21 February 2006, Melbourne
Melbourne, 2 February 2006 - Dissecta is pleased to announce its first event for 2006 "The Year of Next Gen", to be held Tuesday 21 February 2006, 7pm, at the Australian Games Innovation Centre (Academy of Interactive Entertainment Presentation Room), in the Atari Building, Melbourne, Australia.
The Year of Next Gen will feature Chris Mosely and Martin Wilkes. Chris Mosely co-founded Melbourne based developer Blue Tongue Software in 1995, leaving his position as CEO to form Red Tribe in 2003. Chris' last two games with Bluetongue were Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendency, and Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, both innovative world class games. Chris will share his thoughts about next gen in his presentation "DON'T PANIC" covering the basics and hardware differences for next gen platforms, and also delving into next gen as more of a paradigm shift or evolution rather than just a new piece of hardware.
Chris will be joined by Martin Wilkes, Game Manager at established Melbourne distribution company Stomp, which started distributing PC and console games last year for Auran Games, the publishing off-shoot of Queensland developer Auran (Trainz Railroad Simulator series). Martin will shed some light on the local retail and distribution issues affecting next gen, and in particular issues surrounding the transition period.
The 21 February Dissecta event "The Year of Next Gen" will start at 7pm and run till at least 8:10 pm, with an audience Q&A. This will be Dissecta's seventh event since commencing in June 2005, and the event will be held at the Australian Games Innovation Centre (Academy of Interactive Entertainment Presentation Room), Melbourne, Australia.
For more information and booking details, visit Dissecta online at www.dissecta.com.
Spellforce (PC) for the first 50 attendees and Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006 door prize:
With many thanks to Martin and Stomp, the first 50 Dissecta "The Year of Next Gen" attendees will receive a full version of Spellforce, the surprise hit released early 2004 that successfully mixed the RTS and RPG genres. Spellforce 2 will be distributed by Stomp in Australia in March 2006. Also thanks to Stomp and Auran Games, one lucky attendee will take home a full version of Auran's Trainz Railroad Simulator 2006.
** TERTIARY STUDENTS - full or part time, who book and pay at least a week before an event pay just $5. AND SECONDARY STUDENTS - who book and pay at least a week before an event pay just $5 PLUS one parent/guardian can attend for free.
I will also go into the internal processes and procedures used at REDTRIBE to handle larger and more demanding projects through to completion. I believe an open discussion of how an existing studio operates could be very valuable to the local development community and we are looking at ways of opening up lines of communication with the outside world. This also has benefits for us as we discuss the pros and cons of our methodologies with a wider audience.
Coming from a Software Engineering background processes have always been an interest of mine. REDTRIBE uses an Agile methodology with some interesting optimizations tailored towards the unique aspects of the games industry.
One of the challenges of creating a game studio is providing solid management infrastructure whilst maintaining creative expression. It's no longer enough to have a solid technology background in today's game industry; you also need to have an approach that is capable of creating ever-higher production values. The game industry is particularly challenging in this regard with its mix of art, management and technology.
Hey Chris, great speech, very educational.
Just a reminder about the notes, you said you could make them available ?
Yes thanks Chris. I think you should release those notes. They would be very useful for other developers.
Thanks guys, good to see a decent turnout for this.
Sorry for the late response, I haven't been online for a while.
The notes will be released shortly through the Dissecta News email list. If you're registered you will get them.
Chris