Category Archives: Archived Posts

Any post that is not necessarily a featured post.

Indie Game Developer Panel

This week is going to be a big and awesome meeting! (Thursday January 17th, from 5pm – 7pm) We will be having a panel of four amazing Indie Developers, Daniel Steger, Damian Sommer, Cale Bradbury, and Alexander Martin.

The panel will be talking about some of their experiences, what they have been through and some of the do’s and don’ts of the industry, as well as talking about some of the current projects they are working on. They are also here to answer any and all questions you may have for them. The meeting place will be a bit different then usual and will take place in MC 252. (Mechanical Engineering Building, 5 King’s College Road).

Daniel Steger is a past member of UTGDDC and creator of Baby Maker Extreme. You can find this game and other awesome ones on his website: stegersaurus.com

Damian Sommer, who has created many games like A Friendship in 4 Colours, A Game About Game Literacy, and The Clown Who Wanted Everything. You can check out some of his stuff at his website: damiansgames.com

Cale Bradbury is known for Snakes on a Cartesian Plane which has gotten over a million downloads. This game can be found as well as many of his other stuff on his website: netgrindgames.com

Alexander Martin has released a set of games recently at droqen.com which includes his IGF finalist Starseed Pilgrim.

Damian Sommer, Cale Bradbury, and Alex Martin also have a podcast with Chris de Carteret called Secret Twins Club. (secrettwinsclub.tumblr.com)

This meeting is going to be awesome, and extremely fun to attend so remember to invite your friends!
All are welcome to come!

Hope to see you all come out!!

Freeware Game of the Week: Return to Sector 9

Sorry guys! I know it’s been a while, and you’ve all been waiting urgently ON THE EGDE OF YOUR SEAT for the next game of the week. Also, sorry about the lack of announcements on the webpage in the last week; we’ve been using the Facebook page more often lately.

BUT THAT ENDS NOW.

Yes! More posts here now! Starting with freeware game of the week again…

So, Return to Sector 9– nothing really breakthrough about it. It’s a challenging space-shooter with a ton of secrets and bosses. It was also made in Game Maker. The point is- this game is a lot of fun. It’s simple, but it does what it does well.

If you’re interested in game design, but you’re not ready to launch your multi-dimensional motion-capture live-RPG sprawling epic, try making a game like this. It’s not extremely difficult, and it’s made fun by tight game-design and polish. If you’re looking for some game programming advice (in Game Maker or in any language in general), feel free to shoot us an email (or consult online sources too, there’s a ton of ’em!)

– Adam

Freeware Game of the Week: Karioshi 2

Karioshi 2 might be the most bizarre game I have ever played. It’s a bit dark, a pinch creepy, with a dab of frustrating, but it’s filled with amazing HOLY CHEESEBURGER moments that, sometimes literally, make you think out of the box. It’s an experimental game that deliberately contradicts a gaming convention: stay alive. In most games, everything in the world is trying to kill you, but in Karioshi 2, dying is not only difficult, but it’s your goal.

If this game intrigues you, definitely give it a try. It blew my mind at least twice. A word of warning though- you will be trolled a bit.

PS: Plus, it was made with Game Maker! Keep your eyes banana-peeled for a Game Maker tutorial in the near future! (Next week maybe?)

– Adam

Unity Tutorial on Thursday

That’s right, you read the title correctly! This Thursday, the club is hosting a Unity tutorial. Unity is a popular video game development tool that can help you create impressive 3D games more easily. Also it’s FREE (unless you’re a pro and buy Unity Pro). Unity is very flexible- it has a nice graphical user interface with a wide set of tools, but also a deep scripting system. It can compile games for many different platforms. Veteran and beginner programmers alike should take a look at Unity, and come to the tutorial!

The details:
Show up at BA 7231, on Thursday (Sep 27th), at the usual 5-7 pm.
So be there or BE SQUARE! Or a circle, or a triangle… whatever you want really.

– Adam

Help us make a Club-Wide Game!

Hello,

Tyler and Dave, your director and producer here. In case you missed the 1st meeting, but are interested in working on the Club Game, here is a summary of what we talked about.

First, what we are making: a 3/4 view, 2D action/adventure/rpg reminiscent of old Zelda’s (something along the lines of Zelda/Skyrim/Bastion/Fable) We are making the game in XNA. Even if you don’t know XNA, don’t be discouraged, you will have opportunities to learn. There are a variety of different opportunities to participate, but most obvious; programming, art, design, story, audio.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, and you have a little extra time to work on this, please go here http://bit.ly/Otghe5 to fill out the survey.

Also, Dave and I have a joint email address: utclubgame@gmail.com if you are interested in the story, no matter how you will be primarily participating, please send us an email describing what you like and want to see in the game, also, things you dislike about action/adventure/RPGs.

Lastly, Tyler will be a walking encyclopaedia about the game project. He is always more than willing to talk to you about what we are doing, he wants your opinions and suggestion. Feel free to contact him:

facebook: Tyler Budolowski (because I prefer fb messages over email)
email: budolowski@gmail.com (if email works better for you, that’s cool)
skype: budolowski

utgddc meeting announcement

Next meeting at Bahen Centre BA4010, March 15, 5-7pm

After going through GMD, many of you may have experienced how difficult it can be to translate a brilliant idea into a fun game. Often, brilliant ideas don’t seem to work until it goes through multiple rounds of testing and iteration. This week, we will be discussing play testing in game development at BA4010 on March 15, 5-7pm. This will be an opportunity for you to share your first hand experiences with the frustrations that you had in creating a satisfactory product.
utgddc meeting announcement

Next meeting on Feb 9 from 5-7pm in BA B026

This week, we have a special treat for you all. As many of you may know,
Ubisoft is one of the world’s largest and most successful publishers. As
the company behind titles such as Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, and
Assassin’s Creed; this gaming giant has been a key contributor to shaping
the industry. During this week’s meeting, we will be having a
representative from Ubisoft visit our club and it will be an excellent
opportunity for everyone to get a glimpse of what being a pioneer of the
gaming industry means.

See you all on Thursday!

Game Night on Friday Nov 11

At U of T’s Bahen Center (the same place where we hold our weekly meetings) the CSSU presents Game Night on Friday November 11 starting at 7pm and going on all night until 7am (think clubbing for nerds). There will be lots of cool free gaming sessions and tournaments going with games like Left 4 Dead 2, Starcraft, Street Fighter, and others.

The CSSU is also still interested in those who would like to volunteer to help setup and lend gaming consoles and computers for the evening. So, if you’d like to help contribute to the fun, email the CSSU and have a chance to win a prize for your efforts. More information about this can be found on the CSSU’s webpage about Game Night.

So come on down and give yourself the fun you deserve at Game Night. Even the utGDDC Arcade cabinet that fellow member Tyler has finished will be making an appearance.