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beer!

May 24
0

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

Mar 29
0

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

Feb 26
0

March Monthly Meeting – Survey Results and GottaCon

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gc2014logowebfinal

This is a reminder of our monthly meeting for March taking place on this Monday, March 3rd. This month we’ll be taking a look at the results of our annual survey and making plans for the year accordingly. Also, our meeting falls on the day after GottaCon, so we’ll be having an impromptu round table with the folks who attended to discuss the experience.

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, March 3rd

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

—
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!

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

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 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