IGDA Philly June Chapter Meeting

Published on May 28, 2013 in chapter meeting, events and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Details for the June Chapter meeting are below. Please RSVP here. Hope to see you all June 8th!

IGDA Philadelphia is please to announce its June 2013 chapter meeting. Hosted by Drexel, the event will take place on Saturday, June 8 from 5-7pm.
Socializing and networking will begin at 4:45 with opening remarks and presentations beginning at 5:15.
 
Agenda
September’s chapter meeting will be a presentation on
- 4:45 – 5:15 :: Socializing
- 5:15 – 5:20 :: Welcome / Opening Announcements
- 5:20 – 5:35 :: Around the World Introductions
- 5:35 – 6:50 :: Larry Grant – Introduction to Unity3D Networking Concepts
- 6:50 – 7:00 :: Closing Remarks / Socializing
- 7:00 – ???? :: Socializing continues at Mikies
* Note: All times are estimated
 
Larry Grant – Introduction to Unity3D Networking Concepts
Synopsis: We will review the various networking models including: peer to peer, Master Game Servers, Game Servers, Authoritative, Relay and Hybrid models.  We will further discuss the challenges with Firewalls, NAT and NAT Punch through.  We will discuss the Unity NetworkView Object and proper use cases for it, including Observed and RPC calls and when to use each.  We will wrap up with a Q&A session and everyone will get a free copy of my highly praised eBook “A step by step guide to networking with Unity3D”.  If there’s additional time/interest we can also spend a few minutes discussing the differences between Photon Networking vs Unity3D Networking.
 
Short Bio: Larry Grant is an accomplished IT professional with nearly 30 years professional IT, programming, database, management and technology specialist.  In 2005 Larry was recognized as CTO of the year by both Oracle Corporation and Info World Magazine.  Today Larry is an Enterprise Cloud Computing Specialist, working with leading fortune 500 companies building the latest, state of the art, enterprise clouds.  Larry has also been a avid Indie Developer focused on building his own engines from scratch.  Larry started developing early share ware titles in DOS and assembly language and eventually embraced C++/DirectX on Windows when it became available.  Larry later moved to C#/XNA where he released BLOCKBuster on Xbox Indie Games.  Unity3D was the first commercial engine Larry embraced and quickly learned to master its capabilities.  Today Larry is working on “Pulsar” a team based multi-player space combat game using Unity3D and Photon Networking.  You can visit Larry’s site at http://www.3dmuve.com, and visit his facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/3dmuve.  Also check out his latest video previews on youtube at  http://www.youtube.com/user/3DMUVE/videos?flow=grid&view=0. See some legacy videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/Quadgnim/videos?view=0&flow=grid.
Is RSVP Required?
No, we’ll check you off the RSVP list and you’ll be done! If you want to come but aren’t sure, RSVP regardless and you’ll be set even if you need to make a last minute decision! YOU DO NOT NEED TO BRING A PAPER TICKET TO THE MEETING.
Note: RSVP will close at 2PM the day of the event to allow us to print the check-in list prior to heading on site for event set up. If you missed the RSVP online period, you can still attend the event. Just show up and sign in on location!
Location
Drexel University
3141 Chestnut St (Corner of Chestnut & 32nd St)
Room: Curtis 341
Map: http://bit.ly/pxjfUE (Google Map)
View Building Entrance: http://bit.ly/pGveYc (may take a few moments to load while Google Map adjusts view)
Visit http://septa.org/maps/system/index.html for an interactive map if you need more assistance.
Who can attend?
Anyone! IGDA Philadelphia meetings are usually open to anyone in the area who is working on game development, interested in game development, or simply curious about game development.
In the case of an event that has a restriction on attendees, it will be noted as such in the event details. 
 
Questions?
If you have any questions, please reach out to chapter leadership by contacting philly[at]igda[dot]org. We look forward to seeing you!
 
Connect with IGDA Philadelphia
If you’re looking to connect with members of the IGDA Philadelphia community outside of meetings, check out the IGDA Philadelphia About page for details on connecting with us via Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and joining our Mailing List.

April 2013 Leadership Notes

Published on April 18, 2013 in chapter administration and leadership recap. 0 Comments

IGDA Leadership Meeting 4/14/13

ATTENDEES     [x ] Chair     [x] Vice Chair    [x] Treasurer     [x ] Secretary

  • Discussed topics

    • Facilitate networking opportunities to professional developers

      • We want to find a way to deliver more opertunities for developers to meet and network

    • Keep Second Saturday Meetings

      • Was discussed moving to social meetings only. Decided content is very important and want to keep delivering to the community

    • Fourth Saturday Social Outing

      • Start a happy hour, there isn’t a social drinking event in Philly for developers so lets get one started

    • Leadership meetings

      • Always 2nd Sunday

      • Meeting structure formalized

      • Agenda for each meeting to be provided by Matt

    • Treasury Tasks

      • Get address changed on bank account and IRS

    • Website updates

      • Take a look at updating format

      • Get eventrbrite fixed

    • Social nights

      • Board Games

      • Lan party

    • Picnic planning

      • Food options

      • Location – FDR lot 11 & 12 same as last year

      • Date needs to be finalized

      • Go after sponsorships for food and drink

    • Philly Game Jam

      • Find a location

      • End of August

      • Estimate cost and entry fee per team

    • Too Many Games

      • Not having PGJ at it this year

      • Will provide support for indie tables

    • Social media

      • Much larger presence is needed

      • Question of the week is only the first step

    • Studio Spotlight

      • Workout questionair for studios so we can spotlight them on the web

    • 6 Month Goals

      • Get membership numbers up

      • Be more proactive in getting dates to membership sooner

      • Survey after every monthly meeting

    • Recording meetings

      • Zenas will take charge of this

    • Action Items

      • Speaker for May

      • Date outline for picnic

      • Date outline for PGJ

February / March Local Kickstarter Recap

Published on April 12, 2013 in kickstarter and local news. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Hey there! It looks like Philadelphia are Kickstarters are up and running (and funding too!). Last month we had a few very successful projects and we have a few funding right now.

Let’s get right into the active and completed projects.

IGDAcompleted

Artizens ended at 175% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $52,616. Congratulations to Artizens Inc. on their success.

Kobalds Ate My Baby! In Color! ended at 598% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $65,817. Congratulations to 9thLevel on their success.

LotFP 2013 Free RPG Day Adventure ended at 749% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $18,738. Congratulations to Matt Johnsen on his success.

Spinespur, The Survival Horror miniatures game ended at 197% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $13,835. Congratulations to Comfy Chair Games on their success.

Yiddish Playing Cards: A Language Lesson In A Deck Of Cards ended at 115% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $6,641. Congratulations to E Brewstein & Corsa on their success.

Zombie Origin Deck of Cards ended at 146% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $1,551. Congratulations to Alex Willis on his success.

IGDAactive

Pixel Lincoln: Bicycle Playing Cards are High-Quality Bicycle Playing Cards with 16-Bit Art from Pixel Lincoln by Island Officials. It’s currently at 77% of its $8,000 funding goal, and ends on April 16th.

The Dragon Child Saga is a remake of The Dragon Child and Feng Shui: The Dragon Child 2 for the PC. It’s currently at 8% of its $399 funding goal, and ends on April 30th.

Dai Sai Sou is robot construction and battling multiplayer card game. It’s currently at 2% of its $16,000 funding goal, and ends on May 11th.

Orion’s Odyssey: A Pattern Blocks Adventure for Nintendo DS is a comedy-puzzle game for the Nintendo DS by Island Officials.  It’s currently at 6% of its $85,412 funding goal, and ends on May 19th.

Body Breaker, the physical fitness game is a physical fitness exercise board game that promotes healthy fun and nutritional awareness. It’s currently at 0% of its $5,000 funding goal, and ends on May 30th.

If you are launching a Kickstarter project and need any feedback, feel free to contact us. Also please let us know if you see a Philadelphia area project that is missing. And as always, keep an eye on the Local Kickstarters page for all of the active and completed projects. See you next month!

December 2012 / January 2013 Local Kickstarter Recap

Published on February 14, 2013 in kickstarter, local news and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The end of the year left us with a little Kickstarter quiet time here in the Philadelphia area, as well as on Kickstarter overall, but in the last few weeks things have really started to pick up. There are currently 8 active Philadelphia game-related Kickstarter projects (two are already well beyond their funding goals).

Also, to celebrate the end of a great year, Kickstarter released a slideshow presentation, showcasing the best of 2012. Not surprisingly, the Games category was featured with the following fact: “Games had the most money pledged at $83 million”. Games also had the most projects overall. See the full slideshow here: http://www.kickstarter.com/year/2012

IGDAcompleted

Blackwater Gulch: Rebels & Reinforcements ended at 415% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $41,596. Congratulations to Gangfight Game Studio and Game Salute on their success.

Allure Bicycle Playing Cards Deck ended at $157 of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $23,678. Congratulations to Noel Quiles on his success.

Anastasiya ended at $142 of its $3,000 funding goal.

Vertical – Magnetic Chess Boards ended at $103 of its $5,500 funding goal.

Schoolyard Snodown ended at $1,249 of its $9,700 funding goal.

-Ionic A++ack- ended at $5 of its $17,600 funding goal.

IGDAactive

Space Sex: The 24th Century Project (Non Explicit) is a retro Final Fantasy style mobile RPG. It’s currently at 0% of its $3,500 funding goal, and ends on February 14th.

The Rise of Nova (Quantum4 Studios’ debut game) is a Quantum4 Studios debut sci-fi game. It’s currently at 0% of its $7,425 funding goal, and ends on February 17th.

Artizens is a unique monster battling PC, Mac, Linux game. It’s currently at 134% of its $30,000 funding goal, and ends on February 17th.

LotFP 2013 Free RPG Day Adventure is an adult style tabletop RPG. It’s currently at 391% of its $2,500 funding goal, and ends on February 20th.

Pseudonym is a physical and virtual reality video game. It’s currently at 32% of its $10,000 funding goal, and ends on February 25th.

Kumoshi: A Virtual World is a futuristic open world multi-platform video game. It’s currently at 0% of its $100,000 funding goal, and ends on February 27th.

Video Game: The Path of Ay is a 3rd person magic/swordplay PC game. It’s currently at 2% of its $32,500 funding goal, and ends on March 2nd.

Lands of the Fallen MMORPG is an MMORPG for Linux, Mac and PC. It’s currently at 0% of its $5,000 funding goal, and ends on March 13th.

If you are launching a Kickstarter project and need any feedback, feel free to contact us. Also please let us know if you see a Philadelphia area project that is missing. And as always, keep an eye on the Local Kickstarters page for all of the active and completed projects. See you next month!

November 2012 Local Kickstarter Project Update

Published on December 4, 2012 in kickstarter and local news. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Hello friends! After a fairly quiet month here in the Philadelphia region, we’re starting to see a wave of local Kickstarter projects come through. The biggest news in Kickstarter-land is very distant from our local area, but it’s a sign of bigger and better things. Kickstarter UK projects started launching on October 31st, and they’ve seen immediate success. What does this mean for us? As backers, we can now enjoy games from our UK friends. But as project creators, it means Kickstarter is growing, expanding, and also responding to the biggest needs of the crowdfunding community.

While not Philadelphia based, there were some Kickstarter game project wake-up calls this past weekend. Alpha Colony from DreamQuest Games in Lafayatte, CO ended on Sunday at $49,972 of $50,000 goal. It was $28 short, which, as you may or may not know, means that the creators will not receive any of the funds. Most projects that get beyond the 30% mark will fund. This one made it to 99%.

On the tabletop side we saw Michael R. Keller’s critically acclaimed game, City Hall, make it to $15,854 of it’s $25,000 goal. It’s unusual to see a game go so far, yet fall short of it’s funding in the end. While both Michael and DreamQuest’s efforts were not wasted, this means they still have a lot of work ahead of them, and a very stressful unfunded Kickstarter project behind them. As someone who has been on that side of things (while not as extreme as these cases), I can say that you really do learn a lot from the experience, and it helps you in all future projects.

MYTHOS: NECRONOMICON, Bicycle® Playing Cards ended at 284% of its funding goal with a total pledge amount of $42,660. Congratulations to 4PM Designs on their success.

B.O.R.G. – Basic Organic Recall Game ended at $0 of its $5,000 funding goal.

Dominion of the Gods Tactical Miniatures Game ended at $16,041 of its $35,000 funding goal.

Legend’s Gauntlet ended at $2,371 of its $38,000 funding goal.

Mix & Match Healthy Snacks ended at 0% of its $5,000 funding goal.

Blackwater Gulch: Rebels & Reinforcements is a Wild West miniatures battle game. It’s currently at 273% of its $10,000 funding goal, and ends on December 5th.

Anastasiya is a PC text adventure puzzle game. It’s currently at 4% of its $3,000 funding goal, and ends on December 7th.

Allure Bicycle Playing Cards Deck is an elegant and mysterious deck of playing cards. It’s currently at 148% of its $15,000 funding goal, and ends on December 7th.

Vertical is a magnetic chess board. It’s currently at 1% of its $5,500 funding goal, and ends on December 14th.

Schoolyard Snodown is a side-scrolling PC beat-em-up. It’s currently at 9% of its $9,700 funding goal, and ends on December 23rd.

-Ionic A++ack- is a mobile/PC ionic compound game. It’s currently at 0% of its $17,600 funding goal, and ends on December 26th.

If you are launching a Kickstarter project and need any feedback, feel free to contact us. Also please let us know if you see a Philadelphia area project that is missing. And as always, keep an eye on the Local Kickstarters page for all of the active and completed projects. See you next month!

October 2012 Local Kickstarter Project Update

Published on October 28, 2012 in kickstarter and local news. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Philadelphia area game-related Kickstarter projects have had a 47.36% success rate in recent months. That is slightly higher than the national average released by Kickstarter (43.81%). The odds are against you as a project creator, but if you plan your project well, you can succeed. Part of planning may include researching other similar projects and talking to people with experience. And next week, there is a semi-local opportunity to talk tome someone with plenty of experience… Kickstarter themselves.

Cindy Au, Kickstarter’s Director of Community, will be in Central/North Jersey at Metatopia, the Game Design Festival (Nov 2-4 in Morristown, NJ). If anyone knows what makes a Kickstarter project successful, it’s Cindy. At one point she personally reviewed every single project that launched and answered every single project-related email.

The convention is primarily driven by analog design, but analog and digital share many of the same principals. I will be in attendance, and maybe I’ll see some of you there as well. For additional information on Metatopia and Cindy Au’s involvement, visit: http://www.dexposure.com/m2012.html

Evil Spares None ended at 302% of its funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $15,102. Congratulations to Matthew Akana on his success.

Monsters! – A 2D Shooter for Win/Mac/Linux ended at 127% of its funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $5,115. Congratulations to Zenas Bellace on his success.

Redcap’s Corner Roleplaying Mural ended at 159% of its funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $1598. Congratulations to Redcaps Corner on their success.

Daimyo: Samurai Struggle To Control A Province ended at $480 of its $10,000 funding goal.

Anastasiya is a puzzle and visual novel text adventure game for PC. It’s currently at 1% of it’s $3,000 goal, and ends on December 7th.

B.O.R.G. – Basic Organic Recall Game is a simultaneous play iOS board game. It’s currently at 0% of it’s $5,000 goal, and ends on October 31st.

Dominion of the Gods Tactical Miniatures Game is a Pantheon vs. Pantheon miniatures battle game. It’s currently at 41% of it’s $35,000 goal, and ends on November 2nd.

Legend’s Gauntlet is a book-based sword fighting game that uses the Lost Worlds system. It’s currently at 4% of it’s $38,000 goal, and ends on November 14th.

Mix & Match Healthy Snacks is an educational board game that reinforces healthy eating habits for kids. It’s currently at 0% of it’s $5,000 goal, and ends on November 17th.

MYTHOS: NECRONOMICON, Bicycle® Playing Cards is a deck of 56 playing cards, based off of H.P. Lovecraft’s Book of the Dead a/k/a Necronomicon. It’s currently at 271% of it’s $15,000 goal, and ends on October 31st.

If you are launching a Kickstarter project and need any feedback, feel free to contact us. Also please let us know if you see a Philadelphia area project that is missing. And as always, keep an eye on the Local Kickstarters page for all of the active and completed projects. See you next month!

September 2012 Local Kickstarter Project Update

Published on September 12, 2012 in kickstarter and local news. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

Kickstarter has been all over the news recently, especially since they posted their September 4th blog about accountability. The article was sparked by the same question that comes up all the time; “When a Kickstarter campaign fails, does anyone get their money back?” Many do not know the actual answer, so it’s a great read for backers and project owners.

Speaking of reading material, we’ve put together a page called Kickstarter Resources. It’s light for now, but it will continually grow. These articles may be helping hands for those who are new to Kickstarter, or simply reminders/reinforcements for Kickstarter veterans. The article that I can pinpoint as the inspiration for the resource page is Kickstarter Best Practices by Buried Without Ceremony.

Genesis Series, Bicycle® Playing Cards ended at 114% of it’s funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $17,180.00. Congratulations to TPX Designs on their success.

Phantasmaburbia ended at 263% of it’s funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $2,639.00. Congratulations to Greg Lobanov on his success.

aMaz3D ended at $660 of its $30,000 goal.

Braille Dice ended at $3,543 of its $11,000 goal.

Daimyo: Samurai Struggle To Control A Province is a hex tile based board game about recruiting and battling with Samurai. It’s currently at 4% of it’s $10,000 goal, and ends on September 15th.

Evil Spares None is a 2-4 player Cooperative Survival Horror board game about teens in a slasher movie. It’s currently at 126% of it’s $5,000 goal, and ends on October 4th.

Monsters! – A 2D Shooter for Win/Mac/Linux is a retro styled shooter with a twist: as you shoot, you lose life. It’s currently at 37% of it’s $4,000 goal, and ends on October 18th.

Redcap’s Corner Roleplaying Mural was created to dress the bare walls of the RPG room in Philly’s Redcap’s Corner game store. It’s currently at 60% of it’s $1,000 goal, and ends on September 23rd.

If you are launching a Kickstarter project and need any feedback, feel free to contact us. Also please let us know if you see a Philadelphia area project that is missing. And as always, keep an eye on the Local Kickstarters page for all of the active and completed projects. See you next month!

August 2012 Local Kickstarter Project Update

Published on August 10, 2012 in kickstarter and local news. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

We’re little over halfway through the summer, and it’s safe to say it’s been HOT! Both outside and on Kickstarter.

In July we saw a few big changes happening within Kickstarter. First, they changed the project page up a bit, and then there were some changes to the Project Guidelines. One change that might impact local game projects is the new limited bulk sales. No more than 10 units for retailers are allowed (for example: you cannot add a pledge level to buy 100 copies of the game for $X). Keep this in mind when developing your projects.

And then there’s OUYA, the very first crowd-funded video game console that hit almost 2 million dollars on it’s launch day. A big step for the game industry and also for Kickstarter.

Pixel Lincoln: The Deckbuilding Game ended at 824% of it’s funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $41,229.00. Congratulations to Island Officials on their success.

Project Ninja Panda Taco ended at 118% of it’s funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $14,808.00. Congratulations to Jennifer Steen / Jennisodes Inc. on her success.

Codename “War Zone” ended at $211 of it’s $5,000 goal.

Genesis Series, Bicycle Playing Cards is a playing card deck inspired by the first book of the bible.It’s currently at 110% of it’s $15,000 goal, and ends on August 12th.

aMaz3D is a 3D maze exploration game for Android, iOS, Mac and PC. It’s currently at 2% of it’s $30,000 goal, and ends on August 14th.

Braille Dice is a dice set for the visually impaired. It’s currently at 12% of it’s $11,000 goal, and ends on August 31st.

If you are launching a Kickstarter project and need any feedback, feel free to contact us. Also please let us know if you see a Philadelphia area project that is missing. And as always, keep an eye on the Local Kickstarters page for all of the active and completed projects. See you next month!

July 2012 Local Kickstarter Project Update

Published on July 5, 2012 in kickstarter and local news. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Hello, and welcome to another month of local game-related Kickstarter updates!

June was pretty great for games on Kickstarter. There were multiple video games that exceeded $500,000 in pledges (Carmageddon: Reincarnation, Project Fedora and Two Guys Space Adventure), and a new board game project has taken the top spot, with over $950,000 in pledges (Sedition Wars). Kickstarter is growing rapidly at both the customer base and project level.

Bicycle Eclipse Playing Cards By: Hidden Mirrors ended at 113% of it’s funding goal, with a total pledge amount of $11,314. Congratulations to Juan G Perez on his success.

Booshies was canceled soon after it’s launch and ended at $1,195 of it’s $10,000 goal. Happy Chap Studios is currently looking for an alternate method of funding.

Nerd vs. Geek – comedy web series ended at $6,372 of it’s $16,232 goal. The group is still pushing forward, moving it’s project to Cinevore.com.

Southern Rising RPG ended at $425 of it’s $4,500 goal.

Super Fun Time ended at $221 of it’s $4,000 goal.

Video Game Design, and Science & Technology Summer Camps ended at $782 of it’s $4,000 goal.

Pixel Lincoln: The Deckbuilding Game is a card game featuring the 16-bit President of the United States from Island Officials and Game Salute. It’s currently at 340% of it’s $5,000 goal, and ends on July 15th.

Project Ninja Panda Taco is a video game from Jennisodes Inc. about Masterminds taking over the World and the Minions who try to help. It’s currently at 49% of it’s $12,500 goal, and ends on July 22nd.

Here’s hoping to a great July on Kickstarter. It’s dead summer, but the heat doesn’t seem to be slowing things down. Keep an eye on the Local Kickstarters page for all of the active and completed projects, and if you see a game project from the Greater Philadelphia area that is not listed, please let us know.

IGDA Philadelphia Events — June & July

Published on June 6, 2012 in chapter meeting, chapter news, events, game jam, philly game jam and picnic. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

We wanted to post a quick note to remind everyone of two upcoming events and quietly announce a third (a bigger announcement will come post-Philly Game Jam). You don’t want to miss ‘em!

June Chapter Meeting
Our June Chapter meeting is THIS WEEKEND (Saturday)! Are you coming? We will be having roundtables on Art, Programming, and Design/Production and then heading over to National Mechanics for the usual happy times.
Get in on this. http://bit.ly/igdaphillyjune2012

Philly Game Jam
PGJ is NEXT WEEKEND! The Analog Jam is SOLD OUT. The Digital Jam has room for ONE MORE team! Who’s gonna snag it? Are you excited? Are you ready?
Details: http://www.phillygamejam.com

July Chapter Meeting
WE MEAN SUMMER PICNIC AND KICKBALL EXTRAVAGANZA
Can you believe it’s been a year already? It’s time for our 2nd Annual IGDA Philadelphia Summer Picnic! Grab your friends. Grab your family. Grab anyone who loves the local game development community and join us on July 14 at FDR Park (same place as last year, different picnic areas — closer to the kickball action)! There will be a slight change in how the picnic will work this year. Instead of last year’s pot-luck style picnic, we will be charging a small fee and then we will use that money to purchase all the noms for the event. We will send out a more “formal” announcement about the picnic after the excitement of Philly Game Jam but we wanted to make sure you had the date so you can plug it into your calendars and not forget!
Details and Purchase ticket: http://bit.ly/igdaphilly2012picnic

If you have any questions, feel free to hit us up.