chosen. They are:

1. 1st Place: Arjuna Sang Pemanah – Arjuna The Archer (OMG – Rifauddin Tsalitsy & Muh. Lathif Pambudi)
2. 2nd Place: Warung Ekspress (EnlightGamesStudio – Jeffrey Hermanto H. & Alexander Rahardjo)
3. 3rd Place: Too Much Satay (Sate – Gelar Isnu Satria A. & Wisnu Raditya)

Other than that, visitors were also given the opportunity to choose winners for 3 other categories: best idea, audio and visual arts. The winners were:

1. Best Idea: Bhineka Tunggal Ika (DongskarPedongi – Raka Mahesa & Timotius Nugroho C)
2. Best Visual Arts: Congklak (Epic – Ahmad Priatama Dwi K. W. & Lidya Ramadinda)
3. Best Audio: Nusantara Music Box (Selanjutnya – Jati Hiliamsyah Husen & Irwinda P)

Each winner will get a cell phone from Nokia, the event’s main sponsor, winner’s certificate, and plate. Several things I found interesting for this Game Developer War in Jogja are the participants. The Top 10 was dominated by (5 teams) developer teams from Bandung (4 from IT Telkom), 3 developers from Jogja, one developer from Surabaya, and one developer from Bekasi.

After chitchatting with them, it turned out that participants from IT Telkom couldn’t join the similar event held in Bandung previously because they had exams hovering above them. So they came to Jogja to present their mobile game application. Another participant from Bandung (DongskarPedongi) was also a winner of Game Developer War held in Bandung, but now they have improved their game and emphasizing more on local elements like the judges from previous event suggested them.

A bit different from similar event held in Bandung, mobile games presented in Jogja Game Expo felt more complete, at least most of them has improved their story line, option menu, and complete set of levels. Before final, each participant also sent video about the games they were developing, so that we can see the image or explanation of each game.

Two Game Developer Wars was held. Let’s wait for other ‘wars’ in other cities, while waiting for the Final war in Jakarta, planned to be held on 31 Mei 2011.

Here’s a short video on the event, and interview with 1st Place Winner, my apology for the video’s quality. Other info from Game Developer War, including explanation videos on each finalist’s game can be seen on N.Ice’s website.

Musik by: Balads of the Cliche – Season of Joy

Translated by: Nita Sellya.

Update: There is a typing error in the name of one member of EnlightGamesStudio team, and has been corrected.