Category Archives: Glasgow

Mini Game Jam – call for volunteers & sponsors

A guest post from Amanda Ford. Read on!

Mini Game Jam

Well it’s that time of year again everyone. Mini Game Jam will soon be upon us again and this post is a call for help.

My Jam has been growing slowly over the past couple of years and I am now in year 6 of it and so far over 1000 schoolchildren have participated. With support from Glasgow City Council Education Services and Renfrewshire Education at least 13 Learning Communities across both will be taking part with their associated primary schools and I am super excited about this. Winners from each Learning Community will go on to a final on the 20th June (tbc).  The game jam is becoming increasingly popular with primaries and I know how much the kids love the actual event. However teachers too also see the benefit of making games and I hope by taking part in this the kids not only get to spend time making a game but get to meet new friends and get inspired by mentors helping out and realise that there are careers out there in the games industry.

I am looking for volunteers who are interested in helping encouraging children with their game ideas and supporting the on the day, no prior knowledge of Scratch programming is necessary (I can provide some training on it if need be). Each event runs from 9.30am until 2.30pm and I will confirm dates asap however they are all during May & June.  It’s basically based on the Global Game Jam idea just I condense that into a school day for the kids.  See here for some more background & info on the jams

Provisional dates still a couple of events to be added.

2/5/18             Lochend

10/5/18           Holyrood

11/5/18           Cleveden

17/5/18           Bellahouston

24/5/18           Notre dame

30/5/18           Smithycroft

31/5/18           St Pauls

1/6/18             St Rochs

8/6/18             St Thomas Aquinas

13/6/18           Whitehill

If you can spare some time doesn’t need to be a full day please email [email protected]

As well as volunteers I am also looking for sponsors for the final event. I try each year to provide a prize (nothing big normally a DIY gamer kit for each child in the team for 1st and gift voucher for 2nd place) and this year is no different so please get in touch if you can help  it would be much appreciated.

IGDA Scotland Scholars @ GDC 2018

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This week the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco kicks off, and we hope you’re as excited as we are! Over the years we’ve had a multitude of scholars that have represented Scotland at GDC and this year is no different. We have 2 scholars across the IGDA Foundations IGDA Scholars, and Next Gen Leaders programs.

Over the next few days we’ll be doing feature interviews with each of our scholars – Alice Bowman and Steven Taarland – so that you get a chance to know them a bit better and what this opportunity means to them.

We’re extremely lucky to have such a close and thriving development community here in Scotland, and we’d like to thank Alice and Steven for agreeing to be interviewed.

Are you at GDC this year? The IGDA have a schedule of events available here. Our next monthly event will be a GDC themed event in Glasgow in April. If you’d like to speak, get in touch with us at [email protected].

IGDA Scotland Play Parties 2017

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All of us at IGDA Scotland want to give a huge thank you to everyone that came along to our play parties last week! Whether you exhibited or simply came along to play the exceptional range of games created at game jams throughout the year, we really hope you had as great a time as we did. We’d also like to thank everyone that made the play parties possible; We Throw Switches, Creative Scotland, our venues Hemma, Unit 6 at The Vision, and Drygate, and everyone that hosted a Global Game Jam site in Scotland.

This year we collaborated with our friends We Throw Switches who offered the opportunity for one game from each play party site to be exhibited at their upcoming event GamesAreForEveryone on the 21st of April in Edinburgh. So, we’d like to present to you, our winners!

Edinburgh: Frack The Planet

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“You are the driver of a Fractor-Driller. It’s your job to drive around the planet, scanning with your GeoSonar for valuable shale gas deposits underground. They’re worth money–the bigger the better! When you’ve found one, you stick your drill into it, and start fracking! You have to pump every last atom of the gas out of it if you want to get paid. And you have ninety seconds in which to frack as many gas deposits as possible. Oh, and try to avoid running over those pesky protesters–those lawsuits are expensive!”

Frack the Planet was created at the GCU Global Game Jam site by team “Muling Kittens”; consisting of Aaron Dron, Aidan Dodds, Andy Durdin, David Farrell, Gordon Brown and Luke Drummond.

Dundee: Ola de la Vida

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“The game is called Ola De La Vida, it is a three player game where each player’s physical movements are used to manipulate on-screen gameplay.   To play, players must physically form the ‘Wave of Life’ by holding each others hands and our two maraca controllers whilst standing on Wii balance boards.  Once the wave is active, players must shift their weight from one side of their balance board to the other in order to tilt their part of the on-screen wave of life.  Together, the three players tilt to and fro on their balance boards, whilst holding one another’s hands to help luchador pinatas to make it from one side of the wave (the screen) to the other.  The winning team is the one which saves the most Pinatas before time runs out – but if the players let go of one another’s hands or the maracas at any point, the game is over.”

Ola De La Vida was created at the Abertay University Global Game Jam site by “Smash it Open and See What’s Inside”; consisting of Mona Bozdog, Danny Parker, Lynn Parker and Alex Pass.

Glasgow: Rootin’ Tootin’ Typin’ Tide

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“Our game, Rootin’ Tootin’ Typin’ Tide, is a quick, competitive two-player game with literal hand-to-hand combat on a keyboard battlefield. Using only one hand, players must hit more keys than their opponent to keep their character, and pride, afloat as they coast down treacherous river rapids. ”

Rootin’ Tootin’ Typin’ Tide was created at the GCU Global Game Jam site by team “Multiflair Games”; consisting of Thomas McLuskie, Kevin Martin, Fionn Innes, Rhiain Flaherty, Connall Reid and Paul Hamilton.

Scottish Global Game Jam Sites!

It’s January, and that means that the Global Game Jam is upon us once again! Scotland plays host to a number of sites in a few different locations, so if you’re interested in taking part, be it to further your skills, develop new ones or just meet others interested in making games then do try get along to one.

IGDA Scotland will also be hosting our Play Parties in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee in association with We Throw Switches early in February, so please bring what you’ve made and have fun!

Here are some details about Global Game Jam sites this year:

Dundee

Abertay Game Lab – Abertay Uni

Abertay’s Game Lab will be hosting a GGJ site in celebration of their 20 years in games education.The site will have some equipment available to participants, but ask that jammers try to bring their own to avoid disappointment.

Tickets are currently available for students or invited non-students here.

Makerspace

The Dundee Makerspace will also be hosting a GGJ site. It is open to anyone who is 18+ years old. They are currently looking for sponsors to help pay for food for jammers, and encourages participants to bring their own equipment where possible. They also have on-site equipment such as 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutters and soldering tools for those looking to make a physical game.

Tickets are available here.

Edinburgh

Napier University

The Napier University Game Dev Society’s site is open to anyone over 18 years old, or over 16 if you are in college or university. They have some equipment available at the campus and will be providing food, but recommend people bring their own laptops to be safe. This site is also looking for some sponsorship.

More details here.

Napier are also hoping to livestream the site on Twitch here

Glasgow

Glasgow Caledonian Uni

Last but by no means least, Glasgow Caledonian Uni will be hosting their annual GGJ site in the Saltire Centre at the university.

They will be hosting about 200 jammers, a mix of students, industry professionals and keen amateurs. Alongside the jam, some documentarians will be making a short film to be shown at the end of the jam. Finally, a relaxation area with games will be provided by We Throw Switches.

Tickets are currently sold out, but a waiting list may be available. For more details head here.

Upcoming Event: Game Think 2.0 – 3rd Feb 2017

Building on the original event in 2015, Game Think 2.0 is a half day mini-conference that will provide students, researchers, and games industry practitioners with an opportunity to share their current video game-related research and development interests in a fun, informal way. You can register for the event at https://game-think-2.eventbrite.co.uk
This year, the headline speaker is renowned game theorist (and occasional game developer) Jesper Juul. Jesper is currently Associate Professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and Visiting Associate Professor at Comparative Media Studies/Writing, MIT. He is the author of The Art of Failure: An Essay on the Pain of Playing Video Games (MIT Press, 2013) and Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds (MIT Press, 2005) and has published extensively on topics relating to game design and theory. A second headline speaker, and the full line up of talks, will be announced shortly.

The event will take the form of a series of short ten-minute talks with an additional five minutes for discussion following each talk. The line-up includes talks on topics including: successfully obtaining a UK Games Fund Grant, organising games exhibitions, the design of serious games, queerness in games, the impact of game audio in modern culture, and more. The mini-conference will be followed by informal drinks and networking is actively encouraged.

A limited number of modest travel bursaries are available to support UK-based postgraduate students – please contact [email protected] for details. Funds are also available to support follow-up meetings between attendees from industry and academia, with a view to developing future collaborations.

 

#GameThink

Glasgow Caledonian University hosting Antura Jam to aid Syrian children

Glasgow Caledonian University is hosting a game jam to make games that can help Syrian refugee children. You can register here: http://bit.ly/anturajam

Over 2.8 million children are out of school due to the five year conflict. These children receive no education and a wealth of potential human capital, creativity, and achievement is being lost.

In the light of this horrible tragedy, Cologne Game Lab, Wixel Studios and Video Games Without Borders teamed up to form a partnership and find a way to limit the consequences of the situation. Antura and the Letters is a game project being led by Emmanuel Guadiola from the Cologne Game Lab. The game will be released on iOS and Android so that Syrian children can receive an education and learn how to read.

We are hoping to prototype a few different game ideas over this jam weekend and we need your help!

The jam will take place in rooms C116 and C117 in Charles Oakley building at GCU, from Friday 7th through Sunday 9th

We will have access: • from 5pm-8pm on Friday 7th • from 10am-4pm on Saturday 8th • from 10am-3pm on Sunday 9th.

About Emmanuel

Emmanuel is a Game Director and expert in game design methodology, Emmanuel Guardiola contributes to more than 30 major titles in the game industry, for independent studios (Life is Strange, Frank Herbert’s Dune…) and publishers (Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia…). PhD in computer science, he also drives research on player psychological profiling through gameplay at the CNAM computer science laboratory (Paris). He was one of the key creators of the game design training at the French Graduate School on Games and Interactive Media (ENJMIN) If you want to learn more about Emmanuel’s work, you can check out his LinkedIn, or his MobyGames profile

http://bit.ly/anturajam

 

IGDA Scotland June Meeting – Save the Date!

We will be returning to Glasgow on the 22nd June for one of our regular monthly meetups. Join us at Megabytes for the usual talks and announcements, then stick around afterwards for a drink and natter with everyone.

Our theme this month is Exhibiting and we would like to get a good mix of people together to discuss their tips and experiences covering all manner of showcasing at events. This could be from small indie games, right the way through to big-budget AAA projects. And if you are one of the people reading this thinking “hey, I’m going to be doing a bunch of that at E3!” then we would love you to come along and share your experience. Just get in touch with us at [email protected].

We also have a special giveaway this month. Our lovely friends at RESONATE – Glasgow’s upcoming eSports and gaming festival –  have given us some free tickets, which we will be raffling off on the night.

Tickets for the meetup to be released very soon! In the meantime you can follow any updates on Twitter or join us on Facebook.