Author Archives: Kraig Walker

Glasgow Play Party Roundup

Posted on 14/02/2012 | Comments Off on Glasgow Play Party Roundup

Hello everyone! Your friendly neighberhood ig-da (that’s how they say it in Glasgow!) checking in with news from our Scottish Game Jam Play Party. Which was a total blast!

We’d like to thank all the teams and developers that brought along their laptops and let us get them all smudgy playing the games they worked so hard to finish at this year’s Scottish Game Jam.

The IGDA set up the Play Party initiative as a way to let participants of the global game jam share and discuss their work in an informal and relaxed manner, after the initial jam had taken place. We thank everyone who was able to attend Scotland’s first ever Play Party, and to the Scottish Game Jam organizers for their support and awesomeness-in-general.

We hope you had fun, and if you didn’t get the chance to come round, don’t worry, you can still try out the games created at the Scottish jam sites for free. Can you collect them all??

We have a line up of all the games right here for you too, aren’t we nice? Some were made in Glasgow, and some were made in Edinburgh, and we hope we can continue to support the Scottish Game Jam nationwide in a number of manners.

IGDA Scotland’s Top 4 Play Party Games (as voted by play party attendees)

The Entire Glasgow Collection!

Game’s from Edinburgh Napier’s first GGJ!

Panel-Tastic

In addition to some stellar uber-experimental games, we also had a great panel session with industry veterans, game jam newbies, and industry commentators. Put them all in the same place after a couple of pints and you have something far too explicit to put on the IGDA Scotland blog. A big thanks to Dave Sapien, Jon Sykes, Phil Harris , Emma Droy and Kieran Nelson for sharing their insights and honest opinions on the jam. Nothing, nothing at all, was held back…

So you’ve played the games, read the blogs, and you think that you yourself might be able to give it ago? Cool! The next Global Game Jam isn’t until January 25th-27th, so you have plenty of time to hone your skills and sharpen your debuggers. Keep an eye on the IGDA Scotland and SGJ blog for details in the future on how to apply for next years jam site in Scotland!

In the mean time, we’ll keep working on spreading the game developer love around this bonnie wee land. Our next stop will be in Edinburgh (some time after GDC in March) See you there!

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Posted in Glasgow, Global Game Jam, IGDA Scotland, Meetings, SGJ 2012

IGDA Scotland Returns To Glasgow!

Posted on 01/02/2012 | 2 Comments

When: Wednesday, 8th of February

Where: The Admiral Bar, Glasgow

Register Free on Eventbrite Now! (Space Limited)

Last weekend was huuuge… Like… Crazy…

So crazy that we decided to dedicate a weeknight to celebrate how crazy and awesome it was. What are we talking about? The Global Game Jam of course!

IGDA Scotland will be hosting a fabulous GGJ Play Party, and we want YOU – the developers and participants to come along and have a bit of fun sharing and discussing this year’s blowout line up of games. We had two Jam sites in Scotland with over 130 participants making 26 games in 48 hours. This is amazing showcase of work done by the game development community in Scotland and just shows what you can do in such a short space of time.

Join us, play some games, discuss the highs and lows of taking part in the Game Jam!

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Posted in Glasgow, Global Game Jam, IGDA Scotland

IGDA Scotland Supports the Scottish Game Jam!

Posted on 16/01/2012 | 1 Comment

IGDA Scotland loves Game Developers; It’s in our blood! We’re fascinated by all the stories and amazing works that come out of Scotland’s bubbling hub of technological and artistic marvel.

That’s why we’re really excited to announce that IGDA Scotland are backing this years Scottish Game Jam, part of the wider known Global Game Jam, where thousands of programmers, artists, and everyone in between get together to learn, create, and have fun!

Building up to the event at Glasgow Caledonian University – which is now out of free spaces, we’ll be posting some blogs and tidbits on our media streams to get participants up and running, whether this be their first game jam, or their hundredth!

During the weekend of the jam, the chapter committee will be on hand covering all the developments. Committee Kraig Walker & Brian McDonald are confirmed to be taking the plunge by joining the jammers to create a game in under 48 hours, while games AI guru Luke Dicken will be rallying the troops prior to the onslaught!

Didn’t get a place in the jam? That’s okay, it’s been the most successful uptake they’ve ever had. Another official jam site is taking place at Edinburgh Napier University too if you’re up that way, and you can still take part over the interwebs! If you’re streaming or blogging your rapid game creation experiences in Scotland why not get in touch? We’d love to hear from you!

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Posted in IGDA Scotland

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IGDA Scotland Gets Googly Eyed & LinkedIn!

Posted on 27/12/2011 | Comments Off on IGDA Scotland Gets Googly Eyed & LinkedIn!

The New Year is coming up fast, and that means another round of IGDA Scotland Touring Talks, Parties and Gatherings. Us chaps at the IGDA Scotland Committee have some pretty wicked ideas for 2012, and we can’t wait to get started on them.

We’re still meant to be on our holidays, but I couldn’t resist and spread our reach across the social-spheres and unwrap IGDA Scotland’s shiny new official Google+ Page!

Wicked right? We don’t like the idea of forcing people to align themselves with one specific way of finding stuff out about the chapter, so, as requested by YOU, we’re giving you as many ways as possible to be connected and in touch with the chapter and it’s followers!

But it’s not just Google+ We’re getting our hands messy in LinkedIn by creating our very own LinkedIn Group for all of you creative Scottish Game-type folks to connect and collaborate together.

This is kind of a big deal! Did you do some awesome networking at one our meetings? Did you make some great contacts who want to keep in touch with you? Did you lose their business card on the 11:10pm bus home to Drongan? If this had happened to you pre-2002 your chances may be scuppered forever! But as of now, that should be a thing of the past!

Make sure to get your profile in our group before coming to one of our events, Perhaps even download CardMunch  to your iPhone to automatically connect with your new found contacts on LinkedIn before you spill your drink on their details?

What’s more you’ll be kept in the loop about exciting opportunities and upcoming meetings from the IGDA Scotland crew.

It’s a win win being part of the IGDA Scotland community! So here’s our full rundown of social connections you can add us on:

All that’s left to do now is wish you all a Happy New Year! See you on the other side!

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Dundee! Plot Twists! Social Event Rebellion! Loud Noises!

Posted on 25/11/2011 | Comments Off on Dundee! Plot Twists! Social Event Rebellion! Loud Noises!

Dundee tickets Here!

Have YOUR say on our Facebook Page!

We have a taste for awesomeness at the IGDA Scotland Chapter. We want to get awesome people into awesome places to talk about awesome stuff. With our high standards to fill, it can be a little bit of a challenge to fit things together.

We HAD some awesome speakers and stuff planned for Dundee, however, as is quite common, awesome people are in really high demand. With regret, our speakers have had to cancel prior to our event next week…

Also, our publicised venue HAS CHANGED. Turns out the Hannah Maclure Centre was double booked, but we’re moving ACROSS THE ROAD to the award winning Centre for Excellence at Abertay University (cheers Abertay!) and the show WILL go on!

We’re shaking up the format a bit with things. No speakers? No problem! For what will be our last IGDA Scotland meet-up of 2011 YOU DECIDE WHAT WE DO!

Simply pay a visit to our Facebook page and vote for the idea you’d most like to see happen. Currently having a Games night is popular, but if you have you’re own awesome idea then you’re MORE THAN WELCOME to add your own.

I like caps…

ROCK THE VOTE(S) NOW!

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Posted in IGDA Scotland

Dundee!

Posted on 19/11/2011 | Comments Off on Dundee!

Get Your Ticket Here!

You’ve waited patiently enough. IGDA Scotland will be hitting it up big style once again in Dundee, Scotland’s capital of gaming!

The event will be held at 7pm on Wednesday the 30th of November.

Space is limited! So be sure to get your ticket (we’ll be checking for them) on Eventbrite before coming along. The lovely folks at Abertay University are putting us up in the spacious Hannah Maclure Centre, where you can also check out the latest N55 exhibition of open source living design, currently on display as part of the NEoN 2011 Digital Arts festival.

Stay tuned to our various channels, as we’ll be announcing speakers in the coming days. We look forward to seeing you there!

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Posted in IGDA Scotland

November Dundee Skype Meeting

Posted on 10/11/2011 | Comments Off on November Dundee Skype Meeting

Want in? Add kraig.walker as a contact on Skype with the message “IGDA Scotland” and he’ll add you to the group conversation. You don’t need a mic since it’s all text…

Friday, 11th of November @ 8pm

Greetings Everyone!

November is here and the nights have drawn in. Even as I type, at three in the afternoon, the sun is already putting on it’s night cab after going on an all out binge over the summer months.

I’m just writing to let you know that we’re working on our next meeting in Dundee. The newly formed committee has been tasked with hosting the mini event, where you’ll have the opportunity to share your ideas, thoughts, or just find out how things are going.

We put on these meetings as an effort to maintain a level of transparency with the rest of the community, and we’d be super excited to hear from you.

On the agenda:

  • Edinburgh Meetup Feedback and reaction
  • Current plans for Dundee Meetup this November
  • December plans (feasibility of a christmas party)
  • Long term plans/ ideas for the chapter
I’m currently serving a pilgrimage to the NEoN Digital Arts festival, where there has been much discussion from people from all over the place about Dundee, and Scotland’s place in the world of digital media and design. Because of this, I won’t be MCin the meeting, instead one of our awesome committee members will be! If you’re like me and can’t be there, but are still interested in the meeting, a memo document will be written up and published for all to see. You can also write in with your thoughts and ideas to our Twitter or Email.

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Posted in IGDA Scotland