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Next Gathering Denny Thorley, Deke Waters and Jeff Gregg
from Day 1 Studios will debut Fracture, their current work in progress. Topics to be covered:
Denny Thorley, President of Day 1 Studios and Executive
Producer on Fracture An industry veteran with more than 19 years experience, Denny
Thorley is currently the President of independent game developer, Day 1
Studios. At Day 1, Thorley is credited with securing a first-party
development relationship with Microsoft and establishing long term development
partnerships with Lucas Arts and Vivendi Games. Fracture, Day 1’s most recently
announced title, is scheduled to be published by Lucas Arts in the summer of
2008. MechAssault, Day 1’s first title, shipped
for the Xbox in Q4, 2002. The fast action ‘Mech game quickly became the
darling of Xbox “Live” and helped Microsoft launch its strategic,
on-line initiative for the Xbox. MechAssault’s numerous awards, including
best action game and best on-line game for the Xbox, also generated notoriety
for Day 1 when the studio was nominated as Rookie
Studio of the Year at the 2003 Game Developers Conference. Prior to joining Day 1 Studios, Thorley was the CEO and
co-founder of FASA Interactive Technologies where he executive produced MechCommander for the PC and assisted in
the development of Alien Invasion,
a location-based, multi-person game experience for Walt Disney’s
DisneyQuest facility. Through a 1999 acquisition, FASA Interactive joined
Microsoft Game Studios, becoming FASA Studio. During his tenure in the
industry, Thorley has also held executive-level sales, marketing and product
development positions with software publishers such as Data East and Extreme
Entertainment. Deke started his 8 year game industry career at Red Storm
Entertainment, a Ubisoft Studio, where he was involved in production,
marketing, and creative direction for multiple PC, console, and handheld
titles, including titles from the Rainbow
Six and Ghost Recon
series. After that, Deke took on the role of Producer for MTV.com Video Games,
where he re-launched MTV’s video games website, as well as helped
spearhead gaming specific content such as MTV’s the G-hole and
Gamer’s Week 2005. At Day 1, Deke leads the single-player campaign
production for Fracture, and generally fills in where he’s needed most. Jeff Gregg, Lead Game Designer, Fracture Jeff started his career at Sega as a Senior Game Analyst in
1993, moving on to Senior Game Designer positions at Midway, Crystal Dynamics
and Circus Freak Studios before coming to Day 1 in 2004 where he worked on MechAssault 2 for the Xbox. Jeff is
currently Lead Game Designer on Fracture and helped create and pitch the game
concept and is providing design direction for Xbox 360 and PS3. His game
credits also include Superman and
Blood Omen 2. This meeting is sponsored by Adler
Planetarium’s Digital Design Group. Meeting
Details are below. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Help spread the news! Recently I had a
laptop crisis and my hard drive was lost. I know…I should have
backed everything up, but unfortunately I didn’t and it is definitely a
hard lesson to learn! Because of this I was only able to recover about
two-thirds of our IGDA Chicago mailing list. I’m asking everyone to
please forward this meeting announcement to your
friends and colleagues just in case they were one of those
people that fell of the list. If you received this mailing from a friend,
please email me at cfowler@ea.com to get back
on our mailing list. IGDA Chicago has a new web volunteer! A
special thanks to Frank Fisher at Volition for updating our IGDA Chicago
website, and for volunteering to maintain the site moving forward. MEETING DETAILS: When: Wednesday, September 19th, Doors Open at
6:30, Presentation starts at 7:00. Where: Adler Planetarium, South Box Office Entrance**, StarRider Theater: http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/exhibits/starrider.shtml Meter or lot parking is available Members: $5, Non-Members: $10 RSVP: Please send your name & email to
cfowler@ea.com
. Space is limited so make sure to RSVP fast!! If you want to
volunteer with check-in please note this in your email. **Please note: It’s very possible
the Adler Planetarium will be closed to the public except for our meeting and
the main doors will not be open Please don’t hesitate to email or call with any
questions. Hope to see you there! Carrie IGDA
IGDA MEMBER INCENTIVES (From Jason Della Rocca) Now is
a great time to become an IGDA member and join our growing community of over
11,000 developers. If you are planning to attend the Game Developers
Conference, becoming a full fledge member of the IGDA will enable you to benefit
from exclusive members-only benefits, including a stylish t-shirt and access to
our ever popular members-only party. Jump online to upgrade your
"User Account" to full membership: http://www.igda.org/upgrade/ Your success... is our success! -That's our focus, our mantra
and our reason for being. Our efforts are concentrated on providing you with the
best support as you work to advance your career. Simply put, the IGDA is
committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by
connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and
advocating on issues that affect the developer community. If that's not
reason enough to upgrade to full membership here are five more good reasons to
do so before the GDC: 1. $50
conference registration discount 2. Members-only lounge at IGDA
booth (with big comfy sofas) 3. Member ribbon for your badge
4. Members-only party 5. FREE t-
shirt Why
attend the GDC? - It's just the most exciting place to be and be seen by
your peers! And, you learn a bunch of important stuff, too. We work hard to
maximize your GDC experience with activities like: - Game Developers Choice Awards - IGDA conference track covering key topics like Quality of
Life, credit standards and censorship - Topical group gatherings at the IGDA
booth Check
the IGDA and GDC sites to learn more: http://www.igda.org/events/#gdc
Connect
with Peers - The IGDA is the only organization to
get the peer-to-peer interactions and networking opportunities you want and need
at an affordable price. Upgrade
your "User Account". Become an active part of the IGDA's 11000+ member community. Advance your career. Show
your support. Go to the GDC!
Just click to upgrade: http://www.igda.org/upgrade/ You join, you register... We give you a cool t-shirt and you
get to attend an exclusive party! It's that easy. Please bring your membership
confirmation to our booth in the Upper Concourse at GDC to claim your t-
shirt. FYI, early GDC registration pricing ends January 31st (but, be sure
to upgrade your membership first)! http://www.gdconf.com/register/
3/14/07 ACM Presentation on Artificial Intelligence w/
Tony Zale, Lead AI/Gameplay Engineer at EA
Chicago (NON-IGDA EVENT WORTH
MENTIONING) Videogames often rely on
flashy graphics to catch the eye, but without substance underneath,
there’s nothing to keep the player coming back for more. With next
generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and Playstation3 now on the market, there
are more opportunities than ever to create innovative gameplay experiences. EA Chicago’s Lead AI/Gameplay engineer will discuss some of the techniques used
on Def Jam: Icon and EA Sports’ Fight Night series to create lifelike CPU
opponents and an immersive play experience. Topics will include
intelligent agent perception, behavior, pathfinding,
learning, and more. Also covered will be the non-technical challenges of
creating a game that is fun and well-received. Full details on
reservations and location will be available on the ACM Chicago website at least
by late February. (www.acm.org/chapters/chicago ).
We plan to have a large venue space for this presentation in the Downtown
Chicago area. CHICAGO
HIGHLIGHTED ON GAMASUTRA If you
missed these articles, definitely check them out. Some are almost a year
old at this point, but it’s still great information. We all know
about our great gaming community in Chicago, and hopefully everyone else knows
now too! Tour of Chicago Pt. 1:
High Voltage Software: http
://gamasutra.com/features/20060616/vanzelfden_01.shtml Tour of Chicago: Pt. 2 - Wideload
Games: http
://gamasutra.com/features/20060626/vanzelfden_01.shtml Tour of Chicago: Pt. 3 - EA Chicago: http
://gamasutra.com/features/20060706/vanzelfden_01.shtml Tour of Chicago Pt. 4: Day 1 Studios: http
://gamasutra.com/features/20060809/vanzelfden_01.shtml Tour of Chicago Pt. 5: Midway Chicago:
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20061227/vanzelfden_01.shtml Thanks,
and hope to see you soon!! Best, Carrie | |
