Developers of Geometry Wars, DmC and more mentoring Make Something Unreal Live finalists

Climax Studios, Lucid Games, Ninja Theory and Splash Damage will mentor finalists in Epic Games' Make Something Unreal Live contest, according to a press release from Epic.

Developers at each studio will offer advice and guidance for the final four teams of aspiring developers, who are creating games using Epic's free Unreal Development Kit.

The finalists and games include:

• Team Summit from Dundee, Scotland's University of Abertay will develop Beings, "a 3D puzzle platformer based on realistic genetic inheritance laws," with help from Lucid Games (former Bizarre Creations developers, Geometry Wars).
• Kairos Games from the U.K.'s Staffordshire University will develop Polymorph, "a game of exploration and discovery through a beautiful tribal world," with help from Ninja Theory (DmC: Devil May Cry, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West).
• Dead Shark Triplepunch from Sweden's Blekinge Institute of Technology will develop Loch Ness, "a fast-paced, arena-based combat game," with help from Splash Damage (Brink, Dirty Bomb).
• Static Games from the U.K.'s Bournemouth University will develop Mendel's Farm, "a strategy management game," with help from Climax Studios (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Bloodforge).

Over 170 developers submitted applications for the Make Something Unreal Live competition. In early November, Epic curated a shortlist of 12 semifinalists. A panel of judges refined that dozen to the remaining four during a day-long semi-final. The final four will present their games in April 2013 at the Gadget Show Live in Birmingham U.K. The grand prize winner will receive a full PC distribution license for Unreal Engine 4.