Thanks to Zoot for revealing some of the speakers for Freeplay: Nextwave Independant Game Developers' Conference that's starting on the 21st of May in Melbourne! Yes, it's getting very close now!
The official conference website (www.free-play.org) with the programme, speaker bios and logistical info etc. will be up from the 29th of April (to give our website volunteers time to do their thing). However, after a pretty intense process the programme is about 98% finalised so we thought we?d start letting Sumeans know about what kind of stuff they can expect to see. Below is a sample of sessions drawn from the programme.We?d also like to announce the overseas speakers that have confirmed so far (expect more in a further announcement):
David Michael (US) - Samu Games, author of The Indie Game Developer's Survival Guide
Brody Condon (US) - c-level (Waco, The Resurrection)
Mario Wynands (NZ) - Sidhe Interactive
Ian Shanahan (UK) - The Cassandra ProjectAs for demoing/exhibiting your work at the conference, we?ll have a couple of options for you. More on that soon, but in the meantime like Souri said, give us a yell: gamers@nextwave.org.au
The Art of Mapping
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Respected mappers share their secrets to creating polished FPS levels and prime us for the new techniques mappers will need for the next generation of PC game technology. This session will be of interest to participants with at least a basic grasp of level-editing/mapping.- WetWired (past work includes official maps in Urban Terror)
- Rahnem (level designer on the commercial release of Unreal Tournament 2004)
- Stephen HoneggerSex in games
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Why did Australia make the BMXXX girl put her top back on? And while Lara Croft books in for breast augmentation surgery every year, why aren't there any third person shooters where female gamers get to stare at Brad Pitt's arse?
In this session we ask: is there a place for sex in games, and if so, what is that place? Come and hear the low-down on the status of game censorship in Australia, and join our panelists in pondering the issues surrounding sex, porn and downright sleaze in games.- Sarah Van Rompaey (Atari)
- Dr Mark Finn
- Monty (BigKid.com.au)
- Linda ErcegHomebrew PS2 Development Workshop
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You thought console development was only for developers who could get on a console manufacturer's ?developer programme? and lease a dev kit? Think again. You were thinking of spending your rent money on Sony's official hobbyist PS2 Linux kit? Think again, again.
Because that's right - you can develop and distribute PS2 games on your very own retail console and PC. The guys from PSDev.org will show you how.- Oobles and Dreamtime (PS2Dev.org)
What game designers *actually* do
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You may be one of those particularly annoying people who cynical game developers always seem to meet at social functions. If so, you may have already been informed that while you, and in fact many, many people have the ability to come up with an interesting game concept, the real skill of a game designer is defined by whether they can turn a game concept - often not their own, and often quite mediocre - into a playable, workable, game design.We've roped in a couple of experienced professional game designers to take us on a step by step journey through this process.
- Ian Malcom
- Thuyen Nguyen (Atari)Introduction to the legalities of game development
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Our friendly kick-arse lawyer-come-indie game developer colleague has kindly offered our community a free crash course on the legal issues faced by independent game studios. From formalising a studio as a legal entity and understanding intellectual property, to your rights when dealing with government grants and the legalities of distribution. All this, and you won't even have to pay by the minute!- Tim Richards (Neural Entertainment)
Business Model Make-Overs - Alternative Strategies For That New Game Development Company Look.
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The way a game company runs its business has an impact on everything - company culture, project timelines, employment policies, pay checks, and product. The idea of imitating standard corporate structures of established fat cat developers can be a daunting prospect to lean new studios starting up on the smell of an oily rag. However, while most existing game developers are run along similar lines, there are many different viable business models being explored by start up studios and independent developers. Often looking for a way out of the established hierarchies and paradoxical 'you need to be successful before we'll look at you' mentality, these companies have looked at other strategies to help pull themselves up by their bootstraps.- Mario Wynands (Sidhe Interactive)
- Ben Palmer (ThatGame)
- Michael Shamgar (Nocturnal Entertainment)
- Paul Cohen
The official poster for the conference has been released as well. You can find the entry details along with the venue in there. Click on the link at the end of this news post to check it out!