Coders and gamers get ready for the annual Entelect R100K challenge

The Challenge is co-hosted by Entelect Software and NAG Magazine, South Africa’s authority on current trends in computer, console, online and mobile gaming and technology-related entertainment. “We are extremely excited to be a part of the Entelect 100K Challenge for yet another exciting year! This is no doubt a great career starter for those who have what it takes to be the ultimate coder,” says Geoff Burrows, editor of NAG magazine.

The Challenge is open to all coders and gamers who think they have what it takes to build the ultimate artificially intelligent player. Participants are required to write an innovative artificially intelligent program worthy of playing against any opponent in a game designed specifically for the Entelect R100K Challenge.

“This year’s competition sees entrants compete in the classic game of Pacman, with a twist. Entrants will be divided into two separate pools based on their abilities, with each pool yielding grand-prize winners of the 2014 Challenge. This effectively allows beginner programmers and AI enthusiasts to compete against each other, with a better chance of making it into the final four than previous years, with the winner taking home a cash prize of R50,000. Similarly, the more advanced entrants will pair off against each other in the advanced pool for the grand prize of R100,000,” says Tim Kroon, general manager at Entelect Solutions.

Pool A will contain the more advanced entries in the challenge and Pool B will feature the remainder. Each pool will be run as a separate, double-elimination tournament, with individual prizes. Entelect will determine the appropriate pool and rank for each entrant based on the ability of the entry and by playing each entry against a set of reference players.

This year, Entelect will be opening up the opportunity for programmers and designers to build their own Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the game and will be presenting the special Gooey (GUI) award for the Best GUI at rAge (Really Awesome Gaming Expo) in October 2014. This is the first award of this nature in the R100K Challenge — the winner will be taking home a R15,000 cash prize and will be featured at the challenge play-offs press event.

Successful entrants into the challenge will take part in a tournament with scheduled play-offs held on 13 September 2014 at the Fire & Ice Hotel in Melrose Arch. The entrants will compete against each other in an online environment and fight for a place in the grand finale on 4 October 2014 at rAge.

“It was a great achievement to be named the winner of last year’s challenge. The competition was demanding but extremely exciting. I wish all the entrants the best of luck for this year’s challenge and may the best coder win,” says Pierre Pretorius, winner of the 2013 Entelect R100k Challenge.