A 15-year-old from Portishead, Matthew, has been named one of 51 finalists in the BAFTA Young Game Designers Competition. His game, Overclocked, is a sci-fi action game built around momentum, timing and speed running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his interview, he talks about how all those late nights of coding finally paid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was completely me at that age. I spent hours tinkering with Creatures (an artificial life PC game), building add-ons (COBS, created in CAOS - which I ended up naming my company after), and figuring out how everything worked (no YouTube tutorials in the mid-1990s). Half the fun was the creative problem-solving, which is exactly what Matthew says he loves most about it, too. It was my Creatures add-ons that got me my university placement and my first job afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And he's not the only one flying the flag for the South West. Rikka, 14, from Frome, is a finalist with Beyond the Horizon (a stranded astronaut waiting on a rescue), and Rowan, 17, from Stroud, with Sprouts and Seedlings, a lovely, calm game about gardening (going to check all of these games out).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being a fellow Portishead resident, I'm especially chuffed to see Matthew on that list (along with Rikka and Rowan, also from Somerset and Gloucestershire). What an achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final is on Thursday, live on BAFTA's YouTube channel. Hoping to catch this, and I'll definitely be checking out the games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n