We’ve just received word that UBC is one of the invited institutions in Electronic Arts’ first ever programming competition, Tank Wars. This is an AI programming competition, similar to Project Hoshimi, where students are given an API to use, to create intelligent bots that wage war!
EA looks to have outdone itself by including a code base, that compiles on Windows (.NET), Linux, and Mac (Xcode)! So, unlike other programming competitions, there’s a great amount of freedom in whatever development environment you prefer. The contest runs through January 15th, 2006, so this sounds like an excellent activity to pass time away during the holiday season, if you’re raring to scratch that programing itch. And not to mention, it’s exclusive to you guys (and a few other Canadian institutions), so I’d say there’s a decent chance of winning. But you’ll have to get past me first :P (which shouldn’t be too hard). Let’s aim for more than 4 entries, eh?
And although it doesn’t specify it explicitly, if you’re looking to get the attention of EA for whatever reason - co-op student or summer intern - this might be a way of getting your foot in the door :-)