Next Wave Independent Game Developers' Conference

Red 5: I remember that seminar. That was really good. One of the greatest things I took away from that seminar is the idea of aiming your highest. One thing he said, and I sincerely believe he is correct, was that whatever quality of title you aim for with your first shot, will be where you stay at, i.e., if you develop a AAA title, you'll always do those, same with A titles or B titles.

While not always true, I think that's a good rule to live by. I don't really know how that applies to indies directly, but it means I try to push my boundaries as much as I can.

I'll try in the next few days to search around and see what kind of funding options there are for South Australians. Maybe this is one way we can help ourselves.

As for marketing, too, here's a superb link on GarageGames:
http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=…

Souri: Agreed, three days is too much. To be honest, I could not imagine that there would be enough to talk about for that long.

Perhaps it could be cut down to two days, one for speakers, roundtables and the like, and the next day for showing off and playing games, LANS. I couldn't imagine it as a schmoozefest at all as AGDC has tended to be; who is there to schoomze up to besides fellow gamemakers who are on the same level as you are? :)

I think lounges and a social setting would be ideal, and a LAN might be a good idea provided you can get a lot of people to play. Another idea may be that (if possible) get a few machines set up in the style of r23d's aforementioned creation, and have a competition with that instead.

As for a venue, I would suggest having it more open than closed off (unless there's too much noise).

Ack, so many choices to make.

yeah, I remember that guy from Relic - that was a few years back wasn't it. I remember thinking wow - is this guy really only 25? I agree that talks like that would be great for startups and small studios who are coming along - that is, the ones who are aiming to make AAA titles.

But I reckon though that there'll be many people in attendence who aren't interested in chasing the big publishers or making the large scale games - people who are interested in doing truly "indie" independent development (eg like the experimental games workshop people, or like the infamous Designer X and co http://www.the-underdogs.org/scratch.php) ie not as a stepping stone to the big league. "independent" can mean a lot of different things in the game industry i guess - i reckon we should expect lots of different agendas at the conference.

which reminds me - can anyone think of any topics that we can have fur-flying debates around? I can think of some but i'm not sure if i should say ;) Don't hold back; we'll consider any topic, no matter how controversial (after all, this conference *is* independent)

remember everybody: we're attempting to bring together several diverse communities/interests at this conference (from CS mapping kids to machinima auteurs to rebel/unofficial console developers to professional developers with some high quality knowledge to pass on, to game art theorists etc.), and hopefully we'll have people talking about stuff that's totally new to you even if you've been around the block a few times - and chances are you'll find some of it interesting/appalling/amazing/insane.

the trick will be to balance all this stuff to make sure it has enough that's of interest to everyone, and that'll be hard i guess.

Some topics that I hav ethought of from the top of my head include:

Developing over the Internet, - {does it work, success stories, failure stories, horror stories, communication tools, etc}
Finding people in your local town
Phone games - the only way to go for indies?
Steam and it's implications - http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20040113221322445
New ways of publishing - {tales from the trenches, experiences, ideas, exploring new ways, etc}
Building new tools for indies (instead of using pre-built ones)

@Daemin: Developing over the internet should be a major topic. Hell, I'm a failure story for that (and that goes back three years ago). All those ideas for topics are really good.

I hadn't heard of Steam until now. That's just scary. But then I think that just widens the field with which we get to work. Is there anything for open source development on hardware?

@Zoot: I can't personally think of any ideas that could set the fur flying, but I would sure as hell be there to watch (and probably participate) in the flamefest if you could think of a topic that could set pulses racing.

As to the people who are going to be there... I'm interested in developing my own games at an indie level, but then, I wouldn't mind working at a games company (though I don't really want to be doing racing games for the rest of my career so I might just be an indie developer).

Some very interesting areas to cover could be indi bugets - cheap technologies and where cost can be cut (and where it can't). Also, maybe discuss the idea of using freeware or shareware tools and which ones are actually worth using ;)

Managment is another big one - maybe talks on how to manage an online team (or just general) when there may not be the wealth of managent experience in the team starting up.

Some tips on how to talk and pitch to publishers etc....

(sorry if these have been discussed as I havent keep up with this thread)

Concerning Jacana's idea of talking and pitching to publishers, it might be good to have at least one industry person we can strip down and sacrifice on the indie altar. For me, whenever I thought of independent gamemakers, I dissociated publishers and mainstream independent game companies, but as Zoot has pointed out, there are many different communities who could unite under this common banner.

To continue on Jacana's proposal, how to pitch towards online distributors would be really good as well. How to structure e-mails in such a way that you are convincing while being concise.

We also can't forget to invite the real industry people to the conference, I'm sure it won't be that bad for them, they can see what's out there, and if they're hiring then they can do that too. Plus there's always those decent talks - or they could at least be moderators in panel discussions.

Due to the diversity of the indy scene (gameart experimentation with no commercial outcome through to self-published semi-commercial goal to publisher pitching goal driven projects) maybe a good way to look at it would be to consider issues relevant to ALL project types and structure them in such a way that they would appeal to the people who would benefit the most.
eg:
agile project management for small teams (as mentioned before).
technology evaluation (what do I need and can do within budget)
testing tools, strategies and techniques (does it work?)
budget management (money as a precious resource)
simple knowledge management tools and techniques
how to research effectively
etc etc

Sort of a venn diagram with pure Art in one circle and (small c) commerce in the other, with the issues common to technology based team project development in the middle.

Daemin - have no fear: we've already roped in a few game industry people (the ordinary developers rather than the CEOs) to help with the conference and rouse the troops etc, as part of our mandate is to cater for "creatively frustrated professional developers".

Quiklite: re getting the industry to front up and answer for their sins in person - that idea is definitely on the table. Any special requests, any particularly notorious publishers you want to see on the altar? ;)

BTW: everyone's ideas/suggestions posted on this thread are being duly noted, compiled and appreciated by the team working busily in the background so keep them coming!

@Zoot: its good to see there are mainstream developers also coming. Just as a sidenote, have you thought about tapping the straight LAN communities? There are many well-organised LANs around the regions (some of my friends run very large LANs in the Illawarra area). They may only play games, but there would be undoubtedly be a few people who had thought about modding or wishing they could get into games, but didn't know how.

LOL, when I said that about the industry, I hadn't meant it that way (I just meant that I wanted to be able to talk to industry people direct), but now that I think about it, why not! Let's get out some anger! :) Hrmm, I really don't know if there's anyone in particular, but I'll think about it.

I'll keep thinking of suggestions in the meantime.

An update on funding bodies:

Originally I looked towards arts funding, and didn't find that much useful. I then looked for business funding and found some young entrepreneur courses and such, which I'm definitely thinking about doing.

I then tried technology funding, but didn't find much, but then came across this excellent link to the Australian Network for Art and Technology:

http://www.anat.org.au/pages/funding.htm

I've only just found this list, but this seems to be an excellent resource to start from. I'll continue to see where this leads.

hey, this confenerence is where people show off thier work right?
i have some work i would love to show, but i cant make it :( there should a a place you can submit your work and they show it off, then after the conference you get some info back on how ppl responded.

hrmm maybe some ppl who are goin would like to take my demo in for me ;)

hey supagu -- if you can't make it maybe the lead artist on your mod can (i saw from your site that he's australian)? we're hoping to set up a LAN specifically for demoing/playtesting mods. not sure what else we're doing yet for demoing people's stuff who can't make it so that's something for us to consider

LOL im in aus also... im not talking about the mod i worked on... im talking about an engine i have developed with my bro doing the art.

all i have in my engine is free cam around a level with some trees and castle and houses, and some water.... i have to quickly get some lightmap in ;p

i'm going to try and make it.
should see some of you there.

Hi guys,

Just giving the idea my support. I will defiantly come along, I would love to see some people that have actually been successful there, I'm not even sure if there is anyone from Australia???

If there is anyway I can help out send me an email. I have actually finished a game (or two) but I haven?t been overly successful in the marketing and sales areas. That would be my primary interest.

I am currently in the process of re-releasing my current (updated) game and launching a new "educational game" (not really sure I can classify this as a game) using some more conventional marketing wisdom so hopefully I may see some increases in sales.

Anyway this is all off topic, I have been so vague this weekend. I think I may finally have filled my brain up with technical crap.

Please make sure there is somewhere I can showcase what I have already done and see what other Indies are doing!

Also I thought I should mention the fact that selling games from Australia to rich UK and US consumers should in theory give us some sort of advantage, if only we can get some cohesion in our efforts.

Never give up! Keep coding until your finger bleed and your eyes dry up and your game is FINISHED.

Jai

http://www.jaishaw.com ? ?Too good to be an asteroids clone.?

Hello all new to this forum seems great for ausy game developers. ill be trying to get to this conference in melbourne, bit hard as im in perth tho i did come over for the AGDC was ok but lacking in some areas. i was a full time student at the time so the cost wasnt to bad but still to much i would say.

anyways can you please tell use the cost of the conference asap !!! and if anyone else from perth is going let me know !!!!!

thanks
Colm !

Hi,

I'm part of the group organising the Independent Games Conference and I'd like to invite people in Melbourne to come to International Game Developers Meetup Day.

This is seperate from the conference but will be a great place to discuss game development and I'd welcome any comments for the upcoming conference.

The meeting is monthly and the first is on

Babble Cafe,
4B Izett St Prahran, Melbourne,
on Tuesday, February 17 @ 8:00PM
http://gamedev.meetup.com/

I know it's hard to get excited over a conference when you don't have much information (apart from that it's happening in late May), and you can only discuss so much with little information as a result, but just letting you know that the organisers are very busy with making this a very impressive conference.

As things are finalised, I'm sure the announcements and details made by the organisers will astound you [:)]

Doyle, the cost of the conference hasn't been revealed yet, but I'm sure the organisers are making it as affordable as possible. I'm sure it won't be anywhere near the entry costs for something like the AGDC.

Hi,

I am new to this forum, but I would like to say that the conference sounds great and I'm sure I will be along. I am currently studying Computer Game Development at AIE in Melbourne and I will be sure to let all the other students there know about the conference - The more the merrier!!! Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us :-)

Tom.

We have been reading all the posts here on sumea to tailor the conference to people's expectations and we welcome all suggestions you may have.

Format
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three main rooms that will be used for the conference.
-Room 1 is a large hall suitable for up to 200 people and will be used for lectures and discussion panels.
-Room 2 is a small room suitable for up to 20 people and will be used for specific skill development workshops. If you wish to attend these sessions you will have to sign up for it beforehand.
-Room 3 is a medium size hall suitable for up to 70 people and will be used for sessions that involve presentations and hands on aspects.

At any one time, 3 sessions will be running concurrently. The sessions start half an hour after each other and will be of 2 hours duration.

For example the first session of the conference starts at 10.00am Friday morning in Room 1, the second session will start at 10.30am in Room 2 and the third session will start at 11.00am in Room 3. From then on as each session finishes the next session will start in their respective rooms.

The reason for this is that there are about 12 sessions each day for three days. The goal has been schedule different streams of interest on at the same time and to allow people to move between sessions if they find the start of a particular session not relevant to them.

In addition there is a special session on Sunday for people to display their work.

Topic areas
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-home brew console
-skill sharing
-discussion
-mobile games
-indy distribution
-tools/engines
-open source development
-industry
-legals
-socials/screenings
-govt & funding
-expo
-international key note speakers

Schedule, subject to change, I'll add more complete descriptions soon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME Room 1 - Large lecture space
TIME Room 2 - Small workshop space
TIME Room 3 - Medium lecture space

Friday
10.00 How to turn a game concept into a game design
10.30 Character animation
11.00 Independent console development - a contradiction in terms?

12.00 Game dev courses - the official round up
12.30 PC game audio systems
01.00 Game dev grads tell all

02.00 Women in the industry (or lack thereof) part 1
02.30 The art of mapping
03.00 Crunch time or time to get a life

04.00 Public/government financing of independent games
04.30 Home brew PS2 development and console hacking
05.00 Women in the industry part (or lack thereof)

Saturday
10.00 Modding round up
10.30 Python
11.00 Case study: Street Survivor

12.00 Game journalism
12.30 Vertex shader workshop
01.00 Game boy advance game development

02.00 Surviving in the industry - where do you expect to be in 10 years time?
02.30 Open source and low cost engines
03.00 Introduction to legal matters

04.00 International keynote speaker
04.30 Open source art tools - blender workshop
05.00 Creative game interfaces

06.00 Sex and games

Sunday
10.00 What is independent and building the independent game development community
10.30 Machinima workshop
11.00 The international independent developer's scene

12.00 Independent game distribution strategies
12.30 The role of the creative programmer
01.00 Financing avenues

02.00 Business models for startups and independents
02.30 Political games
03.00 A game developers place in society and culture

04.00 Expo, demo display, mod recruitment...
04.30 Educational games followed by artistic game modeling
05.00 Managing a mod project followed by how to contribute to an open source project

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information please visit nextwave.org.au/2004/feat_igdc.htm

So now you guys know about the price and schedule. Please post your thoughts here. Location will be in the Melbourne CBD and the name of the venue will be released soon.

becuase i am a speeker, when the hell do i find out when i speek?

by the looks of it, its going to be 10am on saturday - though i have no infomation other then the above post!

please tell me!

amckern

quote:Originally posted by amckern

becuase i am a speeker, when the hell do i find out when i speek?

by the looks of it, its going to be 10am on saturday - though i have no infomation other then the above post!

please tell me!

amckern

Hi amckern!

The group at nextwave are in the process right now of confirming the times with all the speakers. How's 10am on sat for you?

Hi all...

I have decided that I will make the effort, and get my sorry hide to this conference!

Maybe we could have a Sumean meetup point some where inside/outside the conference?

It'd be good to match the faces to the text!

sounds great IGDC guys, will see you there :D

yeh Kane i was thinking of making a shirt with moonunit on the front and then put something on the back like "watch your step, im an artist!" :P

still waiting on that venue though guys ;) that and any fees (admission prices?) involved. (though i think that might have allready been mentioned....)

Yeah the satuday sounds fine

can you please also email me, as i tend to forget

amckern

haha...i love the t-shirt idea MoonUnit!

i might try to do that as well...maybe with a moose on it...

so when, where and what time is it?

Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd of May this year at a venue in inner city Melbourne (venue to be announced pretty soon), time as mentioned in the schedule above. Admission price =, 3-day packages at $30 full, $20 tertiary student, and $10 for secondary students. 1-day passes are $18/$12/$7. That's so unbelievably affordable that you have no excuse not to go! [:)] Free entry will be given to speakers, conference volunteers, press and special circumstances. Travel subsidy [url="http://www.sumea.com.au/snews.asp?news=890&related=Events"]details can be read here[/url]!

quote:Maybe we could have a Sumean meetup point some where inside/outside the conference?

Sounds like a plan!

i'll be there for sure even with my KFC wage i can afford it [:D]