Computational Foundry academic nominated for prestigious BAFTA Cymru Award 2019
Dr Sean Walton, an academic in Swansea University’s Computational Foundry, has been nominated for a British Academy Cymru Award.
Dr Walton, a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, received the nomination for developing the video game Cycle 28 as part of the team at Pill Bug Interactive.
The British Academy Cymru Awards honour excellence in broadcasting and production within film, games and television in Wales. There were a record number of entries this year resulting in 19 first time nominees.
Dr Walton comments: “I’ve been making video games for about 12 years, but I've been designing games on pen and paper for much longer than that. Cycle 28 was actually based on an idea I sketched out for a game on graph paper when I was 14!
Cycle 28 has two sides to it, on one side is a classic arcade game with a modern twist, and the other is a mysterious narrative for you to uncover. For people who play arcade games it's recognisable as an Asteroids clone, but when you play it you can feel that it's different.”
Aside from his teaching and game designing, Dr Walton also runs outreach sessions for groups underrepresented in Higher Education. “I believe that through learning game design you can learn lots of different skills, from mathematics and problem solving to creativity and even how to teach more effectively.”
The winner will be announced at the 28th ceremony will take place on 13th October 2019 at St David’s Hall, Cardiff. Cycle 28 (available on PC and Nintendo Switch™) is one of three titles nominated for best game.
Links:
Full list of nominations
Cycle 28 information
https://www.pillbug.zone/cycle-28/
YouTube Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I13n4nIiuDY