When you get the chance to use the odd term ‘Dead Shark Triplepunch’ in a headline, then by god you take it. That’s the moniker of the Swedish team who’ve just won the Make Something Unreal Live event for 2013, with their “online multiplayer arena sports game” Epigenesis.
But what does Epigenetics mean, Mr. Science Man? Well, thanks to a helpful ‘Science’ page on the game’s website I can tell you that it means the following:
Think of the DNA as the hardware of the body, holding all the information that is needed to create all the parts of your body. The DNA keeps track on all of the information, like a giant hard drive with an enormous amount of information. To read the DNA, the body needs a software that decides which parts and how much of it gets read. Epigenetics is the study of this software that exists in every living being, the software that controls the DNA.
Mm, intellectual stuff.
In the game, it translates to being able to take control of the rooftops where the Epigenesis ball game is being played. After every goal, the team can plant seeds that can then be given additional traits to enable your team to control certain areas of the pitch and help them win the match.
The judges were impressed by this interpretation of the contest’s theme of ‘Mendelian Inheritance: genetics and genomics’ and awarded Dead Shark Triplepunch the prize of a commercial Unreal Engine 4 license. In addition, the team (and runners up Kairos Games) have been offered an Unreal Engine 3 license for the specific purpose of getting their contest game published.
“In giving Dead Shark Triplepunch a UE3 licence specifically for Epigenesis we want to enable them to bring this title to market in the shortest possible time and see them on their way to becoming a fully-fledged independent games development studio,” says Epic Games’ Mike Gamble.
So, we can most likely expect to see Epigenesis get a full release in the near future.
