IGDA Melbourne

WOW! (no, not that WOW)

The WinnitronAU will be taking up residence in time for the opening of The Mana Bar on Saturday 16 July, but the world premier will be by the dev’s, for the dev’s at IGDAM Open Mic night tomorrow night!

This is so exciting, as we’ve all been involved in the project at various levels, although the bulk of the accolades for getting Australia’s first Winnitron up and running go to James Rhodes and Redpoint Software (http://blog NULL.redpointsoftware NULL.com NULL.au/2011/07/winnitron-au-unveiling-and-launch/).

It’s going to be a big one tomorrow night!

Thanks also to Yug and crew at The Mana Bar (http://melbourne NULL.manabar NULL.com NULL.au/) for letting us have the world premier (fancy!) and we look forward to playing it with Mana Potions in hand

Hey devs

Come along next week and hear about some exciting new game projects and initiatives at our Open Mic Night!

When: From 6.00pm, mic’s turn on at 7.00* (give or take, but earlier than usual to fit it all in!)

Where: 1000 Pound Bend, Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne (http://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps/place?q=thousand+pound+bend+melbourne+vic&hl=en&cid=7164293019652141101)

We’ve received a huge response to our call-out, so much that we unfortunately can’t fit everyone into the one night. Don’t worry though, you can expect more Open-Mic events to come. In particular, we’re looking at hosting a presentation evening later this year specific to student groups, to give them a chance to publicly show off their hard work for the year.

but without further ado, the running sheet for next week is as follows:

• QBOY – Student Project (Student Presentation)
• Swing Interactive – Student Project (Student Presentation)
• Harry Lee – Current and future projects and Harry’s Jam (Student Presentation)
• Wicked Awesome Pty Ltd – “The Adventures of James Chimp”
• Anomolous Interactive – “Homemade Shooter” to “Slingshot Justice”
• Chris Mackenzie – AdHatchers Advertising Agency
• Trent Kusters – Introduction to  “League of Geeks”
• David Thompson -  GameLoft Auckland update
• Casper Pieters – 3 Part TV Series with a related Gaming Platform (He wants to pick your brains!)
• Raptus Games – Starting a new Indie Studio, preview of first release ‘Draw’
• Walk Through The Clock – First year as an Indie startup
• PlayBit Entertainment – “Puzzle Treasure”……phew!

It’s ok, we’ll go all old fashioned and have an intermission on this one, and it’s micro-talks or midnight.  If there’s a particular project or topic you’d like to discuss futher just catch up with the presenter later in the night.

We’ll also hear  from Paul Callaghan about  Freeplay (http://www NULL.freeplay NULL.net NULL.au/), which is just around the corner, and Tony Reed from the GDAA (http://gdaa NULL.com NULL.au/) will explain who can take advantage of the new R&D Tax Credits and how.

Finally, although not chronologically, there will be a sneak preview for an exciting event that IGDA is helping to bring to Melbourne next year…any guesses?

Come along to hear all about it all!

Wow!  There were 180 along last month, and this month’s looking to be a corker too, so we’ve relocated to 1000 £ Bend at 361 Little Lon in the CBD – thanks a bunch to them for hosting us, and to the State Library folks and Social Media Melbourne for the leads on handy locations.

Please let your IGDA mates know about the venue change and we look forward to seeing you at:

1000£ Bend (http://thousandpoundbend NULL.com NULL.au/location/)

on

Tuesday 10 May – 6.30pm – 11pm

Talks start at 7.40 pm – There’s  about the talks here and please reply to the facebook event (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/home NULL.php#!/event NULL.php?eid=200425529997002)if you’re that way inclined (helps for planning)

It’s free entry and the kitchen’s open for service until around nine, the bar til a wee bit later than that, so all well mannered games devs and community are welcome along

Along with the amazing money-can’t-buy glimpse into the nuts and bolts of #indiedevlife from Neil of Tin Man Games (http://http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/blog/). Paul Callaghan will also be onhand to discuss Freeplay (http://www NULL.freeplay NULL.net NULL.au/)and how you can get involved , and Trent Kusters and Stefan Schutze will talk about self-promotion techniques

We’ll we look forward to announcing next month’s plans, and probably so much more …

Speaking of which, If you have any announcements you’d like made on the night, please email giselle at igdamelbourne dot org the details and we’ll do our best to accommodate all requests, time permitting.

And thanks to @elroyonline, @craigpeebles, @voiceover_au @parabol83 for the £’s, none of which were harmed inthe creation of this blog

Hi all

Wow! More than 180 games devs and transmedia enthusiastics came along to last night’s gathering we like to call Tim

What a fabulous night – we’d love to get your feedback in comments to this post, and a big welcome and thanks for coming along to all the new igdammers.

HUGE props to Jarrad and Karl for giving up their time and sharing their expertise  and insights into creative processes. Also thanks to the lovely Christy Dena for giving us the opportunity to mash it up and  the State Library of Victoria for allowing us to have the biggest and most AV fault free event ever!

I mentioned a few things, and forgot to mention a few others in all the excitement:

What I remembered:

• Firemint (http://firemint NULL.com/work-with-firemint/)are still on the hunt for talent – particularly, and right now, QA Testers
• Big Ant Studios (http://www NULL.bigant NULL.com/jobs/view/gameplay-programmer-22/) are advertising for a gameplay programmer
• Library Hack is going on – could win 6 grand and have fun with datasets!
• FimVic has some sweet plans for encouraging creative independent processes, and getting the chance to travel to London as part of the idea sharing – (more on this soon)
• WinnitronAU (http://www NULL.redpointsoftware NULL.com NULL.au/) is ocming along – you should put your game on it!

What I forgot to mention:

• Next month’s plans…for the full details you’ll just have to wait a bit – it’s teaser time:

There’s this amazing bunch of blokes called fondly known as Tin Man Games, (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/blog/) they make these sensational GameBook Adventures and somewhat of a doyenne of indies locally.

Well… they’re going to lift the tin lid on their financials – so if you want to know a bit more on the business side of what some call indie, some call prindie then this will also be a don’t miss event….and that’s not all (but it’s already a long teaser so I’ll save the rest for later)

Facebook event coming soon – please do reply there if you can as it really assists working out how many are coming along and who will fit!

Again, feel free to offer feedback on and igdam events, either comment here or email giselle@igdamelbourne.org

Thanks for coming

There’s been a bit of news about the Winnitron (no, I’m not talking Crazy Sheen, that’s a whole other kettle of win) that  John Sietsma (http://johnsietsma NULL.com/) and James Rhodes are creating, with plans to have it in the Mana Bar (http://www NULL.manabar NULL.com NULL.au/) Melbourne.

It would be great to have lots of fabulous local talent displayed, so to keep up to date with the progress, plans and deadlines and get your game played somewhere heaps cool, head on over tothe Redpoint Software blog (http://blog NULL.redpointsoftware NULL.com NULL.au/category/winnitron-au)for all the details.

It’s Open Mic time again at IGDAM and if you want a spot at the mic, please get in quick, because the line-up is already looking schweet, so this is the place to be on Tuesday (assuming you’re not at GDC).

When: Tuesday 1 March – presentations start at 7.30, so any time from 6pm is good.

Where: Cho Gao – Level 3 Melbourne Central

Who & What:

Christian McCrea – GEELab (Games & Experimental Entertainment Laboratory)

This as an exciting initiative by RMIT that’s gearing up this month and right up our alley.

At the GEElab, games will be understood as a cross-disciplinary function as well as the engine of entertainment media and Internet innovation. Practice oriented game and entertainment media research will be carried out by the way of cross-medial experimentation and an understanding of science as fiction, in the sense of not being afraid to think and design differently as welll as think and design speculatively. For example, GEElab members will investigate how to “gameify“ traditionally non-linear media such as TV, film, or radio, developing design strategies, narratives and service prototypes.

Next to these tasks, one of the major goals of the GEElab will be to inquire the potential of games and entertainment to positively influence and change behavior, seeking to suggest solutions for a more peaceful, sustainable, healthy and egalitarian – that is: playful – world. The GEElab will be working closely with people from across RMIT, as well as with international game research institutions and sponsors from the game and entertainment industry.

Peter Halasz – Because of Games (http://www NULL.becauseofgames NULL.com/) Subversive education through games.

Peter  started the indie studio “Because of Games” to subversively educate
the masses. That is, to create games where your brains benefits from
the seemingly mindless gaming activity we all love.

He’ll be talking about creating game-play mechanics which hinge on real-world skills
and knowledge and illustrating with some prototypes, ideas and

iterations, including a physics engine he “should never have made from
scratch.” Time permitting, he’ll demo the yet-to-be-released “Bubble
Physics” (previously named Magnoa), his current project, and give a
status update.

Caz Parker & Andrew Lamb – Automation (http://automationgame NULL.com/)update

Automation the Tycoon game is for people who live and breathe cars.  The lads will give us a quick show and tell of where they’re at and their upcoming small closed beta.

David Coen – Growing an iPhone app

David will be sharing his experiences in iPhone dev and is happy to receive feedback on it all

Aaron Charcoal Styles

Charcoal’s requested a few minutes at the mic to show off a project he’s been working on.

It’s a tool set that allows Flash developers to make stand-alone Windows versions of their games; allowing them to potentially make versions that can be sold through places like Steam.
It also has the ability to read Xbox 360 controllers and pass the information back to the flash game.

WinnitronAU

John Sietsma or James Rhodes (I’m sure one of them will let me know which) will give an update on their Winnitron plans.

Wishing the GDC pilgrims fruitful, fun and safe travels and the rest of us, well, we’ll have to manage the best we can at a licenced venue with our own talks!

Wireless and tech issues permitting (I like to think of it as delicious irony the troubles we have with tech!) the Level 3 (http://www NULL.level3 NULL.org NULL.au/) lads will be live-streaming the talks.

I think that’s everyone accounted for at this stage – if you’ve been in touch and aren’t included just email me a gentle reminder   If you are yet to put your hand up but want to, get in quick by email giselle@igdamelbourne.org

PS – but wait, there’s more, and it’s not steak knives it’s HEEEAAAPS better

Ryan Keable – Anomalous

48 hour gamemaking challenges
Ryan and Ryan from Anomalous will be talking about their 48 hour project again, where they are up to and what will be next.

They will also be talking about their first release for the iPhone, Homemade Shooter!