IGDA Melbourne

Tuesday 12 February saw around 200 people gather at 1000 Pound Bend to play jammed games, catch up and find out who won this year’s awards.  It was a sensational night to celebrate the creation of games and friendships at Global Game Jam 2013. (photo courtesy of David Doe)

And the awards went to:

Best Game: You’ve got red on you (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/youve-got-red-you)

Runner Up,  Best Game: Moth Kidz (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/moth-kidz)

Most Original: Traffic Crisis 2040 (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/traffic-crisis-2040)

Runner Up, Most Original: Presenting Professor Lamarkridge’s Amazing Zoological Cardio-transplantotron!  (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/professor-lamarkridges-amazing-zoological-cardio-transplantotron)

Best Gameplay: Heart of Zarar (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/heart-zarar)

Runner Up, Best Gameplay: Heart on Your Sleeve (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/heart-your-sleeve)

Best Art: Endless Lovers (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/endless-lovers)

Runner Up, Best Art: Heart Strings (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/heart-strings)

Runner Up,  Best Art: World of Love (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/world-love)

Most Accessible:  WrongBot (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/wrongbot)

Runner Up, Most Accessible: Pump (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/pump)

Runner Up, Most Accessible: Samurai XX (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/samurai-xx)

Rising Star Award: Traffic Crisis 2040 (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/traffic-crisis-2040)

Best Audio: Doki Doki (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/doki-doki)

Runner Up,  Best Audio: Traffic Crisis 2040 (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/traffic-crisis-2040)

Runner Up, Best Audio: Little Red Riding Hood (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/little-red-hiding-hood)

Best New Talent:  Heart Strings (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/heart-strings)

Runner Up, Best New Talent: Bowie (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/bowie)

Runner Up, Best New Talent: Dark Organism (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/dark-organism)

Best Teamwork: We all win with Congratulations (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/congratulations)

Runner Up, Best Teamwork: U DED (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2013/u-ded)

Thanks to PAX Australia the winners of Best Game and Most Accessible Game, along with the first runner up for Accessible Game (Pump!) have scored themselves three day passes to PAX!

The Rising Star award includes written feedback from Straight Right as to how Traffic Crisis 2040 could be further developed and a variety of winners also took home iTunes gift cards.

Thanks again to all our sponsors – please visit their sites and let them know their contributions are appreciated via twitter and stuff;

AIE (http://www NULL.aie NULL.edu NULL.au/)

Autodesk (http://www NULL.autodesk NULL.com NULL.au/)

Straight Right (http://straightright NULL.net/)

Windows Azure (http://www NULL.windowsazure NULL.com/en-us/)

FMOD (http://www NULL.fmod NULL.org/)

Redpoint Software (http://www NULL.redpointsoftware NULL.com NULL.au/)

Ruma Studios (http://www NULL.rumastudios NULL.com/)

Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/blog/)

And last, but by no means least, so many people helped out in the planning and running of the event – you guys rock!

If you or your company are interested in supporting next year’s jam with a location, sponsorship or assistance we’d love to hear from you, you can email giselle@igdamelbourne.org to discuss possibilities.

Disclaimer: I’m writing this on Christmas Eve as a mother of two, so it’s a casual post I’m in a first person mood, please be kind on any typos or grammatical errors. – giselle

First and foremost I’d like to wish all of the amazing IGDAM community; the organisers, speakers, regular Tuesday nighters, sometimes Tuesday nighters, jammers, GCAPers, online community, supporters and friends and their family and loved ones (phew! you’re all wonderful) a very happy and safe festive season. Thank you for making the local (and in some cases international) game development scene what it is. I hope your involvement will continue and strengthen into the future, just like prospects for making great games in Melbourne are.

It’s difficult to get reflective about another incredible year of IGDAM with Global Game Jam starting in one month, so  that needs to be the first rant; and I’m going to have a bit of a yell;

GLOBAL GAME JAM – 25-27 JANUARY 2013  (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/)

AIE MELBOURNE (http://www NULL.aie NULL.edu NULL.au/)

FIND OUT ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT REGISTERING HERE.

“The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games… while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle.” – GGJ website

This will be our third Melbourne jam, with sites also running across 232 sites globally at time of writing, including Adelaide, Canberra, Perth and Sydney to name a few.

We’re in a new venue near town this year, and are grateful for the work AIE are putting in and the space their offering to continue the Melbourne jam, which is close to town for an Australia Day weekend jam! (I’d recommend a firework break be scheduled into plans.) Places are filling so please don’t miss out and don’t be shy – if you want to know more about it join our facebook group.

SPONSORS:

Site sponsor

(http://www NULL.aie NULL.edu NULL.au/)

Without sponsors, there’d be no showers, food or facilities and without  AIE we’d be homeless.

Gold sponsor

(http://straightright NULL.net/)

Straight Right are Gold Sponsors and will also be giving the Rising Star award in the form of valuable industry feedback on how to take your game further in terms of art, code and promotion.

Silver sponsors

FMOD are again back and being wonderful again despite the fact that I’m having difficulty locating a logo in the right format or something (I mentioned informal about this post, yeah?)

(http://www NULL.redpointsoftware NULL.com NULL.au/)

Redpoint Software are backing up their BBQ sponsorship with a game jam sponsorship – thank you so much!

And everyone involved in the BBQ has also helped towards this event, so thanks all.

And finally, the dark horses at the moment include Autodesk who I’m still working on the final details and will update this post when they’re sorted (it doesn’t help I ‘work’ ridiculous hours and they tend for the office hours), but they’ve always been lovely in the past so I’m sure there will be thank you’s to be said.

There’s a few other sponsors I’m hoping to secure, mostly to cover security costs it seems, which is a little frustrating but it is what it is, and I’ll let you know who and what when I do.

Oh my it’s almost Christmas and there’s still so much to say…I mean #gamesfund, and PAX Australia and GCAP and Freeplay and I haven’t even mentioned the actual next event yet which I’ve fondly named PRE – with Kumobius pre-launching Time Surfer and the pre-game jam meet on Tuesday 8 January at 1000 Pound Bend – I’ll try to post more comprehensively soon, but it’s the usual drill but with a game prelaunch, as Time Surfer is due for release Thursday 10 January.

Ok, Christmas has ticked over and Santa won’t be able to visit me while I’m awake, so I’d best call it a night.

Thanks again for making IGDAM what it is, I look forward to being involved and watching it grow and evolve into the future.

Cheers,

Giselle

It’s a very hectic month for me, so I’ll make this short, sharp and to the point.

What: Playtesting with beer (you can playtest games rather than beer, or a bit of both)

When: Tuesday 14 August 6.30-11pm

Where: 1000 Pound Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne (http://thousandpoundbend NULL.com NULL.au/)

It’s a very casual meet, but you’re encouraged to bring the latest build of your latest masterpiece (along with all the tech you need to make it work) to share with fellow Igdammers.

If you have any queries about this event, or suggestions for future events, email giselle@igdamelbourne.org

There’s a facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/179081745558400/) (which is being all ‘you must be in the facebook group – I’ll work on fixing that next month) and I hope to see you there. I’ll be the flustered over-worked looking one in need of wine or vodka.

I promise to be back to my usual oversharing self come September.

Cheers,

Giselle

Autodesk presents: ILM, Rising Sun Pictures & Alt.vfx in Blockbuster Tour 2012

The very best in the industry stay ahead of the curve by constantly tuning their pipeline to improve productivity without compromising their creative vision. This year we are bringing you the very best the industry has to offer to share their incredible story of staying ahead of the curve.

Do not miss this rare opportunity to meet top professionals from ILM, Rising Sun Pictures & Alt.vfx as they share their experience working on The Avengers, The Hunger Games, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and Tooheys Extra Dry commercial. They will take us behind the scenes, to show how some of those amazing shots were assembled and the creative journey that has brought audiences flocking to the cinemas.

The Visual Effects Challenges for The Avengers
Alex Kim, FX Technical Director, Industrial Light & Magic Singapore (ILM Singapore)

Alex Kim joined ILM Singapore in April 2011 as FX Technical Director in charge of FX and rigid body simulations and particles. In the one year he has been with the team, he has blown stuff up, wreaked destruction and shot at people and things for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and The Avengers.

He started his career as Pipeline Developer/Technical Assistant at Rising Sun Pictures in Sydney, Australia. He then moved to MPC in London. Over the next four years, he moved from Crowd R&D Developer to FX R&D Developer and then to FX Technical Director.

His credits include two Harry Potter movies (Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Order of the Phoenix), Clash of the Titans, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra and Superman Returns.

Adaptive Solutions – Visual Effects at Rising Sun Pictures
Ian Cope, Visual Effects Producer, Rising Sun Pictures, Adelaide

Australia’s Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) has been crafting visual effects for feature films since 1995. Visual Effects Producer Ian Cope will take you on a journey through the diverse range of visual effects solutions that RSP has created for their clients to contribute to its filmography of over 90 feature films. This will include a behind the scenes look at how Autodesk Maya was an integral part of the pipeline for films such as The Hunger Games, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Green Lantern, Red Tails and Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows.

Ian has been with Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) since 2001 and has contributed to the design & execution of visual effects on feature films such as Prometheus, Red Tails, the Harry Potter series, Green Lantern, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He is currently working on Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller, Gravity.

Fake It Till You Make It
Colin Renshaw, Owner, VFX Supervisor, Alt.vfx, Brisbane

In July 2011, Altvfx exploded onto the scene and immediately established itself as one of Australia’s pre-eminent vfx houses.

In 2011/12, they have won metal at every major award show around the world with the hugely popular Tooheys Extra Nocturnal Migration commercial. Alt’s VFX supervisor, Colin, will bring you on the creative journey through which beer, some deer and Autodesk helped shape a new facility.

Melbourne

Date: 3 July 2012, Tuesday
Time: 1.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: State Library of Victoria, Village Roadshow Theatrette Door 3 Conference Centre, 179 La Trobe Street

Sydney
Date: 5 July 2012, Thursday
Time: 1.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Shangri-La Hotel, Heritage Room 176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks

REGISTER NOW (http://south-apac NULL.autodesk NULL.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?id=19814278&siteID=1157326&mktvar001=497702&mktvar002=497702)

Learn stuff online!

Autodesk is holding a live webinar on June 22 (13:00-14:00 EST) entitled:

*Autodesk M&E Meet the Expert Webinars*

*Featuring Smoke 2013 – The Big Picture*

Join Rob O’Neill, ANZ Creative Finishing Specialist, for a live webinar and discover how Smoke 2013 can give you professional editorial finishing for high-quality commercial and broadcast projects on a tight budget.

In 60-minutes, we take an eagle’s eye view of the new Autodesk Smoke. This is a must-watch for anyone who has ever attempted to finish an editorial project with high expectations. With a new user interface designed to give you expensive looking content on even the tightest budget, we’ll show a brief “How To” segment to get you started on our public beta of Smoke 2013 :

- Getting media in to Smoke

- Using the media to edit

- Conforming the media to an AAF or XML from an NLE

- An introduction to the FX Ribbon and Connect FX

- Accessing the beta version

Friday, 22 June 2012: 
13:00-14:00 EST

Register here for the Autodesk webinar (https://www3 NULL.gotomeeting NULL.com/register/432592262)

 Autodesk homepage (<http://www NULL.autodesk NULL.com NULL.au/>)

Please support one of next week‘s sponsors, along with our beloved FMOD   (http://fmod NULL.com/)(and them wanting to be lovely and sponsoring our shennanigans) by clinking on lines, checking it out above and registering – tell them we sent you

The Global Game Jam is  primarily (http://globalgamejam NULL.org)collaborative, not competitive. The focus of the weekend is for everyone to make great games. However we’re game makers, so we can’t resist the urge to spice things up by making it a bit competitive and so in the interests of fun and of recognising excellence we do award prizes for several categories.

To reflect more accurately the role of the judging panel, we’ll be looking at them as a tasting panel after a long weekend in the game making kitchen.

Our “Jam Tasters” are

Simon Joslin, Creative Director at The Voxel Agents (http://thevoxelagents NULL.com), and veteran 48 Hour jammer.

Ben Britten, Technical Director at Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au) and international man of mystery.

Trent Kusters, ‘Creative Director’ at Divisive Media (http://www NULL.wetroads NULL.com/dm/) and ‘Founder & Director’ at  League of Geeks (http://www NULL.leagueofgeeks NULL.com/) who always smells nice.

Craig Duturbure, Creative Director at Grapple Gun Games (http://www NULL.grapplegungames NULL.com/) and an indie designer who looks for everlasting fun in games (but will settle for a satisfying shotgun effect)

Conor O’Kane, Game Development Lecturer at RMIT and jammer from last year about to release the jammed Last Flight of the Bumblebee (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/last-flight-bumblebee)for iPad on the App Store.

Katie Williams, freelance writer, Kotaku Australia (http://kotaku NULL.com NULL.au), Hyper and PCPP and lover of inflatable strawberries.

Sam Mayo, Community Manager at Firemint (http://firemint NULL.com/) and ace lemon jouster.

Unforunately Mark Serrels can’t stay for the whole jam but will be coming along.  (I couldn’t resist his bio), Editor of Kotaku Australia. He is a multi award-winning journalist and the inventor of the Serrels’ Stare ™ (http://www NULL.kotaku NULL.com NULL.au/2011/05/yet-another-reason-why-kotaku-has-the-best-community-ever/). He has previously edited publications such as The Official Nintendo Magazine, The Official PlayStation Magazine, Australian 360 and PSM3. He once got 191,000 on Doodle Jump and totally has a man crush on Ryan Gosling. And, yes, he is painfully aware that he closely resembles Simon Pegg.

Awards Categories and Prizes

Tasters’ Toast: A $500 JB Voucher courtesy of Immersive Technologies

Jammers’ Jam de Jam: A $100 JB voucher

Tarty Art (best graphics): EA swag

Farty Art (best sound):  the complete Sound Librarian (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/)

Smoothest Jam  (best teamwork): More swag from  EA Australia (http://www NULL.ea NULL.com/au)  along with $100 JB Voucher

Most Surprising Spread :

We <3 our growing list of sponsors for all the brilliant support and prizes.

Tasters  will reconvene with the jam makers, media and guests, over a bbq and a beer at La Trobe’s Eagle Bar at about 6pm on Sunday 29 January where they will discuss their tasting notes.

Games sector and media are encouraged to email giselle@igdamelbourne.org for an invite to Sunday afternoon display, awards and BBQ.  If you miss out this time there will be information about a game jam expo soon <crosses fingers the plan comes together.>

We’ll try to keep you posted with updates, but if you have any questions, start at the facebook #igdamjam page (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/groups/186036814823342/)and take it from there.

If you registered (correctly) for the IGDAM Christmas party on Big Ant’s roof top thanks to Autodesk and FMOD you should have received your invitation via email.

It looks like there’ll be people from a pretty even spread of indies, prindies, wage devs, students and educators from, well, Big Ant,  Autodesk and FMOD of course along with

• AIE
• Blue Tongue
• Brawsome
• CATC
• Deakin
• Demruth (jetlag permitting)
• Drop Spider
• EA
• Ex-Krome
• Ex-Transmission
• Firelight Technologies
• Firemint
• Infinite Interactive
• Iron Monkey
• Katanco
• La Trobe University
• Level 3
• Mishme
• Mnemonic Audio (who have offered to kick in $100 for the bar tab, so yay! More of that!)
• Pilkington Street Studio
• Play-Bit Entertainment
• Qantm
• RMIT
• Ryan Bros & Assoc
• The Voxel Agents
• Tin Man Games
• Universe Creation 101
• Visceral
• Wicked Witch Software
• Zoomorphix Systems

So yeah, should be a top day!  It’s strictly invitation, over 18 and entry via gold coin donation – so if you’re registered, your  name’s on the door!

If you can provide a sound system and tunes please get in touch via giselle@igdamelbourne.org

PS – I need a break before tagging, this post, but I’ll get there!

See ya on the rooftop!

Beer!! – more specifically Pure blonde, followed by Carlton and then a lot more fancy beers

Soft drink – a range of fat and skinny ones will be made available

Water – good call

Wine – but of course!

Whisky – anyone wishing to sponsor a bottle is welcome

And a big thanks to FMOD for coming to the party with Autodesk through sponsorship

PS – if you’re coming along you’ll get some more details about the day when you receive your tickets .  If you haven’t already signed up here then best hop to it, because the list will be closing soon due to popular demand!

There’s a few exciting events coming up, and if you’re interested in lending a hand we’d love to hear from you!

We’ve got a planning meeting tomorrow night, and all assistance is appreciated. Whether you just want to bring along an esky to keep the bevvies cold, want to get the AV sorted, like making pretty pictures or have an organising itch that needs scratching, all levels of assistance are appreciated.

Many hands and all that….

If you can help out please get in touch via info@igdamelbourne.org and let us know how you’d like to get more involved.

For the most regular updates for what’s going on with IGDA Melbourne visit igdamelbourne.org – so if this is the first you’ve heard of anything, there’s the place to go.

And much love to Autodesk (get in touch with Paul Hellyer for IGDA Melbourne specials) for sponsoring the Christmas Party and Big Ant for hosting

Thanks,