Game thinking from Adam Clare

Author: Adam ClarePage 65 of 262

Gamercamp 2013 New Format, More Fun Things, and I’m Speaking

It’s hard to believe that Gamercamp is entering it’s fifth run! Every year has been more enjoyable than the last, and this year there are some big changes. The format has evolved from a small, quick, event to being a more fleshed out three day adventure.

This year the event runs November 1,2, and 3. If you’re in Toronto you should definitely go, if you’re not in Toronto you now have a reason to come visit!

Each day focuses on an aspect of game design from business to playing! This year I’m speaking about the importance of different mediums for game design during the Interactive and Games Conference portion of Gamercamp. There are so many good speakers presenting cool things you should check them all out!

The new format for Gamercamp is best explained by the organizers themselves from an email they sent out:

Maker U
  • A full day of talks focusing on amazing interactive and game projects and collaborations happens now on Friday, November 1 as Maker U, perfect for professionals and students.
Gamercamp Day Pass
  • The games now take up the entirety of our venue—effectively turning Hotel Ocho into a giant arcade—over the weekend. We’ve just announced the Official Selections chosen from across North America and Europe.
  • Gamercamp also will have its first original exhibition “Art Of The Ninja” exploring the history and significance of the shinobi in over 30 years of videogames.
  • We takeover the Ocho restaurant to create our own Board Game Cafe open from 10 am to 7 pm, just for Gamercamp Day Passholders.
Salon Series
  • Our fantastic out-of-town speakers are now part of the Salon Series, held every night.

Buy passes and find out more about Gamercamp at their website.

Captivating Cultural Captures

That’s got to be the lamest alliteration I’ve done.

I recently spoke at the Captivate Conference in Austin and met some great people. Below are some of the things of note I found out thanks to going to the conference. This isn’t a comprehensive list, more of a handful of things recorded in a random list. Like how did I not know of the first link?

Gamers Against Bigotry

Gamers Against Bigotry was created with one purpose in mind: to create a gaming community that is welcoming to gamers of all identities. Gaming is awesome. And online multiplayer gaming is more awesome. But it sucks that gamers have to choose to not play online, or to deal with a relentless barrage of identity-based hate slung their way if they do log in.

Bigotry isn’t part of gaming culture, and it never has been; it’s just unfounded hatred, masked by anonymity. It’s something we need to put an end to.

Captivate logo

One great person I met was DB Cooper (nope, not that one) who is a voice actor with talent pouring out of her. She introduced me to this hilarious site called Audio Atrocities which catalogs the very worst in voice acting!

Panic Button is who you turn to when you need some expert coding done. They are great and knowledgable folks, and yes, they’re hiring.

Warren Spector gave a really good talk on fostering leadership in the games (and creative) industries. He spoke about one problem that I’m constantly dealing with: he lack of common nomenclature and schema in the games industry. Additionally, he calls on leaders not to give orders but to be open, simplify, and solve.

On art direction,Stephen Martiniere, gave some really good advice. He breaks the game world into characters and environments then focuses on some core issues within each. For environments, he does a high concept of overall look, colour, and the “cinematic feel”. For characters he summed it up as an examination of the character’s behaviour and then adds the “cool looking and relevant stuff”.

The wonderfully talented Anne Toole gave a good talk on how to write for various styles of projects. Her website is worth checking out.

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