A Kenyan programmer out of Nairobi has developed a downloadable 3D adventure game called “Adventures of Nyangi“. Wesley, the creator, mentions that he thinks it might be the first 3D game developed in Africa – I have to check on that, so does anyone know if that’s true?
So, I come from a background of computer gaming. It would be easy for me to think of all that can be done to make it better. However, what has to be remembered is this is his first try and it is new in Africa. It could be the beginnings, or at least plant the seeds, for a future game out of Africa.
All technology and graphics arguments aside, there’s are even bigger reasons why this is important. First, It shows that developers in Africa are thinking of new things. Second, and more importantly, Africa represents an untapped cultural powerhouse that the rest of the world could really benefit from. Let’s see more games with some African flavor in them.
I don’t see any reason why a great game couldn’t be created in Kenya, or anywhere else in Africa for that matter.
[Nino, thanks for bringing this to my attention]
April 28, 2007 at 4:52 am
Whoa! That’s so cool!!!
April 28, 2007 at 8:05 am
Interesting – from scratch or via templates/editors?
April 28, 2007 at 12:01 pm
thanks for the updates by the way…you do a heck of a job ….very positive outlook on the gaming ..with such a start will only get better..
April 30, 2007 at 11:17 am
That would be tight if there was a “second life” type game with Africa as the background.
May 9, 2007 at 2:44 am
I think you should research well before you make an asumption. I developed a complete 3d game for my final year project work in GHANA which i claimed was the first in Africa. I’m also a 23yr old Ghanaian computer science graduate.
My game SWORD OF SYGOS is from my own comic series i drew when i was in the junior secondary school and it even won a competition.
http://ghanaconscious.ghanathink.org/node/331?PHPSESSID=e3e9141ef97525008970c6aa3065bc9f
I’m in to game programming and professional DJ mixing software. My email is wuzutags@gmail.com
The developer should call or contact me on +233244727546
There is a bigger project on board and i think he should know about it.
My company is working on the MTN Ghana CAN2008 soccer game. We use DIRECTX and .NET 2.0. for XBOX and PC CD ROM.
We’re building a team of good programmers, 3d modellers etc for this.
anyone good for this shd send me a mail right away with CV and portfolio.
May 9, 2007 at 4:47 am
Eyram, that’s great to hear that you’re creating so much gaming software. I apologize for not having found you, it’s just I couldn’t find your company in any search results. That’s why I had the qualifying statement, “I have to check on that, so does anyone know if that’s true?”, when I said I thought he was the first one.
Anyway, congrats on your games, and I look forward to seeing your soccer game. You can contact Wesley through his email address on the main page for his game.
May 9, 2007 at 5:37 am
Thanks.. I’ve sent him a mail. Pls, sorry if i seemed hash as ur name implies on this blog.
We really need good guys from all around africa for this CAN project. We have to meet international standards and i bet you, what we have down here is really good. Our Game Design Document is really excellent. I’ll need contributions from every african game lover to this. I understand sony playstation doesn’t deal with africans. Hmmm.. We’ll make them beg for this game!!!
I’m really serious on getting international african employees to work with us jst because currently we’re all Ghanaians workn on this. This isn’t good. From messenger to Game Designer are all Ghanaians.
It has been my dream to do this and i jst cant believe 1yr after SWORD OF SYGOS, I’m doing CAN2008!!!
The next game is GHANA Independence and MANDELA!!
May 14, 2007 at 3:58 am
Hi everyone. I got in touch with Eyram. Actually I was talking of my game being first in Africa as I also developed the engine. As I told Eyram I’m really not about bing first or last but creating innovative games that can put Africa on the map.
It’ great to see all these posts here.
Looking forward to the CAN2008 project.
May 15, 2007 at 3:30 am
Hi all. I’m Francis Dittoh. I’m part of the CAN 2008 programming team and Eyram told me about Wesley. I downloaded the Demo and it’s great. Added to the fact that you did the engine on your own!!
Anyway, Eyram modestly forgot to mention that we previously developed a business-learning game for children (TsaTsu Wisedom), for the Ghana chapter of the Student in Free Enterprise (SIFE) .
My point is, game players and programmers are ready and able all over Africa and are individually doing a lot…….Think of what we could do if some of us came together….CAN 2008 is a start…. Let’s get on board and make our continent great….. oh, and make some money too :)….actually, a lot of money!!
May 15, 2007 at 3:52 am
Hey Francis. Congratulations on your work. I agree with you. I think that currently programmers are too fragmented and us coming together and doing great projects will inspire others to follow the lead and soon we might see great softwares from Africa.
Good day.
May 16, 2007 at 5:44 am
We are almost done with the CAF deal! I think I’m more of a business man now than a programmer!! hehehehehe!! Yeah, to a more serious note, Francis please try and make either sword of sygos or TSATSU available for download on your server ok. And also I’ve tried the XNA with visual3d.net beta1 and i think its great. Download it immediately. There is also blade3d. I think its cool too.
Wesley, I met Godfred, one of my old junior school mates yesterday and infact, the guy is really talented in hand illustrations. We did sword of Sygos comic together. I told him to Start a new comic series Entitled The TRIPPLE P. I don’t have a story line yet but i really want us to release our 1st animated comic series movie by nxt year if we get the equipments. Pls get script writers too. We have to make AFRICA a better place to live in.
He could also help with NYANGI. We can produce a full comic series for it.
Francis, Richards game Eduworld 3d is excellent!! Similar to TSATSU, but this time in a very professional way. He wrote a complete world editor for it.
I gave wesly some Screen shots of BLACKDJ!! It’s the best in the world so far! Better than PCDJ and BPM. I can bet my nose on it!! hahaha..
It will be ready for the african market by next month.
May 16, 2007 at 6:11 am
Hehe Eyram your post has so much energy it has awoke my mind. It’s a hot afternoon in Nairobi. I’ve been running around doing interviews about my game. Well enough about that …
Congratulations on CAF! Now I can’t wait to actually start working on the project. I’m going to check out visual3D now and I’ll email Eyram about it.
The comic series is great and it will also be good to work with Godfred. Perhaps he can e-mail me an attachment of his work or direct us to a website where we can see his work online.
I must say that BLACKDJ looks good and I can’t wait to try it out. Is it possible to post a picture in this forum?
It’s 4.00 pm here and I have a tonne of stuff to do including checking out visual3D. I guess my next post will be tomorrow.
Good day yall 🙂
May 16, 2007 at 6:16 am
Well tot i’ve got to join the forum now. The Name is Justin Dakorah. i’m of BlackSoft and working with Eyram and Francis on the CAN and other project. will comment soon.
May 16, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I’m so excited about the possibilities. My name is Ato and am an admirer of the work that these young Africans are doing.
May 21, 2007 at 3:29 am
People, it’s not about being first (actually a hugely succesful commercially released game was released circa 1994, developed in South Africa, I’m trying to remember the games title) was first… We need to look at creating quality games with quality content… and creating our own unique style of gaming, not trying to compete as another “Hollywood-wanna-be” blockbuster. Have a look at one of the biggest local communities in South Africa (http://www.gamedotdev.co.za/). But well done guys, keep up the good work
May 30, 2007 at 1:09 am
I visit http://www.gamedev.co.za sometimes. Atleast you guys down there have such a community. May be should build one for the whole of Africa :).
I believe as time goes by we will have bigger and better quality games.
Do you know the URL to download a demo of the game?
June 25, 2007 at 1:12 am
Hi Everyone,
Im the developer of the SAGameDev site.
The same site gets rendered when you open http://www.sagamedev.com, http://www.sagamedev.co.za and http://www.gamedev.co.za.
Dont let the SA part of our name deter you, the site is for every African that wants to develop games and has experiences to share.
SAGameDev is build to be the African representative for African game development on the international front.
Our site is also well-ranked on Google right up there with all the other “big gun” international gamedev sites.
We can use the site to build a African game development knowledge base because the site has its own Articles and Resources section and we would love you guys to make submissions to it.
August 1, 2007 at 1:03 pm
I am a friend of Eyram and Justin and i must say these guys have done , are doing and will do great things. They put in a lot of hard work and i must say its paying off. To the rest of you programmers out there, A BIG THUMBS UP.
KEEP THE AFRICAN FIRE BURNING!!!!!
July 31, 2008 at 3:00 pm
im a runescape nerd
August 15, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Hello,
at my knowledge, the first african 3D video game have been created in Marocco, developed in 2004 and released in 2005, by Ubisoft Casablanca. It is the famous “Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones”. 😉
August 22, 2008 at 8:14 am
Ubisoft is not an african company. Moreover, they brought all their equipments with them. So they never faced the problems we are facing here.
I luv prince of persia myself very much. And I’m very much proud it was developed here. But that is not what this blog is about. Its about young africans trying to make a difference. So that, the next prince of persia is not made by ubisoft only, but in partnership with an African Game company.:)
March 24, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Hi guys,first of all lemme say congrats,you guys are all doing an amazing job.Im from kenya,and developing a 3D graphics simulation engine.Ive decided to make a 3D fps game to demonstrate the capabilities of the engine.You can view early development screenshots here
http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=183435
May 30, 2009 at 8:48 am
You are like a god Wesley. Please if you can, i’d like to talk to you. Thanks. Very big fan. Farid
August 18, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Wesley I would like to get the contact info for you. I am African American and I have created an African Centered video game about ancient Egypt called “Know Thyself Episode I” ( http://www.mediabreeze.com/gamedesign.php#KnowThyself ) ………… We need to connect. Please contact me if you can. nmuta@mediabreeze.com
November 25, 2009 at 4:38 am
I am a Strathmore University student in Kenya. I am hoping to make a game for my final year project. I am a beginner but I hope to soon gain enough knowledge and skills to tap into the potential of the Africa gaming industry. For this reason I ask links to rurorials that can help me achieve this goal?
Where can I get a copy of “Adventures of Nyangi”?
March 23, 2010 at 5:55 pm
1st of Guys congrats !! should be combing the web more to find more posts like these.. I am a developer at http://www.blak-solutions.co.uk and have produced a card playing game @ the above address from Ghana. We should form some kind of a community or group even if on facebook so start sharing ideas and promote our products.. keep the flame burning..