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Update: My Newest Adventure – Michael Clapcich
Update from Michael C.,
MMA Cbl C
Show Case Summary After Math Review
Back in March my Game-U instructor, Jovan, nominated me for a showcase. It was on March 17th that I got an email that read like this:
Congratulations Michael!
You have been nominated to be one of the presenters at the upcoming Blink’s Showcase in recognition of all that you have accomplished. Every quarter, our instructors pick the students who they believe have worked the hardest to make their projects unique and take them above and beyond the base project we teach. The Showcase happened on March 28th at 7 pm Eastern Time! I competed against other students to win one of these awards:
Best Game (Instructor’s Choice)
Best Art (Instructor’s Choice)
Best Overall (Crowd Favorite)
Instructor’s Favorite (Instructor’s Choice)
Best Story (Instructor’s Choice)
Best Game Mechanic (Instructor’s Choice)
All of the presenters joined the Zoom call at 6:45 PM EST for setup. When I joined the Zoom call, I was assigned to a Breakout Room. While in the Breakout Room, I was allowed to set up my project and prepare to present in the main room. I was given 4 minutes to show my project to the other students and their families.
After the attendees had a chance to view all the student games and projects, they voted for their favorite project using a Google Form to determine the winner for Best Overall – Crowd Favorite. Instructors voted on Best Game, Best Art, the instructor’s favorite, Best Story, and Best Game Mechanic.
Once I received the news from my instructor, I was given about 1 hour to prepare for the presentation. I was given two options on how I was allowed to present my artwork. It was a choice between a slide show and a video presentation. I chose the second option. A video was created to showcase a significant portion of my completed work. I ended my video saying More from The Element Guardians coming soon! As I complete more work, more will be added to the video.
On the evening of the event, like the above email says, I arrived on the call at 6:45 to go over how things were going to be handled. The event was recorded I was the second presenter in the showcase. I was first asked some of the below noted questions before showing off my presentation:
The answers that I supplied were the following:
My name is Michael. I have been a student in this program for six years. I really like using the 3D aspect side of things because at some point they’ll be moving by themselves and the whole scene will be coming together quickly. I may not play video games at all, but I do like board games like Scrabble, or all the different card games that we have at home.
My project really started eleven years ago. I’ve always really wanted to write a book, and I’ve been taking karate since I was 12, so I found a way of combining both of them at the same time. A lot of help has gone into my book side of this project. Then I was introduced to this program through a friend of mine.
The software is 90% of a software called Blender. When I first started, most of my time was spent in Paint.net (a 2D program for making 2D models) and Construct (an animation program). However, when I started taking specific suggestions from instructors to begin mapping out the levels of my game, I primarily started to 3D everything, which is how I’m jumping around making storyboards.
Each Game U session is about an hour. One hour goes by quickly and for this reason I have about 2-3 sessions scheduled weekly.
My presentation was well-liked and received by the other students and members who joined the event over the computer. There were 5 other presenters. The event was an hour long. Before the awards were announced, we did see some of the instructors’ projects. At the end of the night, awards were presented. Out of the awards that can be seen above, Best Story (Instructor’s Choice) was awarded to me. Something else that I want people to know is that if they’re interested in seeing some of my work aside from some examples that will be put in this article, I’ve also created a website that people can check out. It will be updated as projects get completed. The site link is https://michaelclap.wixsite.com/theelementguardians.
From the Summer 2025 OAA Newsletter
MY NEWEST ADVENTURE
Michael Clapcich
MMA, CBL C
Have you ever dreamed of watching over your city like a guardian angel? Defending it like the Avengers, or protecting the galaxy as the Guardians of the Galaxy do? How about being the chosen one like Harry Potter? Even better, protecting the mythology universe like Percy Jackson, or become a part of a legendary team like the power rangers?
If you are a Hero in the making, THEN STAY TUNED…
While the writing of my book has been completed, I am on another journey that ties in with my book. Last year, thanks to the help of my supports coordinator, I was introduced to an online class given by Game -U University. This is where I discovered videogames could be created. I came up with the idea of creating a video game to go along with my book. About a year ago I enrolled in this class and started to create. I started out with a one hour class once a week but that soon changed to two days a week. I quickly became interested in what my instructors, Dustin and Jovan had to show me. Construct, one such program is how I used animation to bring characters to life while Blender, another type of program, is used for 3D creation. Another type of program that I was exposed to was Paint.net Something else that had been fun to learn is making storyboards, like in comics. In Blender I’ve made a tea set for a table setting as well as the table. I also was able to create the texture of our dining room chairs and used it in my program. I have created such animals like a horse, a wolf, and currently working on a greenhouse. The different programs allow me to do different things. For example I started animating a chapter of my book where I have to get the dragon in a certain position. Seeing this creation in 3D will be amazing. Game U University offers workshops to all interested. Please check out their website, https://www.game-u.com I have taken a sprit animation and a comic book workshop which I’m hoping gives me a better way to incorporate storyboards in my book illustration. I’m going to attempt to convert a comic strip that my brother did when he was younger into storyboards. For those who are reading this I am on social media where I do show off my work as well as stream. My YouTube channel is https://youtube.com/@michaelclapcich6353?si=mkXPVQKM_atX7E-0
Update March 2024 –
Ultimate Game Jam: Where Creativity Meets Competition Ultimate Game Jam: Where Creativity Meets Competition Game Jam Rules:
1. Follow the theme.
2. Templates, free assets, existing code are okay but should give a unique feel.
3. No overly mature, gorey, or rude games. The project is intended to be shared.
4. No projects accepted over the intended guidelines.
5. Must be uploaded to Orbit by the final due date. An itch will be provided if needed.
6. Documentation of work optional but highly encouraged.
7. Take care of yourself. It’s a timed event but don’t have it break you. 8. Have fun. Kick off Event – Mar 12, 2024 at 7pm -The theme will be revealed Functional Project Due Date- Jun 11, 2024 at 7pm
Final Project Submitted Due Date- Jun12,2024
The Goal: The goal is to upload work to Orbit. If you upload your work to Orbit you successfully uploaded your work on time. If you need an itc.io due to compatibility issues an itch will be given to you.
There will be a video uploaded regarding uploading projects from Construct, Game Maker, Unity and Godot in HTML5. You can use any game engine you would like.
The Theme: The theme of the Game Jam will be drop
A prize: The top game in each category has a monetary prize. The categories are as follows. Games will be voted on and projects will be shown at a showcase event for all to show their hard work. Categories: Accelerate:
Kids Accelerate: Adults Group: Adventurer and Explorer 6-10 Group: Pioneer and Voyager 10-12+
Thank you for allow me to share my story.
From the Fall 2023 OAA Newsletter