Game Design Meeting, Wednesday, March 28

Hey everyone,

We'll be meeting in Harper 125 this quarter, on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 to discuss VGE/the Logan Center Game, and from 7:00 to 8:00-8:30 to have our general game design discussions. 

For the VGE meeting Wednesday, we'll be talking logistics, and Nicholas will share some of the ideas and he picked up at SXSW. 

In the second half of the meeting, from 7:00 to 8:30, we'll discuss brainstorming. Brainstorming isn't always as intuitive as it seems, so we'll be talking about strategies for generating ideas collaboratively, and thinking about ways to apply this to the game design process (or any creative process).

See you soon,

Lyndsey (& Nicholas)

Game Design Meeting, Wednesday, February 29

Hi Luigites,

Welcome to 9th week! Normal meetings on Wednesday. If I can manage my time correctly, I'll bring in a baked good of some kind for leap day. 

In gaming news, we totally forgot to give a shout-out to the PlayStation Vita that came out last Wednesday.  Pokemon: Black and White 2 was recently announced. Brian showed me about a really cool game Dear Esther that came out on the 14th.  Mass Effect 3 comes out next Tuesday.  I'm going to try to get in the loop about these things and include them in these weekly announcements.  Maybe I get also upcoming game sales and stuff too. Feel free to send info my way if you want it included.

Wednesday, February 29

Harper 135 - 6-7pm: 

Project: Van Gogh's Ear - Rabbit Holes

We'll spend today brainstorming rabbit holes and listing out some groups/RSO's we should consider making contact with. We'll also draw up some symbols and continue discussion on structure.

Harper 145 - 7-8pm: 

Discussion: An Intro to Flixel

If you're like me, you have a lot of interest in making digital games but don't actually know how to start. Well that time is over! I want to make games for two final projects, so it's time to get coding and I'm bringing you guys along with me. This week, we'll begin looking at the Flixel game-making library developed by the amazing Adam "Atomic" Saltsman. Feel free to bring your computer along with you to follow along during the tutorial, but download the library and a development environment first. Also, if you are willing to let me use your computer to use and hook up to the projector (especially if you have Adobe FlashBuilder), I would be very grateful. We're also starting a thread on the message board about it, which you can find here.

Additionally, we have a bit of administrative stuff to talk about for a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting, primarily about next quarter. Think up some possible events, game night themes, or meeting discussion topics so we can have the best Spring quarter ever.

Best,

Nicholas

Game Design Meeting, Wednesday, February 22

Hey Gamers!

Game Design Meetings:

Wednesday, February 22:

Harper 135 - 6-7pm:  

Project:  Van Gogh's Ear - We'll continue talking about the narrative arc, final event, and rabbit holes

Harper 145 - 7-8pm:  

Discussion: Educational Games - We'll talk about educational and persuasive games, whether they suck, and how to make them better if they do

Spring Classes:

Remember to sign up for classes this week! I always try to remind my friends because I've forgotten twice and it is no fun. Need suggestions? Digital Imaging (ARTV 22500) with Jason Salavon is great--I'm in it now and I've actually made games for two projects. Plus, he used to do graphics for the N64 or something. He's also teaching Data and Algorithm in Art (ARTV 22502) which might also interest some of you. If you're into macabre stuff like me, Hauntology: Ghosts, Specters and Other Paranormal Phenomena in Contemporary Art and Beyond (ARTV 26213) also exists. TAPS is offering a course called Story Through Music and Sound (TAPS 27800), which may be helpful if you think audio is important in games (PS: It is). Also consider Issues in Film Music (CMST 28100). Intro to World Wide Web 2 (CMSC 10200) probably wins the title for the least descriptive class (the CompSci department is really good at that). I think it's focused on building web apps--you'll be learning JavaScript and PHP and stuff, plus, I think it fills the math requirement. Probably very useful if you're into Internet. The other CompSci classes all have prereqs, and if you're in the major you already know about all the classes so I won't bother listing them. Still, for what it's worth, I really enjoyed Intro to Computer Systems(CMSC 15400). That was a solid class. 

Little Red Schoolhouse (ENGL 10300) will be one of the most useful courses you will take here, and Lines of Transmission: Comics and Autobiography (ENGL 25944) seems like it might have a cool reading list. Good luck!

Sorry for the long one,

Nicholas

Game Design Meeting, Wednesday, February 8

Here's what LUIGI is looking like 6th week!!

Wednesday, February 8

Harper 135 :: 6-7pm

Project: Van Gogh's Ear - We'll try finalize the structure of the game/players and be ready to discuss specific plot and puzzles next week

Harper 145 :: 7-8pm

Discussion: Bad Games - We'll be talking about "bad games," what made them so bad, and what we can learn from them. We will also talk about good games and the flaws that could have made them perfect.

Best of luck to you all!!

Nicholas

Game Design Meeting, Wednesday, February 1

For this week's meeting, we'll be looking at classic games--pretty much Super Nintendo/16-bit and earlier. Because of hardware limitations, developers didn't have fancy graphics or elaborate symphonies to hide behind. They had to focus on things like strong mechanics, melodies, and aesthetics. There's a lot we can learn from these gems, and hopefully we'll uncover a few of these lessons things in our discussion. Additionally, we will be using our earlier meeting time to discuss Project Van Gogh's Ear/the Logan Center ARG. Try to post some ideas on the VGE forum thread before the meeting so we can workshop them when we come together. Finally, I'm trying to make notes from our last meetings pretty, so I'll try to get those up on the meetings' section tonight, depending on when I finish this darn application.

Wednesday, February 1st
Harper 135 - 6pm-7pm: Project - Van Gogh's Ear
Harper 145 - 7pm-8pm: Lessons from Classic Games

Good luck with midterms!
Nicholas