What is Unreal University?
Unreal University is a seminar consisting of several classes being offered by the people at Epic, NVIDIA and 3DBuzz.com. It's taking place on the campus of North Carolina State University (Raliegh, NC) on November 8th and 9th. From the official website:
The first annual Unreal University, a two-day tutorial covering techniques for creating mods for the Unreal Tournament 2004 game engine, will be held at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, on November 8th and 9th, 2003.
Co-Sponsored by Epic Games, the NC State Center for Digital Entertianment and NVIDIA, Unreal University will bring together mod-makers, game designers, programmers and artists working on mods for Epic Games' UT 2004. Unreal University sessions will feature of a mixture of demos, developer talks and hands-on tutorials covering a wide range of topics. Special presentations by staff from Epic Games will showcase upcoming products and technologies.
Updates From the Official Site
Need more reasons to go? Try these.
This tutorial is a must for anyone interested in learning about the technology of Unreal Tournament 2004. Unreal U key features include
*Over 15 different classes covering Level Design, Art and Animation, UnrealScript code and all aspects of mod-making in UT2k4
- Expert instructors from 3DBuzz and Epic Games staff
- Special presentations by Epic's developers on their upcoming products
- Cool demos and exhibits from Epic, NVIDIA, Alias Wavefront and AMD
- Non-stop LAN party action playing Epic's latest version of Unreal Tournament
- Special offers and prizes
Looks to me like if you haven't seen UT2004 in action and you want to, this will be the place to not only see it, but play it!
That's All Folks! ...Until Next Year
The weekend was a huge success, and if you didn't get to go, make sure you hit the next one! Everyone was extremely nice, the classes were extremely informative, and UT2004 is EXTREMEMLY cool! Yes, they had 50 computers running the current build of UT2004, and everyone got a chance to spend a good amount of time playing. The new Onslaught gametype proved to be a favorite, and all the new weapons, vehicles, and objects rock.
HSDanClark: One of my personal highlights was playing 5 or 6 matches with Mark Rein sitting right next to me – and outscoring him in each one :D I'll tell you though... nobody gets into the game more than he does. I really think he's more of a fan of the game than anyone you can think of. He was yelling, shouting orders to teammates, and cheering out loud!
All in all, the Unreal University weekend experience is not to be missed. For the next one, if you live too far away to drive, I'd really suggest saving up for some airfare!
dRawkbox: West coast version would also be nice ;). Does anyone know if they plan to do it on the other side of the states anytime soon or in the future. I live here in AZ and would like to go but NC seems like its out of the way for many.
HSDanClark: I made the suggestion on the UT2003 Mods mailing list about having a UU session in San Jose, CA in the days right before GDC, since many people go to that event. Personally, I wouldn't mind showing up for GDC three or four days early if it meant going to UU in that time. I didn't get a response either way, but I hope they're considering it.