Overview
Introducing ProjectForge! GDK is now hosting semester-long projects. This gives students the opportunity to build on a long-form project with deadlines, work in a team, and gain feedback and advice from our experienced student coaches. This is meant for students of all experience levels and essentially serves as a long-form Game Jam, although participants don’t only have to build games.
Meant as an opportunity to collaborate, this is open to anyone at UCF interested in game design and is primarily meant to be team-based. It serves as a great opportunity to create a piece for your portfolio, have tons of fun, and maybe try out something new! ProjectForge will begin in Fall 2026.
Applications are open until September 10th.
Teams, Project Leads, and Coaches
Teams
Teams are sizes of 4 - 8 people (recommended) with an appointed project lead.
They can consist of any combination of programmers, 3D/2D artists, animators, level designers, generalists, etc.
Project Leads
Leads would be responsible for serving as the primary leader of the project. This includes duties such as leading team meetings, delegating work, checking in on members, communicating with assigned coaches, and communicating updates to staff for the project program for accountability.
We expect that project leaders will be asked to update staff on the project every other week via Discord. Should issues in the team arise that the Project Lead is not sure how to handle, they are always able to reach out to staff.
Being a lead isn't so much about technical knowledge than overall leadership skills and providing direction for your project; you can be a lead even if you are a beginner. You will be given many resources and people available to offer advice and help you succeed. Being a lead is also a great opportunity for those who seek to develop skills as a producer or creative director.
Coaches
Coaches are experienced mentors who provide resources, guidance, and support for teams as they develop their projects. They are able to provide help with technical issues as well as guidance in planning production, documentation, and management skills for beginner teams. Coaches are not meant to do any significant portion of work for teams.
All coaches will be assigned role(s) associated with their area of expertise such as "Coach (Art)" or "Coach (Programming)". This way, teams can ping these roles for help based on their needs and any coach from that field can respond.
Being a coach is a great opportunity to learn mentorship and teaching skills in a low-stakes environment. Coaches should expect to dedicate around 30 minutes a week responding to any questions and offering resources.
Pitch Day
Pitch day occurs a week after applications close, and is meant for teams to be able to present their idea, get feedback, and demonstrate an execution plan. A pitch deck template will be made and provided to teams. Each team will present their pitch, using the pitch deck and any other visuals they have made. Feedback will be provided by GDK officers, alongside an additional 2-3 people with experience.
Attendance will not be required in case teams are not able to make it, but every team must submit their completed pitch deck for feedback.
Timeline
Partipicants have approximately 9.5 weeks to develop their projects.
Fall 2026 Schedule:- 8/14 - Applications Open
- 9/10 - Applications Close
- 9/18 - Pitch Day/Projects Begin
- 11/23 - Showcase
Rules and Requirements
- Assets of any type are allowed; however, they must be free and explicitly credited.
- AI must be used reasonably; the majority of work must be human, and any usage must be explicitly disclosed and explained.
- Coaches are not meant to do any significant work for any of the teams they are assisting.
- Students should be available for at least one hour a week if they plan to participate.
- Each member of the team is expected to participate in the project throughout the entirety of the semester.
Sign up / Regristration
To sign up, there are two options:
- Have a group? Fill out the Teams Form (one submission per team).
- Want us to place you on a team? Fill out the Individual Form. You would not need to seek out a team via other means.
If you are seeking team members to put together a team on your own, you can start a thread within the Discord server in the find-teams channel.
Note: Solo projects are not permitted as one of the primary goals of this program is to build collaborative experience.
Check out the Little Big Mentorship program for solo feedback.
Have feedback or questions?
If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to Rachel (@xylem_sap) or any GDK officer.