Adelaide Game Development Club's first "Meet & Greet"

On the chilly night of August 26, the Adelaide University Game Development Club held their first gathering in the form of a "meet & greet". Uni & TAFE students, Game Developers and Lecturers descended into the depths of the Adelaide Uni Computer Science building to form a new network of game developers, artists, journalists, lecturers and gamers, all there for the same purpose; To make an industry of our own.

I rocked up to the foyer just after it had begun, while a rush of set up was still in progress, a few familiar faces had gathered in the hallway introducing themselves. Which is probably the best part of the whole night, meeting people with different backgrounds, realising there's enough talent already gathered to start making game concepts. Ben Kilsby & Holopoint were there, who have all been a key part of bringing Adelaide's indie games scene together. I was also pleased to see that Mark Wilson & his TAFE Game Art students were at the event, displaying their artwork. Even some members of Krome showed up, altogether making it a worthwhile event for anyone with an interest in making games.


When 6:30 hit, we were all huddled into a lecture theatre for an introduction to the GDC and it's committee. While Secretary, Sean Donnellan headed the technical side of the presentation, Izzy Gramp and Chris Johnson went on to explain the purpose of the club; "To build an industry" being the key theme being pushed. The GDC's role is to bring together Programmers & Artists in Adelaide and to provide them with support and resources they might not usually have working on their own. Having all these elements in place, creating games will be a much more achievable outcome. Izzy & Chris went on to explain that they're looking into gathering resources in the Adelaide University library and making development kits available for use within the club. In future, they are looking at getting speakers to run seminars on game design, art, basically anything that is vital to the game design process.

I spent the last hour of the gathering holed up in the game ideas room, where discussion on "Rocket Sharks" was underway; "They're sharks, with rockets on them, what are you going to do?" being a memorable quote. We tapped on the idea of common free actions having a cost, toyed with the idea of social effects vs a character, environmental damage stumping progress in a game and discussed basic puzzle game concepts. While I was participating in game ideas, indie game developers were demoing their works in progress and a few consoles had been set up for play. "I wanna be the fangame" and "Wheeler's treasure" being some of the games demoed at the event.

Once the event had wrapped up, attendees moved onto the pancake kitchen for dinner. If any readers are interested in developing games, you can find all the information needed for joining and attending the club at their website; gdc.org.au. Even if you only enjoy playing games, it's a worthwhile club to be a part of.

Links
GameDevelopmentClub
I Wanna Be the Fangame
Two Lives Left - Wheeler's Treasure developers
Holopoint Interactive
Krome Studios