Greater Brisbane Chapter

Welcome to the Greater Brisbane Chapter! Come to the Greate Brisbane Chapter to share information, generate a cohesive network of developers and have fun!

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team sign-up for the fabulous 48 hour gamemaking challenge is NOW OPEN: http://www.48hrgamecomp.com/

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Greater Brisbane Chapter NEWS

Welcome to 2009! Lots of exciting events and happenings planned for this year - details coming soon, updates via the forums

the schedule is a tentative plan for this year - please do contact us with any other important dates, any further suggestions, ideas and any offers of help and skills.

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What is the IGDA?

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International Game Developer Association chapters connect game developers in local communities around the world. Through regularly scheduled meetings, chapters provide an opportunity for professional game developers to interact with peers on a local level, and reach out to international peers. This new chapter of the IGDA seeks to bring together game developers in the greater Brisbane area, including the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

Learn more at http://www.igda.org/ .

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Why come to IGDA meetings?

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For one thing, it's fun to just get together with other game developers! Who else knows what you're talking about when you talk about a death-march milestone ship month? But there is a loftier purpose as well. All of us making games in Greater Brisbane, regardless of competition among our individual companies, have common goals. At the meetings we pursue those goals with a unified front. They are:

• Make Greater Brisbane a more attractive place for game development, and as a result get more publisher interest, more job seekers, and more international press.
• Gather and share the government resources of Brisbane, Queensland, and Australia which seek to encourage job growth and new industries.
• Increase the local community’s appreciation of the games industry, which will make us work with more pride, support, and visibility.
• Trade advice with one another on how to make all of Greater Brisbane’s game developers work more efficiently and more happily.
• Seek and share advice from the larger international game development community.

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Won’t this be a poacher’s paradise?

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The IGDA, and this Brisbane chapter especially, follow a very strict rule: If you are already working in the games industry, never use the IGDA to seek or advertise career opportunities. Though many may seek game jobs or seek to fill game job positions, it will be toxic to our common goals to use the IGDA in this manner. We will only flourish if game companies feel entirely safe in helping their employees attend and support the IGDA. To uphold this, we must ask all members and attendees never to use the IGDA as a forum to discuss career opportunities to those who work in the industry already, and to remind each other of this important rule. Please use other means to seek jobs and job applicants. Those who disregard this rule threaten the growth of the IGDA, and must be excluded from future meetings and communications.

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What if I'm not a developer?

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You are also welcome to join if you are interested in becoming a game developer. We may occasionally have events where we ask for "developers only please" but those are becoming more rare now that we have build up our core membership.

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What will it cost me?

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Attendance for the standard IGDA meetings will be free. Though we often meet over food and drink, we avoid places which make people feel they need to buy something. You may join the central IGDA organization as a free member, or choose to pay a small membership fee for extra benefits.

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How will I find the time to attend?

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All of us in the IGDA chapter are busy people, so we pursue our common goals with as small a time commitment as possible. The rest is all relaxation anmd let's face it, we need a break once in a while so we can make games players will enjoy. Meetings are held outside of standard business hours to allow people to tend to their jobs and still support the IGDA. It’s OK to miss meetings. We tend to do our most important business early so those who want just the essentials can get out within the hour.

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How can I stay connected?

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See our forums at the Brisbane IGDA forum site. To post, you can get a free IGDA membership, bookmark the IDGA Greater Brisbane Chapter forum and read the summary reports on this website!

Or join the Brisbane IGDA mailing list (which is very low-traffic).

[more on communcation]

The Brisbane chapter’s website is at http://www.igda.org/brisbane/

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Next Meeting

To find out about the next meeting, go to the IGDA Brisbane Chapter forums

Planning meetings are usually held on alternate months to events. Usually the third weekend of the month unless otherwise stated. Check the forums for details.

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Summary reports 2009

march: Game design under pressure
The team from 3 Blokes Studios, a highly successful Brisbane-based game development company, share practical tips for meeting strict design deadlines. Learn about working efficiently without compromising your creativity. 3 Blokes Studios will also chat about the recent Studio Game On project, re-visit the games designed during 2008’s massive 48hr Game-Making Challenge, and discuss the industrial environment of gaming within the current economic climate [video @ CIP archive]

april: Reviewing games
We all know the real test of a new game is how well it plays at home - never mind the PR buzz. And noone knows that better than you, the consumer. Whether you’ve played an amazing game or just an average one, chances are you’ve posted about it on a forum or blog to let others know exactly what you think. So, why not make it official and become a game reviewer? Join the guys from Australian Gamer as they talk about how they review games via their website, popular podcasts and vibrant online community, plus hear about their new foray into television!

may: More than a game: a campaign
Mixed reality, cross-platform or alternate reality games are those games that use a variety of media (web, film, TV, performance and even the real world) to engage audiences and players alike. You may have joined in one of these without even realising! Designing a cross-platform campaign game involves people from TV, film, creative writing and game design. Join us to hear about how it’s done.

july: Matt Ditton - Programming for (game) artists
Matt has been making games in Brisbane for about 9 years and he's been through almost every part of the art team including character modeller, level modeller, lead artist, asset manager, and technical artist. These days he concentrates his efforts on the data side of art and games, focussing on the art tools and pipeline integration. Matt will offer insights into why artists in gaming should learn code and how you can learn without tears! See Matt on Tsumea's youtube channel – GCAP 08

[video @ CIP archive]

aug: More than an add-on: Audio for games
The emphasis on visuals in current game designing often means we look to the audio department after the design itself has been decided. But game audio is not a mere add-on; it can deliver core emotional engagement and make or break the design. Whether game audio is your area of expertese or interest, or if you are just keen to know more about this aspect of game design, this special discussion based session is sure to answer some questions. Watch this space and the forums for announcement of panelists.

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Archived years

• brisbane igda chapter 2008 year planner and archived reports
• brisbane igda chapter 2007 year planner and arched reports
• brisbane idga chapter 2006 year planner and archived reports
• brisbane igda chapter 2005 year planner and archived reports
• brisbane igda chapter 2004 summary reports

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Communicate

• IGDA discussion forum for events, news and discussions - this is our main forum, you need to be an IGDA member to post - IGDA offer a range of membership choices, including a free option!
• Email discussion list : Simply email brisbaneIGDA-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and follow the directions that ensue. Note that you do not have to get a Yahoo userID; you can elect just to join the mailing list without joining the group itself. This is generally a low traffic announcement list only, for discussions and and general community news and views, please join the forums.

Our main forum is the IGDA forum. This where any IGDA member can post and offer contributions etc. We tend to use the discussion list to post notices only. SO if you are limited for time, we recommend bookmarking the forum!

Any offers of ideas and / or volunteering or suggestions are welcome, either via the forum or email truna: j.turner AT qut.edu.au. We try and hold planning meetings every alternative month and events on the others - - suggestions and contributions to planning most welcome, again, either via the forums or email truna.

We used to have a student discussion list run by Matthew Ota and Travis Draper which offered a space for students and those of you hoping to join the games industry to talk about job opportunities and issues - anyone willing to ressurect this please contact truna

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Chapter Team

Chapter auntie: truna

Chapter student faction coordinators : [sIGDA]

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Resources/Links

IGDA Home: http://www.igda.org/

Queensland Games: http://www.queenslandgames.com/

Australian Gamer: http://www.australiangamer.com/

Sumea Launchpad Australian and NZ Games Developer Website: http://www.sumea.com.au/

Gamasutra: The Art and Science of Making Games: http://gamasutra.com/

Gamespy: Reviews and demos for research: http://www.gamespy.com/

Game Developers Association of Australia: http://www.gdaa.asn.au/

Queensland Game Developers: http://www.qldgamedev.com/

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Developing Student Chapters, competitions and initiatives:

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Digital Design Groups:

Digital Laborers Federation: http://www.dlf.org.au/

General:

About Brisbane: http://www.ourbrisbane.com/

last updated by truna aug 2009