Junior developers showcase their apps at the National Software Contest 2013
They passed a software competition at their schools, then entered the regional contest and finally achieved national glory. Of the total 1,720 nationwide projects proposed to the National Software Contest (NSC) 2013, some of the most talented junior developers who invented creative applications that allow users to enjoy learning while playing have been honoured.
The software competition, held by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec), consists of three categories: programs for entertainment, programs for learning and application programs.
The God Of Write app by a team of Mattayom 4 students at Rayong Wittayakom School took first prize in the entertainment category.
The game's story involves two gods _ Erades the god of destruction and Pencius the god of creation. People have more faith in Pencius than Erades as they prefer tangible matters and that causes Erades to flee.
The situation becomes worse as Pencius cannot undo what he has mistakenly drawn, so he travels to find Erades, who has the ability to erase things. Along the journey, Erades erases everything, so the player's mission is to help Pencius solve the problems by redrawing those things.
"Both gods finally come to the world of human beings, and people use pencils and erasers to create new things by themselves," said team leader Asawin Phorung, who added that the 3D adventure game was developed using the Unreal Development Kit engine and Blender graphics software.
A team from St Francis Xavier Convent School took home the second prize with their Bunting On The Earth program. The simulation game was developed for students and youths to enjoy along with moral lessons. The multi-media game encourages the development of various skills which players can apply in their daily lives.
Bunting On The Earth consists of three parts _ stories, games and mini-games. The stories contain many situations which Bunting has to face, and players are encouraged to have a sense of compassion and social responsibility. In the game part, Bunting has to pass through stages by helping people in trouble.
Mak-Gep, a traditional Thai children's pastime in which players compete by throwing and catching five small stones, has now become a smartphone app. Mattayom 5 students at Prince Royal School have developed the Mak-Gep game by using C# computer language using a JavaScript language server and MongoDB database. The app bagged the third prize in the entertainment category.
Through sensors, a player has to flip the smartphone, an action comparable to throwing all the stones. The player then shakes the device to throw the stones and presses the screen to pick up the stones while they are in the air. Instead of catching the stones by hand the player uses the phone to get them. Players can save the level they are playing by creating an ID and the game then will sync with the server and rank the highest scores. Players can also log-in to Twitter to tweet their score to friends and challenge them.
A team of students from Mahidol Wittayanusorn School won the first prize in the programs for learning category. The Flowchart Instructional Media app is an instructional media developed using HTML5 technology so that the website can be accessed without installing a program. Users can access the program via a personal computer, smartphone, tablet or any device that connects to the internet.
The website covers pre-test and post-test exercises, the content of flowcharts, matches and games. The drag-and-drop format of the game challenges players' logical thinking.
The second prize in the learning category went to Adventure In The Town 2 by a team from Sarasit Pittayalai School. The program teaches basic English language for primary students. Students have to learn basic grammar and do the exercises within a limited time; if they don't pass the test, they have to go through the lessons again. The next lesson is the Asean room where they learn about Asean members through simple vocabulary.
The Adventure In Bouncing World With DungDang And His Friends by Mattayom 3 students at Prince Royal School won the third prize in the learning category. The app teaches the laws of movement.
Manatsawin Hanmongkolchai, a Mattayom 6 student at Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School developed Kyou: HTML5 Magazine Publisher, a software tool to create web-based magazines. The software won first prize in the application program category.
Manatsawin has developed a comic with video and user-interaction and he learned how challenging it is for new publishers, so he created the app to help developers.
The first prize in each category of the NSC contest was worth 60,000 baht in cash and a trophy, while the second and the third prizes were worth 40,000 baht and 20,000 baht, respectively, and the merit prize was 10,000 baht. The winners have also been nominated for the IT Princess Award and will represent Thailand at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards.
