Category

Meetings

Jan 17
0

New Venue for the Main Event: Christie's Pub

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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!

Nov 02
0

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

Sep 30
0

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!

Aug 03
0

August Monthly Meeting – BC Day Long Weekend Edition!

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Whew! That sun sure looks hot! I bet you could use a nice cool beverage and someone to talk about game design with, eh?

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for August taking place this 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! Additionally, this week there will be a short talk by Chris Tihor on the IGDA Summit recently held in Seattle.

This is also a call out to anyone who may be attending PAX Dev and/or PAX Prime at the end of the month. We’re looking at putting together a panel of attendees for next month’s meeting to discuss the PAX experience, what game creators get out of it, and why you might wish to attend sometime. If you’re interested, please send us a note at IGDA Victoria or talk to myself or Andy Moore at one of the meetings. We’d love to have you!

Details:

Monday, August 6th

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

Jul 02
0

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

May 04
0

May Monthly Meeting: Happy Anniversary!

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Arrangements are being made to have a small cadre of cavemen and police officers come sing to us while playing a stone piano.

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for May taking place on this coming Monday evening. This month’s meeting falls on our 2nd Anniversary: that’s two years of local game creators getting together, sharing projects, stories, and techniques, and having a blast while we do it. We’ve grown a lot over the last couple years, and there’s no sign to that ending anytime soon. Congratulations Victoria! Keep on rocking!

Speaking of rocking, last night’s showing of Indie Game: The Movie was a big success and the thought-provoking documentary will no doubt be a big topic of conversation at the meeting on Monday. Thanks to everyone who braved the wilds of Langford to attend.

As always, everyone is welcome to bring any projects that they’ve been working on to share with the rest of the group on Monday.

Details:

Monday, May 7th

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

Mar 28
0

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

Mar 15
0

Mid-March Pub Social This Saturday

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I'm not sure it's such a good idea to lead the lion to that tasty, tasty lamb.

Mid-March: half lion, half lamb. Would that be a liomb or a laon?

Anyway, this is a reminder of the Mid-Month Brewpub Social coming this Saturday. Come on out, be geeky, and talk games with the rest of the Victoria Game development community. Hope to see you there!

Note: Don’t worry if the meetup event is full, there should still be room for you. If not, grab a table in another part of the pub and start your own satellite Game Dev meeting! We’ll send delegates over to discuss strategic alliances.

When:

Saturday, March 17, 2012, 2:30 PM

Where:

350-B Bay Street

Victoria, BC

Phone: 250 380 0706

Website: http://www.moonunderwater.ca

RSVP:

Level Up meetup event

Feb 29
0

March Monthly Meeting: Home Alone from GDC

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Fun Fact: This game was developed by none other than Bethesda Softworks - the folks who brought us Fallout 3 and the Elder Scrolls games. Everyone's gotta start somewhere!

This is a reminder of the monthly meeting for March taking place on this coming Monday evening. This month’s meeting features all of us unfortunates who aren’t off having a wonderful time at GDC this year. Hopefully we won’t be attacked by burglars as we drown our sorrows. 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, March 5th

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

Feb 28
0

The Medium is the Message

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Or massage. Whatever you like. Although that doesn't look like much of a massage to be honest.

Here at IGDA Victoria headquarters, we do everything we can to help the local game development community grow and flourish. A large part of that is keeping up the lines of communication between the game creators and this organization. We do this primarily through this website/blog, and through various social media including Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

One of the new things that we’re starting is a mailing list through Google Groups. The IGDA Victoria Chapter Mailing List is your source for essential news and event announcements. It will consist only of meeting and event notices and other basic chapter related news emailed to you with the goal of not cluttering up your in-box.

One other thing that we’re working on is a member survey. We want to get everyone’s feedback on what they’re interested in seeing happen with the group so that we can try to accommodate people’s interests and goals. Sign up to the mailing list and stay tuned for an announcement about the survey in the near future. Let your voice be heard!