IGDA Melbourne

When: Tuesday 23 October from 7pm

Where: Thousand Pound Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne (https://maps NULL.google NULL.com/maps?q=361+Little+Lonsdale+St+Melbourne&hl=en&geocode=+&hnear=361+Little+Lonsdale+St,+Victoria+3000,+Australia&t=m&z=16)

What: Automating GCAP

Whilst it’s a different Tuesday than usual, and not an official GCAP event, we couldn’t resisit running IGDAM straight after GCAP 2012: Inspire so any interstate or international visitors could join our little gathering and experience IGDAM first hand.

Not only will you have the chance to meet and network with local developers, we’ve also got a great talk lined up.

Camshaft Software will talk about making Automation (http://automationgame NULL.com/), tapping into niche markets and how to make money as an indie. This will include an appearance from their Producer/Nuclear Physicist who’s travelled all the way from Germany.

So after GCAP, head down to The Bend grab a roo burger and a beer and join us for what’s sure to be another informative and enjoyable evening.

If you have any queries, email giselle@igdamelbourne.org (giselle null@null igdamelbourne NULL.org) or ask the folk on the facebook event page (http://facebook NULL.com/events/279308982183949).

See you there!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who’s supported the ZOMGWTFIGDAMBBQ Pozible campaign. We met our target today and also have the fabulous Big Ant Studios (http://bigant NULL.com) as gold sponsors, so it’s going to be a doozy! If you haven’t already booked your spot at the biggest game dev BBQ in town you have until 4 November to do so by supporting the crowdfunding campaign  (http://www NULL.pozible NULL.com/index NULL.php/archive/index/10150/description/0/0). The greater the amount raised, the greater the party!

This year will be our fourth IGDAM Christmas party, and if you haven’t been before, trust me when I say they’re a highlight of the local game developers’ social calendar.

Like last year, this is one of the few events where we ask our community to support financially ( and for their own benefit) so we can make it another fantastic day.

ZOMGWTFIGDAMBBQ will be catered by Red River BBQ (http://www NULL.redriverbbq NULL.com NULL.au/BBQ NULL.html) with their traditional American style menu, including a personal favourite, pulled pork. Vegans, vegetarians and people of the gluten free variety will also be catered for.

The Pozible crowdfunding campaign (http://www NULL.pozible NULL.com/index NULL.php/archive/index/10150/description/0/0) is on its way,and 77% percent funded at time of writing. The only way you can book your spot is by supporting the campaign, every bit helps.

Massive thanks to Big Ant Studios (http://www NULL.bigant NULL.com/) – the major sponsor of the event.

Last year it was conga lines, clapping games, ninjas and ice-cream. Let’s see if we can top that this year!

Thanks to the following who are already on board:

Platinum Sponsor

Big Ant Studios (http://www NULL.bigant NULL.com/)

Major Sponsor

Kumobius (http://www NULL.kumobius NULL.com/)

Indie Sponsors

League of Geeks (http://www NULL.leagueofgeeks NULL.com/)

Andrew Brophy (http://andrewbrophy NULL.net/)

Soundplay Interactive (http://soundplayinteractive NULL.com/)

Timothy Zeven (https://twitter NULL.com/Zevensoft)

Pixelpickle Games (http://www NULL.pixelpickle NULL.com/)

Automation Game (http://automationgame NULL.com/)

Surprise Attack (http://surpriseattack NULL.com NULL.au/)

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

Cameron Lee  (http://www NULL.bioware NULL.com/)

Shane Trewatha

Support those who support our festivities, and I hope you get on board for ZOMWTFIGDAMBBQ (http://www NULL.pozible NULL.com/index NULL.php/archive/index/10150/description/0/0).

(PS as soon as I have all the logos sorted – I’ll be adding them here, in the meantime, a conga)

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

June isn’t just about big stars from overseas, it’s also about our own stars-in-the-making here down under. It’s Open Mic night on the 12th of June and we have a bunch of our best presenting the latest news about what they’ve all be up to.

Everyone is encouraged to bring along playable prototypes and demos so we can show off our work to each other and get valuable feedback. So come along, bring your laptop / iPad / hover-jogging-buddy and join us for fun and feedback!

When: Tuesday 12 June, from 6.30pm – Open Mic starts around 7.

Where: 1000 Pound Bend (http://thousandpoundbend NULL.com NULL.au/)

Facebook RSVPs appreciated (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/234960473277213/) to get an idea on numbers.

What:

Playtesting will go throughout the evening, and the microphone will be powered up around 7pm for a variety of talks including:

Ben Britten with the latest update on Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/) taking over the world, one gamebook adventure at a time.

LATE ADDITION: Maciej Sawitus, ex Blue Tongue and THQ programmer, will run through an analysis of the statistics collected from all of the Monstaaa (http://monstaaa NULL.pixelelephant NULL.com/)! players including:
- how many people successfully completed specific game levels
- how many times did people have to retry specific levels (aka “level of frustration”)
- popularity of certain iOS devices
- per-hour users and new users vs. New & Noteworthy in Australia

Trevor Dikes will introduce Soundplay Interactive (http://soundplayinteractive NULL.com/), talk about the development of their first title and the NEIS experience.

Harry Lee will talk about about Wanderlands (http://wanderlands NULL.org/main/)‘ rapid prototyping practices.

Ben Rejmer will share some user testing and user evaluation options for indies.

Andrew Brophy will have a few game demos to share.

Dan Clayton will introduce Dime Studios (http://www NULL.dimestudios NULL.com/)‘ latest game, and is on the lookout for testers.

David Thompson is back for a visit from Gameloft and will chat about that and his indie project, Tiberian Sun Rising (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/pages/Tiberian-Sun-Rising/164158993620119).

Nathan Antony, our resident chiptuner, will be showcasing some of his compositions.

Amongst all this there will also be demos of  ColourBlind, Scuttle, Tasty Fish, Love and Jetpacks and more!

Don’t miss out, brave the cold, grab a burger and a hat and join us!

When: Tuesday 13 September. 6.30pm – 10.30pm

Where: 1000 Pound Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne (but round the back in the laneway, it is Melbourne after all)

Please respond on the facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/event NULL.php?eid=202968329766692#!/event NULL.php?eid=202968329766692) if you’re at all that way inclined, you may get in on the secret early that way!

This will be a great chance to catch up again after the creative inspiration that was #freeplay11, and find out what’s afoot with IGDA Melbourne in the coming months.

There’s murmurings of fun afoot, but never fear, you only have to get involved as far as you are comfortable.

If you’re interested in helping out a bit with future events, particularly with Christmas and Global Game Jams ahead, drop us a line at committee@igdamelbourne.org.

Cheers,

@jazzrozz

Hey everyone,

Have you got a game Idea you want to turn into reality?

Have you just released/about to release a game and want to show it off?

Looking for new team members?

Are you a freelance and want to advertise your services, or spread the word about your company?

Come along to our Open Mic Night in July for your chance to tell us all about it!

Time and places will be limited on the night, so you’ll have to register using the form below. Make sure you include a valid email address so we can contact you.

We’ll contact speakers before the night, and publish a running sheet for the evening closer to the date.

When: Tuesday 12 July 6.30pm, mic switches on at 7.30pm

Where: 1000 £ Bend, 361 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne

5-10 minute timeslots – and a friendly, interested, supportive audience, so don’t be shy!

UPDATE: registrants have now closed. We’ll be in touch with speakers soon to confirm spots shortly.

Hey all,

Had another great night at last week’s IGDA Melbourne meeting, they just keep getting bigger and better! We had 180 last month, and it looked like it was over 200 for this month! We’ll have to work hard to keep up the momentum at this rate…

The topic for the May meeting was ‘Money, Marketing and You’. The focus was on the financial realities of running an independent game development business, and personal marketing for independents and students.

To start things off, we had a quick update from Paul Callaghan on the preparations for this year’s Freeplay festival. The theme for Freeplay 2011 is ‘Handmade’, with a focus on the specific craft aspects of game development, as well as the individual’s place in the creative process and how games manifest as player constructed experiences. If you want to be part of Freeplay 2011, as a presenter, volunteer, expo presenter, or even assist in running the event as an Associate Producer or Board Member, check out the details at the website (http://www NULL.freeplay NULL.net NULL.au/) and get in touch with Paul to register your interest.

We kicked off the main event, and had the wonderful Neil Rennison from Tin Man Games (http://www NULL.tinmangames NULL.com) there, to talk about the actual financials of his business, and the reality of running an indie dev business. This was incredibly valuable information, with him quoting his actual business financials, and describing how he runs his business, and what he learned while developing each of their titles. Huge thanks to Neil for being so open and honest with all of this information. Neil then broke the sad news that he will soon be leaving our sunny colonial shores to return to the motherland (UK). It’s a sad decision, but Tin Man Games will still operate as a Victorian business, Ben Britten will still be here and there are plenty of plans already in the works for future Gamebook Adventures titles. We wish Neil and his family all the best for the move and all look forward seeing him at GCAP. Neil’s been a prominent and valued member of the IGDA Melbourne community and our loss is England’s gain. With luck we’ll tempt him back in a few years.

After that, we had Trent Kusters and Stephan Schutze talking about personal marketing, branding, and job-seeking. At this point, the evening was already getting rather late, but Trent and Stephan managed to amazingly fit a huge amount of information into the time they had (and you could easily run a day-long session on this topic). There were guidelines and examples of how to write an effective CV and cover letter and how to build a personal brand, an online folio presence, and the Do’s and Don’ts of job applications and interviews.

Stephan put together a collection of information for people to access, and you can find it on his website (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/resources NULL.html).

It was an amazing night, with lots of valuable information for students, independents, and just about anyone really. We were also at a new venue, 1000£ Bend. They had a great open area in the gallery out the back where everyone had plenty of room for mingling and networking, and an upstairs presentation area with seating (not enough for everyone unfortunately, we were rather surprised by how many people came along), and while the rain drowned out the speakers a bit at times, it’s looking like a great venue for future events as well. If you have any comments on the venue or the evening, please let us know at info@igdamelbourne.org.

As announced on the night, our June event will be a developers ‘Post-Mortem’ of “AFL Live”, which was developed in Melbourne by Big Ant Studios (http://www NULL.bigant NULL.com/) (X360 and PS3) and Wicked Witch Software (http://www NULL.wicked-witch NULL.com NULL.au/) (Wii). We’ll have speakers from both companies there to spill the beans on what happened during the games development, and field questions from the audience. Further details about this soon…

Cheers all,
Craig.

Hey everyone,

here’s a list of all the games that were created as part of IGDA Melbourne’s first Global Game Jam event. We had a fantastic turnout of 72 developers, teaming up to make 18 complete and playable games. That fact alone is remarkable, that all games were planned and scoped properly to be completed within just 48 hours, and all the participants should be proud of that fact. On top of that, over a single weekend, all participants added a game to their portfolio, and learned valuable skills in creativity and developing under a tight schedule.

The games made at IGDA Melbourne Global Game Jam 2011 are (in alphabetical order):

• Magic Spatula – Ant Antagoniser – Save the Elan Frog (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/ant-antagoniser-save-elan-frog):
  • Andrew Lamb, Caswal Parker, Jayelinda Suridge.
• Team Sideways – Breeder (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/breeder):
  • Dan Clayton, Christopher Errey, Matthew Manuel, Sam Wong.
• Yunikun – Diversity (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/diversity):
  • Tadgh Dinnage.
• Team Dead As – Dodo Demise (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/dodo-demise):
  • Aaron Cox, Jake Henderson, Benn Lockyer, Alex Newsome.
• Burnt Out – Eternal Flame (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/eternal-flame):
  • Anthony Cassidy, Peter Lawson, Matt Spriggens.
• Touch My Pixel – Floodlight (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/floodlight):
  • Tony Polinelli, Tarwin Stroh-Spijer.
  • Winner: Best Gameplay.
• Team André – Game Over (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/game-over):
  • André Spierings.
• Team Anything – Got Wood? (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/got-wood):
  • Daniel Bugeja, Stephen Gigante, Nina Nikolic, Guy Noble, James Siddel.
  • Winner: Most Daring.
• The B-Team – The Last Flight of the Bumblebee (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/last-flight-bumblebee):
  • Ivan Dixon, Conor O’Kane.
  • Winner: Best Graphics, Tied for Participant’s Choice Award.
• Free Hugs – Plagued (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/plagued):
  • Dave Allan, Alex Boylan, Jason Hall, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Moore.
• Team Disorganised – Planet Panic! (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/planet-panic):
  • Chris Antonello, James Filippone, Stuart Murray.
  • Winner: Most Innovative.
• Team Pants – Rising (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/rising):
  • Mike Blackney, Finn Morgan.
• In Five Seconds – Saldo (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/saldo):
  • Trevor Dikes, Harry Lee, Jarrod Lowery, John Sietsma.
  • Winner: Best Sound.
• Crunch Time – Slingshot! (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/slingshot):
  • Mothana Dabash, Michael Gillies, Peter Jamieson, Kai Lynk.
• Team Space Defender – Space Defenders (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/space-defenders):
  • Ian Gielen, Aaron Styles, Luci Temple.
  • Winner: Most Fun.
• Team Broficiency – Ultra Happy Death Virus HD (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/ultra-happy-death-virus-hd):
  • Patrick Clearwater, Matthew Elvey Price, Sandra Gibson, Luke Hus.
  • Winner: Winner: Best Game, Tied for Participant’s Choice Award.
• Æther – Vivimus (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/vivimus):
  • Edward Whitehead.
• Team Anura – Whip Frog (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/2011/whip-frog):
  • Campbell Barton, Alex Fraser, Daniela Hammer, Luca Pavone, David Thompson.
  • Winner: Organiser’s Favourite, Honourable Mention (Teamwork).

Once again, congratulations to all the teams involved. If you want to play these games, you can use the links above to download them from the GGJ site. You can also come meet us all at Cho Gao next Tuesday, and meet the teams themselves!

IGDA Melbourne was asked to chat with the team on “Byte Into It (http://www NULL.rrr NULL.org NULL.au/program/byte-into-it/)” on 3RRR FM last night, about the Global Game Jam that was run last weekend (Once again I’d like to give gushing thanks to our awesome sponsors for the event, Firemint and La Trobe University).

It was lots of fun chatting about what the Global Game Jam is, the games that were made, and the energy of the weekend. You can download a podcast of the episode here (http://rrrfm NULL.libsyn NULL.com/index NULL.php?post_category=Byte%20Into%20It) (Feb 2) – I’m on from about 17:00.

Again, if you want to actually see the games that were made, and play them yourself, come and meet us at Cho Gao (Melbourne Central) next Tuesday Feb 8th. The presentation will start at 7:30, but come before then to say hi and have a few drinks

And the 2011 Global Game Jam has been completed. This was the biggest ever Global Game Jam, with a record 6500 participants globally, taking part in 170 sites in 44 countries, making a total of almost 1500 games (All of which can be downloaded from the GGJ (http://www NULL.globalgamejam NULL.org/) website to play.

Congratulations to everyone that joined in the fun! This was IGDA Melbourne’s first time running a GGJ event, and we had 72 eager developers locked up in cramped (and seriously air-conditioned) conditions over an entire weekend, making video games based on the theme ‘Extinction’. We had 18 teams formed, all creating and completing a playable game. This by itself is a fantastic achievement, and something all the jammers should be proud of. Some of the teams have already continued working on their games after the jam.

We’d like to once again thank our sponsors for the event, Firemint, La Trobe University and Stephan Schutze (http://www NULL.stephanschutze NULL.com/). Without their support before and during the event we simply would not have been able to pull this off, so huge props to all of them! Huge thanks to Giselle and also all the other IGDA committee members and helpers we had over the weekend.

The excitement through the entire weekend was constantly high, with people meeting new friends to form teams, and teams mingling and sharing ideas and improvements throughout. Photos and videos will be posted shortly on this site, and a bunch of photos are already on the facebook (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/group NULL.php?gid=2387534951) page.

We had a constant stream of visitors and media throughout the event, including representatives from Firemint, Torus Games and Tin Man Games, Hosts and crew from Level 3 and other local media. We also had a prestigious panel of judges to decide which of the games were most supremely awesome. A number of awards were given, with certificates and prizes. Full details on these, and links to all the games to come soon.

Thanks to all who helped make this event so memorable, in particular the jammers themselves. Your enthsiasm throughout the entire weekend, particularly in the wee small hours of the morning, even when seriously sleep deprived, was truly inspiring, and it’s fantastic to see just how many quality games were made in a single weekend.

We’ll be reminiscing on all the events of the weekend, and re-capping all the games made during the weekend, at our next meet at Cho Gao, February 8th. Looking forward to seeing you all there