To launch and celebrate, Andrew and Ben will be adding to the amazing that is the GDC: Delayed Australian Release with a chance to meet the team, hear about the development and score a Steam code.
The rest of the night’s details are in the original post
For more info about the Curse, head over to the Brawsome website (http://www NULL.brawsome NULL.com NULL.au/blog/index NULL.php/games/macguffins-curse/)
After much ado, GDC’s delayed Australian release will be in Melbourne.
When: Tuesday 10 April 6:00pm onwards
Where: The Workers Club (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=The+Workers+Club,+Brunswick+Street,+Fitzroy,+Victoria&hl=en&sll=-25 NULL.335448,135 NULL.745076&sspn=61 NULL.878284,79 NULL.013672&oq=the+workers+club&hq=The+Workers+Club,+Brunswick+Street,+Fitzroy,+Victoria&t=m&z=15), cnr Brunswick and Gertrude Streets, Fitzroy
Harry Lee: While I’m sure meta-games will rate a mention, Harry will give the CA (Conference Associate) perspective, staying at indie hostels, and what happens when you try to illegally sneak into parties.
No doubt they’ll all be showing off the wonderful thing that is party networking, and hope you can make it along to live (or relive, if you made it this year) vicariously through their experiences.
Let us know if you’re coming along via the usual facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/365672066806786/).
Thanks to everyone for pulling together to make the Play Party such a success. We will look to a better floor plan in the future so more people can play more games.
And huge thanks for your kindness and generosity which now means I’m a lost for words lifetime IGDA member.
Thousand Pound Bend is once again unable to accommodate us in March, but The Order of Melbourne is happy to have us again, and this time the rooftop will be ours too.
So…
If you’re not stateside for GDC we have a ripper discussion with Chris Wright, Chief Surprise Architect at Surprise Attack (http://surpriseattack NULL.com NULL.au/), the indie games marketing specialists and Dan Golding, video games blogger at Crikey.com (http://blogs NULL.crikey NULL.com NULL.au/game-on/) about how to market yourselves, your games and how to liaise with media to obtain the best possible outcomes. We may have another games journalist dropping in to join the discussion, but that depends on when
When: Tuesday 13 March 6:30, talks start at 7:30pm
Where: The Order of Melbourne (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=the+order+of+melbourne&hl=en&ll=-37 NULL.80875,144 NULL.963291&spn=0 NULL.010019,0 NULL.01929&fb=1&gl=au&hq=the+order+of&hnear=0x6ad642af0f11fd81:0x5045675218ce7e0,Melbourne+VIC&cid=0,0,13260682760810499361&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A)
RSVP via Facebook (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/220873738009588/)
So if you want to know the tricks to marketing your game, writing media releases and communicating with journo’s insights, don’t miss out.
If you have any queries email giselle / at/ igdamelbourne dot org
A selection of newly conserved games from the Melbourne Global Game Jam (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/sites/2012/igda-melbourne-la-trobe) will be available for your sampling pleasure at the next IGDAM meet up. Please note the unusual date (didn’t want to cramp Valentine’s plans) and venue (the bend was already booked).
When: Tuesday 21 February from 6pm
Where: The Order of Melbourne (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=the+order+of+melbourne&ll=-37 NULL.80875,144 NULL.963291&spn=0 NULL.010019,0 NULL.01929&fb=1&gl=au&hq=the+order+of&hnear=0x6ad642af0f11fd81:0x5045675218ce7e0,Melbourne+VIC&cid=0,0,13260682760810499361&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A) (think Freeplay afterparty venue and you’re set)
Some of the games for your tasting pleasure include:
Omelette Boris (http://www NULL.kumobius NULL.com/omeletteboris/), Purgatory (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/purgatory), Circle of Snake (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/circle-snake), Faia (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/faia), Harmonize (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/harmonize), Hairy Cat Holocaust (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/hairy-cat-holocaust) (please play on mute), Deep (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/deep)and many, many more….
If you could let us know if you’re coming via the facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/155828627866033/) it’d be much appreciated.
Jammers, please register your game for display (https://docs NULL.google NULL.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dFhDVzlMVEo4ejM3U25wZTh6S3ZHTXc6MQ#gid=0) so we can save you a space and have someone set up by 6pm at The Order.
We also owe significant thanks to our other Gold Sponsors the Academy (http://aie NULL.edu NULL.au)of Interactive Entertainment (http://aie NULL.edu NULL.au) and Immersive Technologies (http://www NULL.immersivetechnologies NULL.com/)for their generous financial assistance. Their support allowed us to provide meals and some fun distractions to relieve the jammers from 48 hours of relentless development. The game jam would not have been possible without their early support.
All the jammers also owe many thanks to our Prize Sponsors EA Aus (http://www NULL.ea NULL.com/au)
tralia (http://www NULL.ea NULL.com/au),Stephan Shutze’s Sound Librarian (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/sound-library NULL.html), Surprise Attack (http://surpriseattack NULL.com NULL.au/) amd StormFX (http://www NULL.stormfx NULL.com NULL.au/) for their generous donation of prizes including a copy of the Stephan’s sound library, valued at $2000 for the best game audio, a half day branding and marketing workshop for the most surprising game, as well as JB giftcards and a terrific selection of EA games and merchandise.
Finally, cheers to our Indie Sponsors Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/), The League of Geeks (http://www NULL.leagueofgeeks NULL.com/), and The Voxel Agents (http://www NULL.thevoxelagents NULL.com/) who provided some financial support and who were also incredibly generous with their time in helping organise, run, and judge the jam. Particular thanks are also due to Ben Britten-Smith of Tin Man Games who provided valuable mentorship to the jammers.
Hope to see you at The OrderThanks to everyone for an amazing weekend. Words fail for now, suffice to say I’ve had some great feedback already and am blown away by 28 Games 107 Jammers 2 Days.
Omelette Boris (http://www NULL.kumobius NULL.com/omelette-boris/): Very Bean’s Quest, a fun and engaging 2D platformer where you turn from chicken to egg to chicken. The level of finish and overall polish of both graphics and gameplay on this game amazed the judges. To quote one of them; “ship it”.
Tom Greenaway (programming), James Greenaway (art), Ivan Neeson (programming)
@kumobius
www.kumobius.com (http://www NULL.kumobius NULL.com)
Sean Affleck: (audio)
@clickclique
Matt Scorah: (art)
@scozdawg
The whole team worked on the game design created level designs.
Streams (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/streams): once it clicks with you, there’s no goingback, it’s like digital skipping
Hu Hu Chen, Edward Whitehead, Leonard Frankel, Andrew Maxwell and two other wonderful people who have used pseduonyms, I’ll update this bit when I have the info.
Seasonal Sci-Flies (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/seasonal-sci-flies) by Aaron Cox, Matthew Dodd and Daniel Su
Whirlstrom (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/whirlstrom)by Shelley, Bianca Gibson, Alex Fraser and Campbell Barton
Burn (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/burn)by Jarrod Lowery, Benn Lockyer and Sunny Koda
We had an amazing group with subgroups, and were tempted to choose the creators of Milk Blister (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/2012/milk-blisters) (my first game credit, so proud!) which included all of us, but instead was awarded to The three-in-0ne team headed up by the design brilliance of Harry Lee.
Thanks to our media friends for visiting and sharing the jam love, it was an amazing weekend without major dramas, which may have disappointed some looking for an angle, but as an event manager is exactly what I look for.
More info and updates with all the games after a bit more sleep has been caught up on.
All the games can be downloaded to play from the GGJ12 website. (http://globalgamejam NULL.org/og/games/16924/list)
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.
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.
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.
On Thursday 2 Feb 2012 Kumobius (http://www NULL.kumobius NULL.com/)will release a major update that completes the Bean’s Quest game for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The free update almost doubles the content of the critically acclaimed platformer and introduces a final boss battle.
They will be holding a launch party to celebrate the completion of the game at our warehouse office:
There will be free drinks, food and games to play, including; Super Street Fighter 4, Tetris The Grand Master and of course: Bean’s Quest. If you’re interested please join via the Facebook event so they know how many people are coming:
Kumobius is an indie game studio based in Melbourne. Bean’s Quest was first released in late July 2011 to much critical acclaim; the game was featured in the “New and Noteworthy” section on the App Store and received numerous favourable reviews. Since then, the game has been regularly updated with more content, culminating in the final update on 2 Feb 2012
Apply 101 juicey jammers to register at the Beth Gleeson Building, Science Drive, La Trobe University (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=la+trobe+university,+bundoora&hl=en&ll=-37 NULL.721476,145 NULL.049787&spn=0 NULL.020062,0 NULL.038581&sll=-25 NULL.335448,135 NULL.745076&sspn=45 NULL.958389,79 NULL.013672&vpsrc=6&hq=la+trobe+university,&hnear=Bundoora+Victoria&t=h&fll=-37 NULL.72089,145 NULL.048714&fspn=0 NULL.005016,0 NULL.009645&z=15&layer=t) between 2pm and 3.30pm on Friday 27 January.
Free parking is available in the white bays only of car parks 1 and 2 (Car Park 2 is closest to the jamsite)
Gently agitate in a lecture theatre, then softly fold in a panel discussion at 4.00pm Agent Tom Killen (The Voxel Agents), Matt F Ditton (you name it), Trent Kusters (League of Geeks), Harry Lee (recent LudumDare Jam winner and all round amazing bloke), Tony Reed (Game Developers’ Association of Australia) about how to survive a game jam, and what makes a good game in a short time frame.
At 5:00 Friday add the secret theme ingredient. THIS INGREDIENT MUST BE KEPT SECRET UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!
Shake, stir and then separate into teams. Recommended size per team, 2-5 jammers.
It’s now it’s time to apply the heat.
Blend teams with computers, food, friends and surprises until the games are simmering.
Add toast and cereal, juice, tea and coffee.
Combine with the rest of the world and register teams and games.
Add Subway and snacks.
Continue simmering throughout the night, slowly increasing the heat. Media may be added at any stage during the process.
Add Indian.
Add Red Bull
Add sleep – don’t forget this ingredient. Your game will not rise without it. Bring warm bedding, earplugs for the soft sleepers and snuggle down for a break, dreams make games, don’t ya know?
Additional toast, cereal, juice tea and coffee to be liberally applied at this point
10:30-12:30 Add another secret ingredient – this adds to the local flavour of the global game jam
Make sure all games are in the oven by 3.00pm
3:30pm Tasting panel arrives
5:00pm Time to clean down all jam cooking areas
6:00pm Retire to The Eagle Bar for dinner and drinks to await the tasters’ verdicts.
6:30ish Final presentations and thanks and stuff, farewells, and more very well deserved drinks.
2012 will be just the second time this recipe is made with the Melbourne Method, and we’re looking forward to experiencing the cooking and tasting the jam
Computers will be precooked to include:
Intel Core i7
4Gb of ram
Widescreen LCD 20” ish.
DVD usb etc
GTX 260
KB + Mouse
Win 7 x64
Visual Studio 2010
XNA 4.0
Blender
MS Office
Firefox
IE
Chrome
Maya
3D Studio max
We’re still investigating licencing options for Photoshop
Add to that whatever you BYO that you have access to and permission for.
Remember:
“It is ok to use any freely available software with free versions like Unity, Shiva, Unreal, etc. We even go so far as to say that it is ok to use software that is easily accessible but not free; an example is the Source engine which is not free to download, but comes with any Valve game.
If someone has built their own engine it is best left up to the organizers’ discretion. Source code is not necessary, but you do need to provide headers and libraries, so that someone downloading the game can built it again from scratch.”
And of course, this recipe just wouldn’t be possible without a hearty dose of sponsorship, thanks again to La Trobe University (http://latrobe NULL.edu NULL.au) (Platinum Sponsor), AIE (http://aie NULL.edu NULL.au)(Gold Sponsor), Immersive Technologies (http://www NULL.immersivetechnologies NULL.com/) (Gold Sponsor), Microsoft Imagine Cup (http://www NULL.microsoft NULL.com/australia/imaginecup/) (Gold Sponsor), Prize sponsors EA Australia (http://www NULL.ea NULL.com/au)and Sound Librarian (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/sound-library NULL.html), and Indie sponsors The Voxel Agents, (http://www NULL.thevoxelagents NULL.com/) League of Geeks (http://www NULL.leagueofgeeks NULL.com/) and Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/blog/).
All media and event enquiries can be emailed to giselle@igdamelbourne.org
Welcome to 2012 – at IGDAM Central we’re starting with a bang and a jam.
Our first meetup for the year will be pre-jam at 1000 Pound Bend and will include info about game jam as well as a chance to catch up, so if you’re not planning to jam you’re still more than welcome.
When: Tuesday 10 January 6:30-10:00 pm
Where: 1000 Pound Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
The facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/257533087647276/) is already up and running.
And then….we jam.
Thanks to our wonderful sponsors La Trobe University (http://latrobe NULL.edu NULL.au), Microsoft Australia (http://www NULL.imaginecup NULL.com/), AIE (http://www NULL.aie NULL.edu NULL.au), Immersive Technologies (http://www NULL.immersivetechnologies NULL.com/), Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/blog/), The Voxel Agents (http://www NULL.thevoxelagents NULL.com/), League of Geeks (http://www NULL.leagueofgeeks NULL.com/), EA Australia (http://www NULL.ea NULL.com/au) and The Sound Library (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/) we will be part of the Global Game Jam on 27-29 January. The first round of invitations to jam have been sent, and depending on responses and places available there will be another round in the coming week.
We’ve had an overwhelming response, with 150 registrations. Unfortunately we can only accommodate 100 people, so if you are keen be sure to secure your spot as soon as possible. Queries can be directed to giselle@igdamelbourne.org.
Apologies for the somewhat convoluted registration process, we’ll work on streamlining it and appreciate your patience and ability to fill out forms!
I’m sure there’s more to be said, but it’s New Year’s Day, not a day to tax the grey matter, so let’s say it on January 10th.
Hope to see you soon!
The Melbourne Global Game Jam, running at La Trobe University Bundoora 27-29 January 2012, is stoked to have the support of The Voxel Agents (http://thevoxelagents NULL.com) and Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/blog/).
Tin Man Games, the creators of the compelling Gamebook Adventures series (http://gamebookadventures NULL.com/) are stalwarts for the IGDAM community. Neil’s no holds barred expose on the business life and financials of being indie was a memorable evening for it’s candour, humour and stark reality of indie dev life.
Ben Britten, Technical Director of Tin Man Games is a regular at IGDAM events. ”The Melbourne indie-dev community has always been incredibly supportive of Tin Man Games. Even though we are still small we feel like it is important to make sure we try to give back whenever we can.
“Also, game jams are awesome.” Added Ben.
The Voxel Agents have recently ported their hit game Train Conductor 2
to Android, with a lot of bug testing QA supported by the IGDAM community and are continuing their involvement in game jams. Agent Tom Killen was part of the winning team at the Fabulous 48 Hour in Brisbane earlier in the year, heading up there especially for the jam. Never one to miss a jamming opportunity, Agent Tom will be getting his jam on come Australia Day weekend.
Registrations of interest in jamming close on New Year’s Eve and it’s looking to be a great jam, with an exciting range or skills and experience signing up. If you’re keen, and you haven’t already REGISTER INTEREST HERE. Once you’ve done that we’ll be in touch by email with just a few more questions. Jammers will be notified at the start of January once the head’s cleared from celebrations.
Have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year, bring on 2012, it’s exciting!