16-Year-old Coder A Finalist In The Young Game Designers Awards
A 16-year-old has been selected as one of 53 finalists in the Young Game Designers awards for SnakeLaw Island, a large-scale game that has 27 levels, four original compositions - and which took him just six months to complete.
What makes this feat even more impressive is that David McIntosh was finishing his GCSEs at the same time, the South Wales Argus reports - and now he’s being recognised for all his hard work by the BAFTA-run awards organisers.
Speaking to the news source, Mr McIntosh explained that he spent around 80 hours working on the game after teaching himself the coding system Unity a few years ago.
The awards themselves were set up to showcase and support young games talent in the UK, providing them with access to some of the industry’s most creative minds.
Saying how much he enjoys coding, maths and computing, as well as making games, Mr McIntosh said: “For the first three months, progress was really slow. I couldn't even make a character move. After about a year, I started growing in confidence. I made a few demo games and slowly went on from there.
“Most of the time I'm making 2D games. I play games like Portal, Warhammer and Minecraft, I’d like to work on 3D games like them.”
If you’re keen for your children to start coding, have a read of a recent blog post of ours, full of hints and tips to get them interested in it as a subject. Programming skills will prove invaluable later on in life, helping with problem-solving, offering career flexibility and opening the door to jobs with great earning potential!
What makes this feat even more impressive is that David McIntosh was finishing his GCSEs at the same time, the South Wales Argus reports - and now he’s being recognised for all his hard work by the BAFTA-run awards organisers.
Speaking to the news source, Mr McIntosh explained that he spent around 80 hours working on the game after teaching himself the coding system Unity a few years ago.
The awards themselves were set up to showcase and support young games talent in the UK, providing them with access to some of the industry’s most creative minds.
Saying how much he enjoys coding, maths and computing, as well as making games, Mr McIntosh said: “For the first three months, progress was really slow. I couldn't even make a character move. After about a year, I started growing in confidence. I made a few demo games and slowly went on from there.
“Most of the time I'm making 2D games. I play games like Portal, Warhammer and Minecraft, I’d like to work on 3D games like them.”
If you’re keen for your children to start coding, have a read of a recent blog post of ours, full of hints and tips to get them interested in it as a subject. Programming skills will prove invaluable later on in life, helping with problem-solving, offering career flexibility and opening the door to jobs with great earning potential!