One parting gift though is a quick mock up I did of some positioning stuff. Prepare to be amazed!

This first clip is from Brian Moriarty’s talk on game design on the educational level. By far my favorite panel of the conference. Check it out here

The IGDA also had a strong presence at the conference. Here you can hear Heather talking about IGDA membership.

Finally, Jaster Juul gives a presentation on using mods in school to teach the premise of game design. It can be found here.

There are many more, but that is what I have gotten processed so far. Stay tuned for more.

Huh… That is some high quality information!

A majority of my experiences at GDC fit into this category. I attended the Game Educator’s Summit, so a lot of the information presented was directly relevant to my profession. I got to learn about how other people are conducting there programs and I was able to benefit from things they did wrong or would do better. A definite highlight was Brian Moriarty going over his game design oriented game engine, Perlenspiel (check it out: http://www.perlenspiel.org/). I will surely be integrating this into my coursework. Some of the other things covered were AI design issues, new forms of math for gamers, incubating student start-ups, and so much more it is ridiculous. Don’t worry, I recorded much of it and will have more information later.

Fateful Meetings

Another cool category. This is when you start talking to someone and both parties realize at the same moment that this was meant to be. “Oh, you teach art classes but don’t have any programmers? I teach a programming class and have no artists… They run the same semester? You don’t say…” (Actual conversation, extra ellipses added by me for drama, in case you were wondering, we proceeded to play the Danish Slapping Game). Another awesome part is all of the people looking for work and all of the recruiters aggressively interviewing. I believe this week alone had to have dropped the unemployed rate in America by at least 30% (that’s 100% accurate). Congratulations to the many many many many many people out there that got jobs as a result of this weekend. Next time I need to bring more cards

Holy Sh!t. Did you see that?

These are moments that can’t be replicated, recorded, or adequately explained. Random moments like the musical duo playing electronica on Original Gameboy’s sound chips, the evangelists carrying signs that read “God Hates Game Designers” (I agreed ), and the awesome light show at Notch’s Minecraft party (first attender through the doors). Also in this category were all of the amazing booths with products that don’t seem possible, games either out or in beta that bend the senses (congrats to all of the IGF winners),the terrible EA announcement of the SimCity (it wasn’t too bad, but very long winded and some likened it to the Holocaust or PR events), and the swag being handed out (free playbook tablets to select people at the Blackberry Booth, I should have gone).

OK, that’s it for now. I am tired and hungry. More to follow

Full source can be found here.

Installer for the game can be found here.

The full source can be found here.

The installer for the game can be found here.

I come before you today to ask a giant favor. For many years, it has been a great desire of mine to attend Game Developer’s Conference (GDC).

Game Developer’s Conference is a huge gathering of game developer’s from around the world. Every year they meet and exchange top secret industry… stuff. More importantly for me, GDC has the Game Educator’s Summit. This is a part of GDC where educators gather around and share best practices for creating and sharing materials with students. This is incredibly important for people like me who teach video game development, and who needs to stay on top of the ever evolving technology.

For GDC 2012, I was approved by my place of employment to go as professional development. That has since fallen through, and I am now not able to secure funding to go. So now I am turning to you. It was never my intention to ask for money directly, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Here is the breakdown:

I need to secure $2,500 AT MOST to go. I currently get 1,500 people visiting my site per day. If I can get 250 people to donate $10 (or more) in 14 days, I will be able to attend GDC this year. This would mean the world to me. Now, I understand that this is asking a lot from people I have never met, but here is what I am willing (able) to give in return

• Continued work and support of my 2D Game Development and OOP Game Development courses (will do that anyway)
• The continued effort on my next 3D Game Development Course (will do that anyway, as a matter of fact, work has started on it)
• *if it is legal* I will audio record the sessions I go to and make them available here for you to listen to (write ups as well as time permits)
• A forum (if it is desired) for everyone to share ideas and help each other with the various materials in game development
• Willingness to help with any side projects you all are working on (I do that already, many of you have experienced first-hand)
• My eternal gratitude.

I cannot overstate how awesome this would be for me. I am even willing to negotiate services for larger donations (nothing illegal or immoral, I know you all too well). All you need to do is click on the provided donate button. I will keep a daily update so that you all can see the progress. Also, if I end up not raising enough and not going as a result, I will refund any money that was donated (unless you specify not to at the time of donation).

You all are my only hope; please help make this a reality for me. Either way, stay tuned for some updates.  I have quite a bit of material to get posted here.

To Donate, go to my Donation site Here!

My team’s project is coming along nicely, and I figured I would drop a little teaser title here:

Well, back to work. Enjoy!