« « DemoNight » du chapitre montréalais de l'IGDA | Main | « DemoNight » à Montréal »

"DemoNight" in Montreal

Wrestling with the tangle of wires for the 10 presenters Written by
Pierre R. Boudreau

The Montreal IGDA Chapter capped 2006 with a DemoNight that offered an impressive range of appetizers to whet our gaming appetites. Instigated by EA’s Vander Caballero, the event was intended to give developers, big and small, the opportunity to display their wares. The small but appreciative crowd was treated to samples from games both commercial and experimental.

Each team had eight minutes to present their demo and, despite a disclaimer from Jason that “things could blow up” at any time, the evening unfolded with a minimum of glitches.

The demos:

Resonance (Xbox) By: Neocell Factory

Neocell came into being in 2003 when a group of friends came together to produce a labour of love. After much blood, sweat and tears, the company has unveiled Resonance, a slick third-person survival-horror RPG set during the Inquisition. Serge Goulet kicked off the presentation with a few words on the game’s real life survival-adventure and their quest to land a publisher. Then Lead Designer Francis Lahaie took us on a tour of their dark yet richly textured world. The game offers some interesting features, including an adaptive difficulty level and its signature “Resonance Mode” that allows the player to see into and interact with the spirit world.

Francis Lahaie demos ‘Resonance’ on Xbox

Hot Potato Online (DS) By: Potato Entertainment

Potato Entertainment brought us a modest but entertaining arena sport mini-game that makes use of the DS’s Wi-Fi feature. Initially created as a calling-card for designers Thiéry Adam and Jean-Francois Perusse, Hot Potato Online was released online as open source in 2005 to favourable reviews that started the buzz. Despite its very simplistic and straightforward premise (“Follow the exploding potato”), players are given the ability to customize several elements including the gameplay parameters. Catch it while it’s hot.

Thiéry Adam and Jean-Francois Perusse showing off ‘Hot Potato Online’ for the DS

glee. (PC) By: Kokoromi collective

The Kokoromi collective are the people who brought us GAMMA 01 earlier this month. The team consisting of Heather Kelley, Damien Di Fede and Phillipe Poisson are pushing the experimental envelop by developing new forms of interactive gameplay. They set out to create a non-shooter that was focused on the actions of collecting and nurturing tiny creatures called “pulsars”, and racking up lots of points. The most innovative aspect of glee. lies in its ability to input digitized audio streams directly into the gameplay mechanic. By choosing which mp3 tune to plug in, the player sets the pace of the action and the rate at which the pulsars and other virtual critters are generated. At three minutes per game, glee. is fun, fast and potentially addictive. Keep this collective on your radar.

Heather Kelley and Philip Poisson demo ‘glee’

Cosmo Crash (PC) By: Clockwork Pangolin

Another fruit from the GAMMA 01 loom came in the form of this highly stylish and fast-paced entry from two graphic artists by the names of Marc-André Toupin and Sébastien Cormier. They claim not to be game designers per se but their potential is undisputable. Driven by the desire to bring a higher level of challenge to the 2D-retro genre, Toupin and Cormier have created a wholly gripping, asteroid-blasting space race with a strong Dance/Techno beat rocketing the action forward. The simple yet thoroughly engaging graphics practically command you to pick up and play. Someone should tell these guys that they are game designers.

‘CosmoCrash’ in action

Massive Snowboarding (Mobile) By: Gameloft

Christina Reinards and Frederic St-Amour from over at Gameloft brought in one of the night’s mobile entries: Massive Snowboarding. Christina used part of the presentation to give some context for the challenges that face developers producing mobile games. How do you build a video game the size of a “post-it” note? Very imaginatively, it would seem. Massive Snowboarding comes from the same professional snowboarder/game designer who worked on the very successful Amped for the Xbox. Their stated goal was to provide an accessible, fast-paced snowboarding experience by using a straight-forward control system. Its impressive look and playability earned the game ign.com’s 2005 Game of the Year award for Best Graphics Technology.

Christina Reinards and Fred St-Amour demo Gameloft’s 3D Mobile game ‘Massive Snowboarding’

Gone Fish’in (Mobile) By: Q8ISMobile

Bob Quenneville & Mark Foo Bonasoro are the team behind Gone Fish’in. Bonasoro had originally wanted to create a fishing RPG for phones. Frustrated yet undeterred by the technical limitations of the mobile, the guys decided to cast a much smaller net. The result is a playful expedition that delivers what the title promises. Featuring a unique Beat Match Fishing system, Gone Fish’in is sure to appeal to the pocket angler.

Bob Quenneville and Mark Foo Bonasoro demo ‘Gone Fish’in’ on a mobile emulator

Paddlespace (PC) By: Mikeware

Micheal A. Hawker likes to play with his toys, chop them up then put them together again in novel ways. This hack and blend approach has produced Paddlespace: a dizzying amalgam of Pong, Asteroids and Galaga. Armed with only a paddle, you must defend yourself from a relentless onslaught of balls, bullets and rocks. Paddlespace offers some amusing additions to the Pong game such as a giant Boss Ball that you must paddle to death. Not for the epileptic or faint of heart.

Michael Hawker demos retro styled ‘PaddleSpace’

Physics with Balls (PC) By: WalshCo

Balls and walls. Ball hits wall. Wall stops ball. If it were that simple, Martin Walsh would not have been motivated to create Physics with Balls. Annoyed and frustrated by unrealistic game physics, he decided to start a one-man crusade against sloppy collision and awkward inter-penetration. There’s beauty in well-executed minimalism; it’s worth noting that Walsh elicited the most ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of the night by simply knocking a ball around a tiny mini-putt/ billiard table. This engine is sure to make an impact.

Martin Walsh's 'Physics with Ball’s' demo

FlatLine By: Daniel Puglielli

A year and a half ago, Daniel Puglielli decided he would stop testing games and start making them. So he fired up his Unreal engine and began testing the limits of game design. FlatLine is a dark, brooding psychological thriller for those not paranoid enough. Set during the graveyard shift at a psychiatric hospital, FlatLine is largely about mood and the ever-present inner monologues keep the player in the character’s skin. A trip through the labyrinth of the mind.

Daniel Puglielli show's off psychological thriller ‘FlatLine’

Carte Blanche (PC) By: Absurdus

The final presentation was definitely in a class of its own. With tongue nestled nicely in cheek, Absurdus (a.k.a. Jonathan Lassard) gave us the humorous and aesthetically seductive Carte Blanche. Watching the game, one feels like they’ve just stepped into Caro and Jeunet’s Delicatessen. What was most striking was the use of B&W graphics which gave a sense of realism to this larger-than-life world. Carte Blanche is theatre of the absurd for gamers and BD fans alike.

Jonathan Lessard demos ‘Carte Blanche’

Vander wrapped up the presentations with praise for all the participants. He bemoaned the lack of risk-taking in the corporate world and emphasized the need for events such as this. It is by coming together as a community and sharing our ideas that this industry will continue to thrive.

After tonight, I couldn’t agree more. Shine on, you crazy diamonds.

More Meeting Photo's

Jonathan Lessard gives a peak at his scripting dev environment

Jean-Francois Perusse gives some hands on time to Vander Caballero with ‘Hot Potato Online'

Chapter Sponsors