September Event: Spore Talk
On Wednesday September 17th, Pittsburgh IGDA will be hosting David Culyba from EA. David will be giving a talk on the recently released "Spore". The talk is titled "Spore: Managing Expectations."
Cost is $10. We will be offering a few copies of the Spore Creature Creator as door prizes and one lucky attendee will win a full version of Spore!
In addition to the talk, there will be a "Build your own creation" snack bar.
Please join us at 7pm, Wednesday Sept. 17th at the Entertainment Technology Center (200 Technology Drive.)
About Spore:
Spore is a multi-genre "massively single-player online game" developed by EA Maxis under designer Will Wright. In Spore, the player controls the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a unicellular organism, through development as an intelligent and social creature, to interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture. It has drawn wide attention for its massive scope, and its use of open-ended gameplay and procedural generation. To date, over 9 million creations have been uploaded to the games' online communal "Sporepedia."
About David:
David Culyba earned both his BS in Computer Science, and his Masters in Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon. He has worked for Electronic Arts for 3 years. His work on Spore has focused on the various editors in the game including the creature editor, vehicle editor, building editor, spaceship editor, and city planners.
Check out: http://www.spore.com
Posted by PittsburghIGDA on September 9, 2008 10:53 AM
Picnic Pictures
On Saturday, August 16th, 27 PIGDA members gathered at Schenley park for some food and fun. There was bocce ball, volley ball, disc golf and general chatter- with the culminating food contest. The challenge? Bring a video game themed dish to share. Check out the entry photos on the chapter flickr group.
The winners were:
Best Non Desert: Karnov's Vengeful Taco Dip- Matt
Best Dessert: Dig Dug Dirt- Melanie & Ranger
Best Overall Theme: Katamari Kake- Rich, Edumundo, & Carlos
Other Entries:
Pac Man Fruit Salad
Red vs Blue Shrimp (red winning)
Midway Mania Apple Pie
Commander Keen Rice Krispies
Katamari Brownie Balls
Katamari.. thing..
His & Hers Fruit Salad
Creamed Koopa's Fire Flower Dip
And congrats to Jason, winner of the first annual PIGDA Disc Golf Tourney.
Winners hailed from various local studios & educational programs including AIP, ETC, Schell Games, & SimOps Studios.
Posted by PittsburghIGDA on August 18, 2008 07:43 AM
Pittsburgh Innovates Contest
The Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone (GO KIZ) is about to open up a contest called Pittsburgh Innovates. Jesse Schell along with folks from EA, Eutechynyx, Disney Imagineering, Venture capital, will be judging entries and giving out a cash prize of $20,000. The contest is open to individuals and teams wishing to submit a technological innovation with a direct connection to the Pittsburgh region. Entries may be in a wide range of electronic formats including YouTube videos, PDF documents, photos, Facebook applications, widgets, etc. In some cases like games, the submitter will enter the actual technology, but in others like robots they may choose to use a video or other format to present information about their innovation. The only limitation is GO KIZ must be able to display submissions as screenshots on the contest’s Web site. Submissions accepted starting on Aug. 26, 2008. Submissions and ranking by the public will occur simultaneously until Oct. 26, 2008. The most popular entry on the website will win a community choice award of $10,000.
Posted by PittsburghIGDA on August 18, 2008 07:39 AM
August 16th: PIGDA Video Game Picnic!
On August 16th, join PIGDA for a little fun in the sun with a Video Game twist- we're having a pot luck picnic at the Schenley Oval.
There's only one rule- bring a dish with a video game theme- in name, in appearance, but ideally both! So bust out your "Yoshi Deviled Eggs" or "Chocobo Chicken Salad." We'll have a vote on the Best Main Dish, Best Dessert, and Best Overall Theming with some cool schwag as prizes. Check out some inspiration here and here.
We'll provide some Zelda Links (Hot Dogs) & melted Gold Coins (Lemonade) as well as plates, cups, etc.
The picnic is 12-4pm and food is served at 12:30.
There will also be:
Volleyball
Bocce Ball
Disc Golf
Lawn Darts
Feel free to bring your own frisbee/discs, chairs/blankets, kids/friends!
Oh yeah, and if the weather takes a turn for the worst, we'll send out an email if the Picnic is postponed so check your mailbox Saturday morning.
Posted by PittsburghIGDA on August 8, 2008 10:13 AM
July Lightning Talks Recap
The first Pittsburgh IGDA Lightning Talk meeting went extremely well!
We had 8 talks- each unique. Check out the summary below and the pics on the PIGDA Flickr group.
Many thanks to Keith Leonard, Felix Lloyd, Regis Frey, Eben Myers,
Eric Hardman, Jason Bannister, David Shaver, and Shawn Patton for speaking. Each speaker was given a lovely IGDA tshirt in thanks!
If you didn't get to give a talk this time don't worry, we'll probably make this a regular event since it was received so well.
The next event is the PIGDA Summer Picnic- August 16, 12-4pm at the Schenley Oval. It's a pot luck video game themed picnic so bust out your Yoshi Deviled Eggs or Chocobo Chicken Salad and join us for some laid back food, volleyball, and disc golf. We'll provide the hot dogs, and some drinks.
That's it for now, and remember, when the thunder crashes, your talk is over!
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Lightning Talk Topics
Keith Leonard, representing Sword and Spirit Software
Sword and Spirit is working on a project they call "Haunted House"- a horror puzzle game. Keith went over a technique for creating volumetric fog using a fragment shader.
Jason Bannister, representing Mechanimal
Jason and Mechanimal have a dream- a shared library with accurate 3D models of EVERYTHING. He's been working with the Carnegie Museum to use the technology of games to help both researches and guests interact with detailed virtual versions of specimens ranging from dinos to ostriches.
Regis Frey, incoming Pittsburgh University Student
Regis is a self-taught programmer who learned programming by using flash. Regis relayed his own experience learning through animation and object behaviors. He has a passion for sharing this style of programming education with others and is currently trying to start up a camp to tech programming to kids.
Eben Myers, representing Etcetera Edutainment
Eben talked in general about Etcetera Edutainment's various work including their upcoming release of their Forklift game. Then Eben launched into a realtime demo of Etcetera's camera based interactive system called "CrowdPlay" designed to allow a crowd of people to play a game together. The whole room joined together to take down zombies with a jeep! Etcetera Edutainment is currently hiring.
David Shaver, representing Rabid Squirrel Games
David gave a short but sweet overview of pyPad360, an open source wrapper in Python for XBox 360 controllers. Check it out for your next personal project!
Felix Lloyd, representing Skill-Life
Felix is a teacher turned social engineer. He and his partner moved to Pittsburgh because they saw it as a great place to develop CentsCity, an online MMO designed to teach kids fiscal responsibility. Felix listed Carnegie Mellon's ETC, Innovation Works, and Idea Foundry as some of the reasons Pittsburgh was so attractive. Skill-Life is currently working with an ETC Spinoff company, Semiotic Technologies to create the CentsCity prototype but they are looking to hire an in-house flash programmer or technical producer.
Eric Hardman, representing National Network of Digital Schools
Eric introduced most of the room to NNDS- a nonprofit that builds online courses. NNDS is working on a project called Gears which uses an online 3D environment to teach players concepts in several overlapping subjects such as spanish, algebra, geography, & earth sciences. Eric mentioned they have hired many Art Institute of Pittsburgh grads and are currently looking for engineers.
Shawn Patton, representing himself
Shawn gave the closing talk which had many titles amounting to "How to (almost) make a time fountain." Shawn gave a background of what Time Fountain is- a water fountain that appears to violate the principles of time by freezing a drop of water in midair or making it rise back to its source. He then walked us through his process on his quest to build his own Time Fountain.
Posted by PittsburghIGDA on August 8, 2008 09:27 AM
