Tag

awesome talks

September Main Event featuring Mike Wozniewski of Hololabs

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Mike is a game creator and a man with a gaze as intense as a thousand suns.

Mike is a game creator and a man with a gaze as intense as a thousand suns.

Hi everyone! Chris here to give you the lowdown about our next monthly meet-up at Swans. This September, we’re happy to have as our feature presenter Mike Wozniewski. Mike is the founder and president of Hololabs (www.hololabs.org), an award-winning indie development studio making games, mobile apps, VR experiences and art installations. He has recently relocated to Victoria from Montreal, where he spent over 15 years building interactive media of all sorts.

His Master’s degree (from the Centre for Intelligent Machines at McGill University) focused on authoring tools for intelligent environments, human-computer interaction, motion tracking, and virtual reality. After that, Mike joined the Society for Arts and Technology [SAT], where he developed software for immersive audiovisual environments. After founding Hololabs in 2011, Mike has worked with many artists, designers and developers to build creative, experimental, and somewhat wacky games and art projects.

Mike will be discussing the recent boom of game making apps, level editors, and the promise of user-generated games as a form of social media. From LittleBigPlanet, to Minecraft, Project Spark, Super Mario Maker, Pixel Press, and Hololabs’ own Papercade, Mike will discuss the world of consumer-focused game creators. With a long-term obsession for creative tools, this talk will explore the affordances necessary for successful game-making systems, and will also serve as a postmortem for Papercade. Along the way, Mike will introduce Hololabs, provide some of the history about the studio, and will give a sneak peek of Hololabs’ next game that will be developed here in Victoria.

After the talk we will be holding the usual open stage and social time. 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. Let’s all come out and give Mike a warm welcome to Victoria!

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, September 7th, 2015

Buckerfields aka The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

Please RSVP via the Meetup event

June Main Event featuring Randall Thompson of Caper Games

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Randall Thompson - Game Maker and Nature Enthusiast.

Randall Thompson – Game Maker and Nature Enthusiast.

Hi everyone! Chris here to give you the lowdown about our next monthly meet-up at Swans. This month, we’re happy to have as our feature presenter Randall Thompson. Randall is the founder of Caper Games, a local board game studio that’s been releasing games since 2001.

Randall suffered an eye injury in 1998 at the Ministry of Health, and since then has been very light sensitive (Photophobia). He was raising his children at the time, and because he could no longer watch TV, he began to read books, listen to the radio and play games with his kids. This lead to the creation of his first game – CrunchTime – a basketball board game released in 2001. Before his injury, he enjoyed playing video games like Super Mario with his kids, but it became problematic afterwards.

Caper games have invented about 10 games in total. Their latest games are SHOOTERZ Hockey Card Game, NUGGETS Word Game, and Get ADLER! (A Deduction Card Game). They have a couple of other games designed and waiting  to be produced. Caper Games is also now looking to produce mobile games based on NUGGETS and a couple of other games.

Randall will be giving a talk about his experience developing board games including a history of Caper Games, his approach to designing a game, the process of having the physical game made, and the future direction of Caper Games. He will be bringing some copies of his games to try out afterwards. If you’re interested in how tabletop games get made, you won’t want to miss this talk.

After the talk we will be holding the usual open stage and social time. 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.

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, June 1st, 2015

Buckerfields aka The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

Please RSVP via the Meetup event

April Main Event featuring Scott Drader from Metalhead Games

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Scott Drader inventing new "-mortem" talks so you don't have to.

Scott Drader: inventing new “-mortem” talks so you don’t have to.

Hi everyone! Chris here. I want to take a minute to tell you about our next monthly meet-up at Swans. This month’s feature presenter is Scott Drader. Scott co-founded Metalhead Software, a local game and software development studio, in 2009. Last year he came out to give a “pre-mortem” talk about the game that Metalhead had been putting in long hours to finish, Super Mega Baseball (formerly known as Big Fly Baseball). Now, after the recent release of Super Mega Baseball, Scott is triumphantly returning to give a “mid-mortem” talk, where he will be talking about the stress, exhilaration, and lessons learned in shipping Metalhead’s first title. This will be an event that you won’t want to miss!

After the talk we will be holding the usual open stage and social time. 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.

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, April 6th, 2015

Buckerfields aka The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

Please RSVP via the Meetup event

October Monthly Meeting featuring Graham Stark from LoadingReadyRun

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We're not here to judge.

Remember, we’re not here to judge.

This is a reminder of our monthly meeting for October taking place on Monday, October 6th. This month’s feature guest is Graham Stark from LoadingReadyRun!

Graham is the co-founder of LoadingReadyRun, one of the internet’s longest running and most beloved video content foundries. He has worked as a producer, director, writer and editor for clients including Penny Arcade, Cards Against Humanity, Wizards of the Coast and The Escapist. On top of all that, Graham is also one of the organizers of Desert Bus for Hope, one of the most successful online charity fundraisers in the world. In the two to three minutes of spare time he has a day, he enjoys sleeping, video games and his cats. He can be found on Twitter at @Graham_LRR and on Twitch. He’ll be joining us for a fireside chat and discussing his projects, the importance of public engagement and how to manage a businesses’ social profile, along with much fun and frivolity!

Also, we’re hoping that all you folks who made games at this year’s OrcaJam will bring them along to share with the rest of the group, especially those poor saps who weren’t able to make it to the game jam themselves.

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.

Schedule:

  • 4:30 pm: Doors open (room is locked earlier)
  • 5:10 pm: Opening announcements by group organizers
  • 5:15 pm: Featured presentation
  • 6:00 pm: Open stage for show-and-tell, networking and socializing
  • 7:30 pm: Venue closes (We are free to move to the main bar if we wish)

See you there!

Details:

Monday, October 6th

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

When not being attacked by blobs, Brent is often attacked by cats.

When not being attacked by blobs, Brent is often attacked by cats.

This is a reminder of our monthly meeting for October taking place on Monday, October 7th. This month’s feature presenter is Brent Owens from Paper Machete games! Paper Machete is an indie game studio based out of Campbell River (and previously Fort St. John) and is currently developing Attack of the Gelatinous Blob for PC, MacOS, and Linux. Brent will be talking about the evolution of his game, the trials of being an indie developer, and in particular about his experiences with Kickstarter and his campaign to fund the game’s completion. Come on out and welcome Brent to Victoria!

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, October 7th

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

By | General, Meetings, Presentations | No Comments

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

The Main Event for November featuring Jordan Reed

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Warning: Risk of Being Completely Blown Away

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for November taking place this Monday evening. As you can see, we’re now calling our monthly meetings “The Main Event” to let you know that this is the meeting you don’t want to miss. It will be the gathering that will feature guest speakers, panels, and whatever else we can arrange for your entertainment and illumination. So let’s get together and discuss the latest events in the industry, tales of going Indie and/or studio life, and game-play design, challenges, and solutions!

This month, as part of our Awesome Talks series, we will be featuring a talk by Jordan Reed, Producer at Freq Wave Studios and one of the hosts of Level Up Radio – our group’s own podcast on independent game development in the Pacific Northwest. Jordan will be talking about all things audio and specifically on producing audio for games. Come on out and give Jordan a warm welcome.

See you there!

Details:

Monday, November 5th

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

RSVP via the Meetup event: The Main Event

Last Monthly Meeting Before Hallowe'en Featuring Dan Jacobsen!

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Nothing says Hallowe’en like a post-apocalyptic RPG themed Jack O’Lantern.

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for October taking place this Monday evening. Let’s get together and discuss the latest events in the industry, tales of going Indie and/or studio life, and game-play design, challenges, and solutions!

This month, as part of our Awesome Talks series, we will be featuring a talk by Daniel Jacobsen, CEO of Gaslamp Games – the creators of the fun and hilarious Dungeons of Dredmor and the much anticipated Clockwork Empires. Dan will be holding court, swishing a snifter of brandy while extolling us with tales of working for Gaslamp, relaying his experience of bringing Dredmor to Steam, and whatever else catches his fancy for the evening. It’s guaranteed to be an enjoyable and informative evening for all.

See you there!

Details:

Monday, October 1st

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

RSVP via the Meetup event: Show & Tell @ Swans

Update via the internets from Dan Jacobsen: His talk will be focusing on getting funding for games, something that should be of interest to all game creators of various levels. Of special interest to amateur game makers will be tips on how to level up to become professional game makers. Don’t miss it!

Tonight only! July Monthly Meeting – Canada Day Long Weekend Edition!

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Logo stolen from the Canadian Entertainment Software Association on account of said logo being pretty cool.

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for July taking place this evening. Let’s discuss the latest events in the industry, tales of going Indie and/or studio life, and game-play design, challenges, and solutions!

This is also a continued call out to all you crazy game-makers out there to consider stepping up and speaking at one of our meetings. I’ve met so many talented people at these gatherings and I’d love to have more of you get involved and give a short presentation on some aspect of game development that gets you excited. One of the things that makes game development so interesting is all the different disciplines that go into creating a game: programming, producing, design, sound, music, art, writing, the list goes on. If you do any of these activities in the act of creating games, we want you to talk to the group about it. Or if you have an idea for a talk you’d like to see, let us know. We may just be able to get it together for you. Please send us a note at IGDA Victoria or talk to myself or Andy Moore at one of the meetings. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Details:

Monday, July 2nd

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm

RSVP via the Meetup event: Show & Tell @ Swans

April Monthly Meeting featuring Andy Moore on Rapid Game Prototyping

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Apparently it involves massive quantities of energy drinks... and a soul full of rage!

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for April taking place on this coming Monday evening. This month’s meeting features a talk by Andy Moore of Radial Games. From the Meetup description:

“Rapid prototyping, high-speed development, pivoting, and best of all… working examples of how I’ve executed a few dozen games since new years, experimented with new tech, and making some breakthrough design decisions. I’ll talk about the tools I use to deliver prototypes so quickly, from the IDE down to the project-management and collaboration tools. If you want to learn how to make things quicker, come on down and take a listen!”

As always, everyone is welcome to bring any projects along that they’ve been working on to share with the rest of the group, and there will be lots of discussion about local goings on in the Victoria game development community.

Details:

Monday, April 2nd

The Collard Room – Swans Hotel and Brewpub

506 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC

Doors open at 4:30pm. Talk should start at about 5:15.

RSVP via the Meetup event: Show & Tell @ Swans