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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife student at a Vancouver games and animation school is excited about his future in the video games industry after his school project placed in the top five in a recent province-wide competition.

Adem Memedi wears a promotional T-shirt made for Fists of Ymir, the video game he helped build. - Nicole Garbutt/NNSL photo

Adem Memedi has a lot of responsibilities to juggle. Aside from regular classes in the Modelling for Games and Animation program at the Art Institute of Vancouver, working on a demo reel and portfolio, second-year students take part in a game production workshop.

Called a cross-program workshop, programmers, game designers and artists start with a concept and follow the game through until completion over a six-month period before presenting it to the school.

Memedi was the lead artist on the project for a game called Fists of Ymir. This meant he was responsible for developing the content of the game, helping to determine its production value, overseeing work by other artists and synchronizing it to make the game flow together.

After presenting Fists of Ymir to the school at an independent game developers' event called Indi Three, Shawn Vogels, a fellow student and producer of the game, entered it into a competition at Digi BC without telling the rest of the team. About one month after submitting it, Vogels sent the rest of the team an e-mail saying that it had placed in top five and the team was invited to present the game during the panel's Christmas party.

Challenging to master

Fists of Ymir is a fast-paced game which uses elements and characters in different fire and ice forms to complete obstacle-course style levels.

"It's fluid," said Memedi. "Quick and enjoyable is kinda what we were going for."

In regards to the skill level needed to play the game, he says, "We wanted it to be quick to pick up but challenging to master."

Fists of Ymir is appropriate for any age level -- there is no violence, shooting or fighting.

A player only sees confrontation when they reach the boss level and even then, Memedi says, it is more about manipulating the environment to destroy opponents by using one's movements.

Memedi said his professors called it the most enjoyable student game they had played.

Fist of Ymir's exact placement within the top five was unknown to Memedi by press time. However he says it was a great experience.

"I met a couple people and picked up a few business cards... It was just cool, to rub elbows with professionals," he said.

Memedi returned to Vancouver after the holidays and, pending graduation, plans to stay in the city and hopefully cash in on some of the connections he has made.

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