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Jul 31
0

August Monthly Meeting Featuring Joel Green… at Swans!

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Hey, this place looks familiar! Although slightly fancier than I remember...

Hey, this place looks familiar! Although slightly fancier than I remember…

This is a reminder of our monthly meeting for August taking place next Monday, August 5th. As you may have noticed, this meeting is going to be held at our old haunt: Swans Brewpub. Unfortunately, holding our meetings at Christie’s didn’t really work out. I won’t go into it here, but the upshot of it is that we’ve arranged to have our monthly Main Event held at Swans in the good ol’ Collard Room again. One of the good things about this is that we can once again have underage members attending our meetings here, so we are discontinuing the After School (Work) Special meetups effective immediately.

To kick off our first meeting back at Swans, we’re having a presentation by Joel Green. Joel is a free-lance, free-range game developer and audio designer, currently living in the wild woods of Vancouver Island where he is experimenting with merging a technology career with a rural lifestyle.  Past credits include audio and systems design for Mass Effect 2 and 3, Dragon Age 2 and 3, and Need For Speed: Undercover.

Joel will be giving his talk “Game’n’Farmer” which he recently gave at the excellent Full Indie Summit in Vancouver. The talk is described thusly:

Why do I have to live in a city to make games?
Thanks to small teams, remote collaboration, and widespread internet access, Indie developers have a unique opportunity to live and work wherever they want.  This short talk relays the benefits and challenges of making games outside of cities, approaching the work/life balance issue from a unique perspective. 

Please come out and welcome Joel to our new/old meeting space!

We have a private room with a projector and a ton of space. Show off your current projects; do some play-testing; or just relax and enjoy the awesome local food and craft-brewed beer.

The meetup will kick off with presentations and then transition into free-form networking.

Schedule:

  • 4:30pm: Doors open (room is locked earlier)
  • 5:10pm: Opening announcements by group organizers
  • 5:15pm: Featured presentation
  • 5:45pm: Open stage for show-and-tell, networking and socializing
  • 7:30pm: Venue closes (We are free to move to the main bar if we wish)

See you there!

Details:

Monday, August 5th

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

Please RSVP via the Meetup event: The Main Event

Jun 25
0

July Monthly Meeting feat. Richard Vahrman – "Beyond the Invisible"

By | General, Meetings, Presentations | No Comments
Richard is a game designer who is outstanding in his field.

Richard is a game designer who is outstanding in his field.

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for July taking place Monday, July 8th. This month, we have the distinct honour of welcoming Richard Vahrman to our meeting. Richard is a game designer visiting from Brighton, UK, who was kind enough to offer to give a presentation to our chapter. Here’s a description of the talk from Richard:

“The title of my talk will be ‘Beyond the Invisible’ and will give an introduction to location-based gaming, plastic waste pipes and how to dig up a field by jumping up and down. Beyond the Invisible refers to the work we are currently doing in updating a game I created called Invisible Buildings (virtual archaeology for school children).”

Richard also describes his background and how he eventually made his way into game design:

“After getting a degree in Biology, I became a musician and truck driver before working for 12 years with Prof. Heinz Wolff for the Medical Research Council, Brunel University and European Space Agency. We made equipment for the elderly and handicapped, and plant-cultivating robots for use in micro-gravity. I then started my own company specialising in RFID and container tracking systems. On my move to Brighton, I founded Brighton Web building and hosting content management systems. 7 years ago. I became interested in location based games and formed LocoMatrix. After a number of false starts, we now actually make a game that people do play!”

You won’t want to miss Richard’s fascinating presentation. Be sure to RSVP as space is limited and we’re expecting a good turn out.

We have the pub patio area reserved (which is covered and heated) and a ton of space. There are 3 TVs that we can hookup to and display slides or show off your current projects.  Come relax, talk shop and enjoy the awesome local food and craft-brewed beer.

The meetup will kick off with presentations and then transition into free-form networking.

Schedule:

  • 5:00pm: Doors open
  • 5:30pm: Opening announcements by group organizers
  • 5:45pm: Featured presentation
  • 6:15pm: Open stage for show-and-tell, networking and socializing
  • 11:00pm: Venue closes

See you there!

Details:

Monday, July 8th

Christie’s Carriage House Pub

1739 Fort Street, Victoria, BC

We’ll be in the patio area. Straight through the front doors, hang a right behind the host station and go through the patio doors.

Please RSVP via the Meetup event: The Main Event. We need to let Christie’s Pub know how many people to expect. Thanks!

Apr 24
0

May Monthly Meeting featuring Jacob Schwartz

By | General, Meetings, Presentations | No Comments
So Indie

Local indie game creator and concrete wall enthusiast Jacob Schwartz.

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for May taking place Monday, May 6th. This month, we will be featuring a presentation by Jacob Schwartz, creator of iso and other fine games. Jacob will be presenting a post-mortem on his latest game: Ragdoll Boxing: Match of the Century. Anyone interested in releasing a game independently and/or through the Apple app store will definitely want to come out for this.

Also! We will be featuring a Super Secret Surprise Guest. Who could it be? I’m not telling. You’ll have to come out and find out yourself.

We have the pub patio area reserved (which is covered and heated) and a ton of space. There are 3 TVs that we can hookup to and display slides or show off your current projects.  Come relax, talk shop and enjoy the awesome local food and craft-brewed beer.

The meetup will kick off with presentations and then transition into free-form networking.

Schedule:

  • 5:00pm: Doors open
  • 5:30pm: Opening announcements by group organizers
  • 5:35pm: Featured presentation
  • 6:30pm: Open stage for show-and-tell, networking and socializing
  • 11:00pm: Venue closes

See you there!

Details:

Monday, May 6th

Christie’s Carriage House Pub

1739 Fort Street, Victoria, BC

We’ll be in the patio area. Straight through the front doors, hang a right behind the host station and go through the patio doors.

Please RSVP via the Meetup event: The Main Event. We need to let Christies Pub know how many people to expect. Thanks!

Apr 11
0

Game Dev News: Just Like a Beautiful Flower

By | Chapter News, Events, General, Local News, Meetings | No Comments
Now if only it would stop staring at me...

Now if only it would stop staring at me…

Wow. After a long winter of hibernation (and possibly discontent), spring has come to our corner of the globe, and like a flower bursting from the icy soil, many game-related things are blooming around here (and not just my poetry).

As you may be aware from last meeting’s announcements, our friends at Full Indie in Vancouver are holding the first Full Indie Summit on April 20th, 2013 from 11AM to 4PM at the Rio Theater @ Commercial and Broadway. The Summit is planned to be a day of lectures by leading independent game developers that will teach and inspire, and at $10 a ticket it won’t be breaking any indie budgets. And it seems like a few gaming news sites are picking up on the buzz about it already. Should be great time for all.

Because the Full Indie Summit shares the same day as our scheduled mid-month Casual Gathering at Moon Under Water (and because so many of us are keen to attend), we’ve decided to move the meetup to the following weekend. It’s already been updated on the meetup site, but you may want to check your own calendar so you don’t end up alone at a local brew-pub with nothing to do.

Speaking of meetups, we’ve been asked by our new hosts at Christie’s Carriage House to provide them with an estimate of attendees before each Main Event meeting so that they can serve us better, and so we’d like to ask everyone who’s planning on attending to RSVP via the meetup event for every meeting we hold there. Please remember to do so. Thanks!

Last but not least, we would like to welcome aboard a new member of the organizing team: Melissa Reams! Mel will be well known to most of you as a long-time regular member of the group and she has graciously accepted the position of Sponsorship Coordinator. Please join me in welcoming her.

Mar 11
0

March LevelUp Radio Podcast – Brain Warp Studios' Stephen McCallum

By | General, Podcast | No Comments
Sweet logo!

Put this in your ear and see what happens.

LevelUp Radio recently released their podcast for March. This episode features an interview with Stephen McCallum of Brain Warp Studios. Stephen discusses his game development career and his crowd-funding campaign for OOG! Clan of the Caveman. Tune in to this open and frank discussion with the LevelUp Radio gang about crowd-funding and the challenges of launching an indie game company. And if you haven’t had a chance yet, check out the OOG! Indiegogo Campaign and support this original and fun game project.

The podcast is available at the LevelUp Radio homepage, or click here for a direct link to the latest episode.

Feb 25
0

February LevelUp Radio Podcast – Games Without Frontiers

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Colours bright enough to melt Peter Gabriel's face.

Colours bright enough to melt Peter Gabriel’s face.

LevelUp Radio just released their podcast for February, this month featuring a chat with David Leach, co-organizer for Games Without Frontiers – a self-described “pop-up idea arcade” coming to UVic on Saturday, March 9th. Tune in to this intriguing discussion about  the power of video games to change the world. And don’t forget to mark your calendar for Games Without Frontiers. As attendees at our last monthly meeting can attest, this is an event you won’t want to miss.

The podcast is available at the LevelUp Radio homepage or click here for the latest episode.

Feb 01
0

The Triumphant Return of LevelUp Radio

By | Chapter News, General, Local News | No Comments
Sweet logo!

Tune In, Turn On, Drop Bears (It’s an Australian thing)

A new year has begun and with it begins another episode of LevelUp Radio. If you’ve not heard of it before, LevelUp Radio is a monthly podcast run by the LevelUp – IGDA Victoria group and hosted by erstwhile members Jordan Reed and Matt Cowlrick. The show focuses on happenings in the local game development community and the industry in general. This episode, Jordan and Matt are joined by yours truly and we discuss what’s new with the group and then follow with an in-depth discussion of productivity and accountability in your work as a game creator.

You can find more details at the LevelUp Radio homepage, including links to the podcast and the latest episodes. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Jan 17
0

New Venue for the Main Event: Christie's Pub

By | Chapter News, General, Meetings | No Comments
The new Casa LevelUp.

The new second home of LevelUp – IGDA Victoria. Don’t it look cozy? (photo: Russell Ovans)

As you may have already seen on the meetup.com site, we have found a new venue for our Main Event monthly meeting. After weeks of research, contacting venues, comparing notes, backbreaking work, and intensive soul-searching, we are happy to announce the result: Christie’s Carriage House Pub.

Here’s some of the great things about holding our meetings at Christie’s:

  • More space: we can fit up to 45 members comfortably
  • Longer hours: we can have the space until close at 11pm
  • Multiple screens: members can plug into any of a number of television sets to show off their projects
  • More beer: over 30 taps featuring local and microbrew
  • Accessible: Even though Christie’s is not downtown, it is on several major bus routes (2, 8, 11, 14, 15, 33, etc.) and there is ample free parking in the area for those who would rather drive (and if you do, please remember to drink responsibly).

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get everything that we wanted in a venue. One major problem is that Christie’s liquor license does not allow minors to attend our meetings. I’m not sure how many of our members are minors, but if you are, please contact me. I’m planning on holding a separate meetup for those who are underage (and anyone else who wants to join in), to make sure that no one misses out on the fun.

One of the side benefits of researching new venues is that we’ve found a number of places that aren’t appropriate for holding monthly meetings, but could be great for hosting workshops, game jams, and other special events. If you’re considering running a special event for the group, let me know and I can forward the info on to you.

See you at the February meeting at Christie’s!

Jan 13
0

Games without Frontiers Conference – Call for Participation

By | Events, General, Local News | No Comments
Looks like someone was sitting a little too close to the television during the Super Mario marathon.

Looks like someone was sitting a little too close to the television during the Super Mario marathon.

I was recently contacted by David Leach, Associate Professor with the University of Victoria Department of Writing and organizer of Games without Frontiers: a conference being held on March 9th at UVic, around the theme of the social power of video games. According to the conference website, Games without Frontiers will feature:

“demonstrations of new social games by students and local designers; a ‘journalism game jam’ to apply game tools to improve public-service reporting; various competitions; screenings of documentaries and game-inspired films; and a panel of local experts to debate the power, the pitfalls and the future of game design.”

To that end, David has told me that he wants to get as many local and/or indie game companies involved as possible. He has outlined the opportunities to participate as follows:

Demo your stuff

Book a free table in one of the demo rooms and show off your game or game-related project. If it has a social gaming focus, all the better. Be prepared to discuss your project, the creative process, and the industry in general with conference attendees.

Speak on a panel

If you’ve got something to say on the use of games for research or the future of game development, you might want to put your name in to take part in one of the conference guest panels.

Get Jamming

Sign up to participate in the day-long Journalism Game Jam and explore how video-gaming can improve journalism or, if you have a discerning eye, apply to judge the results of the jam.

Be a Sponsor

Corporate or local game companies may wish to help out (and get their name out there) by donating incentives, prizes and food for the students participating in the Game Jam or for the conference in general.

However you decide participate, you can get in touch with David Leach via dleach(at)uvic(dot)ca to sign up or get more details. And even if you decide not to do any of the above, you should come out to UVic on March 9th and check out the conference anyway. Feedback on the scheduled events has been very positive so far, so it should prove to be an entertaining and informative occasion for all.

Edit: Here’s a document David sent me with more details: Games without Frontiers IdeaFest Event

Nov 04
0

Member Survey

By | Chapter News, General, News | No Comments

Survey says… more cowbell!

Hi everyone,

Recently, we created a survey about Level UpIGDA Victoria in order to better focus our group and adjust it to the needs and preferences of our members. If you have a spare few minutes, please fill out the survey as completely as you can and submit it back to us soon. We’ll be reviewing the results of the survey in the next few weeks and be looking into making changes accordingly. We’d love to get everyone’s input so that we can make this into the kind of group that we can all be excited about and that best serves its members.

Member Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XRT9VY8

Thanks for your feedback!

Regards,

Chris Tihor (on behalf of the Level UpIGDA Victoria organization team)