Computer game by students of the Silesian University of Technology awarded in the national competition #ZostanWDomuRobGry!

Gathering friends, building houses, hospitals or schools and rebuilding the virtual world together - these are the main principles of the computer game "Our Little Restoration" by students of the Silesian University of Technology from the Wizarding Tower group, that was awarded in the #ZostanWDomuRobGry! competition. The initiative is held under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

As part of the #ZostanWDomuRobGry! competition organised by the Indie Games Poland Foundation, Game Industry Conference and PolskiGamedev.pl, both beginners and professionals from across Poland competed together. However, each group was judged in a separate category.
Among the titles developed by school and university students, the best one was "Our Little Restoration" - a game created by students of the Silesian University of Technology from the Wizarding Tower group, operating within the Student Scientific Association for Graphics, Vision and Computer Games. The winning team comprised: Żaklina Osmenda, whose task was to program and create 3D graphics, Michał Kret, responsible for programming the game logic and graphic effects, Maciej Sowiar, responsible for programming the game logic, and Anna Mach, who designed the visual layout of individual levels.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the event was held online. According to the winners, the new formula of competition was much easier, but not perfect.
- The main disadvantage of holding such competitions online is that you don't have the opportunity to meet people from other teams," says Żaklina Osmenda, co-creator of the game "Our Little Restoration" and the chairwoman of the Student Scientific Association for Graphics, Vision and Computer Games at the Silesian University of Technology.
The game " Our Little Restoration" was appreciated not only by the main jury, but also by the Warsaw Film School - one of the competition partners. The School awarded the game with a distinction and offered the authors free participation in any classes, workshops and master classes on video game development (in the academic year 2020/2021), as well as a set of gadgets. However, these are not the only advantages of participating in this type of competition.

-Thanks to these competitions, we have established contacts with potential publishers, so we will try to do something, show something, send small-scale projects to test ourselves and gain experience - explains Żaklina Osmenda. - It is worth participating in such competitions - she adds.

In the past, students from the Student Scientific Association for Graphics, Vision and Computer Games also participated in various projects of the Silesian University of Technology, such as Project Based Learning (PBL), which made it possible to obtain funding for the purchase of virtual reality equipment necessary to create computer games. And these, according to the players from the Wizarding Tower group, are something more than just programming.
- For me games are also an art form in a way. It is such an interactive experience that we are not able to feel when reading a book or watching a film. When it comes to experiencing games - in terms of creating them - there's a lot of joy in watching that something you have come up with slowly takes shape, succeeds after some difficulties, but it works well. This is a very rewarding type of programming, because we can see what we have created - sums up Żaklina Osmenda.

The trailer of the game "Our Little Restoration" is available on the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=5&v=v-wfhqUWDlQ&feature=emb_imp_woyt .
You can try your hand in the virtual world designed by the students of the Silesian University of Technology from the Wizarding Tower group on the website of the Student Scientific Association for Graphics, Vision and Computer Games: https://skngwigk.itch.io/our-little-restoration
Congratulations to our students from the Wizarding Tower group! We keep our fingers crossed for their further success!