February 01, 2008
February Meeting Announced
The next Albany IGDA meeting will be held on February 13th from 6 to 9pm (presentation starts at 7 PM), at Brown's Brew Pub. Joel Gonzales will be giving his GDC talk, "Invasion of the Communities!"
Session Description
When running any online game, groups or guilds will form from the people playing it. But more frequently, communities from outside your game will come in and set up their own guilds. These prefabricated communities tend to retain the culture of where they came from and act differently than guilds formed from your regular game players. This presentation will attempt to analyze what makes these prefabricated communities unique and look at how their behavior affects community management.
Idea Takeaway
Session attendees will get a better understanding of what prefabricated communities are and how they operate. Community managers will learn some of the pitfalls of having these groups in your game as well as how to harness them. Online game designers will learn how prefabricated communities act under different game rules.
Intended Audience
The intended audience are game designers involved in creating online communities for their games as well as community managers who deal with moderating online groups.
Posted by MeganPerry at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2007
Game Development and QoL in India (and What it Means for Game Developers in the US)
Speaker: Casey O'Donnell, PhD Candidate, RPI
Topic: Game Development & Quality of Life in India
Location: Brown's Brewing Co., 417 River Street, Troy, NY
Date: Wednesday, August 1, 6:30-9 PM
The rise of India, China, and South Korea as viable locations for game
production, and the increased use of offshore and inshore outsourcing
could have developers feeling like their worlds are eroding. But does
the process of globalization necessarily mean the descent of game
development in the US?
This talk will look specifically at game development studios in India
compared to those in the US. What kinds of studios are there? What is
the state of game development? How are they alike or different? What
is the state of relations between them? What do both have to learn
from the other? More broadly, what can this teach about the game
industry? And, finally, what does globalization mean for QoL here at
home?
"Learning to play Cricket with some of the guys from RedOctane. With a
tennis ball I'm an asset. With that crazy heavy leather covered thing,
I'm a liability."
Casey O'Donnell is a PhD. Candidate in the Department of Science and
Technology Studies (STS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His work
examines the diverse forces and activities - laws, technologies,
collaboration, and workplace cultures, for example - that shape video
game development, and make it tenable in today's globalized economy.
His broader research questions, "What can the everyday worlds of video
game developers teach us about the "new" economy?" and "How do these
worlds differ across national and cultural boundaries?" links the game
industry to global processes.
Portions of his research have been supported by an NSF Grant (Award #0620903).
Posted by IanStead at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2007
Puzzle Quest: Co-development for the Handheld Market
Speaker: Colin Wilkinson, Senior Designer, 1st Playable Productions
Topic: Puzzle Quest: Co-development for the Handheld Market
Location: Brown's Brewing Company, 417 River Street, Troy, NY
Date: Tuesday, May 22, 6-9 PM
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords created quite a splash when it came out in March. The game is a fusion between the addictive game play of Bejewelled and RPG mechanics with experience gain, loot, magic and tons of monsters to slay. In short order it had received critical acclaim, two comics about it featured in Penny-Arcade, and became a top seller on Amazon.
Three versions of the game were developed. A PC Demo which was released in February and then a PSP and DS version. The DS version was a collaborative effort between several companies D3 Publisher, Infinite Interactive, Vicious Cycle, Engine Software, and Troy's own, 1st Playable Productions.
Colin Wilkinson, Senior Designer at 1st Playable was the producer for the game and worked with Infinite and D3P to bring the design to the DS system. Join us next week when he will give a talk going into the details of that process.
Colin's Bio:
During the past eight years Colin Wilkinson has shipped more than 16 titles for handheld, PC, mobile, and web platforms in genres ranging from classic platformers to children's titles to action adventure. Most recently he has focused on the Nintendo DS, where the touch screen and other features offer exciting new design opportunities and challenges. Most recently he led the development of the cross-genre hit Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for the Nintendo DS. Puzzle Quest combines casual puzzle play with an epic RPG saga, and illustrates how handheld games are reaching new audiences while also appealing to the more classic audience.
Click here for directions to the meeting
Posted by IanStead at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2007
First Ever Board Games Night!
Join us this month will be the first ever Albany IGDA Board Games Night! Bring your favorite board games, card games and handheld games. Have some coffee, dessert or Peruvian food at the newly opened Troy Hotspot. This will be a casual event and will run from 6 to 10 so drop in any time during the evening.
Event: First Ever Board Games Night!
Location: The Troy Hot Spot, 122 4th Street, Troy, NY
Date: February 26th, 6-10 PM
Posted by IanStead at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2007
Next Meeting Coming Soon!
We are in the process of setting up the next meeting for sometime in mid-to-late February. As soon as the details are set we will have the information here. Thank you for patiently waiting!
Posted by IanStead at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2006
Meeting Announcement : Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Speaker: Leo Zuniga - Designer, Vicarious Visions
Topic: Tiny Tony: Delivering Console-Quality Gameplay on a Handheld Platform
Location: Brown's Brewing Company, 417 River Street, Troy, NY
Date: Wednesday, September 20th, 6-9 PM (Presentation 6:30-7:30)
Ever wonder how Vicarious Visions manages to cram all that delicious Tony Hawk gameplay into a convenient travel size package? Designer Leo Zuniga has the answers. Join us as he explains the process behind adapting a sucessful console design to a handheld platform.
If you want to enjoy a tasty meal or frosty beverage at the meeting, we've got the hook-up. Make sure you bring cash, though, and pay one of the coordinators before you go. Otherwise, we will be sad (and broke!) pandas. Don't forget to include 24% for tax and tip.
Read below for further details on Leo's talk and his bio:
Tiny Tony: Delivering Console-Quality Gameplay on a Handheld Platform
Presented by Leo Zuniga
How did Vicarious Visions manage to bring the fun and challenge of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater franchise to Nintendo’s GBA - and then do it all over again with the Nintendo DS? VV’s time with Tony Hawk has been a positive experience resulting in many great titles. Having played a key role in developing the franchise at VV, I’d like to share some of that adventure with you.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, the franchise debut on the GBA, was met with great reviews and awards for technical achievement. Tony 2 was a big game to fit on the GBA. It took a lot of tricks coming from all three disciplines in order to keep true to the Neversoft formula.
Last fall, Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land DS met with similar praise and recognition. The DS is a different monster. It is more powerful, but the Tony Hawk series (now on its 8th iteration!) has done nothing but balloon over the years. As a result, there was still a lot of cramming and careful feature evaluation on our part. We spent a lot of time deciding which features would fit best in a “pick up and play” handheld game as well as considering which features were most important to new and old Tony fans. On top of that, we found ways to incorporate the touch screen and pioneer online play on the DS.
Bio:
Leo Zuniga, Game Designer, Vicarious Visions.
I started as a lowly tester for Activision QA for a little known title called Tony Hawk Pro Skater (1999). I was able to help VV during the
development of Tony Hawk 2 GBA and joined the company later in 2002. My latest project is Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for the Nintendo DS.
Tester - Tony Hawk 1, 2 PSX
Production Tester - Tony Hawk 2, 3 GBA
Level Designer - Tony Hawk 4 GBA/PSX
Designer - THUG GBA, THUG 2 GBA, THAS DS, THDJ DS
Posted by IanStead at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2006
Event Announcement: Katherine Isbister Book Release Party - Thursday July 6th
Host: Katherine Isbister, RPI Professor & Game Research Lab Director
Event: Book Release Party for Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach
Location: Market Block Books, 290 River Street, Troy, NY
Date: Thursday, July 6th 2006, 4:30-6 PM
Katherine Isbister sent out this invitation to the book release party for her newly published book on character design. Katherine presented her research at the August 2005 meeting of the Albany IGDA. Here's an article about the release of her book on RPI's website.
Here's the official invite from Katherine:
Book Party July 6 for Better Game Characters by Design
Hello,
I'm writing to invite you to join in my celebration of the release of Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach. At long last, the book is here! (apologies if you receive a couple of these emails--hard to know who is on which list)
Come join me on Thursday July 6 for a book signing and reading--it's a chance to hear a little more about the ideas in the book, preview the game clips on the dvd, and get the author to sign a copy for you, if you like. And we'll even do a drawing for a free copy!
It's also a chance to visit a wonderful independent bookstore right in the heart of downtown Troy (www.marketblockbooks.com)
When:
Thursday July 6
4:30-6 p.m. for the signing and reading, interested parties can adjourn to Brown's Pub afterward
Where:
Market Block Books
290 River Street
Troy, NY
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think may be interested--I hope to see you and your friends and colleagues on July 6!
Do let me know if you think you'll come, so we have some idea of how many to expect.
Katherine Isbister
Directions & Parking
*
Google Maps link to 290 River Street.
*
Link to directions on the Market Block Books Website
From Route 7 East
Take the "Troy/Bennington" exit (Route 7 East). You will see a sign for "Downtown Troy," a two-lane exit to the right. Take this exit but stay in the left lane of the two. Follow the "Downtown" sign which will put you on 6th Avenue heading south. Follow 6th Avenue to
Federal Street. Make a right onto Federal, and go one block to
4th Street. Make a left turn which will lead you onto 3rd Street.
Market Block Books is located at the Point where 3rd Street and
River Street meet.
From Albany
Take I-787 North. Exit at the "Green Island" exit (8E). Take Exit 8E
to Green Island Bridge. Turn right at the traffic light at the
foot of the Bridge. Stay to the right onto 3rd Street. Market
Block Books is located at the Point where 3rd Street and River
Street meet.
OR you may take I-87 (Northway) north out of Albany to Exit 7. Then continue as above on Route 7 East.
From Schenectady
Take Route 7 East (Route 7 intersects with I-87 for ¼ mile). Follow the signs to Route 7 East. Continue as described above.
Posted by IanStead at 06:55 PM | Comments (0)
June 08, 2006
Meeting Announcement: Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
Speaker: Erin Hoffman (aka "ea_spouse")
Topic: Quality of Life Discussion
Location: DeJohns Restaurant & Pub, 288 Lark Street, Albany, NY 12210
Date: Tuesday, June 20th 2006, 6:30-8 PM
Join us at the June 2006 meeting for an informal chat lead by Erin Hoffman to discuss quality of life issues in the games industry, the process by which they became hot button topics in recent years, and steps that can be taken in the future by employees and employers alike to ensure a development environment most conducive to producing great games. We'll also discuss the IGDA's efforts to document and improve quality of life practices in the industry, and how Gamewatch will work in parallel to sustain quality of life as a focus issue for continuing development.
Erin's Bio:
Erin Hoffman is a game designer for 1st Playable Productions and was recently revealed as ea_spouse, the author of an online essay that garnered thousands of responses from within and without the games industry, as well as media coverage that put a spotlight on quality of life issues in game and software development. In March 2006 she and Leander Hasty launched Gamewatch.org, a site focusing on discussion of the various elements that come together to produce a positive or negative workplace environment, including production methods, scheduling practices, human resources management, overtime hours, and compensation. Erin is a member of the IGDA Quality of Life Committee and is currently involved in developing the IGDA's organizational Code of Ethics for independent developers.
Additional Resources:
* Gamewatch.org forums
* Exclusive: Nicole Wong Reveals Identity Of EA Spouse from mercurynews.com
Posted by IanStead at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2006
Meeting Announcement: Friday, April 28th, 2006
Game Festival
Darren Communication Center, RPI, Troy, NY
Friday, March 28th, 2006, 5 PM - 9:00 PM
IGDA Gathering
Java++ Cafe, 15th and College Ave, Troy, NY
Friday, March 28th, 2006, 9:15 PM - 10:15 PM
Game Symposium
RPI Biotech Center, RPI, Troy, NY
Saturday, March 28th, 2006, 9:45 AM - 2:30 PM
RPI 3rd Annual Game Festival & Symposium
Please join the Albany IGDA and RPI Game Development Club this Friday at the 3rd Annual Game Festival & Symposium. The festival will take place on Friday from 5-9 PM in the Darren Communication Center on the RPI Campus in Troy, NY. There will be 20 student projects on display and tables for local game studios, the Albany IGDA and RPI Game Development Club.
Following the Game Festival there will be an informal gathering at the nearby Java++ café on the corner of 15th and College Ave. This meeting will be an opportunity for Game Festival attendees and members of the Albany IGDA and RPI Game Development club to socialise. We will also be having a raffle (free for IGDA members, $1 tickets for non-members), an update from Bret Dunham (designer from Vicarious Visions) on the Albany IGDA chapter mod project HolyStrike, and brief informational talk on the Albany IGDA and RPI
Game Development Club.
On Saturday everyone is encouraged to attend the lectures and panel discussions at the Game Symposium ("WHERE CULTURES COLLIDE: THE ALCHEMY OF CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY IN MAKING GAMES") at RPI from 9:45 AM till 2:15 PM. This event is also free and open to the public and includes a free lunch (please RSVP to dangel@rpi.edu so they can get enough food).
Following are all the vital stats on the Game Festival and IGDA Gathering and Saturday's Game Symposium and a full program for the festival and game symposium courtesy of event coordinator Don Moore.
Friday
Game Festival, 5-9 PM
Darren Communication Center, RPI Campus, Troy, NY (building #17 on this campus map)
Play 24 student game projects, meet local game studios, the Albany IGDA and RPI Game Development Club!
Albany IGDA & RPI Game Development Club Gathering, 9:15-10 PM
Java++ Café at the corner of 15th Street and College Ave, Troy, NY (a short walk over from the Game Festival)
Informal social gathering, Free Raffle (for IGDA Members, tickets are $1 for non-members), Update on HolyStrike by Bret Dunham
Saturday
Game Symposium: "WHERE CULTURES COLLIDE: THE ALCHEMY OF CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY IN MAKING GAMES"
9:45 AM - 2:15 PM
The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, RPI Campus, Troy, NY (building #74 on this campus map)
Presentations and Panel discussions
Parking is available on the streets and parking lots near RPI on Sage, College Avenue and 15th Street and in some of the campus parking lots which are okay to park in after 5 pm.
Game Festival & Symposium >>>> THE FULL PROGRAM
FRIDAY & SATURDAY, April 28 & 29, 2006
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC -- LUNCH FREE SATURDAY
THIS IS AN EVENT FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF WHO WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GAMES AND THE GAME INDUSTRY
Sponsored by Vicarious Visions, an Activision Studio; and by The School of Humanities & Social Sciences at Rensselaer
>>>> What's Happening Friday >>>>
Friday, 5 PM to 9 PM, DCC Great Hall
Experience the traditional game bazaar with twenty-four tables and more of teams presenting new games; the Albany Chapter of the International Game Developers Association; and companies with representatives to speak with about careers. The companies, each of which employes Rensselaer alumni, are:
Vicarious Visions, an Activision Studio
Cryptic Studios
1st Playable Productions
Agora Games
>>>> What's Happening Saturday >>>>
Saturday, 9:45 AM to 2:15 PM, The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies Auditorium Center Auditorium
GAME SYMPOSIUM: "WHERE CULTURES COLLIDE: THE ALCHEMY OF CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY IN MAKING GAMES"
9:45 AM - Michael Lewis '93, Cryptic Studios, Opening Address
10:30 AM - Ian Bogost, Georgia Tech: "How to Do Things with Videogames: Persuasive Games and Procedural Rhetoric" (Abstract Below with Bio)
11:15 PM - "Women in Game Development"
Barbara Ann Ruel, Rensselaer Director of Women in Engineering, Moderator
Tobi Saulnier '84, 1st Playable Productions
Katherine Isbister, Rensselaer
12:15 - Lunch is Free. PLEASE, CONTACT THE DEAN'S OFFICE TO HELP US DETERMINE OUR LUNCH ORDER: dangel@rpi.edu, x6575
12:45 PM - "Activision: Inside the Levels of an Industry Giant", Karthik Bala '97
1:30 PM - "Young Alumni: Making It in the Virtual World" Panel
Kathleen Ruiz, Assoc. Prof. of Arts, Moderator
Michael DelPrete '03
Erin Hoffman '03
Ian Stead '04
Ben Zeigler '05
BIOS:
Karthik Bala '97, Founder and CEO of Vicarious Visions, one of ten studios of Activison. Vicarious Visions has earned critical acclaim with hit titles for top brands such as Tony Hawk, Spider-Man®, Crash Bandicoot®, SpongeBob Square Pants® and Star Wars®.
Ian Bogost, Ph.D., Asst Prof, Literature Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology , author of Unite Operations," a general theory for understanding creativity under computation, one that will apply increasingly to all creativity in the future.
ABSTRACT: "There has been much talk about educational games and so-called Serious Games in recent years. These are games designed or repurposed to serve "serious" purposes, such as service to educational, governmental, and corporate institutions. These goals may appear more "noble" than commercial videogames, which appear only to serve the ends of leisure. In this talk, I will argue for a different way to understand videogames' power to influence people, an approach I call Persuasive Games, an approach to videogames that inherits from the 2,5000 year tradition of rhetoric. After introducing these general concepts, I will provide examples of commercial, art, and independent games in the areas of politics, advertising, and education."
Michael DelPrete '03, M.A. in HCI fro RPI, President of Agora Studios and Agora Games, an RPI Incubator company.
Erin Hoffman '03, started her career in 1999 designing massively multiplayer text worlds for Simutronics; then as a designer and writer with Taldren, Inc.; Director of Online Communities for GoPets, Ltd., and is now a designer at 1st Playable.
Katherine Isbister, Ph.D. Assoc. Prof. of Communication at RPI is a Social scientist/designer working in Game character design, Founder of the Rensselaer Games Research Lab.
Michael Lewis '93, started Stellar Semiconductor, a 3D graphics acceleration technology and hardware company, in the RPI Incubator. As CTO, Michael led engineering development and systems for rapid, accurate implementation of complex architectures. In 2000, he helped found Cryptic Studios, now with over 60 employees, and its award winning titles: City of Heroes and the follow-on City of Villains.
Barbara Ann Ruel, Rensselaer, is Director of Diversity and Women in Engineering, responsible for the recruitment and retention of a diverse population of faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students for the School of Engineering.
Kathleen Ruiz, Assoc. Prof. of Electronic Arts at RPI, media artist working in simulation, games, sculpture and photography which explore multiple perspectives and the formation of mental geographies.
Tobi Saulnier '84, Ph.D. in EE from RPI, spent five years overseeing product development at Vicarious Visions before founding 1st Playable Productions. Prior to the game industry, Tobi managed R&D in embedded and distributed systems at General Electric Research and Development.
Ian Stead '04, an artist with 1st Playable Productions, formerly worked on cell phone games at Digital Thermite, and is the lead coordinator for the Albany chapter of the International Game Development Association.
Ben Zeigler '05, associate programmer, Cryptic Studios. Formerly President of the Rensselaer Game Development Club.
Posted by IanStead at 08:14 PM | Comments (2)
February 23, 2006
Meeting Announcement: Tuesday, March 7th, 2005
Speaker: Evan Skolnick - Producer/Editorial Director, Vicarious Visions
Topic: ...And Make It Snappy! Crafting Concise, Effective Dialogue for your Game
Location: The Taproom at Brown's Brewing Company, 417 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Date: Tuesday, March 7th, 2006
At the March meeting Evan Skolnick, Producer and Editorial Director at Vicarious Visions, will be giving a presentation based on his GDC 2006 session entitled "...And Make It Snappy! Crafting Concise, Effective Dialogue for your Game". Following Evan's talk there will be a brief discussion on progress made with the chapter Mod Project, Holy Strike.
Session Description
It's a sad fact of life: Most players hate cutscenes and in-game dialogue. Ironically, most designers hate them too. So why do so many games have so much of both? A certain amount of in-game dialogue is almost always necessary, but there is often much more than there really needs to be.
In this session we cover the basics of effective dialogue writing, and using before-and-after examples from actual shipped games, reveal the process of trimming the verbal fat, improving impact, injecting emotion, and making every precious word count.
Idea Takeaway
Attendees should come away with a better understanding of how to make cutscenes and in-game dialogue more exciting and compelling for players.
Intended Audience
Attendees who can benefit from this session run the gamut from junior designers to experienced game writers. There is no prerequisite for understanding the content of the session, apart from speaking English and being generally familiar with cutscenes and dialogue from various video games, in order to understand the context of the discussion and techniques explored.
Presenter Bio
Evan Skolnick, Producer / Editorial Director, Vicarious Visions / Activision A former journalist and Marvel Comics editor, Evan has written for properties such as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Dr. Strange, New Warriors, RoboCop, and many others. As editorial director for Vicarious Visions he has tuned dialogue for bestselling games such as X-MEN LEGENDS 2 PSP, SPIDER-MAN 2 PSP and DS, ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN DS and GBA, SHREK 2: BEG FOR MERCY GBA, CRASH BANDICOOT PURPLE GBA and SPYRO ORANGE GBA, among others.
Posted by IanStead at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2006
Mod Project Meeting: Thursday, February 9th, 7-9pm at the RPI SBRL
Moderators: Bret Dunham - Designer, Vicarious Visions
Michael Tomaino - Lead Organizer, Doom 3 Coop Mod 'Last Man Standing'
Topic: Game Design Brainstorming and Assigning Positions to Team Members
Location: RPI Social and Behavioral Research Lab, 21 Union Street, Troy, NY 12180
Date & Time: Thursday, February 9th, 7-9 PM
The next mod project meeting will be Thursday, February 9th in the conference room at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Social and Behavioral Research Lab. The agenda is brainstorming the game design and deciding positions and titles for members of the project. Bret Dunham will be moderating the discussion with Michael Tomaino's help. Bret is the Game Director for the mod and is a designer at Vicarious Visions. Michael is the Producer for the project and is the Lead Organizer for the Doom 3 Coop Mod 'Last Man Standing Coop'. Please send an email to Bret if you would like to help out with this project and be added to the mailing list. Anyone that can't attend the meeting but wants to help on the project should send Bret both ideas and job titles they are interested in.
Read further for additional information and directions:
You can check out the forum for more information and to join the discussion about the project: www.igda.org/Forums/showthread.php?s=8ac99f42556bd454997b05d598c893e3&threadid=20079
You can download Bret's PowerPoint presentation about the mod here: www.igda.org/albany/files/Bret_Dunham-Holy_Strike-01-32-06.zip
Additional information is available on the wiki: www.igda.org/wiki/index.php/IGDA_Albany#Chapter_Game_Project_-_.22Holy_Strike.22nd
If you want to join the mailing list contact Bret by sending an email to: demonhill[at]mac[dot]com
Michael has set up a MIRC chat room at irc.OFTC.net #holystrike or you can use the link: irc://irc.OFTC.net/holystrike. He recommends using the IRC client listed here: www.silverex.org/news/
DIRECTIONS & PARKING
This meeting will take place in the conference room at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Social and Behavioral Research Laboratory (SBRL). The SBRL is located on the second floor of the Gurely building on 21 Union Street in downtown Troy, NY. Parking for the SBRL can be found in the parking lot next to the main entrance, or in the nearby streets (Union, Fulton or Grand Street).
The following directions are copied from the SBRL website (www.sbrl.rpi.edu/about/contact.html)
From the South
Take I-87, the New York State Thruway, North to Exit 23. At Exit 23, get on
I-787 north to Route 7 East. Follow directions to the SBRL (below).
From the East
From I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike, Berkshire Spur of the New York Thruway), take Exit B1. Continue West (13.5 miles) to the Exit for I-787. Take I-787 North to Route 7 East. Follow directions to the SBRL (below).
From the West
Take I-90, the New York State Thruway, to Exit 24. From Exit 24, continue onto I-90 East. Exit onto I-787 North. Take I-787 North to Route 7 East.
Follow directions to the SBRL (below).
Directions to SBRL
From Route 7 East, exit to the right toward downtown right before 7 becomes a surface street. Merge onto 6th Avenue. Turn right onto Grand Street and take the first left on Union Street. Union Street is more of an alley than street, and the SBRL is the large brick building with the parking lot in front.
Posted by IanStead at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2006
Meeting Announcement: Tuesday, January 31st, 2005
Speakers:
Leander "Lan" Hasty - Programmer, 1st Playable Productions
Six Million Dollar Tester: Making QA Better, Stronger, and Faster Through Automation
Bret Dunham - Designer, Vicarious Visions
Albany Chapter Mod Project - Presentation and Planning Discussion
Location:
DeJohn's Restaurant & Pub, 288 Lark Street, Albany, NY 12210
Date & Time:
January 31st, 6:00 PM (presentation starts at 6:30 PM)
At the January meeting, Leander "Lan" Hasty, a programmer from 1st Playable Productions, will be giving a presentation based on his GDC 2006 round table discussion entitled Six Million Dollar Tester: Making QA Better, Stronger, and Faster Through Automation.
Following Lan's presentation, Bret Dunham, a designer at Vicarious Visions, will give a brief talk about the Albany Chapter Mod Project. Please attend the meeting if you would like to learn more about the mod, including how you can participate in its development, or if you simply want to be a part of the planning discussion.
Read below for details on Lan's presentation and the Chapter Mod Project led by Bret Dunham.
Six Million Dollar Tester: Making QA Better, Stronger, and Faster Through Automation
Presented by Leander Hasty
Presentation Description:
Quality assurance isn't just for testers anymore; as the industry is expanding and the next generation of development begins, there is an ever-increasing need to avoid problems early, decrease iteration time, deliver better data about both the state of production and the mechanics of the game, and generally allow both testers and developers to spend more time focused on the quality of the end product. This presentation brings to light three areas into which teams can invest tools and automation efforts: prevention, detection, and analysis. Using this framework, teams should be able to identify and prioritize opportunities for future effort, assess techniques and tools used by other members of the industry, and hopefully arrive at a base set of common "best practices" for any game genre and team organization.
Idea Takeaway:
Quality assurance provides a rich potential for tools and automation to supplement, extend, and to some degree replace the traditional duties of test staff, allowing each tester to shift his or her attention to qualitative feedback, and decreasing the iteration time for key members of the development team. By establishing a QA tools and automation "roadmap" with a few distinct categories -- prevention, detection, and analysis -- test engineers can ensure their efforts cover all opportunities, and identify areas of high return for low initial effort. Attendees should leave with an understanding of automation practices in teams throughout the industry, and a framework in which to order and evaluate these in the context of their own projects, as well as specific ideas.
Presenter Overview:
Leander has been working on tools and development support structures for approximately five years. He was the first QA engineer to be hired by Electronic Arts LA and was embedded into the THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE BATTLE FOR MIDDLE-EARTH team before moving on to support multiple teams at EALA. He also provided build and server support for Taldren during the development of BLACK 9 and the extension and improvement of SHADOWBANE for the Korean market. In August 2005, Leander went to 1st Playable Productions, where he supports a number of handheld and mobile game titles. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Philosophy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Albany Chapter Mod Project: 'Holy Strike'
Presented by Bret Dunham
Bret's description of the mod project, taken from his post on the Albany IGDA forum:
Hello everyone. Kicking off the new year is a game mod project for anyone that is an IGDA member. It will have opportunities for anyone that would like to make a video game and is intended to help expose many of you to processes and methods required for a present day quality product. How we measure this quality will outlined later.
The project will be based around the source engine (valve software). The subject matter will be a Counter Strike variant involving 2 asymmetrical teams (they use different tactics and weapons). This will of course be multiplayer only.
We will attempt to re-use as much original Counter Strike content as possible and focus on game play rules changes to create effectively an entirely new form of game play.
Game play will involve one side that uses conventional military weapons and tactics (grenades, rifles and handguns) versus the opposing team that will use unconventional tactics and weapons. This side will be referred to as the "Holy men". This holy side will use suicide bombing, RPG's, swords and finally "Holy magic" to counter the conventional side.
This core concept has been established and will not change. The supporting rules and game play are currently subject to creation and/or change. Any one joining the team will be given a chance to take part in the final Game Design Document (some having more say than other).
The goals of the project are actually simple. First to start and finish a mod project with in a 6 month time period (this is paramount). Second, delivery quality work with in the time frame. Third will be a product that we feel is worthy of our time spent on the project. This to me means I would be happy playing this game 2 years from now and have pride in the team that did it. Actually, the reasons that inpired this was a growing feeling that the IGDA Albany chapter needed some "buzz". And this is my response. (:
Regular milestone meetings will be held (some call this green light meetings). It is possible for the project to be cancelled before completion if the team believes the goals will not be met (no ones getting paid). On that note I would also tell you we will use a 2 tier approach for work assignments and responsibilities. Tier 1 team members will be assigned mission critical jobs while tier 2 team members will be assigned non critical assignments. All leads will be tier 1 while new comers OR members that feel they are unsure they can be 100% committed will be tier 2. Members will be allowed opportunities to adjust this based on THIER needs. This project is not meant to run your life (:
Any one interested may contact me at Demonhill[at]mac[dot]com
Posted by IanStead at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2005
Meeting Announcement: Wednesday, November 16th, 2005
Speaker: Mike DelPrete - President, Agora Studios
Topic: Half Life 2 mod: Plan of Attack
Location: 3rd floor of DeJohns Restaurant & Pub, 288 Lark Street, Albany, NY 12210
Date: November 16th, 6:30 PM (presentation starts at 7:00 PM)
Join us in November to get a glimpse into development of a successful mod for Half-Life 2. Mike DelPrete, President of Agora Studios, will be presenting Plan of Attack, a popular multiplayer team based combat mod his company has been developing.
Presentation Overview:
Plan of Attack is an award-winning modification built on the Half- Life 2 engine. Developed in the "spare time" of several Agora Studios employees, the game features several innovative features including an in-game strategy engine and a global statistics and tracking system. Since the release of Plan of Attack, the Agora team has gone on to other commercial projects built on technology developed for the game, primarily the global statistics engine.
Presenter Overview:
Michael DelPrete is the founder and President of Agora Studios. He has been developing online communities for the past 10 years, and has his Masters degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His current focus is on the intersection between online gaming and the communities that support it.
Posted by IanStead at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2005
Meeting Announcement: Thursday, September 15th, 2005
Speaker: Brenda Brathwaite - Senior Designer, Cyberlore
Topic: Murder, Sex and Censorship (and Why You Should Care)
Location: 3rd floor of DeJohns Restaurant & Pub, 288 Lark Street, Albany, NY 12210
Date: September 15th, 6:00 PM (presentation starts at 6:30 PM)
Join us for our September meeting when Brenda Brathwaite, a Senior Designer from Cyberlore will be coming up to Albany to present on "Murder, Sex and Censorship (and Why You Should Care)".
Following is more detailed info on Brenda's presentation and her bio.
Murder, Sex and Censorship (and Why You Should Care)
In the last year, over a dozen bills targeting video games were put before state Assemblies and Senates throughout America. In other countries, video games were banned outright. Legislators seek to control their sale and their distribution while big box retailers indirectly influence their content. And all this before Hot Coffee. Now, we face irate politicians and the FTC... again.
What does this mean for us as game developers? What should we do? How will the legislation affect us? Who's calling the shots?
If you make or play video games, this meeting is a must for you. Find out:
* Who says The Sims is an 18+ violent video game
* Why sports games can't be sold to minors in Illinois
* What heroin has in common with Mario
* Why you only think you have creative control
As a 23-year veteran of the video games industry, Brenda Brathwaite is currently a senior designer at Cyberlore Studios. She has worked on 20 published titles including the award-winning Wizardry series of role playing games and the award-winning Jagged Alliance series of strategy role-playing games. Most recently, she was lead designer on Playboy: The Mansion for Cyberlore. Brenda was also a host of the "Sexuality in Games" Roundtable at the 2005 Game Developer's Conference, the founder and moderator of the IGDA Sexuality in Games mailing list, and the founder and chair of the IGDA Sex SIG. Brenda is also a member of the International Game Developers Association.
Posted by IanStead at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2005
Meeting Announcement: Thursday, August 25, 2005
Speaker: Katherine Isbister (http://www.katherineinterface.com/)
Topic: Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach
Location: The conference room at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Social and Behavioral Research Laboratory, 21 Union Street, Troy NY 12180. (http://www.sbrl.rpi.edu/about/contact.html)
Date: Thursday August 25th at 7 PM
At the first meeting of Fall 2005 season Katherine Isbister will be giving a talk based on her character design book which is coming out in October.
Here is a bio and a short overview of Katherine's talk
Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach
Looking for ways to make your characters more real, interesting, and fun for players? Hoping to expand your audience with characters that appeal to a broader set of gamers? With the increasing powers of today’s graphics and AI, it’s easy to create an elaborate and expensive, but somehow ‘flat’ character. A cheaper and often more effective shortcut is to use a little psychology. The more you know about how people ‘read’ other people in real life interactions, the better your chances of making an engaging and fun game character.
This talk (based on Isbister's book by the same name, coming out in October) presents a few key ideas from social psychology that can help you make characters that seem alive and really enhance a player's gaming experience. You'll get suggestions you can apply to your own design process, relevant for artists and animators, as well as programmers.
Katherine Isbister is an Associate Professor of Communication (LL&C) at Rensselaer. She created and taught a course at Stanford University on the Design of Characters for Games, before joining Rensselaer's faculty to help develop a game design major. She received her Ph.D. from Stanford, with a focus on using ideas from social psychology to design better, more effective interactive characters. Isbister's work has been presented at GDC, DiGRA, CHI, Agents, and other conferences around the world. She has published in a wide variety of venues, and has given invited talks at research and academic venues including Sony Research labs in Japan, Banff Centre in Canada, U.C. Berkeley, the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and others. Isbister's book - Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach - will be released by Morgan Kaufmann in October 2005.
Posted by IanStead at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)