Sid Meier, David McKibbin, Don Wuenschell speak on game programming.

David McKibbin and Don Wuenschell are members of the Firaxis development
team. David is known to the team as "the alchemist". Sid describes Don
as a "consummate programmer". They will join Sid to present different
aspects of the development process at Firaxis.

When: Thursday, September 4th, 8:00 - 9:00 PM

Where: The Engineering Society of Baltimore
11 W. Mount Vernon Place
Baltimore, MD 21201
http://www.esb.org/

The talk is free and open to the public. Tell your friends!

Title: "Game Programming: Oh say, can you C?"
Speakers: Sid Meier, David McKibbin, Don Wuenschell

Description:

Programming a computer game: There are three types of programming in
games: (1) game play on one end, (2) engine on the other, and (3) the
layer in between that allows the two others to communicate.
Each type of programming is different from the others. Programmers are
drawn to one or another type of programming because of its power or
beauty. Sid has developed a flexible style of programming that allows
him to make instantaneous changes at the game play level.
An engine programmer needs a bit more conformity to step in where
someone else left off. The programmers in the middle have fun because
they can make the other two "worlds" talk to each other. Sid and other
speakers will discuss the different types of programming and how they
"play nice" together.

For your convenience, we include transportation information below.

Thank you for your attention,
The BACM Executive Committee

Emil Volcheck, Chair
Jay Smart, Vice Chair
Joyce Little, Secretary
Kathleen Harmeyer, Treasurer
Craig Holcomb, Member at Large
David Isherwood, Member at Large


--------------

Transportation

Light Rail:

From the light rail stop at Howard and Centre, walk a block north, turn
right on Monument, then go four blocks east to Mt. Vernon Place.
The light rail schedule is on the web at:

http://www.mtamaryland.com/services/lightrail/schedule/

Posted by TronsterHartley on September 3, 2008 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Silverlight talk at CMAP 4/1

Tonight, Tuesday, April 1st, CMAP will be hosting a talk on Silverlight given by Pete Brown. The CMAP meeting begins at 6:30pm. Details are on their web-site CMAP web-site.

Posted by TronsterHartley on April 1, 2008 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

UMBC Digital Entertainment Conference 4/12

UMBC is holding its 3rd annual Digital Entertainment Conference on April 12th from 10:30 to 5:30 PM at UMBC In Lecture Hall III.

This event brings speakers from the industry to come and speak about their areas of expertise in the industry. No RSVP is required to attend this free event.

For more information, see the post in the Baltimore IGDA forum.

Note: As of 4/3/08 its now in Lecture Hall III. The above entry has been modified to reflect this.

Posted by TronsterHartley on March 31, 2008 09:49 AM | Comments (0)

Save Maryland IT Day 2/27

Effecting every video game studio in the area; Maryland recently passed a tax that raised IT services from 0% to 6%.

There is a rally being held in Annapolis, MD in a few weeks. If you are in the industry now or intend on being in the industry at a Maryland studio, please come out and support this event.

Date: Wed, Feb 27
Time: Arrive 9:30am for 10:00am press event. Visit legislators after.
Place: Annapolis, MD, The Maryland Inn, 16 Chruch Circle
Details: www.fightthetechtax.com
Sponsors: Everybody -- MCSA, Tech Tax Coalition, Chambers, Tech Councils, Associations

It's time to be heard.
We will make it easy for you.
Many of us have never participated in an event like this. Now is the time to start! It REALLY does make a difference. Probably ALL the difference. And don't worry...we will make it easy for you.

We will start at an indoor location for a press event and staging. Then we will guide you across the street to your legislators' offices. You may speak your piece. Or simply provide support just by being in the same room while others talk.

Mark you calendar. Bring your colleagues, management, staff, and customers.
A few years ago over 1,000 doctors came to Annapolis and saved themselves. We need to do the same. Bring everybody you can!

We will provide more details later. For now, please reserve the day in your calendar. This is the event you have been waiting for!

Tom Loveland
Co-Founder, Maryland Computer Services Association
CEO, Mind Over Machines, Inc.
443.738.8010 direct
tloveland@mominc.com

Posted by TronsterHartley on February 15, 2008 09:56 AM | Comments (0)

THQ buys Big Huge Games

I'm posting this a few days late because most people know about this already, but for those who don't pay attention to such things: a big huge congratulations to the folks from Big Huge Games for their recent acquisition by THQ, announced last Tuesday.

There's a range in quality among publishers out there, and THQ's a good one, or so I've heard, anyway, from those who have worked with them. Good luck, folks!

Summing up the state of area studio acquisitions, then:


Who's next? Who's left? You know who you are.

Posted by on January 24, 2008 03:22 PM | Comments (0)

Richard Garriott speaking at George Washington Univ 12/10

Richard Garriott will be giving a talk on Monday at George Washington University @7pm to 9pm.

Location: George Washington University Campus
Marvin Center
3rd Floor Auditorium
800 21st Street NW
Washington, DC 20052

More information at: www.dcacm.org/announce.html

Posted by TronsterHartley on December 5, 2007 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

SDE Capstone Games Presentations 12/10

University of Baltimore's SDE Captsone Games Presentations are scheduled for Monday, December 10, 2007 at 7pm.

It is taking place on the 5th floor of the Student Center, which is 1 block from the Light Rail University of Baltimore / Mt. Royal stop.

Pizza and games afterwards.
This event is free and open to the public.

For questions contact Kathleen Harmeyer

Posted by TronsterHartley on December 5, 2007 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

Susan G. Komen Maryland Race for the Cure 10/14

Calling on all folks who make games in the Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia region to come together as a community to have fun and give back!

Our new “GamersUnite!” organization, formed by employees at our local gaming companies, invites you, your family and friends to join us for our first event:

2007 Susan G. Komen Maryland Race for the Cure
(dedicated to curing breast cancer)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Hunt Valley, Maryland
8:00 AM 5K Run (3.1 miles)
8:45 AM 5K Walk / 1 Mile Family Fun Walk
(Race Village is at the Executive Plaza parking lots on Shawan Road in Hunt Valley)

For more information on the event and how to register please go to our GamersUnite! Team webpage at:
kmd2007rftc.kintera.org/gamersuniteteam

Posted by TronsterHartley on September 7, 2007 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

New Studio in Hunt Valley

Let's all welcome ZeniMax Online to our growing community of studios in Hunt Valley.

Being a booster for the Hunt Valley area, I have to re-post, verbatim, a part of Matt Firor's recent interview about the new studio:


Name three great things about Hunt Valley, MD

First and foremost is location. It's close to Baltimore and Washington, yet is in an easily-affordable area close to Maryland horse country and rural Pennsylvania. You can hike in Loch Raven Reservoir in the afternoon and drive downtown to see a show at the trendy 8×10 club in Federal Hill, Baltimore in the evening. Second is the game development and sci-fi/fantasy history of the area. Microprose was founded in Hunt Valley and many of the studios in the area are offshoots from that major early industry player. The Balticon Science Fiction and Fantasy convention is an annual rite for many Baltimore-area game developers, which has been held in Hunt Valley for years - the first Balticon was way back in 1967. Third, it’s the future home of ZeniMax Online Studios!

You can read the whole interview here.

Posted by on August 3, 2007 02:43 PM | Comments (0)

Autodesk NE Game Summit

Autodesk is hosting a NE Game Summit on Tuesday, May 15th from 1pm to 6:30pm at the Baltimore Marriott in Hunt Valley.

Details at:
http://offers.autodesk.com/7/m_e/gamesummit

Posted by TronsterHartley on May 14, 2007 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Two upcoming Univ Of Baltimore events

Saturday, 4/28, 10 am - 12 noon.
Michael Lazarus, 3D Animator for Juxtopia, Inc., will do a free 3D Master Class on Animating a character.
Business College Center Lecture Hall. 11 W. Mt Royal Avenue

Wednesday, 5/16, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
SDE Games Presentations and Pizza Party
UB Student Center Recital Hall, 17 Mt. Royal Avenue

Both are occurring at:
University of Baltimore
If taking the light rail from Hunt Valley, exit at the UB/Mt. Royal station.

Contact Kathleen Harmeyer for more questions:
443-604-4999

Posted by TronsterHartley on April 26, 2007 10:00 AM | Comments (0)

SDE Looking for assistance on Wednesday, April 18th

Kathleen Harmeyer, the Director of the Simulation & Digital Entertainment Program, is looking for 3 industry professionals to help tomorrow, 4/18 for the SDE Seminar.

Kathleen wrote:
It is the capstone class and our students are finishing up their games. I'd like to have some industry folks give them some critques on their games before they finalize them. There are two games under development. The class is Wednesday: April 18, 5:30 - 7:00 pm. At the University of Baltimore. It's on the light rail line if folks are coming from Hunt Valley at rush hour.

Kathleen can be contact at the following:
Voice mail: 410 837-5473
email: kharmeyer@ubalt.edu

Posted by TronsterHartley on April 17, 2007 09:10 AM | Comments (0)

Support Future Industry Professionals

Kathleen Harmeyer, Director of BTPS in Simulation & Digital Entertainment at the University of Baltimore, is seeking game designers, producers, and other industry professionals to assist her on October 26th in reviewing and providing feedback on her classes Capstone Game Design projects, and again on December 14th to review the final products. This would only take a day, in total, of your time, and would greatly benefit the scholastic game design community.

We all know how busy everyone is, always, but see if you can squeeze in some time and e-mail Kathleen at kharmeyer at ubalt.edu.

Posted by on October 4, 2006 10:28 AM | Comments (0)

Big Huge Games Showcases Art Dev. Process at M.I.C.A.

"From Thursday, September 14 – Sunday, October 8, Maryland game developer Big Huge Games shares the art-making process of their latest PC strategy game, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends™ at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The exhibition takes place in MICA’s Rosenberg Gallery located in the Brown Center at 1301 Mount Royal Avenue. A reception takes place Thursday, October 5, 5 – 7 p.m.

In this exhibition, Big Huge Games showcases a variety of work from every stage of the development of Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends™, including original concept sketches, cinematic animations, computer-produced figurines of character models, and in-game video footage. Visitors also get the chance to try out the game at computer terminals. Works by a select group of MICA experimental animation students accompanies the exhibition. The students participated in an applied research class at Big Huge Games during the 2005 – 2006 academic year" (MICA, Source, 2006).

Read the full article here.

Posted by on September 26, 2006 11:40 AM | Comments (1)

Project Management in Games Development Thesis and Survey

A German Management student from Germany recently contacted the Baltimore IGDA about his Thesis, "Project Management in Games Development". This could turn out to be a very interesting piece of research, but he needs some help. Any producers/project managers who are willing could help by taking a quick minute and filling out the survey linked to below. Full text of the message below.

Survey can be found at: www.ime-institut.de/umfrage

----------------------------------------

Hello Jonathan,

I am a 24 year-old student from Germany, currently finishing my studies and writing my thesis on the “Project Management in Games Development”. The thesis compares several agile and plan-driven methods and analyzes their applicability for the games industry with an emphasis on how to approach the uncertainty of game design for reliable planning.

In theory both ways (explorative/agile and plan-driven/predictive) have their pros and while they also have their homegrounds, the only way of really getting to an answer is through analyzing practical experience.

That’s why I put up an online survey on the matter which can be found at www.ime-institut.de/umfrage. The survey is aimed at project managers, completely anonymous and takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.

If have already posted this link to the IGDA production SIG as well as the proper Forum. However, only 30 people have participated so far – not enough to draw any valuable conclusions. While the IGDA (of which I am a member as well) can’t advertise the survey in its monthly newsletter, Jason Della Rocca proposed that I contacted the local chapters for help.

It would be great if you could help spread the word to the people in your chapter because only many participants will help drawing valuable conclusions. Of course, the results will be published on that website afterwards and I am also looking to publish my thesis in English.

Regards,
Patrick

PS: I have also prepared a mini-blog that kind of follows my work on this thesis. It is located here: http://pmforgames.blog.de/

--------------------------
Patrick Streppel
Wermecker Weg 1
58507 Lüdenscheid

www.streppel.net

Posted by on September 19, 2006 10:28 AM | Comments (0)