Darrel Cusey (@Tulrath)

Lakehome Games, LLC

Deterministic Procedural Content Generation (PCG) in video games has been with us for some time now.  Very early games like Elite and Rogue used these techniques almost exclusively for content generation.  More recent examples like Diablo, Elder Scrolls Daggerfall, Borderlands, and Minecraft have refined these techniques to the point of a science.  Unfortunately, many game developers don’t use these techniques generally because they are considered “too noisy,” “too slow,” or “too unpredictable.”  This presentation will provide:

• A brief description of what PCG is (and what it is not)
• Examine some current methodologies
• Describe the current state of the art
• And demonstrate some new technique of my own design that are not yet in general use.

All of these methods will use algorithms that are fast enough to generate content real-time and use simple binary math that can be implemented in any programming language.  As we go through this presentation, we’re going to “build-up” our algorithms from the ground up using a simple game developed in Unity 3D.  Even though we will be implementing some higher-level math techniques, the presentation is designed to be accessible for your entire team — every member of your game development team will get something out of this presentation.

There will time for Q & A, so be prepared for lots of discussion.  Darrel Cusey is a self-taught computer programmer and game designer recruit who has over 25 years of professional programming experience.  Darrel is the founder of Lakehome Games, a three-person video game development studio that is combining rich characters and stories with novel gameplay mechanics to create games for the Web and Mobile platforms that are both highly engaging but also immediately accessible for busy people.  Over the last 5 years, Darrel has been an active member in the Indie game development community, providing tutorials and instruction on topics like in-game terrain generation for the Toque Game Engine on the Garage Games forums, multiplayer game development and advanced network security implementations for the DarkGDK for The Game Creators forums (forum name “Omen”).

Member Project: From Nothing – GravBlocks
From Nothing will present their puzzle game GravBlocks which has gravity changing as a core mechanic. Details and video are on the Kickstarter page.

From Nothing Game Studios is Nick Behrens, Paul Metcalf, Josh Saville, Bob Andreae and Mee Thao.

Agenda:
6:00 Pizza and Soda – Thanks to the Nerdery
6:30 Member Project – From Nothing Game Studios
7:00 Darrel Cusey

We’ll be heading to Joe Sensers in Bloomington after the event.

Original Posting Details

The theme this time around is Tiny World. So run wild with it and let us know how things are going. Can’t wait to see the results. Also don’t forget there is a seperate Jam going on that gives you an extra day to work on the game. Good luck participants.

On April 20th, thru the 23rd, we invite everyone to participate in the Ludum Dare game design competition. While we don’t have a specific location I do plan on setting up an IRC chat channel for the weekend for us to chat in during the competition. The Ludum Dare is a single event, no teams, and you must start from scratch or use publicly available libraries.

You can learn more at: http://ludumdare.com/compo/

Let us know in the comments if you will be taking part or join us on the IRC channel. The details for that will be coming in the next few days.

Big John Games – Coasters, Karts, and Bass

Ken Patterson, Matt Heinzen and Ajani Boganey from Big John Games will be showing three new games, each for a different Nintendo Platform.

Coaster Creator 3D is a 3DS game that allows easy creation of roller coaster track’s using a draw the track method using the stylus. Players can create tracks, customize there coaster tracks and coaster cars. Players can also import Mii’s and take them for rides.

Kart Krashers is a DSiWare game that plays like a vehicle platformer. Player’s drive karts through stages and collect stars and smash into almost everything that can find.

Big Bass Arcade No Limit, is an expanded version of our WiiWare Bass fishing game that hit #1. It is a lot of fun to play, and pushes the Wii’s graphics to the limit. This game was built as a retail disc release.  A new challenge was added and programmed by a special guest star (Zach).

Member Project: Core of Innocence

We’ll be heading to Joe Sensers in Bloomington after the event.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (CT)
Hosted at The Nerdery
Bloomington, United States

The 2012 Global Game Jam ended up with 244 sites in 48 countries hosting almost 11,000 participants.  Nearly 2,300 games were created.  IGDATC did it’s part with 27 participants and 11 game projects.

Come and hear a recap of the GGJ event and experience, and brief post-mortems from the IGDATC GGJ teams.  Then, play and rate some of the 2300 games to help find the gems.

Bring laptops, smartphones, ipads (and a PS3 or 360 controller if you’ve used it with a laptop before.)  We’ll also have a selection of the board games ready to play in the cafeteria.

Agenda:
6:00 Pizza and Soda – Thanks to the Nerdery
6:30 GGJ 2012 Recap and quick post-mortems from IGDATC teams
7:30 GGJ Play Party – Play and rate 2300 video and board games, note your favorites
8:50 Review favorites and adjourn
We’ll be heading to Joe Sensers in Bloomington after the event.

Please register so we get an accurate count for the pizza order.

Direct Link to Eventbrite Event

The IGDA Twin Cities chapter would like to extra-huge-mega thank The Nerdery for providing the location for the entire 48 hour event, as well as provining internet, drinks, snacks, food and ample whiteboard space! Thanks to the staff, Tom, Greg and Joe for volunteering to spend their weekend and nights with us. The Nerdery, and its employees, are top notch in every aspect and we can’t say thank you enough.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Lastly, thanks to Zach Wendt for coordinating the event details and Ty Burks for helping drum up interest at the January meeting.

Our Feb meeting is already next week on 2/8 (event emails coming soon)! IGDATC will be hosting a GGJ Play Party, where YOU will play and rate some of the 2300 games created by 11k participants at 244 sites world wide. We’ll also have quick post-mortems for the local projects. Details about the local games are here!

Game on!
IGDATC staff

Another big update is that we will be driving this event through all 48 hours. The Nerdery will remain open the whole time so feel free to sleep there both nights (if you end up sleeping).

For far more details, schedule of events, or all the details of the freebies offered to competition goers check out our location page on the GGJ site right here:

http://globalgamejam.org/sites/2012/igda-twin-cities-igdatc

Remember, if you want to join us just create an account on the Global Game Jam site (free) and set the IGDATC as your location. Also make sure to fill out the profile as complete as you can so we know what skill sets we have coming to the event.

Original Posting Details

Main Presentation: Doug Thorpe - Game Center for iOS

Member Project: Martin Grider – iCADE for iPad, and a toddler drawing app

Ty Burks – Global Game Jam 2012 details

http://globalgamejam.org/sites/2012/igda-twin-cities-igdatc

Make sure to create an account on the Global Game Jam site and set the IGDA Twin Cities to your location. It appears that the final word on The Nerdery being open overnight on Saturday is still up in the air so make sure to stay tuned for more updates.

We are also asking everyone to be sure to fill our your profile on the GGJ site so we know all of the skill sets and abilities we have coming in. If you can do multiple things make sure to list them all.

That’s all for now but I’m sure there will be more to come in the coming week as we lead into the GGJ.

The full details and registration will be up by Friday. We still have to get the final confirmation that the site is official from the GGJ people. Until then you can sign-up early for a GGJ account and fill in your location when we get the notice that it is live.

Make sure to check back throughout the week to stay up to date with all the details.

So as a summary, tentative schedule (more detailed in the coming days) is as follows:

Starts Friday (1/27) – 4:00PM
Possibly closed Saturday 11:00PM – Sunday 9:00PM
Event Ends Sunday (1/29) – 4:00PM

In an effort to promote fun and enjoyment amongst this group, I have now usurped control of the IGDATC Steam group.

What does this mean? It means we can very easily use Steam to organize games and have fun! Who doesn’t love fun?

If you’d like to be a part of this journey into gaming goodness, join our steam group at  http://steamcommunity.com/groups/IDGATC. This steam group gives us a group page and allows us to schedule events, and view it’s members. It’s quite useful.

We also have a beautiful spreadsheet on Google Docs where we can easily see each other’s ID’s (Steam, XBox, PS3, other?) and current game fascinations: http://bit.ly/vHDZEL And let’s be honest, who *doesn’t* love spreadsheets? Feel free to add yourself and your info to the list!

If you’d like to join us for entertaining gaming shenanigans, but don’t have Steam or a PC, you can send a friend invite to the IGDATC Xbox Live account. <http://live.xbox.com/en-US/Profile?gamertag=IGDATC> This works in a similar manner to the steam group, only without the ability to schedule stuff. It also has 10 gamerpoints, so you know it’s serious!

In closing, we should play some games, because games are fun! — Ryan Schaefer <http://ryanschaefer.yolasite.com/> @Digitalistic

Additionally, although it is short notice, this Thursday (Dec. 7th), he’s hosting a multiplayer Terraria server.  Join the steam group for more details.  Terraria is a blast!

Original Posting Event Details

Member Project: How Crowd Source Funding is a Game Changer – Christopher Figueroa | KinifiGames

Member Project 2: Racing Games Sound – Damian Kastbauer of Lost Chocolate Lab and David Nichols of Track Time Audio

Main Presentation: Game Design for Free-to-play on Mobile – Aaron Bannin | Recharge Studios | W3i

Expect folks to stay past 10. Happy hour is 2-5 and 10-12.

We’re setting up in the banquet room at 4pm with some great arcade games on real arcade controls, a Kinect with the best of the new games, and a lonely 3DS with Mario Kart 7. Bring your 3DS for link and download play, card or board games, or anything else you’d like to share.

If you’ve never been to the Chatterbox Pub, they’re known for free board games, cheap Atari, NES and Sega rentals on retro TVs and couches, and great microbrew beer, homemade ginger ale and root beer.

Click here to get your tickets.

Also mark your calendar for some other happenings in Dec:
2011 Minnesota Electronic Theater
Thu Dec 1 at 6:30pm (doors and SIGGRAPH videos starting at 5)
Sneaky Pete’s Bar and Grill in downtown Minneapolis
http://www.met2011.org/

Twin Cities XNA 3rd Annual Charity Frag-A-Thon
Sat Dec 3 at 5pm (tourney starts at 5:30 sharp)
Magenic Technologies in St. Louis Park
http://www.meetup.com/TwinCitiesXNA/

Footstep and movement sounds are a fundamental of many of today’s video games. While not always the focus, these sounds can turn a walk in the park into a test of player patience due to repetition or lack of consideration for sounds heard during hours of gameplay. Join us as we explore the art of footsteps and movement and how they contribute to the overall sound of a game by focusing on examples from different genres for comparison. Learn about some of the common challenges, solutions, and interesting insights that will sharpen your perception of movement in games.

Full Article: Footsteps and Informal Game Sound Study
http://blog.lostchocolatelab.com/2010/03/footsteps-informal-game-sound-study….
Footstep Game Sound Study Video Album
http://vimeo.com/album/142094
Game Audio Podcast: Footsteps & Foley
http://www.gameaudiopodcast.com/?p=106
Dense Clarity — Clear Density by Walter Murch
http://transom.org/?page_id=7006
Footsteps Procedural Style by Andy Farnell:
http://obiwannabe.co.uk/tutorials/html/tutorial_footsteps.html
The Sonic Spread: Iconic Game Sounds
http://thesonicspread.com/2010/10/29/the-most-memorable-iconic-game-sounds/
Super Mario Bros. Real SFX Replacement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9wp6cz0A1o

This presentation includes an overview of graphics technology presented at GDC by Zach Wendt.

Here are some of the links from Zach’s presentation:

BF3, Frostbite 2 (siggraph09: parallel, compute shaders. 10: RT radiosity)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Battlefield
http://publications.dice.se/publications.asp?show_category=yes&which_category=Rendering
http://s09.idav.ucdavis.edu/talks/04-JAndersson-ParallelFrostbite-Siggraph09.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXVF7q035Y

UE3 Next Gen
http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/03/08/see-the-next-generation-of-video-games-in-action
http://www.joystiq.com/screenshots/full/unreal-engine-3-gdc-2011/#/0

Autodesk @ GDC, Game tech -> content creation
DMM, PhysX, Bullet (AMD)
http://area.autodesk.com/gdc2011
http://www.pixelux.com/dmmPlugin.html

DBP
https://www.dreambuildplay.com/Main/HowToCompete.aspx

move.me
http://us.playstation.com/ps3/playstation-move/move-me/

This presentation outlines the development process for Dead Space 2, specifically the production process, character creation process, and environment creation process.

Sandra Voelker is a Senior Technical Artist from the Twin Cities who works remotely for Visceral Studios, a division of EA Games. Her latest project, Dead Space 2, was just released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on 1/25/2011.

Thanks to Ryan Foss for all his work to edit and upload this presentation and to Tori Kamal for all the sound. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to thank them at the next meeting!