Fact Sheet: National Education Gaming Championship 2013

What is the National Education Gaming Championship (NEGC)?

The National Education Gaming Championship (NEGC) is an inter-school gaming competition organised by Nexus, Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and supported by the Ministry of Education. It offers students an opportunity to learn about the 3rd Generation Army and its capabilities in an engaging and fun way. This is the third NEGC. The first was organised in 2010.

Why is NEGC being organised?

The NEGC is a fun and engaging way for youths to discover what the 3rd Generation Army is about. It also allows youths, especially the boys, to learn about defence and National Service before enlistment. NEGC is designed to allow students to develop "soft" skills such as teamwork, leadership and communication.

What is the official game used in NEGC?

Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2) is the official game used in NEGC. VBS2 is a PCbased simulation training software used by the Army.

VBS2 is a fully interactive, three-dimensional training system which provides a virtual environment for a wide range of military training and experimentation purposes. It is currently used by military organisations worldwide including the SAF, the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, the Australian Defence Force and the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence for mission rehearsal, tactical training and simulated combined arms exercises.

The SAF has adopted VBS2 for training and concept development since 2007.

Modified to replicate and demonstrate existing and envisioned capabilities of the 3rd Generation SAF, VBS2 has been used by the SAF to develop the concept and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) of the 3rd Generation force. VBS2 is set against the backdrop of a real SAF training facility that is used to train our soldiers in urban operations.

What are the important dates to note?

• 18 March to 25 April 2013 Training Sessions

• 10 to 20 June 2013 Preliminaries

• 24 to 27 June 2013 Finals

What are the Prizes?

• Champion S$3000 + NEGC Challenge Trophy, School Trophy & Individual Medals

• Second Placed S$2000 + School Trophy & Individual Medals

• Third and Fourth Placed S$1000 + School Trophy & Individual Medals

• Fifth to Eighth Placed S$750 + School Trophy

• Ninth to Sixteenth Placed S$500 + School Trophy

Who can compete?

NEGC is open to all Secondary School, ITE, Junior College/Centralised Institute/Integrated Programme and Polytechnic students. All participating teams are required to undergo two sessions of training to learn:

• How to play the game

• About the weaponry and networked capabilities of the 3rd Generation Army

• To work together as a team

• Leadership skills

What are the Team Composition criteria for competing in NEGC?

Schools must form a team of 10 members* in order to compete. Each member will take up a specific role within a reinforced "Infantry Section" that includes the Platoon Commander, the Platoon Sergeant and Combat Medic. Multiple teams are allowed from each school. There is no limit in the number of teams a school can send, but the members in a team must come from the same school.

Does the team need a team uniform? What is the attire to be worn during the competition?

All team members are required to wear the same school attire (e.g., school T-shirt) and competitor tags for uniformity and easy identification.

Is there a code of conduct that teams must observe during the competition?

Apart from the rules of the game and competition, teams are reminded that behaviour amounting to unfair play and conduct signifying lack of sportsmanship could result in disqualification. These include:

• Use of any hacking software.

• Provocative, offensive, threatening or vulgar/lewd conduct to other competitors, organisers and/or members of the public.

 
How does a team win?

During each round, each team will either attack or defend a target building. The round is won by either eliminating the opponent’s team, or capturing/defending the building within a time limit. Teams will have to play both the defending and attacking roles in a match. The team that wins the most number of rounds wins the match.

Can members of the public participate in this championship?

NEGC is not open to the public. However, members of the public could visit the NEGC Finals held at the Nanyang Polytechnic Atrium from 24 June to 27 June 2013. There was an entertaining programme for visitors to the finals and this included an opportunity to try out the VBS2.

Where can I find more information about NEGC?

NEGC's official website www.negc.sg contains more information about the tournament. Regular updates will also be posted on this site.

For interesting information, announcements and community updates, contestants can also join in the conversation at the NEGC Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NEGCsg.

Quick Facts

• Number of Schools Registered: 38

• Number of new Schools Registered: 14

• Number of Teams Registered: 128 teams

• Number of Teams which competed: 117 teams

• Number of Students Registered: 1,280 students

• Number of Teams from past NEGCs: 25 teams with more than 50% past participants

• Number of female participants: 30

• 117 teams took part in the Preliminaries (round-robin format). The Top 32 teams from the Preliminaries competed at the Finals.