A SCOTTISH student’s film of his new video game has gone viral with four million views after he shared it on Twitter.
Matt Stark’s as yet untitled game concept arms players with a Polaroid camera. Any photo they take then becomes a tangible part of the video game world.
The video shared by the 26-year-old Abertay university computer games technology student demonstrating the concept has sparked global interest.
Stark, from Edinburgh, said he was completely overwhelmed, adding: “It’s been pretty crazy, and the response has been fantastic.
“The initial tweet snowballed quickly and it was really exciting. Notifications and comments were being posted faster than I could read them. The feedback has been really positive, and I’ve been followed on Twitter by some of my gaming heroes.”
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The second-year student has been invited to speak at the high-profile Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, one of the biggest annual events on the gaming calendar. Abertay is providing funding for the trip.
The effect can now handle collisions and multiple photos #madewithunity #gamedev #vfx #polaroid pic.twitter.com/NXKt8KGIcZ
— Matt Stark (@mattstark256) January 3, 2020
Stark added: “Throughout all of this experience, this has been the most surreal and surprising thing. I’m really excited, it’s truly a dream come true.
“I’ll be speaking at the experimental gameplay workshop which has hosted the debuts of some really significant titles such as Portal, Braid and Katamari; games which have revolutionised gaming.”
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Professor Ruth Falconer, head of Abertay’s Division of Games Technology and Mathematics, said: “We are very pleased to be able to provide funding for this trip, which provides Matt with a tremendous platform and networking opportunity. His unique idea is a great example of the innovative and creative thinking we seek to foster in our computer game students.”
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